Write Lightning is a blog from writer Deb Thompson.
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)
Wed, Jul 22 2009
ADD and me. And you.
Some days I feel almost as though I have ADD. I've never been diagnosed with ADD, but some days there are so many things on the to-do list that I end up giving a little attention to a lot of things, rather than giving a lot of attention to a few things. I rattled off a list of current projects to someone a few weeks ago and watched their eyes widen. They told me that they'd never be able to handle that many things at once and that they were a one-thing-at-a-time kind of person. While this sounds plausible, I caught them about three minutes later talking, planning a trip, eating and watching a man cross a parking lot, all at the same time. I didn't point it out to them because I knew they would have denied it, but they were definitely multi-tasking. It's just that they were doing it quietly and that their processes were showing in more reflective ways, while the multi-tasking I do often involves more physical action.
There are certain things I do not do well with other things. Cooking, for instance. I can't chop vegetables and chew at the same time. I can't pay bills and sing at the same time. My range tends to run to the type of work that involves starting simmering soup, starting a load of laundry, having lunch and catching up on Twitter posts at the same time.
Some days are just fragmented, when tasks build up and I find myself unable to finish any one of them without starting three more. And then I end up staring out the window for twenty minutes and wondering where the time went. I think this must be some form of ADD, though I do not have a medical background and have no medical basis for calling it ADD. Perhaps it's age-related ADD, though I'd been given to think that as one ages tasks became slower and concentration tends to funnel into simpler tasks. This has not happened for me and I have little hope of ever funneling my concentration into a whole day of, for instance, dusting. I mean no disrespect to those of you who deal with, or who have a family member suffering from, diagnosed ADD. I simply think that some of us have it whether we've been told so by a doctor or not. It's a condition we just live with, like broad-set eyes or big feet. There are more of you out there just like me. Just admit it. You'll feel better. And so will I. Now, where was I?
posted at: 12:46 | category: /Playing | link to this entry
Some days I feel almost as though I have ADD. I've never been diagnosed with ADD, but some days there are so many things on the to-do list that I end up giving a little attention to a lot of things, rather than giving a lot of attention to a few things. I rattled off a list of current projects to someone a few weeks ago and watched their eyes widen. They told me that they'd never be able to handle that many things at once and that they were a one-thing-at-a-time kind of person. While this sounds plausible, I caught them about three minutes later talking, planning a trip, eating and watching a man cross a parking lot, all at the same time. I didn't point it out to them because I knew they would have denied it, but they were definitely multi-tasking. It's just that they were doing it quietly and that their processes were showing in more reflective ways, while the multi-tasking I do often involves more physical action.
There are certain things I do not do well with other things. Cooking, for instance. I can't chop vegetables and chew at the same time. I can't pay bills and sing at the same time. My range tends to run to the type of work that involves starting simmering soup, starting a load of laundry, having lunch and catching up on Twitter posts at the same time.
Some days are just fragmented, when tasks build up and I find myself unable to finish any one of them without starting three more. And then I end up staring out the window for twenty minutes and wondering where the time went. I think this must be some form of ADD, though I do not have a medical background and have no medical basis for calling it ADD. Perhaps it's age-related ADD, though I'd been given to think that as one ages tasks became slower and concentration tends to funnel into simpler tasks. This has not happened for me and I have little hope of ever funneling my concentration into a whole day of, for instance, dusting. I mean no disrespect to those of you who deal with, or who have a family member suffering from, diagnosed ADD. I simply think that some of us have it whether we've been told so by a doctor or not. It's a condition we just live with, like broad-set eyes or big feet. There are more of you out there just like me. Just admit it. You'll feel better. And so will I. Now, where was I?
posted at: 12:46 | category: /Playing | link to this entry
