The Queen of distraction by Terry Matlen, MSW

It’s subtitled How Women with ADHD can conquer Chaos, Find Focus, and Get More Done.

She’s got a Masters in Social work and is a psychologist as well. Her book is written in a tone of self-help and suggestions of actions that people who are chronically late for appointments and have poor executive skills can help manage their life better.

Some of the suggestions are too far gone for me to believe that ANYONE with ADHD would follow. Like having 3 bulletin boards? With color coding? Nope, not from this gal anyhow.

But some of her suggestions are valid, like the watch one, or the clock alarm setting. To remind your brain that you have an appointment in a half-hour. To jog your memory and help you stay on track. Her other ideas of just jotting down a log of what you actually do in a day and how much time it takes can be very helpful I can see. See what time you are wasting and what really doesn’t take as long as you think it does.

Executive functioning is key to our survival and thinking. It’s basically the control panel of your brain. It involves figuring out how to get from Step A to B to C to D. It’s the train that stays on the rails getting us to our final destination.

It involves

  • planning
  • strategizing
  • organizing
  • goal setting
  • paying attention to important details.

According to Dr. Russell Barkley adults with ADHD typically

  • become easily distracted by stimuli
  • find it hard to stop behaviors and activities that are engaging and of interest to them
  • impulsively make decisions
  • don’t follow directions carefully when starting a project
  • often don’t follow through on promises or commitments
  • have trouble doing things in proper sequence
  • speed while driving
  • find it hard to enjoy quiet leisure activities

All of which I’ve exhibited examples of in my life up to this point.

Anyhow, worth checking out this book indeed, if you suspect you have ADHD or know you do.

Got some books about ADHD

I know I’ve got ADHD and am on medication for it. I got a few books on the subject. One is called Order from Chaos by Jaclyn Paul. It’s asking you to find your why? Why do you want to get organized? What is prompting you. She says that only when we have a greater urgency and purpose in mind will the want and the will to clean up the mess exist. External pressures and prods won’t do it in the long run.

Another book I got is “Organizing solutions for people with ADHD” by Susan C. Pinsky. She’s a professional organizer with a specialty in helping ADHD clients make order in their homes. She talks with a much more stern tone in her book how things have to be simple and tailored to short attention span people. She goes over the subject with a broad touch at the beginning, Then the second half of the book is organized into different rooms and areas that present their own challenges in organizing effectively.

I’ll report back if I find either of those helpful to me in my quest to organize my house.

Perfection is the enemy of good enough when it comes to organization of your home. It doesn’t have to be perfect. It does have to be good enough to cope.