That's Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder.
This is how it manifests itself.
I decide to water my flowers in the front garden.
As I go to turn on the hose I look over at my car and decide it needs washing.....So I go to get the car keys from the porch and then notice the mail on the porch table.
I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car.
I put my car keys on the table, put the junk mail in the bin under the table and notice that the bin is full, so I put the bills back on the table and decide to take out the rubbish first....but then I think I can run out to the post-box when I take out the rubbish, so I may as well pay the bills first.
I take my cheque-book off the table and see that there is only one cheque left. My other cheque-book is in the computer desk, so I go inside the house to my desk where I find the can of Coke I had been drinking. I'm going to look for my second cheque-book but first I reckon I'd better push the Coke aside so that I don't accidentally knock it over. I pick it up and as it's getting warm I think I should put it in the fridge to keep it cold.
As I head toward the kitchen with the Coke a vase of flowers on the windowsill catches my eye and I can see they need water. I put the Coke down on the window-ledge and discover my reading-glasses that I've been looking for all morning, so I decide to put them back on the computer desk, but first I'd better water those flowers.
I put the glasses back down on the window sill, fill a container with water and suddenly spot the TV remote. I must have left it on the kitchen table.
I realise that tonight when I go to watch TV I'll be looking for the remote and I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table, so I decide to put it back in the living room where it belongs after I've watered the flowers.
I pour some water on the flowers and manage to spill some on the floor, so I set the remote back on the table, get a towel and wipe up the spilled water. Then I head down the hall, trying to remember what I was planning to do.
At the end of the day:
The flower tubs aren't watered;
The car isn't washed;
The bills aren't paid;
There is a warm can of Coke sitting on the window sill;
The flowers in the vase don't have enough water;
There is still only one cheque in my chequebook;
I can't find the remote;
I can't find my glasses;
I have absolutely NO idea what I did with my car keys;
Then when I try to work out why nothing got done today I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all damned day and I'm really tired.
I know this is a serious problem and I'll try to get some help for it, but first I'll check my email... if I can find my glasses.
Comments
Been there;...
...done that. Gawd, I live there. I'd leave, but I keep finding something else I need to do. I'm there right now and it's 5 bloody 30 in the morning, and I forgot to go to bed.
At Least You Haven't Lost Your Humor with Your Glasses
Fun story, but is there a bit of truth and frustration poking it's head through.
Years ago I had much the same problem. In Stephen Covey terms I spent my day working on those items that weren't very important, but appeared to be urgent, when I should have used the bulk of my time working on things that weren't fires that needed to be put out, but were quite important.
The answer is to make prioritized lists. It might seem strange at first, but it really works. Before you go to bed make a list of what you want to get done the next day. In your case that list probably would have been 1.) Pay the bills, 2.) Water the flowers in the front garden, and 3.) Wash the car.
As you work your way down your list you will note other things to do. Instead of whimsically jumping from task to task you must first write it down and prioritize it against what else you have to do.
There are days I don't make it through my list, because I've added more than what I've taken off, but by sticking to my priorities I, at least, get done the most important items. I might not have gotten to washing the car because a few of the other tasks you noted seemed more important, but I would have paid my bills and watered the flowers on the front lawn.
It is a proven concept that those who spend the most time planning their actions, get the most done. There's a difference between planning and procrastination. There's also the sense of accomplishment when you can cross off an item. At the end of your day your list will refute that feeling that "I didn't get a thing done all day."
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
LMAO
Say no more.
I was wondering how I spent my days. Thanks!
You think you've got problems
In addition to AAADD I've also got BCRSATT syndrome. That's 'Body Clock Runs Slow All The Time'; I don't feel tired until 3am and finally wake at about 10am. It's difficult interacting with other people if they're asleep when you're awake, and vice versa. I think my window of opportunity is perpetually closed. And I've tried thinking outside the box but it's raining, and I keep getting wet.
Sigh! Still, only another 40 years! I'm going to be a right bitch in the nursing home; mood swings, irregular and unpredictable PMS and the sexual appetite of a rampant rabbit! Deep joy.
Susie
A Little Bit of Laurie & Frye
Well my comment on that is-
Oh dear, I left the stove running.
~~~hugs, V.
Well shit, I guess it really CAN happen here..,
.
Chemical solutions
Hi Joanne,
I used to be like that very much. At the time I was very depressed and really couldn't do anything useful on my own. Some of the the tasks I had to hand over to Kim were; paying bills, food shopping, cooking, any other type of shopping alone, letters/email, picking up and cleaning around the house. I might have mowed the yard and done weeding. That period didn't really last that long, maybe six months, then I gradually did more and more.
The last few years, I spend an inordinate amount of time looking for things. My short term memory is so bad that unless I'm really concentrating on an object, as soon as I put something down, it's lost. I have no idea where I put it. If I've been wandering around, I can usually retrace my steps. It's best if I'm working in one place. If I want something I've recently used, I just look around or on the floor, because I couldn't have placed it very far away from me.
I call the ADD being scattered. I've been on antidepressants since '77. I always have a pshrink (not that most of them for the last 15 yrs have been any good). Since I already was taking a few psych meds, I solved the ADD problem by going on ritalin (generic). At present I'm taking 50mg/day. It doesn't wake me up much anymore, I still need some caffeine or other herbal stimulant. The ritalin really does make concentrating much easier.
Hugs and Bright Blessings,
Renee
Hugs and Bright Blessings,
Renee
I Have To Confess
I am not the originator of this little vignette, which is why I posted it as a blog. It's a version of a "joke" that is currently doing the rounds of the internet, but when I read it and recognised so much of what actually happens to me every day I thought I simply had to share it.
It has so much more than a single grain of truth in it for somebody of my age. I mean, who hasn't pushed their glasses up onto the top of their head and then spent hours looking for them? Or wandered into the kitchen holding a cup and then thought "What am I doing here?"
So spare a thought for us oldies. We need every extra one we can get :-)
Joanne
Age has nothing to do with it.
I've been doing this sort of thing for at least 50 years, which means, back in my teens.
It’s not given to anyone to have no regrets; only to decide, through the choices we make, which regrets we’ll have,
David Weber – In Fury Born
Holly
It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice.
Holly