ADD ADHD and Time Pressure
Here I am “retired” and still feeling that same old sense of time pressure, the fly wheel constantly spinning inside. And the damn old voice –“Hurry up! Rush! You have so much to do! You’ll never get it all done!”
Know what I mean?
Even on vacation I was feeling the same urgency to get to the next stop, quickly! And there was absolutely no reason for it.
I think this is just part of ADD ADHD and has little basis in reality. It’s an attitude.
(But it also seems like a physical feeling.)
Three ADD ADHD Attitudes -Lies We Tell Ourselves:
1. Rush!
2. I don’t have enough time.
3. I have too much to do.
Strategies:
Wouldn’t it help if I set priorities? (Are you thinking, “Priorities, Yeah, right!” ?)
I can shorten my lists – “What would happen if I didn’t do this?”. “What is the payoff for doing this?”
I can be sure to keep my short list to five max. But in reality I only have one thing to do. Right now, it’s writing this post. When I finish, it will something else, some other one, but right now – I only have one thing to do. One!
I’m working on meditation and mindfulness. Surely they will help, if my problem with time doesn’t sabotage me. (Is “working on” meditation and mindfulness a paradox?)
Comments:
I’m getting some really great comments. Hope you read them. Wish they would just show up at the bottom of the post. Need to find out how to do that. I’m going to just post some of them. In the mean time, see “recent comments”over to the right. Clik on the name of the post and it will show you all the comments.
Or
you can clik on the “comments” down at the bottom of each post, lost at the end of all the other stuff :
See , its here in red.
Check ’em out.
doug
Bonus Link:
A great story from Tired – many good points and lessons. Highly recommended.
Question O the Day:
How do I get the comments to show up right here? Homey does it!
Gratitude O the Day:
Isn’t ADD ADHD life interesting?
Thank you for making those great comments!
ADDadultstrategies 
I was jumping around on your blog and found my way to this one. “What would happen if I didn’t do this?” has been my lifesaver for years now and I learned it from you, of course, so thank you!
I told my sister that watching her walk into the apartment and quickly sort things out and go “ok, I’m just gonna take this and put this one here so I won’t forget, and AH! I’m getting that as well right now and then it’s done, and we’re set to go” was like watching a super hero. She was baffled. She doesn’t think that’s a skill, poor vanilla :p
Also, that bunny you like to share (what’s that? oh, just my mind…) is actually from an artist based here in Berlin, who has a darling sense of humor, and I have several prints of his in my place. This one is hanging in my bathroom (it’s a bit graphical, but I think you won’t mind it): http://www.dirksbigbunnies.com/shop/prints/175-floss/
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ram
i’m glad that is helpful. yes, we can only stand in awe of the vanillas and then go back to working on our strategies.
thank you for the information on the artist and for the bunny meme.
and as always, thank you for commenting
best wishes
doug
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Oh – and working on meditation and mindfulness! I think the whole point of mindfulness meditation is to work on it, not judging yourself, for as long or as short a time as you can each day. I do guided meditations, and they all say that to me, anyway 😉
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shannon – yes, working on meditation just doesnt seem right
thank you for commenting
doug
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diane – really good points, especially about the self talk.
thank you for commenting
doug
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Loved Tired’s post – thanks for the link. And that cartoon is PRICELESS.
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I know what you mean, Doug, about always feeling you don’t have enough time AND have too much to do. But I don’t understand why you call them “lies” we tell ourselves. I think of these as “truths” we have to accept. We only have so much time, less than 24 hours (excluding sleeping, eating, etc) and the rest of our lives.
There’s not much we can do to control the time we have, but we do have some control over how much we feel we have to get done. Setting priorities helps. But trying to make better decisions over WHAT we do, and how much time we spend doing it, can also help. If only this wasn’t so difficult to do!
I tell myself that I should look at the cost vs benefit of my various to-do’s, and this should help me pare down my to-do list and give me more time. Unfortunately, I often just jump into something without thinking it out like I should. Meaning my ADD has gotten the best of me AGAIN!
Good post from “Tired.” I haven’t told any of my family or friends about my ADD. I don’t think they would care. My wife knows. She didn’t want to accept it at first, but there was just too much in the way of evidence! Jeff
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jeff – i totally agree on your points.
lies? — because in general i believe that “busy” is more an attitude than a reality. there is always more to do than anyone can do i think, even without add adhd. and in reality, we do only have one thing to do – the thing we are doing.
we certainly do need to accept the truths that our time is limited and we can only do so much. so it make sense to be careful in selecting how we choose to spend our limited time. it needs to be intentional, even if it is “goofing off”. easy to say, but just cause it makes sense doesn’t mean it happens with add adhd.
telling family and friends – a quandry. maybe on a need to know basis, or considering what response you can expect. on the other hand, the more we come out, the less stigma there will eventually be.
thanks for commenting
doug
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