3 ADHD Epiphanies I Almost Forgot About

The worst thing about ADHD epiphanies is that they are wonderful in the moment, but do we remember to follow through with them? I mean, it's all well and good to decide "Hey! People like me better when I don't knock them over," but have you stopped doing it? I can come up with 17 startlingly innovative ADHD epiphanies a week, but do I do anything about them?

Earlier this week I wrote:

How hard do you work to overcome your ADHD, and could you do more? Sometimes we resign ourselves to the way things are. We grow accustomed to dysfunction and carry it about on our necks instead of working around it…Maybe there are some areas in my life where ADHD is a being treated like a wall instead of the hurdle that it is. How about you?

I decided that I do indeed rethink my life all the time, especially in regards to bad ADHD habits, but then I realized I don't often revisit the rethinking. So today I'm going to give you a report card of sorts.

My ADHD Epiphanies Seem to Be Working for Me

Distraction? Check✔

A few eons ago I wrote 5 ADHD Reasons Why I Never Get Anything Done and came up with a nifty idea. Since I was always stressing over how little I was accomplishing on my ToDo lists because I was constantly distracted, why not add my number one activity to the list and give it a check every day? So I tried it.

I use a program that creates recurring ToDo items. Every day "Get Distracted" is there in my list awaiting my loving attention. Some days, I check it off wryly with a wink. Other days, I glare at it, knowing it was a large portion of my day. Most days, however, I just laugh. Get distracted? You bet! ✔

Over all, I find it a funny, stress relieving item to occupy a slot on my list. The best moment for me is when I have to prioritize it with the other items.

"Hmm, 'Get Distracted'. Should that get high or low priority today?"

Fat Boy Follies

When I wrote about 4 Ways to Stop ADHD Overeating, I thought I was so clever. Then, that very weekend, I broke rule No. 3. The potato chips were on sale and well, the kids would be needing snacks and WHAT WAS I THINKING?! Alas, I wasn't.

Three bags of chips. I can't even remember what they tasted like. Actually, that's not quite true. The Salt & Vinegar kettle-boiled chips were like tart crinkley wafers of snarky goodness. Each bite was a zing of pleasure. I didn't eat them as much as I absorbed them with my face. And therein lies the lesson, kiddies. Don't buy snacks you have a weakness for. Lesson learned and not repeated.

News Addiction Conviction

Last month I wrote about taking hard measures with RSS junkies in Curbing Your ADHD Info Addiction. I cannot believe how helpful that exercise was for me. By taking time to prioritize my news reading into folders of varying importance, I have completely changed my reading habits. If you recall, I used the following categories to organize my news feeds:

• Vital
• Brain Food
• Eggnoggin
• Slops

I almost never go into "Slops" and only occasionally dip into "Eggnoggin". Asking myself: "Do I have time for this?" has been transformative because usually, the answer is an honest "no".

This new way of thinking of news has even changed how I peruse other sites, such as The Drudge Report. Now I don't option-click on each link, thereby I avoid creating several thousand loading tabs each morning before I get to work. (It's true. I'm a tab junkie. I should join a support group, unless you don't think that 25+ open tabs in my browser is excessive.)

As you can see, I was mostly successful. I challenge you to look over your ADHD goals and see which ones need retooling and which are needing new commitment. Only by reevaluating our progress can we help our hapless brains move forward. Good luck!