Posted by IsoM on October 13, 2002, at 14:39:52
In reply to Some words about the beneifts of A.D.D. coaching » IsoM, posted by leor on October 13, 2002, at 13:17:28
It's not the strategies part I have difficulty with, Leor, but the motivation to stick to something till it's completed. Large projects aren't so bad as they're much more involved & interesting. It's the ordinary, everyday, mundane tasks that need looking after but are so boring to do alone that I find hard.
My profs were quite surprised at the strategies I'd developed over the years (I was in my late 40s when I went back to university). The way you were helped to read - that's how I read anything other than light reading. I didn't have help but it simply came together & seemed the obvious way to handle it. When I studied or was in class, I did it through ears, eyes, & hands. I'd listen as the prof spoke, had my text opened to the appropriate spot, highlighters on hand, & wrote in my notes in the book too. But I'd also be writing in my note book with references to what page in the text book it came from, diagrams, etc & then Harvard styled my notes later at home. Maybe it seemed a lot to do but for me, it was quick & easy & the only way for info to stay with me & let me find what I wanted later.
My organizational skills are actually VERY good but I'm even better at disorganizing things without even being aware I'm doing it. Some one can't just say "pay attention to what your hands are doing" as I've tried & tried. But when I'm busy doing things, my mind racing ahead, I'm totally unaware of what I do with what's in my hands. I will go through motions, not knowing I just did something, because it's something repetitive (putting things away, picking up one thing & dropping another, etc) that my "kinetic memory" does without conscious awareness.
Think of walking. Your kinteic memory has you putting one foot in front of the other, moving about obstacles, going up & down stairs, without having to consciously waste thinking ability on how to walk. I do that with so many things, that when I want to find something later, I can remember where I put it, or even if I had been using something that's very ordinary. Hence, my remarkable ability to disorganize. I can plan out & organize for anyone else with ease as it's not ME that'll be disorganizing for them too.
I'll really try to make myself aware of what's going on & counter it, but as soon as the pace increases or outside distractions increase, zip - all awareness is gone & I didn't even know it left. I've yet to figure out something that will consistently help there. All strategies are short-term & temporary.
And motivation is a BIG problem with mundane tasks. For example, strangely, I'd rather clean the whole kitchen in one fell swoop (even if it took all day) than stack & do dishes as they're dirtied. But with someone about, mundane tasks don't seem so dreary.
I seem to be smack in the centre of left & right brain thinking. Neither is stronger than the other so I didn't find the way schools approached learning to be a problem. Possibly because of my equally strong right brain thinking, it's enabled me to be logical, yet creative, in overcoming most differences in learning styles?
I guess what I'm saying is that it's not so much an ADD coach I need as an ADD pep squad (or just one person) following me about. Guess I wish I could have my own personal secretary to look after valuable, but boring, things.
poster:IsoM
thread:122401
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20021012/msgs/123481.html