ADHD Attention

It is no secret that the mental health services in the Uk are shocking, to say the least, but on top of this, it has knock-on effects on other services that some people may not think about. In my case, I have joined the long wait list for adults with ADHD who are looking to get help or support. 

School is often a struggle for ADHD. Not because we're dumb or lazy, but because forced learning isn't interesting. The more forced something is, the less motivated I am. When I was in college, I struggled to sit for 5 minutes and even look at homework or projects. Yet during the same time, I got interested in using grey water in residential construction and checked out 3 books from the library. I completely read all three and took notes the whole time. Self-motivation is key for me to learn anything. 

  The first one I will work on will be my browser bookmarks. Not because I planned to work in this order, but because I randomly just got motivated to do it. When you get a motivation wave, you gotta ride it! This is part of Goal 2: Organising and Simplifying programmes and apps and files.

One thing I've always struggled with is staying present and away from electronics. It's not just me being young and growing up with computers. My ADHD also plays into this. 

You're terrible at multitasking! If you were born around the turn of the century, this is likely a phrase you've heard before. Some will just criticize your ability, some will say you need to focus on one task at a time and give 100% to it until it's done. But the conclusion, either way, is my generation and after cannot multitask effectively. Back in their day, they loaded the wagon with hay while reciting french poetry from memory that they would use in the essay they were writing between hay bales. All this in the snow with the wagon uphill both ways, of course.

 Rather a point away from graduation. Today I tell a story that is really hard for me. Often those of us living with ADHD are fairly smart as far as academics go but struggle with executive functions, social cues, and all the things that make life move. For the most part in grade school, most learn to cope/mask and get by making ok enough grades to pass. 

So you're watching your favourite fantasy series about dragons or magic or whatever, and you're really into it. You're immersed fully and the world around you has faded out of existence. Then at the bottom of the mountain marches in a... banner ad for the new show coming next. 

OK, I've got 10 things to do today, so to help keep myself organized I'm gonna make a to-do list, the defacto advice for ADHD issues by people who don't realize what they are asking.  1. 2. ...10. Ok all written out. 

 So if you're into technology, you've likely heard by now of QUANTUM COMPUTING. Ohh Ahh! It's fast and amazing, and bordering theoretical for most people. But if you're not sure beyond that, the gist is that normal computers work with Binary code, 0's and 1's. Each bit of info is an on or off signal. 

I'm not sure if this is the ADHD or just my personality, but I'm very self-aware. I know my strengths and weaknesses intimately, and with my propensity to overthink everything I am very critical of myself. I had one or two things I wanted to pick today for a topic and as I was exploring them, I noticed a contradiction I made in earlier posts and I started overthinking it to its logical conclusion. So what did I say?

 Anyone who read that with a tune, you now have an idea how old I am. Kudos for getting the reference. But today I really will be talking about buckets. Buckets and cups. So we have our physical energy keeping us moving, but mental energy is also a gigantic factor in our ability to do anything.

I will go into executive function more specifically in a later post, but today I want to address one of the aspects of attention and effort that the 'normal' people of the world seem to have the most trouble getting in my experience. You see when most people do something, anything really, they just DO IT.