A Day in the Life of an Adult Living with ADHD – forever NIJ


A day in the life of an adult living with ADHD – forever NIJ

ADHD:

Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder or ADHD is a Mental Health disorder affecting 6% of adults in the United States. Though it’s mostly common among children, adults too are affected by the disorder. I am one of those adults living with ADHD. I have been living with the disease all my life but as an adult, it can be quite difficult since more responsibilities are part of adult life. Additionally, I have insomnia and generalized anxiety disorder. I for one, have to live every day making sure that I am on track and don’t become sidetracked.

A typical day in my life begins around the same time 3:30 a.m. I wake up even earlier sometimes. Being an insomniac can do that sometimes. If I get 4-5 hours of sleep, then that is a very good day. I get ready and check my google calendar to check if I need to take care of something before leaving for work. Google calendar is my best friend. It keeps me on track. If I need to take something to work, it’s in the google calendar. I leave for work before 4:30 am because the roads are more empty during that time. Driving can be very difficult with ADHD. My mind cannot go to la-la land while driving. I make sure to keep my sit upright so that I don’t take too comfortable. I don’t turn on the radio and my both hands are on the wheel. Most of all, my eyes are on the road all the time at all times. I keep talking to myself to keep me alert. I make sure I don’t go over the speed limit. It was hard in the beginning but I know it has become a part of my life. If I have a passenger with me, that person’s job would be to help me stay alert and not get distracted.

When I am at work I have a list with priorities for that day, things to be done, and deadlines for projects. Additionally, I don’t have any other unnecessary browsers open, because before I know it one extra browser becomes 10 extra browsers. Hence, I don’t open any extra browser. My list keeps organized and on track which does not easy for me. My work is important to me and making careless mistakes is not acceptable. Looking through the list and double and triple-checking my works helps. I also take 5 minutes at work to do a guided meditation. Meditation not only helps me to be mindful but also keeps me grounded and be in the present, an important skill to have for someone whose mind often drifts into la-la land. I don’t need to have too much interaction, especially now, which is a blessing in disguise because it can be so exhausting to interact with others and try my best every moment to make sure I don’t speak out of turn or interrupt a conversation. My current communications are mostly in writing, which helps me take a deep breath and keep my thoughts focused and organized.

When I go home, the first thing I do includes at least another 5 minutes of guided meditation. That helps me unwind and relax after stressful days. Face it, trying to keep my interaction professional and working constantly to make sure that my life does not get out of control, is so stressful and exhausting. Guided meditation after work helps me unwind. Moreover, it allows me to have compassion and love for myself. It helps me to recognize my extreme emotions without any judgment and move on. Thanks to guided meditation, now I am more compassionate towards myself than ever before. I only watch the weather in the news because, in the current state of affairs, all other stories are very distracting and exhausting. I have Alexa give me the most important headlines of the day. This is I can be informed about the important news of the day, and fill any gap if needed. I even have a calendar reminder to set aside some times every day for my blog and other social media sites.

Nevertheless, after an exhausting weekend, I leave the weekend to my ADHD run free. This is the time when drifting to la-la land is encouraged not condoned. I called that side my creative side that does not abide by any rules or routine. This can a great tool for painting, and that is how I outlet my free spirit. Without that, I would suffocate and break down. The phrase, “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” is true in my life. Thanks to the weekend, I have dedicated times when I am free and can be just me. I roam free full, and not care about any disorganization, and clutter. Everything I do during the two days at the end of the week is to keep my free spirit be free and full of creativity. I may not complete every project I take on, but I know that if nothing, my freedom-loving self is satisfied and will keep me moving. As my favorite poet, Robert Frost said, “And miles to go before I sleep. And miles to go before I sleep.”

In conclusion, ADHD may be a hard mental health diagnosis to live with as an adult, but having that diagnosis has helped me to have more compassion and forgiveness towards me in my life. Additionally, letting my free spirit to roam free, allows me to be more productive at work and be the true and strong version. ADHD is part of me and it helped me to be aware of myself more. It has opened up my creative side and let it roam free, full of compassion and mindful awareness. I may fail at being society’s definition of being normal, but who I am is more open to keeping my creative side free and being able to live life with mindful awareness.

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ADHD: The 7 Things That Helped Me Address the Big Elephant In The Room – To Cope


adhd

Growing up, I always got sidetracked with my mind wondering into la la land, leading to anxiety and panic attacks. However, as I grew into an adult, the issues affected my life and relationships. I often am in meetings when I would find myself doodling on my notebook 📓 instead of writing relevant information. As a public health analyst. I find myself finding it hard to focus on the task at hand instead of wondering into oblivion. Moreover, often I have impulse issues go on shopping spree only to realize how much I have spent and go into a panic mode. My home is a mess and I keep loosing stuff into the clutter.

Yes my lovelies! I am an adult living with ADHD/ADD or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. My life can be a huge mess sometimes, specially when I am stressed, but I have learned some tricks to keep myself into check. I do have relapses but I have learned to keep it at a minimum. I will share those tricks with you. As an adult living with ADHD I often experience the following symptoms:

  1. I am often fidgety and find myself to be impatient and being a Type A person. 
  2. I often end the person’s sentences, or interrupt in the middle.
  3. Impulsiveness
  4. Poor planning
  5. Being incoherence when writing even though I may have great ideas.
  6. Problem prioritizing
  7. Extreme emotions
  8. Lose or misplace items.
  9. Being forgetful all the time. 

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    My beautiful lovelies! My life has not been easy living with ADHD as I also have to deal with generalized anxiety disorder. These two mutually connected issues have affected my life, career, finances, and relationships. People living with ADHD often lives with co-occuring  mental health disorders, such as anxiety disorders, depression, mood disorders. For the longest time I was afraid of addressing the elephant in the room and it affect my mind. However, once I have learned to ask for help I have learned through trials and errors to keep myself from getting sidetracked.

    Interaction with Mental Awareness

    My dear lovelies! Interactions have not only helped me from getting sidetracked but have also helped me with my relationships. As I mentioned earlier, during meetings I often find myself doodling and loosing focus. Hence, instead of shying away, I ask questions not only to clarify but also reassure my focus and attention. I try to take deep breath to bring be back to the present and became aware of social cues. As a result, when having a conversation I repeat the statement made by my friends and loved ones so that I can ensure that I have paid attention to the conversation but also let the other person know that I have listened.

    Writing Down Everything

    One thing I have have learned that because of my ADHD, if I don’t write down everything I often get distracted and my mind will just forget it. I am talking about meetings, deadlines, paying bills, and organizing my finances. I have a task list for work and personal life. I have found that very helpful in keeping me on track. Staying on top of things don’t come easily to me. Hence, I have learned to deal with it my writing it down. Not only have I found it helpful, it has also been a crucial vehicle to help me have some control in my life. It has always been heard for me to stay focused and daily task list along with Google calendar have helped me deal with that. Moreover, physically writing things down makes me take responsibility for that action and help me stay organized. You can find the template that I use to keep me on track to prioritize, have compassion and even follow a routine that works for me. Even when I go on vacation I have a list of things I need to accomplish and have a more complete and satisfying experience. You can buy the template below for $0.50.

    Automatically Put Marketing Emails in Spam Folder

    My lovelies! As I have mentioned before, not only I easily get sidetracked, and also have impulse issues. This had put me in financial trouble easily, such as spending outside my means. I tend to go on shopping spree when under stress and forget to think about the consequences. Hence, I have set up to automatically unsubscribe from retail and marketing emails and send them to the spam folder. This way I am already eliminating the temptation. It is like removing the small sub stories from the bottom of the news so that I don’t get sidetracked. Furthermore, meditation has allowed me to often take a deep breath before every action to bring be back to the present and keep my impulse under control.

    Labels and Organization

    As part of my ADHD I tend to forget things easily and get cluttered mentality and physically. Heck, I will forget my head if it was not attached to my body. As a result, I keep everything labeled and organized, not because I have obsessive compulsive disorder, but also to ensure that I always know where things are. Otherwise, it piles up and let things get lost in the clutter. Even the apps my phone are in labeled folders so that I can easily find them. 

    Don’t Leave Anything for Tomorrow

    My lovelies! This is a great skills to have because tomorrow is the future and it’s uncertain. Hence, I try not to leave anything for tomorrow. If I have to take care of something. whether paying bills but keep things in place right away. If I leave anything for tomorrow, I’ll either forget about or deal with aggravated symptoms and anxiety due to procrastination.

    Training My Brain 🧠 

    Doing mind exercises, such a soduku, mind games, puzzles, word games, and cross words puzzle have not only train my mind to stay focused but also keep my brain sharp. Through this exercises, I keep the synapses in my brain keep fired up and keep my brain sharp. Just as our bodies need exercise 💪 to keep them lubricated, the brain/mind exercises keep my mind sharp.

    My dear lovelies! These seven things not only have made easy for me not to get sidetracked but also control my impulses and stay organized. If you think you have the symptoms of ADHD don’t diagnose it yourself but let a trained professional help you diagnose it. There are things from the list that may be helpful and some may not work. You have to find what works for you. I have learned the above skills by admitting that I need help and then seek help through trained professional and through family and social support. If you are honest with yourself and your loved ones then you are already in the right track.

    My dear lovelies! I would love to hear about your experience and what has/hasn’t worked for you. We are all unique individuals and admitting and being compassionate with ourselves will help us get the support we need. I hope you enjoyed reading this and much as I have enjoyed writing it.


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