This swerves way into “ADHD is a superpower” territory which is bullshit.
edit: For example, while I have a lot of these traits, I also can’t remember to put a new trash bag in the trash bin when I take the full bag out to the garage, which is a 1 minute task. Despite reminding myself AS I’m removing the full bag. Twice a week. For years now. Because I will see something in the garage or think of something while doing the mundane task that completely derails my train of thought.
I do similar things when a task has two physically separate locations like taking out the trash.
While walking out with the trash I will repeat constantly “put in new bag” all the way to the garbage and all the way back, otherwise the task doesn’t get completed.
I would be lying if I said I hadn’t done the same thing. “New bag new bag new bag new ba… hey why did I leave that camp chair over there. Man I miss camping. Well trash is done, back to the computer!”
I put a new bag in before I leave the room to avoid that. Not ADHD just a terrible memory. Bag is in plain sight so it’s hard to forget the task between steps.
Not saying this will work for you, but I’ve had some success with convincing my self conscious to do things without me thinking. Then I can shut down the thinking part of my brain for periods of time in between tasks. I’ve done this through meditation since I was a kid. It has helped me to “just know” what needs to be done and I do it.
This implies that neurotypicals manage to remember all that stuff by simply not being conscious most of the time. If you have no train of thought, it can’t be derailed. While I would like to remember things better, the idea of giving up my finite gift of consciousness for much of my life is horrifying. I already spend 8 hours a day comatose. To extend that period of comatose mind-death into the time taken up by every mundane daily task is frightening.
Perhaps the disease of ADHD is simply an excess of consciousness. Perhaps people with ADHD are so disabled because they spend all of their limited time in the coil of life actually living, which is to say thinking. If so, then the thought of giving up my “disorder” in exchange for the morbid zombie-march of the sleeping neurotypicals is not an appealing one.
The simplehuman line of trash cans has a step that keeps the internal trash can liner out of the trash can so you can easily see that you didn’t replace the bag. It’s very helpful for this.
This swerves way into “ADHD is a superpower” territory which is bullshit.
edit: For example, while I have a lot of these traits, I also can’t remember to put a new trash bag in the trash bin when I take the full bag out to the garage, which is a 1 minute task. Despite reminding myself AS I’m removing the full bag. Twice a week. For years now. Because I will see something in the garage or think of something while doing the mundane task that completely derails my train of thought.
I do similar things when a task has two physically separate locations like taking out the trash.
While walking out with the trash I will repeat constantly “put in new bag” all the way to the garbage and all the way back, otherwise the task doesn’t get completed.
I would be lying if I said I hadn’t done the same thing. “New bag new bag new bag new ba… hey why did I leave that camp chair over there. Man I miss camping. Well trash is done, back to the computer!”
I put a new bag in before I leave the room to avoid that. Not ADHD just a terrible memory. Bag is in plain sight so it’s hard to forget the task between steps.
Not saying this will work for you, but I’ve had some success with convincing my self conscious to do things without me thinking. Then I can shut down the thinking part of my brain for periods of time in between tasks. I’ve done this through meditation since I was a kid. It has helped me to “just know” what needs to be done and I do it.
This implies that neurotypicals manage to remember all that stuff by simply not being conscious most of the time. If you have no train of thought, it can’t be derailed. While I would like to remember things better, the idea of giving up my finite gift of consciousness for much of my life is horrifying. I already spend 8 hours a day comatose. To extend that period of comatose mind-death into the time taken up by every mundane daily task is frightening.
Perhaps the disease of ADHD is simply an excess of consciousness. Perhaps people with ADHD are so disabled because they spend all of their limited time in the coil of life actually living, which is to say thinking. If so, then the thought of giving up my “disorder” in exchange for the morbid zombie-march of the sleeping neurotypicals is not an appealing one.
The simplehuman line of trash cans has a step that keeps the internal trash can liner out of the trash can so you can easily see that you didn’t replace the bag. It’s very helpful for this.