*Note - I forgot to say that I lifted this from an email I got today. This is not actually me, but it could be...
This was referred to as AAADD-Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder. I am sad to say this has nothing to do with age. This is how my brain actually works. And explains why I get nothing accomplished.
AAADD - KNOW THE SYMPTOMS ... PLEASE READ!
(Thank goodness there's a name for this disorder. Somehow I feel better, even though I have it!)
This is how it manifests:
I decide to water my garden.
As I turn on the hose in the driveway, I look over at my car and decide it needs washing.
As I start toward the garage, I notice mail on the porch table that I brought up from the mail box earlier.
I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car.
I lay my car keys on the table, put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table, and notice that the can is full.
So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the garbage first.
But then I think, since I'm going to be near the mailbox when I take out the garbage anyway, I may as well pay the bills first.
I take my check book off the table, and see that there is only one check left.
My extra checks are in my desk in the study, so I go inside the house to my desk where I find the can of Coke I'd been drinking.
I'm going to look for my checks, but first I need to push the Coke aside so that I don't accidentally knock it over.
The Coke is getting warm, and I decide to put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.
As I head toward the kitchen with the Coke, a vase of flowers on the counter catches my eye - they need water.
I put the Coke on the counter and discover my reading glasses that I've been searching for all morning.
I decide I better put them back on my desk, but first I'm going to water the flowers.
I set the glasses back down on the counter, fill a container with water and suddenly spot the TV remote someone left it on the kitchen table.
I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV, I'll be looking for the remote, but I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table,
so I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs.
But first I'll water the flowers.
I pour some water in the flowers, but quite a bit of it spills on the floor.
So, I set the remote back on the table, get some towels and wipe up the spill.
Then, I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.
At the end of the day:
The car isn't washed,
The bills aren't paid,
There is a warm can of Coke sitting on the counter,
The flowers don't have enough water,
There is still only 1 check in my check book,
I can't find the remote,
I can't find my glasses,
And I don't remember what I did with the car keys.
Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today,
I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all day,
And I'm really tired.
I realize this is a serious problem,
And I'll try to get some help for it,
But first I'll check my e-mail ...
Gone by Lisa McMann
16 years ago


4 comments:
Check your personal emails, someone sent you one and you never responded...I'm a bizzel, sorry!
YES, YES, and HELL YES!!!
At 38 y.o. I was diagnosed with ADD for the first time at the beginning of this year. I had a lifetime of days like you described in your post.
The final straw wasn't job loss, or the end of a relationship; it wasn't even having another key made for the front-door (because I lost the first three).
No, the breaking point came when I asked the Swede for the 1000th time if the can of soda/beer/glass of water on the counter was hers or mine...it was always mine, but how could I be expected to remember taking it from the fridge, opening it, then drinking some, a whole 3-5 minutes later.
That's a damn lifetime.
Okay, I posted something for you, too long for a comment so I was forced to actually post. Yes, you read that correctly. Don't expect much for another, oh, 3 months from now. But I am trying!
LOL, I told you - "Resistance is futile, you will be assimilated."
A little update or venting once in a while is good.
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