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Here are some tips
to enjoy. Print them
out and share with
your family,
neighbors, friends,
church members,
relatives and others
who have ADD or
would benefit by
learning more about
the disorder.
Daily Living ADD
Tips
1. Often the most
obvious is
overlooked. If you
or someone you
know suspects ADD
or ADHD, seek help.
Ignorance is NOT
always bliss! (cont.)
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2. Seek treatment solutions that work best for YOU. And support those others choose for themselves.
3. Continue your education about ADD/ADHD. Research continues daily. Keep up with the latest research, books, treatments; check out new workshops in your area, delve into new online resources, etc. Information can mean healing power.
4. Think: long-term and don’t be afraid of change. Since there is no cure for ADD, always be open and willing to try to modifying behaviors and managing other symptoms with revised aids. For example, get on a mailing list for Franklin Covey planning products. If your budget, circumstances and time allow, experiment with computerized organizational and planning tools, sync them with print versions. Remember Aesop’s, “Slow and steady wins the race.”
5. Network. Subscribe to healthcare association publications. Attend meetings and other events in your area. Meet people, compare coping strategies, learn about new products and services out there to help, make new friends, have fun. Don’t let ADD keep you down and out. Get involved and be supportive of others, too.
6. Identify any money-handling areas and get help. Ask your banker to help teach you how to balance your checkbook, reduce your credit card debt, create a monthly budget and save a little. Times change, expenses change, how to handle money changes. So what you may have learned in your early years, may be different today. Savings accounts sure earn a lot less interest, for example. So there may be alternative methods offering better benefits for you. Multiple credit cards can mess you up, so only use one. And online bill paying may help you set up automated, regular payments so that your bills get paid on time every month from now on. So do a little research online and at your local banks to see what you can find; what helpful tips, products and services are available.
7. Keep a To-Do or Wish List going just for FUN things! If you just focus on work priorities, you may eventually get caught up in life’s daily grind and get depressed (feeling like you’re getting nowhere). So start a list and jot down things you’d like to do, rewards you’d like to strive for, people you’d like to have fun with, places you’d like to go, etc. And make them happen! Work one into your schedule every week, for example. By planning, you WILL work these goodies in and find more enjoyment in life. Another rewarding aspect of this is that during difficult days, you’ll have good things to look forward to and can maybe even jump start a good mood by selecting one that fits into your plans and budget that day, like a bike ride to the park with a friend.
8. Develop your sense of humor. Learn to laugh at your own self, your own mistakes, and lighten up. Add some humor into your day, a half-hour sitcom, a humorous radio show during your commute, the Sunday and daily comics. Remember that old saying, “Laughter is the best medicine?” Time to laugh! Prescribe some for yourself.
Coping With Holiday & Seasonal Stress
Here are some tips on how to better handle holiday and seasonal stress. They are listed in no particular order of importance.
1. Instead of focusing on what other people are doing and trying to fit in with their lifestyles, traditions, celebration planning, focus on what works best for your family and you. For example, some people go into detailed planning, making elaborate menus of home cooked foods that could take days to shop for and prepare. Others need to wait until the absolute last minute to seek out and put to use their special decorations, treats, gifts, etc. Do what makes YOU comfortable. Do it in spurts, if you like. Plan ahead and go out when there is less traffic, less people at restaurants, in line, at stores.
2. During late fall and (all) winter seasons with less sunlight, plan ahead. Purchase bulbs from the thrift store with higher wattage (like 75- or 100-watts) and replace them in lamps that can take higher voltage. Keep extras on hand, too. This is the time of year when bulbs decide to go out, too, because of more use than normal.
3. Seek out help. No need to be Superman or Wonder Woman. Ask family members or roommates to chip in and help around the house a little more than normal. Check around for local helpers by posting notices on supermarket and other store bulletin boards, call and mail letters to high school and college guidance counseling departments to see about hiring students. Ask friends, neighbors, church members, etc. for referrals. Reach out!
4. Build flex time into your schedule. In other words, try not to be rigid with ordinary, day-to-day tasks and ones that pop up unexpectedly. When possible, to allow for extra time during holiday rushes, seasonal weather messes, etc. Leave a little earlier, allow time to shop, work, play more. Have “free” spaces for doing absolutely nothing if you want!
5. Keep an emergency “healthcare” list ready. Just in case you need a little extra help handling ADD symptoms that could flare-up too high, have a list of “help” numbers handy on the refrigerator with a magnet. List your healthcare provider, any local health centers that might host workshops for stress management, an ADD coach, helpful ADD (and other) websites, forums and chat rooms, etc.
6. Communicate. Let your fellow housemates know about certain stressors or other triggers that come up and ask to work out solutions. For example, say your dishwasher breaks down when guests are over for the weekend and costly repairs aren’t in the budget. Setup a schedule so that everyone pitches in daily to keep dishes caught up, so you’re not left without plates and cups one day, and your sinks are free to use.
7. Try to stick to your normal routine, even if you’re at someone else’s home visiting. Sure, you can allow for flexibility, but remember to take any meds you may have, stick to healthy foods and don’t overdo caffeine products, get plenty of rest, have some alone time if you need it, don’t overdo it, etc.
8. Be creative. Tap into your energy and don’t be afraid to have fun with your family, co-workers, friends and neighbors. Join in a dessert fest and bring a couple dozen cookies, make your own gifts.
9. Save wear and tear on the car, money, patience and time driving around. Purchase gifts, food, whatever you can over the phone and online. Many places offer free shipping and online discounts, coupons and other savings programs. Plan ahead and check around.
10. Just say, “No,” when you need to, say, “No.” Don’t let people, especially relatives, push your buttons. It’s OK if they may not know or understand what ADD is all about. YOU know. And you know your limits, at least pretty much of the time. Most people understand the meaning of “stress” so you can tell them you need to be cautious of this and take care of yourself. And do it! You are your own best friend.
How to Setup and Use Organizer & Filing Systems
Organizing and planning are normal parts of everyday life. Why be organized?
• So you can spend less time looking for things, more time ENJOYING things and being more productive.
• So you can stop feeling anxious and overwhelmed when you can’t find something and feel overjoyed instead at knowing exactly where your possessions are!
• So you can get more accomplished and earn more money.
• So you can lighten stress levels resulting from wasted “searching” for things, from being late, unprepared, harried – angry. And instead reap benefits from improved relationships at home, at work, at social function.
But what happens in the world of ADD is this. There are normal cognitive (or brain) functions that control learning and behavioral activities; the top three of these functions are working memory (or the maintaining of information that was just seen or heard), sense of time and organization. People who have ADD often have trouble dealing with these three functions. The results? Lack of good, solid planning and time management skills, often hurting their job, home and social responsibilities.
There are a few basic steps for setting up and using organizer and filing systems to help people with ADD. These are only general guidelines and can be adjusted to suit individual needs. Seek help from a trusted friend, educator or other person who uses successful planning strategy, or check with professional organizational companies. |
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Planners – Planning systems can help people calm down and focus more on real-time, day-to-day activities. They need to be used for short-term and long-term planning. Look over options available in your price ranges at planning departments and stores like Day-Timers and Franklin Covey, and online. There are print planners and planner software for computers and handheld computers. And check with the local librarian and search online for books, forms and other resources that may be available for creating our own planner pages on your computer or word processor. Pencil and paper work fine, too.
Many planners have instructions to help guide you through setting up a system. (If you are using pencil and paper, find a library book or guide to help you). Choose the calendar pages you’d like: some planners offer variations, like choosing between daily, weekly or monthly planning sheets. To begin, daily sheets are a good choice so that you have plenty of room to jot down information. Monthly sheets only offer small-boxed areas the size of a calendar for writing down information, whereas daily pages offer one full page per day, usually sectioned off in hourly segments to log your meetings, classes, work and other functions. Fill out any contact information page in case you misplace your planner, then fill in any resource contacts you’d like in the back (like phone numbers for relatives, clients, doctors, etc.).
To-Do Lists – Work with your ADD or helping coach to create To-Do lists. Keep it simple and start with the top three priorities each day. Add to the list as needed. Then for up to 15 minutes a day, spend time transferring these tasks to your calendar pages and prioritizing them, so you have a strategy for handling each day. Use colored markers and stickers to help and make planning fun. For example, highlight top the three top priority To-Do’s each day in RED. Less important items that don’t necessarily need completed that day could be highlighted in YELLOW.
Alarm Systems – To coordinate your schedule, be pro-active. Use an alarm clock and plan on enough time to get up to get ready for work or school. For meetings, appointments and other timed functions throughout the day, get or learn how to set your watch alarm or cell phone alarm (on vibrate mode, if sound will disrupt a class or something). Don’t leave timing to chance and guessing. Take charge!
Filing and Management Systems – While organizing, you’ll run across all sorts of items you’ll want to keep for later reference and use, like brochures, letters, instructions, account information, etc., in print or hard copy format and online via email and other computer- and online-generated format. So learn to create and maintain real world and computerized filing systems. Get coaching here, too, from someone you know and trust who successfully maintains his or her own systems regularly. And refer to your books and other resources about your computer model and on home filing systems. For starters, you can set up a box with manila folders for hard copy materials. And create simple folders under “My Files” on your computer to save electronic data.
Organizational Management Strategy – Keep everything in ONE planner. And take your planner around with you throughout the day. There is software out there that syncs handheld and print planners. So find out what your needs and budget are and make sure to keep only ONE planner system going. Make it a habit to log everything in there and use it DAILY. Spend at least 15 minutes a day in quiet, reviewing and planning for the next day. Then at the beginning of the next day, take at least 5 quick minutes to glance at your whole day of plans to make sure of your plan of action for that 24-hour period.
Check off items as they are completed each day. And reward yourself! It doesn’t have to be a monetary reward, either. Enjoy some extra time listening to your favorite music, cooking your favorite meal or spending time with your best friend as a reward.
What works and what doesn’t? Take notes. Did you miss a meeting? Why - -was your cell phone alarm not set properly? Or did you forget to log it maybe? Mistakes can and will happen. No one is perfect. So accept errors, forgive yourself and move on. Prepare better next time.
Carry blank pages in your planner for taking notes. Jot down ideas for improvement – maybe you’re trying to do too much in one day? Maybe you’re misjudging the time it takes to get back and forth to work? Maybe you have your priorities mixed up? Something happens to everyone at one time or another. Stop and take a second to have a look see. Remember, “Slow and steady wins the race!”
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