What Is ADHD
Attention-Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder or ADHD is defined by the CDC as “one of the most common neurodevelopment disorders of childhood. It is usually first diagnosed in childhood and often lasts into adulthood. Children with ADHD may have trouble paying attention, controlling impulsive behaviors (may act without thinking about what the result will be), or be overly active.” So put in layperson’s terms, I bounce off the walls and have trouble focusing on tasks for a long time. I also tend to spend money on wants, not needs, as soon as the money is in my procession.
A Brief Background For My Diagnosis
When I was in school as a child, I was awful. I even had to repeat the first grade because I was so distracted by the class that I failed to focus on the classwork. The teacher mistakenly took my lack of focus as a lack of understanding. The second school I attended for first grade quickly realized my condition and started me on a path that changed my life forever. One day the school resource counselor called my parents into her office and laid out a basic plan to attack my condition.
Apple A Day Keeps The ADHD Away
The first thing that the school counselor learned after watching me for a few days was that my understanding of computers was above that of my peers. The school I attended was part of a district pilot program to try computer classes for every student for two hours a week. While at first, the classes were simple typing and vocabulary games. The school quickly had a small group of us diving headlong into the computer and pushing the performance of these early Apple Macintosh. The counselor encouraged my middle-class parent to buy a computer well above what they could easily afford, but to their credit, they made sacrifices and got a payment plan so I could get a computer at home. After we got the computer, I quickly surpassed my peers that year in my academic studies. Now I will not say that the computer cured the disorder. If it were, I would be praising it, and the title of this post would be something like “Fix ADHD With A Computer.” In my case, the computer was just one tool I had at my disposal. It was not a cure-all. Sometimes it was another distraction in a sea of distractions.
Breaking Up Tasks Into Smaller Chunks.
Computers are great a tasks like typing out a term paper or learning new vocabulary, but I quickly learned that the tool can also be used for fun. Gaming on an Apple Macintosh in the early 90s doesn’t compare to gaming now, but for the time being, it was revolutionary. I remember my first game was Rescue Rangers, where you controlled the chipmunk heroes to save their friends. After discovering the game, I admit that my attention to my studies took a massive hit, and so did my grades. It took the threat that I might lose access to the computer to teach myself something complicated for people with ADHD, self-control. I found that if I mixed my fun time with my work tasks and took, sometimes, more fun breaks than work beaks, I would get things done and could focus on the tasks at hand for more extended periods.
Today this technique is referred to as the Pomodoro Technique. It’s a time management strategy where you focus on a task for about 30 minutes and then take small five-minute breaks. You repeat this process three or four times before you take a more extended break. Seven-year-old me didn’t know what it was called, but this method worked out for me. How I use this technique is simple enough. I set a timer for 30 minutes and work on tasks written on my todo list, and at the end of the 30-minute timer, I go until I lose focus, and then I take a 10 to 15-minute break to play a game or watch a YouTube video, or surf social media. I take a 30-minute break every couple of hours to get something to eat or drink, walk, or run to the store. This change of focus allows me to stay focused on the tasks until they are completed.
More Tool To Stay On Task
Okay, the Apple Macintosh was my first tool for staying on task. As technology evolved and my needs got more demanding, I needed to adapt. I was an early adopter of the PalmPilot and Blackberry. After a few years in the wasteland that was Android, I came home to iPhone with the iPhone 4 and have never looked back. I mostly use all of Apple’s stock programs from Reminders, Notes, Mail, and Calendar, but I also use a few third-party apps. I will cover the individual apps I use in later posts. The point I want to make here is that whether you use Android or iOS, Windows or Mac, first-party apps, or third-party apps, people with ADHD must find a solution that works for them. It’s just another tool in the toolbox, all geared to getting work done.
Won’t That Be Another Distraction
Some of the most counterintuitive tools in my toolbox would sound like they hinder staying productive rather than helping me stay on task. Let me give you a couple of examples.
Music, for one, is a godsend to me getting stuff done. There is nothing like rocking out to tunes and singing along with the music as I write. Many people ask me how to stay focused while bobbing my head to a song or singing along. People with ADHD are often great at multitasking because they use minor distractions like music to stop them from losing all focus on what they are working on. I can be singing along with a song and not even know I’m doing it. In fact, after about the first few minutes of my work session, I tone the music out, and it just keeps the outside world from causing more significant distractions.
The second counterintuitive tool I want to highlight that I use multiple times daily is the Nintendo Switch. When I was a kid, my parents bought me and my brother one GameBoy to share. While we shared it, I got the most out of it. My older brother only saw it as an unnecessary distraction, but that was another tool for me. As I said, the Pomodoro-like technique I adopted as a kid requires me to take breaks or lose focus. I work for my 30-minute session and then take 10 to 15 minutes playing a game, and since the Switch allows you to pause a game and shut down the system, it is excellent for these short sports of fun between work.
In Conclusion
ADHD is a neurodevelopment disorder that has affected me my whole life but doesn’t keep me down. With the help of tools and techniques I learned, I have found a way to remain a successful member of society. Do you have ADHD or ADD? Is there anything you find that helps you manage the balancing act of living with these disorders? If this article helps you or you have tips I didn’t mention here, feel free to Like, Share, and Comment.