Coping with My A.D.H.D Traits

NOTE: I have never formally been diagnosed with A.D.H.D. However I possess many of the same traits that are associated with A.D.H.D.

When I knew I would be planning to move my family out of my parents house and into an apartment, there are things I knew I needed to overcome once and for all. The biggest thing, which seemed to trigger most of my anxiety and life issues, were my symptoms or traits of A.D.H.D. My traits affect a variety of things in my life from home to work and everything in between. Managing these may be hard, but I knew it had to happen by taking it one day at a time.

Staying on Task = Making list

My main focus in this was always making sure I didn’t get distracted when cleaning. Anyone who has known me, knows I am one of the messiest people ever. My mind can never focus on cleaning or organizing. I will start to clean something and get distracted or lose focus. So how do I make sure to stay on task? Making a list!!! Or, if you’re like me… TONS OF LISTS!! I make a list… to make a list. If I don’t write every little thing down, I get easily distracted.

Also in this, every little thing I do is a task. That is the way my brain thinks. Halfway through the list, I redo it. That may sound extreme, but if some of the tasks blended together in some way, rethinking is going to help so much. There is also a point where something I wrote down may not have been as important as I thought.

Setting timers helps create more time

Sometimes setting a timer will help me stay on task or help my mind. My mind works in organized chaos. Maybe I have to organize a shelf for 5 minutes and then go to something else to refocus my mind or help me come back to it with fresh eyes. I honestly also get bored very easily. So I may have to force myself to stick to something for more than a few minutes.

Just “DO” it!

This is the hardest part for me. Just doing what needs to be done without making excuses. This means I am actually making myself do what I need to do. Setting timers would be useful here as well, because if you can't find the focus and time, then you can at least set a timer, watch a few videos on your phone and once that 10 minutes is up, do what you need. Set another timer. I have found that 5-10 mins for each task helps keep me on track.

MOVE YOUR BODY!

This might sound weird to some, but my mind has been able to focus much more when I am active. It’s almost like I am too tired to let my mind think too much. Which is extremely amazing in my case. The increase in exercise and movement allows me to not get as worn out when I am doing my daily tasks and keeping on top of things.

Protein has become my Best friend

Making sure I am getting some sort of protein in also helps make sure my energy stays up. I don’t feel weak or worn out and my brain loves protein. It helps me concentrate on the tasks at hand. It also helps me stay full so my mind isn’t focused on eating.

8D Music makes me happy!

8D Music, is Eight, dimensional music. The way I describe it, is it is like listening to a concert in your head. Listening to this music when my ADHD is extremely bad, has seemed to really help. Since my mind likes to go to 5 million places at once, 8D music seems to allow my mind to go to all those places. So I can once again focus on whatever task I need to do. My mind and brain get to go to several different pockets and do not bother eachother at all. Thank goodness!

As of tomorrow, I will have been in my new apartment for a month. My apartment is clean, which I have NEVER been able to say. My room, bathroom.. Everything is clean. My dishes are getting done, my laundry is getting done and I am even scrubbing the toilet. I owe all this to trying to control my A.D.H.D. traits and making sure not to fall back into old habits. I no longer live like a hoarder, due to A.D.H.D. Paralysis or my mind being in a million places.