My ADHD and How It Affects My Writing and What I'm Doing About It

I did something today that I've never done before. I bought a label maker and made labels to organize my bookmarks. If you are a label-maker type person I envy you.  It doesn't come naturally to me. I really struggle. I found out recently that I have ADHD. I was surprised, but I found that I was already doing something things to manage it.

Lately, my family (my brothers and sisters) talk a lot about ADHD because we've all recently discovered that we all had it. I think it started with one of my siblings actually going to the doctor and getting diagnosed and the rest of us saying, oh, wait. I have that symptom, too. I was talking to one of my brothers about it and he said I was the one who escaped it. I was like, what are you talking about? I can tell you several symptoms off the top of my head. Look at my backlist, it jumps from genre to genre and I haven't finished a complete series yet. ADHD? I think so. Learning I have ADHD has answered a lot of question that have plagued me my whole life like Why can't I keep it together? Why is everyone else more organized than I am? Why do I have such low self-esteem. I wept when I found out there was truly something diagnosable about my life. What a relief! 

So back when I was in elementary school--a thousand years ago--I felt like we knew who the kids with ADHD were. They were the ones who couldn't sit in their seats, talked incessantly, and who defied authority. Those were the kids who had something diagnosable. Not me. Right? Even though one of my English teachers sent me back to "regular" English because I couldn't keep a notebook organized. (That's a story for a different post.)

But I learned that first off, ADHD looks different in girls. And that hyper kid that couldn't sit in his seat and listen probably had other issues he was dealing with, as well.

It wasn't until I went to a Writing Gals conference and one of the presentations was on ADHD. I was flabbergasted. This fellow author had talked about things I struggled with too. I shed a tear and realized I had already found many management strategies. I still hate spreadsheets though.

First ADHD runs in families. I don't know if I learned it from my mom and dad and all my siblings, but my teachers were constantly saying, slow down, take more time. Yes, I got a C in handwriting. My brain went too fast for my hands, which is why I prefer tying which I can do almost as fast as I think. How does this affect my writing? I rush things. I type fast and often miss typos. I remember in grade school being called sloppy by my teachers. But the problem was, I didn't know how to fix sloppy. How does one fix sloppy? Well, nowadays, I hire an editor. I try to slow down, but it's hard. My brain is going 1000 miles per hour. 

Second, organization. I.CANNOT.DO.IT. I try. So very hard to be organized. Learning how to write a story required a lot of growth in learning how to think of a story in sequence. That was really hard for me. Having ADHD is like being able to see all of it all at once. My brain doesn't work with flat spreadsheets. I want it to be in 3D or something. Like reading Isaiah--it's like looking at a tapestry of the history and future of the world. (I wonder if he had ADHD, too.)  I used to berate myself for my messy backpack, my disorganized desk, my unkept house. 

Being organized is super important if you're running a business. One of my managing skills is to keep a calendar and a list of To-Dos right on my bed so I see them in the morning, remember and can focus on my tasks. These days, unless I'm under a fair amount of stress, I can stay on top of tasks and appointments. Organizing objects is coming. Dejunking and getting rid of things I don't need helps. 

Third, organizing time and tasks. As mentioned above, I sleep with a calendar and a to-do list. It's actually a book where I write this weeks to-dos. I have one notebook for work and one for my personal life. Some lists contain goals, some appointments, some things I things I need to do around the house--chores. By working from my hand-written list, I can actually see what I've done and what's next. Yes this blog post was actually on my list.

Fourth, keep a schedule. I try really hard to keep a routine. The sad thing is, I bore easily with routine. So I keep it an unstructured routine. Every morning I get up and read my scriptures. This is important meditation and prayer time for me. I give my God the first bit of my day so I don't forget later. I go for a 2 mile walk. It's too hot to go for 4 unless I get up really early. Then I come home, eat breakfast and workout the rest of my muscles with an online subscription. I used to go to the gym when I needed babysitting, but I find getting in the car and driving somewhere another hurdle I can't get over. Then I shower and sit down to write. If I'm recording audio, I'll do that after the shower. I take a nap every day. I know this is a huge luxury. And I am so thankful that I can work from home. The nap is usually 20 minutes.

I write again or work on marketing--social media planning, or research.

I'm learning to be more organized. I am learning to be kinder to myself. I'm learning how to set routines, and have some managing skills. I'm learning to be patient with my work, with myself, with others. I'm learning that having ADHD is a super power if I can focus on the positives like creativity and spontaneity. I'm learning. I will get there, I promise.