r/videos • u/Jtaimelafolie • May 30 '17

This guy's presentation on ADHD is excellent

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JowPOqRmxNs
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u/[deleted] May 30 '17

How can I fix it?

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u/Ycycycyvycb May 30 '17

Clean your room is a good start. Go to the gym.

Once you can keep your immediate enviornment and body in order and keep it from chaos you can move on to control more of your enviornment.

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u/river-wind May 30 '17

Forcing yourself to keep an organized external environment can reflect on your ability to keep an organized internal environment (mental/emotional), and can help reduce the impact of the surprises life will throw at you.

I have found that living in a mess means I can find things when I need them - or at least that's what I would tell myself. In reality I'd find what I was looking for only if I was lucky and it was on top of a pile, otherwise I'd never find it. If I force myself to organize my surroundings, slow my external self down and systematically go through the things one by one to organize them, I have a much better chance later of actually knowing where the thing is. I have to force myself to know when I put something down, because I'm purposefully taking over the action of putting it somewhere on purpose, for a real reason. Not just absentmindedly setting it down and losing track of it for three months.

Similarly, I have found meditation to be invaluable to ordering my internal self, and a lot of that is forcing myself to slow my thoughts down, looking at them one by one. If I just let my mind set them down on its own, I'll forget about them for three months too.

One of the best things I can do for myself is to simply slow down and be more purposeful about what I'm dong. One thing at a time, focusing, and refocusing, and refocusing, and refocusing, and then the room is clean, and all the screwdrivers are actually in the toolbox for when I need them. It takes effort, everyday practice, and a calm mindset - I could let myself be very frustrated at myself for being absent minded, but that doesn't actually help me. Instead, I direct that energy to focusing back on the task itself, instead of all the reasons why I suck as a person for failing to work on the task.

Actually doing it is the trick. It's not just easy, but inevitable that I'll get distracted and not finish organizing. If I got frustrated at myself for ever time I do that, I'd wind up in a ball on the floor. I have to practice being patient with myself, and just go back to organizing as soon as I realize I've lost focus. Speaking of which, I should be doing work right now. No worries; back to it!