Tuesday, October 25, 2011
So, I was finally fed up with not being able to find anything on my desk. I keep throwing things on it that never leave, and since I have a very small desk area, it doesn't take much in the way of neglect to make it look like this (the bottom part is the keyboard shelf):
And there's also a pi...
For some years I've suspected that I suffer from adult ADHD but I've never read about it before (I'm 53). I just knew. It was funny though to see how someone else with the same issues has the same challenges.
I am a master tidy-upper. Rooms that I've tackled look showroom-clean. That is why on the two occasions that I sold my house in N. America, it sold within four months, because the house would be in a showroom state whenever a potential buyer (with appointment) came to see it.
On the other hand, I am a master mess-maker. I know that this is not good for me. Bad flow of energy in terms of Feng Shui, repels incoming wealth, and so on and makes me lose things. Some years ago I hated having to search for misplaced items so much that I stuck to Feng Shui 100%. I managed it for about a year and then fell off the wagon again. It's just not in me and therefore very hard work.
My mother was well organised and my father a mess-maker. That's my inheritance. I frustrate myself with my constant promises of being tidier and neater, so I think I should stop that, and just make the mess whenever I want to, and twice a year tackle it. That's just a realisation I had after reading your article. Twice a year is better than none. I sometimes invite people over for that purpose - nothing beats having a knife at one's throat.
In my work I am one of those terrible perfectionists. Whatever I do is at least near-perfect (because 'only Allah is perfect' so it's bad to be perfect, LOL - this is just tongue-in-cheek, but it's an expression that has helped me accept minor imperfections in the past).
I am a master proofreader (read: fault finder) and cannot paint a room with anything in it other than the sheets or newspapers to protect the floor, and of course the things to do the job with). I don't really understand these extremes in myself.
I always underestimate how long a task will take me. It is a miracle though, with my issues, that I've almost finished writing a book (started in Aug. 2009). It's been almost 'finished' many times, but I now am really really close, working with two proofreaders.
I think that is what ADHD sufferers may also have in common. Because we are so easily distracted, we take much longer to finish tasks. Hours and hours of hyperfocusing on youtube has certainly not helped me as I was working on my laptop for so long. But... I've discovered a load of wonderful new music.
To each disadvantage, there is an advantage. :)