Wednesday, October 29, 2008
ADHD Organization - Decision-Making
As I mentioned last week, I attended a seminar for professional organizers dealing with ADHD clients by Joyce Kubik. She gave us some insight on decision-making and the ADHD mind.
She said that those with ADHD will say yes to people requesting their time, their help, their volunteer hours in order to get an "attaboy." She also stated that it is very hard for them to estimate how much time it takes to accomplish a task. This explains why many are over-committed.
A logical application for those of us who have friends, family, or clients with ADHD is to give positive encouragement, even on the smallest things they do. She described a lifetime of experiencing exasperation from others because she forgot something, was late, couldn't find something, etc. How nice for us to be a source of encouragement! In addition, we should be careful not to take advantage of our ADHD friends and family since they are so willing to help.
She encouraged those with ADHD, if unable to make a decision, to write down their thoughts on the decision so it could be revisited without having to do the rethinking. Those with ADHD are more likely to remember something they have written down.
A tool that helps me in decision-making is listing all the positives for that decision and listing all the negatives. For some reason, writing it down helps clear my mind because I can see it on paper. Usually by doing this exercise, I can clearly see both sides of the issue and it becomes obvious to me what decision I should make. This exercise also takes the emotion out of the decision, making it easier to make a logical decision, helping the ADHD person say no to something that does not fit with his priorities.
When a decision is made, if it must be scheduled on the calendar, it should be done immediately.
Do you have suggestions for coping with ADHD?
Related posts: Helping Your ADHD Child Get Organized
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3 comments:
WOW! It is so good to see something written about ADHD and how our mole hills are mountains on a daily basis. At 48 years old I was just diagnosed with ADHD this past year. I was just glad to finally know that I wasn't crazy. It was so hard to stay focused on one thing at a time I could never get anything accomplished. I did finally figure out that when I would think of things I needed to do, no matter how simple they were, I would make a list and write them down whenever I thought of them. Every day I have my notebook beside my chair and while I have my morning coffee I can look at the things I need to do such as doing a load of laundry, paying a bill, making phone calls, etc. I mark things off my list as I do them but the key element is even if you don't do everything on your list today you can always put it on tomorrow's list. This way you're never overwhelmed by a long list of things to do.
Thanks so much Lori, for your valuable comments! Please feel free to give us your insights as you manage your ADHD!
I suffer from anxiety and it gives me very similar symptoms to ADD. I keep a list of routines in a binder. I look at them every morning and make sure I do them. The last morning routine is to sit down with a planner and map out my day. Before I started this, my mind could be so overwhelmed I wouldn't know where to start and would waste hours procrastinating. Since I started having a morning routine, I remember that I just have to open the binder and do what it tells me to do.
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