As longtime readers will know, I have ADHD, and as such, I can’t for the life of me focus only on one task for very long. I write and read as part of my job as a professional writer. I wood carve, fish, and play video games as a hobby. I repair old game systems for a side gig. All these tasks require my attention and focus. That is something a person with ADHD struggles with all the time. Enter my multi-hat process. The old joke is that a person with multiple jobs is said to wear many hats. I took that literally. Each task I have that requires a skill set, I have a hat. When I write, I tend to wear my writing hat. When I’m working in the shop or carving, I wear my woodcarving hat. It’s not mandatory for me to switch hats, but it is one way that I have a constant reminder of what mindset I should be thinking in. It might sound stupid to some without ADHD, but those that us that suffer from the condition learn early on that we need to develop tools and skills that will help us stay focused on the task at hand. The hats are my way of doing that. So when someone says I’m a man of many hats, they don’t know how true that statement is.
What odd or unusual ways do you manage ADHD or distraction in general?
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