Adult ADD ll
Adult ADHD ll
Adult ADD/ADHD
Symptoms ll
Treatment
ll Medications (Adderall,
Concerta,
Ritalin,
Strattera) ll
Natural Alternatives ll
Adult ADD Test ll
Diagnosing the ADD Adult ll
Adult ADD and Depression ll
Coping with Adult ADD
Adult ADD Help - Adult ADD Coping Strategy Ideas.
You are an adult with ADD and you need HELP!
Fear not. We have a lengthy list of adult ADD coping strategy
ideas to help the adult ADD get through the day, the week and
beyond. These adult ADD help strategies work very well. Use them
and use them often to help adult ADD symptoms and life in
general.
The Daily Calendar - Coping with Adult
ADD Strategy #1: Living by a daily calendar is crucial for adult
ADD help. Write down each appointment and task that needs to be
accomplished. Write down the important appointments (Doctor
appointment 3 p.m.), the miniscule (Need ketchup and paper
towels) and everything in between. As you complete each task,
check the task off. It is important not only to see what you
have to do but also to see what you have completed. If you don't
complete the task, roll it over to the next day.
The use of highlighters to help adult ADD deserves special
emphasis. Anything on the list that absolutely must be completed
during the day should be highlighted in bright yellow, hot pink,
florescent green or any other attention-getting color that will
make the task jump off the page.
For people who spend the majority of their day in front of the
computer, check out www.google.com/calendar. This tool alone is
responsible for keeping me on task from day to day. I don't know
how I survived without it.
Write it Down - Coping with Adult ADD Strategy #2:
Keep a notepad and pencil beside you at all times - in your car,
at your desk, by your bed, in your purse, your jacket or on the
kitchen counter. The ADD adult is never short of great ideas,
just keeping them in the brain longer enough to retrieve them
later. Write down tasks that need to make their way to the "To
Do" list, random thoughts and brilliant ideas. You can always
edit your notepad notes later.
Live by the Alarm - Coping with Adult ADD Strategy
#3: The adult ADDer is chronically late - late to work, late for
appointments, late to church, late to their nephew's birthday
party. The ADD adult does not particularly enjoy being late. We
simply have a distorted view of time and too many distracting
thoughts bouncing around inside our heads.
To help keep on task with appointments, set the alarm for five
minutes prior to the time you need to leave for an appointment
or meeting and then leave - quickly.
An alarm clock with a "snooze" button also works well for
keeping you on task. While working on a project that requires
sustained concentration, set the alarm. When the alarm goes off,
hit the snooze button and refocus on the task at hand. This
regular reminder will bring you back to task. Continue to hit
the snooze for as long as you need to bring yourself back to the
project at hand.
Structure Your Environment - Coping with Adult ADD
Strategy #4: Structure is the hallmark for coping with ADD. Make
frequent use of lists, Post-It notes, reminders and files.
- Keep your door closed, if possible, to reduce outside
distraction.
- Use headphones to filter outside distractions if you cannot
close your door, or if you are located in an open space.
- Face your desk away from high traffic areas.
- A quiet environment is not always the optimal environment.
Consistent noise, like a fan or soft background music, can
effectively block out other distracting sounds.
- Work on one file at a time, one subject at a time, one task at
a time. Refuse to move to the next task until you complete the
current task.
Eat Well - Coping with Adult ADD Strategy #5: A
growing body of research points to nutrition deficiencies as a
cause of a wide variety of Attention Deficit Disorder and ADHD
symptoms and learning deficiencies. This research consistently
points to amino acids and essential fatty acids specifically as
helping reduce Attention Deficit symptoms. Fatty acids and amino
acids are used to make brain and nerve tissue in the body and
are crucial for proper growth, mental function, the immune
system and brain development. Protein foods are high in amino
acids. Cold-water fish and flax oil are excellent sources of the
beneficial Omega-3 fatty acids.
Exercise Often - Coping with Adult ADD Strategy #6:
A vigorous daily exercise is absolutely one of the best coping
skills for the ADD adult. A regular exercise routine helps to
work off that excess energy and blow off steam in a positive
way. Exercise helps clear the brain clutter and mind chatter.
Aside from the obvious physical health benefits, exercise is
also shown to improve mood, stimulates the neurochemical system
and calm the mind.
Get Adequate Sleep - Coping with Adult ADD Strategy
#7: Although late-nighters and all-nighters are sometimes
unavoidable, many are. Have you ever caught your second wind at
midnight and decided right then and there to go on an all-night
cleaning spree? Sure, the house was in order by 6 a.m. but the
following day was blown to shreds. The best way to keep focused
and on track is to give your brain and body the sleep it needs
to function at its best.
Laugh at Yourself - Coping with Adult ADD Strategy
#8: You turn left instead of right and find yourself hopelessly
lost. You are so engrossed in your thoughts that you trip and
fall face first. You completely space off a dinner engagement.
It happens. You are ADD. Remember?
You can get upset with yourself, call yourself every degrading
name in the book and stew, obsess and ruminate for hours or even
days after. Or, you can treat yourself gently.
So you walked back into the house three times to retrieve
forgotten items before leaving for work. Big deal. Smile, poke a
little fun at yourself and count the three-time trip as part of
your daily exercise. This alone can make the difference between
a good day and a bad.
Anticipate Inevitable Stumblings - Coping with
Adult ADD Strategy #9: A certain percent of projects will
collapse. Not every relationship you enter into will stay
intact. Not every challenge will meet success. This is true for
everyone, and especially true for the adult with ADD. Anticipate
a certain amount of stumbles and accept that these are a natural
part of life. Don't get hung up on perfectionism. It's just not
attainable.
"Chunk" - Coping with Adult ADD Strategy #10: If
faced with a large project, break the project into smaller more
manageable tasks and attach deadlines to the small parts. This
is one of the most powerful coping skills for the ADD adult.
Large task can easily overwhelm the person with ADHD enough to
make them shy away from the entire project. By breaking the
project into smaller, more manageable parts, each component will
feel manageable.
Refuse to "Whirley-Gig" - Coping with Adult ADD
Strategy #11: Have you ever fretted over three small tasks while
an important task burned to the ground? I call this "Whirley-gigging,"
though I doubt we would find this word in the Webster
dictionary. The ADD adult can easily lose perspective when life
gets busy. The typical response is to procrastinate - a hallmark
characteristic of the ADHD adult - on the challenging tasks
while focusing on tasks that can easily be met. We all know this
system is flawed and learning to prioritize is the only way
around the flawed system.
When you feel a "Whirley-Gig" coming on, take a deep breath,
grab your list and highlighter and mark the most critical tasks.
Start working on the first things first and move on down the
list. This will take some discipline but will be worth the
effort. Trust me on this one.
Be Aware - Coping with Adult ADD Strategy #12: Each
of us works best under different conditions. Some need an
absolutely quiet room to focus while others work better while
jamming to an old Aerosmith CD. Some people need to do three
things at once (play Solitaire while tapping their foot while
talking on the phone) to keep focused. Others think best while
out for a morning jog. Let yourself work in whatever conditions
work best for you - no matter how odd the conditions might be.
Me Time - Coping with Adult ADD Strategy #13: A
life crammed only with work and responsibilities is a life
primed for stress. Set aside time each day or, at the very
least, each week, to let go. Take a walk. Take a nap. Read.
Meditate. Doodle. Do nothing at all. Do whatever to recharge
your batteries and cut loose in a safe and positive way.
Related Articles:
The Gifts of ADD
Famous People
With ADD
