I've never been officially diagnosed, but I pretty much fit the profile of someone with Attention Deficit Disorder. So, some of my challenges are focusing. I have trouble reading, even though I love to read and read and write well, because I have trouble staying focused on the text. I have a hard time proof reading because I have trouble focusing on words.
I have a difficult time with any tasks that require attention and detail. My mind flits from thing to thing. Funnily enough I get things done, just very randomly. I cannot just finish one task. I liken myself to my old pet ferret. He would just follow his nose. Wherever it pointed, there he went; or like a magpie. "OH look! Something shiny!" And there I go. It can be very hard. If I don't follow a ritual coming and going from the house, I inevitably lose, forget and scramble things, leave stoves on and whatnot. So, those are a few examples of how ADD affects me. Loud noises distract and irritate me. Too much information at a time confuses me. I have a hard time staying focused on one task at a time.
Anyway, recently I read a post on another forum (a teachers forum) about how to be a teacher when you have ADD. I thought this was brilliant. It's true, keeping up with paper work and being organized and on task is my biggest challenge. The thread never really gave me any real ideas for how to work with this. But wow, it really made me think. It's not just 'getting organized', it's how to be organized in a way that actually works for people who have trouble staying focused. Like many folks with ADD I have no order and am unorganized and chaotic. So, how to become more organized when being organized creates a physical state of confusion? At work I cannot seem to create a workable system that really helps me stay on task. I file things and forget where I filed them. (because not everything is exactly clear, and often could be cross filed. So, do I file this under social emotional or language? And how do I remember which I filed it under???.) I do things and then forget what I did. I write notes on my hand or at home even on the wall, so I can't lose the note. I get several projects going at once. That's ok, because in the end I get things accomplished, but I also lose track, get confused and get unfocused. If I organize a drawer to 'get organized' I forget, later where I decided to put things in order to 'stay organized' and then actually lose things for a long time!!!
So, here's my question: Does anyone have any ideas or experience for how to get and stay organized when you have ADD? What kind of things work for those with Attention deficit disorder? Do you know of anything that actually focuses this kind of aspect? When I googled it, I found lots of ideas for getting organized but they actually make me lose focus more. That's the problem. The more organized and detailed something is, the more I feel physically disoriented and confused. I cannot focus and lose whatever ground I gained. I know this is hard to explain. But I was wondering, does anyone have something that they know of that actually helps this kind of disorder to stay focused or to be organized? I always start the new school year with the best intentions and create systems, but I can never stick with them and always lose track and fall out and end up terribly disoriented and disorganized again. So, there it is. I hope I can get some actual ideas that pertain to the issue of how to stay organized and on track with ADD and not just general advice that could apply to anything. If 'anything' worked, I'd be doing it. So, thanks for reading, and if you have any ideas, I'd like to hear them.
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