What Has Helped Me with Adult ADD

This is from someone I coached. Thought some of you might find it helpful.

Pete

What Has Helped Me with Adult ADD

Hi,

I don’t know if you have adult ADD or ADHD (I have ADD), but I sure feel for you. I was diagnosed this summer, shortly before I was fired for the second time. Looking back I realize it’s been going on for 10 years. It’s caused huge financial and family turmoil that we’re still working through. I was doing good work on individual projects, but missed I appointments, was late on important documents, and felt mentally cloudy – like I was in a shower with fogged up glass around me. In some ways the worst part was that I never felt that I accomplished enough of the items on my To Do list, and felt panicky and like a failure – even when I was being productive.

The good news: Now that I’ve been diagnosed and taken action, I would say I have my ADD about 80% controlled. At this point I probably fall into the category of “occasionally absent minded” rather than a mess. This means the things I’m really good at stand out rather than being dragged down by glaring mistakes. I’m pretty confident I’ll keep the next job – I feel entirely different, haven’t missed an appointment, project deadline, paid a bill late, or missed freeway off ramps since then.

People get ADD under control in individual ways. I’ll tell you in a bit what worked for me – but you should see it a menu, not a concrete guide to what you should do. Here are the resources I turned to:

• Get an ADD coach + maybe a personal organizer: I like the ADD coach I used very much – he’s low key, with lots of good ideas. He’s in Vancouver but we worked well together over the phone and by email. Here he is – if you use him, tell him I sent you: Pete Quily
• I also used a local professional organizer. She came over and helped me organize my home office – how I should organize my desk and filing cabinets, filing system and so on. Find someone local in the phone book or online. Get someone who has worked with ADD clients
• The nicest thing she said to me was: “You can get organized, and be successful – you just have to do it differently than most people, because the usual organizing tips don’t work for people w ADD”
• ADD-Friendly Ways to Organize Your Life, by Judith Kolberg and Kathleen Nadeau. By far the best book on adult ADD I looked at – in fact I bought it. It’s filled with practical tips on how to get ADD under control; many of the others talk more about ADD as a disability but don’t give you concrete tips on taking action
• Psychiatrist + medication: Find a good psychiatrist who’s familiar with adult ADD. I’m sure my Mom can help you. I got lucky; mine is terrific. There are different meds to use, but he put me on the lowest dose (30 mgs) of Vyvanse, basically it’s like a strong cup of coffee that lasts all day. My mind cleared up amazingly within 2 hours of when I took my first dose. He told me that Vyvanse is somewhat more effective than Ritalin, which is used more commonly – but that’ll be up to your psychiatrist
• Go to: ADDitude Magazine- good site with lots of helpful articles, plus you can sign up for a free online newsletter. Some good stuff on nutrition in there – for example fish oil is supposed to be helpful
• Here’s what I’ve come up with as a system that works pretty well for me. I have to be strict about following these rules – when I don’t, I mess up pretty quickly. It took me several months to really get into these habits. Again, it may not work for you

Steve’s 10 ADD Disciplines

• Ask the right people for help: Not everyone can be helpful to you, but don’t hesitate to reach out to those who can. This is a disability just like a broken arm – no shame in it
• Stop and listen to the quiet voices inside your head – they often tell me when I’m wasting time on something that’s not a priority
• Ask the right people for help: Not everyone can be helpful to you, but don’t hesitate to reach out to those who can. This is a disability just like a broken arm – no shame in it
• Stop and listen to the quiet voices inside your head – they often tell me when I’m wasting time on something that’s not a priority
• Strict AM routine: I’ve developed a routine that I go through every morning: Create a to do list every morning that you look at during the day and check off what’s done. My list is: Look at my calendar – what do I have to do today? Check emails if case there’s something important. Look at yesterday’s Action list, and create a new one for today. Prioritize what important, not just what’s urgent
• A place for everything and everything in its place: For example, when I go out my cell phone is in my right front pocket, my keys are in my left front, and my wallet is in my back left pocket. Same with your home
• OHIO: Only handle it once. Good for emails, bills, and so on. Don’t let things pile up
• Take small bites (I don’t mean food): When I have a big project that looks hard; just do a little piece of it. Fold half of your laundry – you’ll feel better and eventually get stuff done
• Prepare first thing for appointments: If I have a meeting today, even if it’s in the afternoon, I prepare for it first thing in the morning so if things get rushed I’ll still be able to leave on time. I even take a shower and lay my clothes out
• Leave twice as much travel time as you think it will take to get somewhere, and take something to read or do if you’re early. Sometimes you need all that time, and you’ll be more relaxed
• When it’s good enough, stop: I tend to try to make things better and more perfect than they need to be – big waste of time. Only make things really great if they need to be
• Do your best, and forgive yourself when you mess up. Don’t beat yourself up when you make ADD mistakes – it’s going to happen. Figure out when went wrong, and change the system so it won’t happen again

I hope this is helpful. I believe that you CAN control ADD and improve your life. I have.

Best of luck,

Steve

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