Using Mantras for ADHD
I don’t know about you, but I don’t wake up and leap out of bed bright and ready to go anymore. I stumble into the bathroom, answer the pressing physical demand that has my attention and then wonder what in the heck to do next.
That’s where the mantra comes in.
“Eyes, nose, patch.” I’m awake enough to remember to say the mantra, out loud.
“Eyes, nose, patch.”
So I put the drops in my eyes.
Then I spray the stuff into my nose.
Then I clean off an area on my belly and apply the Daytrana patch that I prepared the night before.
Then I’m ready to go.
Without the mantra, I’d still be standing there confused.
It’s about structure and habit. And it works.
doug
Question O the Day:
Do you have any mantras to share?
Links:
Another ADHD forum, but please consider contributing to this blog first.
Structure and Routine with ADHD:
#ADHD, #Adult ADHD
Were you waiting on me?
Personal Notes O the Day:
I’ve been fishing for six straight days and haven’t had a bite but I persevere. The new ADHD book is about to come out. I started writing a novel for some reason. It was just there and needed to come out, but I wonder if it’s a waste of time. It has nothing to do with ADHD, not as far as I can see.
Living with ADHD
ADDadultstrategies 
I don’t say mantras but I do write timetables and have done since I was 14 – sometimes down to every 20 minutes of the day. And I generally stick to it. As a result, I like routine and keeping to it. In a sense, that’s almost my mantra!
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ken
that is a great strategy. i actually have used it few times when i was really swirling in circles. you are using it for basic structure. thank you for contributing this
doug
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Routines are rood. I usually don’t need mantras for a routine, though sometimes, for some reason, I suddenly forget something in my routine. Like my meds. But not too often.
I think I’ve shared it before, but for the “Newcomers”: my favorite mantra is, whenever I’m stressing about how I did things in the past, and whether I made the right decisions or not: “It all happened exactly the way it had to happen”
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ram
thats a good one, not getting stuck on whats done.
thank you for commenting as always
doug
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2 things:
1. love the mantra. I too have discovered that structure and habits work. every morning I wake up I literally wrote down a list of things to do. now I don’t need to refer to it anymore because I’ve got a routine–a specific order to do them in.
2. re: your novel–write it anyway. it doesn’t have to matter whether you decide to publish it or not. not all hobbies have to be end in completed products. for example, my girlfriend goes to pottery classes every Wednesday night. it’s fun for her and she has a good time goofing around with the clay. she doesn’t intend to sell her bowls/teapots/cookie jars/etc or even use them to begin with. she just likes doing it and the pleasure she gets out of that time spent recreationally is more important than anything else that actually comes out of that class.
at least I think so anyway.
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dinos
thank you for the encouragement and support. I think the novel is pretty good; my wife doesnt. I will publish it, that’s fairly easy and it’s free. will be pleasantly surprised if it sells. on the other hand the new ADHD book is hard to get formatted right and i do hope it sells because i think it can really be helpful to other ADHD ers. we’ll see.
and thank you for your contributions
doug
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