Where's my paper?
Now where's my pen?
What was i going to write again? Oh yeah, I remember.
What was i doing before? Oh right, the email.
What was I about to say in this email? I can't remember.
Why is this paper here?
Instructions unclear I started doodling
what are all these oter notes? wait are these last years tax forms? did i file my taxes?!
Mood, coming from someone who needs to make salt shaking motions while walking around looking for the salt or else I would forget what I was looking for 😭 I have to do this for lots of things, miming their purpose with my hand while looking for them so I don't forget.
This might solve one problem, but the real issue is that there are thousands of problems.
It’s not that notes don’t help, but they don’t solve the real problem. A shelter good for a single drop of rain isn’t useless, but that’s not the storm that troubles me.
Why is this paper here? Oh well
Typical, unhelpful, ableist advice from well-meaning but ultimately useless and irritating NTs.
Does anything actually help, though? I feel like there's no amount of "tricks" that would equal even half the benefit of getting the right prescription.
Yes, I'll surely remember to have a pen and paper ready to use before I start writing. /s
Yeah my desk is COVERED in post-its and notepads. It’s how I keep up with things. Plus all the notes in my phone that I write and forget exist (hence the paper notes in my face). But I love when my notes are just two words and I’m left scratching my head later like… wtf does that mean?
Last time I moved my keyboard there were so many notes...
I moved it looking for my pen to make a note
Paper is gone now
But I'm not looking for it
Because I forgot
Why is this paper
Telling me to "call Kevin"?
And when was "next week"?
That next week was three years ago!
This is why I use the calendar in my phone instead. And set it to provide at least 5 reminders because I'm guaranteed to swipe away the first three notifications.
It might work, if I remembered to do it in the moment, but I probably wouldn't.
then return to the email
Bold of you to assume I'll remember the email after writing this down.
Basically an inbox of Getting Things Done.
Yeah, I have several of those. Shit, I should take a look into the last one, it's been years since I last sorted it.
Not to mention if you have multiple identities (e.g. private and work-related but still private) that are related but should be separated.
A mess to keep that organized...
It's fun to set up at the start, though.
Never really got further, though.
I do this sometimes, though usually through a slack message to myself with a reminder for work things. For home, I will write it down or maybe throw an appointment in my calendar with a reminder.
In writing it down my brain files the task as "complete" and the paper becomes clutter with a hasty scribble on it I can barely decipher.
I set up my PC, so I have a single shortcut that opens up my editor with a notes file that I can just type into.
I always marvel when I see folks using OneNote or whatever, which takes like 10 seconds to boot, then you have to select a category/folder to create the note in, and I believe, you even have to give the note a name, all before you can start typing your thoughts. Just how does that work for you?
Not at all, but the idea is still sound. I need everything electronically because I will lose anything paper in seconds.
At work I always have a block of paper next to me, a pen I enjoy writing with. It works a treat for me. It also helps my brain from becoming overwhelmed with a lot of fractured things to remember.
I tend to just remember what I need to do. The only adhd symptom I have is intense procrastination/struggling to force myself to start working. It's 1 AM and I'm only 1/2 through a paper due tomorrow.
Having a way to quickly take a voice notes without interrupting your flow too much is a game changer.
I'm experimenting with that, but in the end I have just another folder with notes I stop looking at after a while.
You need to treat it like an inbox that you clear out. If you already have this habit for email, like I do, then it becomes pretty easy if you just email them to yourself (or have a script that does)
This has big "Depressed person: Have you tried going outside more?" vibes.
I have so many to-do lists, post its, whiteboards and notebooks around me and not a clue what's on them anymore.
Write it down and it fades to the background.
Oh I find notes years later and "oh right I forgot about that". I do infact forget about it as soon as I write it down. Including the existence of the note in the first place
it's called swap memory and it makes the maximum stack bigger. very effective for me.
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