My ADHD mind is constantly spitting out information and reminders. Don’t forget to call Jack because you have to find out if the birthday party is happening. If it’s not, you should read that Oliver Sacks book you’ve been wanting to dive into and if you’re going to do that, you should get some snacks, maybe some tea, but not all carb-y because you need to work out more and. . . .
On and on my mind churns out things like that. When that happens I bust out my notebook and on a page I’ll write: Call Jack, Oliver Sacks book, workout tomorrow, get some snacks.
The ADHD voice cuts out because I no longer need a reminder. My ADHD is the kid in the backseat on a road trip: “Are we there yet?! Can we get there?! How long?!” Once I let my ADHD know that I’m not going to forget, that it’s eventually going to get done, it quiets.
Sure I could put this information in my phone, but I find that using the phone tends to bog me down and disconnect me, but I do use it for other tasks.
I think ADHD is one reason I started to forget to do things again. I stopped using my notebook and started using my iPhone and iPad more -- to create to do lists etc. I think I need to do both. But I want to start with pencil and paper. It just feels more natural to me and the author of the article is right. Once I write it down, my mind knows that I’m not going to forget, and it gets a lot less noisy up there.
