Things I believe to be true about ADHD/ADD

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Things I believe to be true about ADHD/ADD.

One morning, I was taking notes while reading Twyla Tharps' The Creative Habit and watching a Seth Godin video, I had a moment of clarity.  I was juggling a few things; writing in my journal, taking notes in my notebook while reading through a book, getting sidetracked and watching Seth Godin's Quieting the Lizard Brain 99u video.

This moment of clarity came to me in the form of a Declaration.

Things I believe to be true about ADHD/ADD.

Here's what I came up with:

• Structure & Organization are critical/crucial, they also feel like a warm blanket.  (We crave it.)
• The problem:
• Finding or creating structure and organization is agonizing and overwhelming.
• We are easily overwhelemed when faced with too many choices.
• Think of a chinese buffet.  You can't decide so you get platefuls each time you go back and at the end of the dinner you are bursting at the waistline, grumpy and tired.
• The problem:
• We have "shiny object" syndrome.  We love shiny new things and can become pack rats or hoard.  It's hard to let go of these things once we obtain them, and this includes things that aren't things - like committments, classes, systems, or actual things.  The solution of course is to ask ourselves FIRST if it's a good idea to bring the shiny new thing home.  Most of the time the answer is no.
• Rhythmic Noises & Classical Orchestral music creates a soothing atmosphere to think clearly.
• Routines are a life saver, even if they are hard to create.
• The older we get the harder it is to sort things out.
• Overwhelm can mask itself as depression, frustration, even anger.  But if we can clear out space, all those emotions will evaporate.
• Prone to addictive or obsessive behaviours, possibly used as a coping mechanism.

Recently I've been feeling overwhelm with trying to create routines and rituals.  Rituals are spiritual routines.

But, I believe that in order to create rituals I've got to start with a simple routine.  So, in trying to exercise more this year I want to turn it into a ritual where I make it more of a spiritual practice, perhaps to feel more connected to the body work that I'm performing.

How would I create this routine:

• Hit the hay at 930, read for a while to calm my mind.
• Layout my clothes, shoes, and mat the night before.
• Making sure my workout is queued up for me so I don't have to think about it.

Unfortunately, this is where resistance hits.  "Why bother!  Just get up and do it!"  "Who needs routine, you used to run!" "530 is too early"

Of course I also feel overwhelm because there are a lot things that have to go right and so I shut down.  I procrastinate which creates overwhelm as well and then leads to anxiety and then shut down.

So how am I managing the craziness that lives inside my brain?
Check out the 2nd installment where I share my SECRETS to keeping my household and myself SANE!