I've stumbled across a few ADHD memes in the past few weeks, and it made me wonder if perhaps I have ADHD. Some of the things they were describing seemed all to familiar, and I had little to know real knowledge of ADHD and its symptoms. I got to work reading more about it and what it means to live with it.
Having done so I believe that I am closer to the "less ADHD" end than the other end of the spectrum. I don't find myself being crippled by the symptoms, but they do affect me and my day to day. Now do I need a formal diagnosis now? I don't think I do. Having an understanding of the symptoms and the cause means I can adjust my approaches and day to day living to accomodate and compensate as needed. Things that I've identified so far are:
- Difficult to maintain concentration in conversations
- Misplacing or losing things because I put it down without remmebering where
- Going from hobby to hobby (I always wondered how people stay so focussed on a single hobby)
- Getting distracted from one task by another
- Unfinished projects and difficulty finishing (Just ask my wife about this)
- Fidgeting and trouble being still (not terrible, just bouncing leg and wiggling feet)
- Hyper focussed when doing something I find interesting
- Changing thoughts/topic etc in my head quickly from one thing to another
To name a few. What's good is that I now know that I am prone to these things and can keep a lookout for when they happen and try and steer myself away from it. Obviously this doesn't always work. I have also started planning my days now, so that I allocate times for specific tasks. This makes a huge difference. Days where I forget to plan my day, I just go from one task to the next, doing whatever pops into my head. Planning helps me dedicate a time to do some mindfulness meditation (which also helps), exercise, and general chores, and most importantly the tasks I need to do at work.
It's obviously not without its issues as anyone with kids will tell you: Not everything goes according to plan. Sometimes things come up during a specific period I have blocked out that I cannot ignore. Then I need to reshuffle the timetable a bit. As I said, it's not affecting me in a big deterimental way, and with some effort I can deal with it, but it doesn't always work. I do occasionally find myself back in the old "doing whatever pops into my head and forgetting everything else" mode if I am not careful.
There's still a lot to learn about and adjustments to be made, but I'll try to keep a side journal here
If you are interested in the books I have been reading they are:
ADHD is Awesome By Penn and Kim Holderness
The Adult ADHD Tool Kit (non affiliate Amazon link) By Russell Ramsay