Sunday, October 21, 2007

• My Markers Take Me To My Happy Place

  Fine point sharpies, that is.  Yes, I have to admit, I'm a color-coding freak.  Everyone in the house knows not to dare touch Mommy's sharpies.  I need to have my rainbow mug filled with bright colors available at all times.

  Organization is a bear when you have ADD (I know, duh).  You have to figure out what works for you, and that takes trying a whole bunch of things.  What works for one brain doesn't work for another.

  Then, when you finally find what works, you have to be ready for the system to break down.  That's right, get ready to fail, my friend.  And when it happens (not if, ladies and gents, when) you'll need to take a deep breath, cut yourself some slack, and re-implement the system just as soon as you can.  The more quickly you get re-implemented, the less time goes by without any system, which can spell disaster you let things go on too long.

  Here's what works for me.  If you haven't found your system yet, try it!  Maybe you'll like it!
  

  Notebook. To have any hope of getting all that miscellaneous stuff done you need a list.  You know, making that phone call, doing the laundry, making that doctor appointment, hemming your new pants, taking back the library books. . .I could go on.
  

  If you can write it by keywords instead of details, more the better.  In the order you expect to do it, on one page, in large block lettering is grand.  Keep it where you can see it all day long.  And color-code it if that works for you.  Please, please don't try to keep it all in your head.  I swear to you, it will get lost in there, even for as little as twenty seconds.  I kid you not.  When you think of something that needs done, IMMEDIATELY run to your list and jot it down (on the top page if it's going to get done today, on a subsequent page for things that need done but not today).

  Your notebook needs to be spiral-bound, so your notes don't ever get lost.  Do not, under any circumstances, get sticky notes.  Do not even keep them in your house.  You heard me.  I said no. 
  

  Your notebook also needs to be thick.  As many pages as you can find spiral bound.  Why?  Because when it gets filled, it will take you two months to find the time to get the the store to buy another one.  And then you'll get ten things at the store, but forget to actually buy the notebook.  For this reason, your notebook needs to last you a long, long time.
  

  Keep your notebook in the middle of your living space where you can see it all day long.  That way you can get rid of the clutter sitting around your house (because if I put it away, I'll forget to do it!).  Put it away, and write it in your notebook.

  At night, take it to bed with you.  You'll sleep better if you just jot down the things that you need to remember to do, as they come to mind at 1 in the morning.  Otherwise, you'll be up all night thinking about remembering to do it, and you'll forget by morning anyway!

  Red is for my 8-year-old.  Sky blue is for my five-year-old.  My infant has no pressing appointments as yet, but I'm sure he'll get a color, too.

  My husband is teal, if I'm taking both boys together it's purple, and if I'm going by myself it's orange.  Family events are yellow and business appointments and deadlines are blue.

  Food.  Keeping food in the house is always tricky.  You need two things:  1) a master grocery list that you can travel around the kitchen with looking to see if you're out of things.  If you have multiple copies or can print one off in a flash, it will take you about 4 minutes to make your grocery list and get out the door.  If it can possibly be in the order of the aisles in your store, all the better!  That will shave at least 10 minutes off your shopping torture trip.  2) a whiteboard.  It will take your family a little while to get this into their heads, but they will.  If my ADDled family could learn it, yours can too.  Say it with me, "if you didn't write it down, you didn't tell me."  That's right!  "Mom, we're out of peanut butter."  "Put it on the list."  "Mom, can we get X-flavored cereal instead of Y-flavored next time?"  "Sure, write it on the list."  "Mom, I don't see my favorite juice I asked you for in these grocery bags we just brought in!"  "Oh, I'm sorry, it wasn't on the list.  We'll have to wait until next week for that now."  Get the idea?
  

  Scheduling.  Microsoft Outlook is my friend.  Label your calendar entries, and it will color them based on your system.  Then, tell it you want to view your calendar so the time is all blocked out (not merely a list of events with time, but actual days blocked out).  This will help you visually see the hours that pass, the chunk of the day that event takes up, and internalize it.  Sync it to your PDA (and keep three cords handy so you can always charge and sync).  If you hate computers, you can do the same thing with a paper planner and highlighters or sharpies, but be sure to physically block out those hours so you can see that chunk gone from your day.  This helps you be realistic about what you're going to accomplish.

  While you're on Outlook, take a second to set up some heavy-duty email filters and folders.  You really need to get everything that is not immediately urgent out of your inbox before you ever see it.  Otherwise, you'll miss that urgent message from your boss letting you know he needs that budget update before tomorrow's 9 a.m. meeting, as it will be buried in the middle of the 2,634 other emails you received since yesterday.  If it's related to ebay, your kids' school announcements, or your homeschooling, parenting, fly fishing, and church yahoo groups, have it immediately filtered into files you can read through at your leisure.

  While you're at it, tell Outlook to color-code any email that arrives from your boss RED.  (This works for anyone that emails you important stuff:  coworkers, spouses, kids' teachers or coaches. . .you get the idea.)

  Finally, are you using the "notes" second of Outlook?  Seriously, nobody uses this feature!  You know why the notes section rocks?  Because it's searchable.  You can stick any little piece of data in there, and you'll be able to find it later.  Much better than little scraps of paper blowing around your house, car, and purse.  I have everything in there from passwords, the measurements of the windows in our home, what size tire our cars take, what kind of furnace filter and water filter we need, you get the idea.  All synced to the PDA and ready to travel.
  

  Being on time.  Don't try to trick yourself by setting the clock wrong.  It will never work, because you'll just start mentally adding that time back in and telling yourself you have plenty of time.  Use that mental energy instead to build in 30 minutes of time before every appointment.  This is when you start getting ready to go.

  OK, you say, I can't start that early!  What happens if I've got my bag packed, I've mentally gone to where I'm going to make sure I have everything I need, all my stuff is IN THE CAR (not by the door), my shoes are on, my coat is on, the kids are clothed, combed, and shod, the diaper bag is packed, everyone's strapped into carseats, and it's not time to go yet?  I say, WOULD IT BE THE END OF THE WORLD IF YOU WERE 5 MINUTES EARLY??????  Start 30 minutes before you have to leave.  Really.

  Get rid of your digital clocks.  Use clocks with faces, big, easy-to-read ones, one in every room, including the bathroom.  Clocks with faces give you a physical cue that time time passing and so you can internalize that chunk of time that is now gone.
  

  Files.  Spring for the colored folders from Staples.  Plain-vanilla manila is for the neurotypical.  Use the same color system, one color for your kids, one for your whole household, one for you, one for your spouse, you get the idea.  Keep your files in an open-top cabinet or crate.  Do not hide them away where you have to open a drawer to file something.

  When you get mail, open it beside your shredder and file box/crate.  Touch the piece of paper ONCE.  Don't put it down, put it away.  You will either shred it, put it in your "bills to pay" file, file it elsewhere in the file box, write it on your calendar with all pertinent details and THEN shred it, or if you're really going to read it, put it where you read.  In our house, catalogs that someone will read, magazines, newsletters, and other correspondence go -by the reading chair- or -in the bathroom (also known as the other reading chair)-. 
  

  What about that credit card offer?  Shred it.  If you decide tomorrow you need a new credit card, there will be an offer in the mail for one tomorrow.  I guarantee you that.
  

  Invitation?  Write all the pertinent info on your calendar and then shred it.  Right now.  Make two notations if you're going - the date of the event and the date you need to call to RSVP.

  New insurance policy?  If you don't need to act on it, but need to keep it, put it in the file box right now.  In a file.  If you don't have a file marked "insurance" grab a blank one from the back, label it, and now you do!  How long did that take?

  This entire process feels like it's going to take an hour.  In reality, however, it takes about three minutes.  That said, if you do not have time to put every scrap of mail in the proper place (shredder, file box, calendar, or reading corner), leave it in your mailbox.  Don't even touch it until you're ready to put it away.  No, not "just this one time."  Back away from the mail.
  

  Toothbrushes.  Have some upstairs and some downstairs for everyone, and toothpaste, as well.  We don't have a bathroom on our first floor, but who says you can't brush at the kitchen sink?  If I go upstairs or send one of my ADDled kids up to brush teeth, guess who will find ten other things to do and forget to 1) brush teeth and 2) come back downstairs?  Yes, you read me right, I do this as often as my kids.  As an aside. . .guess what colors our toothbrushes are? 
  

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