Kind of a big topic so I’m not sure where to focus.
A friend of mine has ADHD and we were talking about it. Specifically about why she always has dishes in her sink. She said what happens is she goes to do the dishes. She’ll wash one. Realize it’s the dish she had popcorn in, and she needs to clean the popcorn machine. She puts down the dish, and goes over to the popcorn machine. She goes to unplug it, and realizes the power strip it’s plugged into is kind of shitty. She’s looking up new power strips online, and no dishes are washed.
Contrary, I do my dishes. I wash one. I realize it’s the one I had popcorn in. I note I should clean that, too, later. I wash the next dish. I wash the next dish. I continue until the dishes are clean. I’m thinking about stuff but I’m still on task.
I wash one. I realize it’s the one I had popcorn in. I note I should clean that, too, later.
I think your friend had probably learned that if she just notes to clean it later, she will forget and it’ll never happen. I feel like there’s a sense of urgency you learn to develop, that the longer you wait between thinking of a task and completing the task, the more likely it is that the task will simply never get done, so you wind up jumping from task to task as you think of them.
I hear this exact tendency is why autDHD people are good with homesteading type stuff, or just general outdoor maintenance (not like mechanical stuff but like gardening and stuff)
There’s simply so much to do, and it never really has a completion state, that if you lose focus midway through a task and start another, your ultimate goals are still being furthered.
Kind of a big topic so I’m not sure where to focus.
A friend of mine has ADHD and we were talking about it. Specifically about why she always has dishes in her sink. She said what happens is she goes to do the dishes. She’ll wash one. Realize it’s the dish she had popcorn in, and she needs to clean the popcorn machine. She puts down the dish, and goes over to the popcorn machine. She goes to unplug it, and realizes the power strip it’s plugged into is kind of shitty. She’s looking up new power strips online, and no dishes are washed.
Contrary, I do my dishes. I wash one. I realize it’s the one I had popcorn in. I note I should clean that, too, later. I wash the next dish. I wash the next dish. I continue until the dishes are clean. I’m thinking about stuff but I’m still on task.
I don’t know if her experience is representative.
I think your friend had probably learned that if she just notes to clean it later, she will forget and it’ll never happen. I feel like there’s a sense of urgency you learn to develop, that the longer you wait between thinking of a task and completing the task, the more likely it is that the task will simply never get done, so you wind up jumping from task to task as you think of them.
There’s a good Malcolm in the middle opening where Hal does this.
That is my favorite clip to reference to tell neurotypucals about how my mind works.
Thank goodness meds can help tame it somewhat!
And you seldom realize what you’re doing is wrong. You’re working on things, never finishing anything.
I hear this exact tendency is why autDHD people are good with homesteading type stuff, or just general outdoor maintenance (not like mechanical stuff but like gardening and stuff)
There’s simply so much to do, and it never really has a completion state, that if you lose focus midway through a task and start another, your ultimate goals are still being furthered.
I quit my job (public sector) and I tend for sheep, ducks and plants at home.
It’s mostly OK, but I still forget important stuff like buying feed and such…