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“Do I have A.D.D.?” Tips on organizing to increase your focus

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We’ve all been there.

We start an activity—any activity—folding clothes, washing the car, writing a paper, preparing tax information, and then, out of nowhere, our focus simply abandons us. But why? Are some of us just predispositioned to distraction? Is it a chemical problem, like ADHD? Or can we simply organize our lives to focus better? Umm…what was I saying? Oh, yes! We CAN organize for focus. Hooray!

The Buttoned Up team got the chance to speak with Harvard Medical School neuropsychologist Dr. Jerome Schultz who agreed to answer our questions. After a lengthy and fascinating discussion about ADHD in both children and adults (more info on the topic can be found in his book Nowhere to Hide: Why Kids with ADHD and LD Hate School and What We Can Do About It, we came to the conclusion that people are a little bit too liberal with the “A.D.D.” (ADHD) label.

In the words of Dr. Schultz, “ADHD is a clearly diagnosable neuro-biological disorder, which is characterized by developmentally inappropriate impulsivity and inattention and occurs in about 4.4% of adults.” So, rather than “having “ADHD,” the majority of the distracted masses are simply failing to organize life in a way that promotes and maximizes our ability to focus.

So how does one organize life in a way that promotes rather than diminishes focus? Dr. Schultz kindly shared some tips with us. We were surprised at how simple they were.

The brain is an organ

Duh. But do you ever really think about it as one? The brain is an organ that controls focus, thinking, and pretty much literally everything else that you do or feel. Everything. But just like all of our other organs, to function properly and efficiently it requires some very basic things: sleep, exercise, hydration, and a healthy diet. Surprised? We didn’t think so.

Somewhere the message gets lost in translation. If you are having trouble focusing ask yourself if you’re treating it as one: Have I eaten today? Did I sleep well last night? When was the last time I exercised? Am I eating in a way that promotes or diminishes focus? If the answer to any of these questions is no (with most of us, at least one will be) then perhaps it’s time to organize your life in an effort to focus better. Write down one of the things that you can be doing better—whether it be going to sleep before midnight, exercising daily, eating five fruits a day, or drinking more water— and then, for at least a week, make sure to include that thing in your life. If you still have a problem focusing, then give it some more time. If nothing is working and you are as fit as a fiddle, then perhaps there is another agent of distraction in your life.

Stress is stressful

Even with a healthy lifestyle, sometimes stress can leave us unfocused. But Dr. Schultz gave us one of his techniques to aid focus under stress.

Talk down bad stress.
Dr. Schultz distinguished between bad as good stress. Good stress is normal, and it gets us ready to take on life, but bad stress simply hinders us. Schultz characterizes bad stress, as stress that comes with a sense of despondency—stress in response to something we cannot control—or something that we at least feel is out of our control. But there is a solution.

You can talk yourself down from this stress, literally. Tell yourself that it won’t be easy, but that you can still do it. Use inner language to guide your thoughts, and employ methods to get through whatever it is that it causing this bad stress. The key is in believing that you can get through this situation.

Seek help. Maybe you do have ADHD

If you’re living a healthy lifestyle, and managing your stress effectively but still can’t seem to focus. Make an appointment with a doctor to find out. It can’t hurt.

Simple recap
1. You Probably Don’t Have ADHD
2. To focus better: Eat well, sleep well, stay hydrated, and exercise
3. Bad Stress Takes Away Your Ability to focus, so pat yourself on the back and tell yourself that everything will be alright; up until now you’ve dealt with whatever situation life has thrown at you, this won’t be any different.
4. If you really feel that you have ADHD, seek professional attention. Even if your diagnosis is incorrect, a physician may have specific answers to your problem focusing.

How do you stay focused when you find yourself constantly distracted? Please comment below.

Posted by GuestBlogger on Jul 10, 2012 print article e-mail to a friend

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000706113984 Heather Brown Henderson

One very important factor in a healthy brain diet is fats. So many of us are eating a lower fat diet and it’s causing us to lose focus. Healthy fats include those found in nuts and seeds, fish, and avocados.
SarahButtonedUp

Interesting “food for thought,” Heather! Thanks for sharing.
Philof

I found it very useful! In fact I did two other tasks while reading this short article. I think my recent lack of exercise has now shown its true cost! I can see my to-do list needs to be revived as well! Thanks go the article, it certainly will get me back to focusing and consistent!
Becky

I actually did not like this article AT ALL, which is surprising, given that I do enjoy most of the articles on this site. It was rather flippant of ADHD, as if it is something that only “developmentally delayed” people have. That kind of thinking went out with educated people in the 1990′s, and I’m saddened to see it still going on–and being published on a blog to boot. Yes, true ADHD is rare. But for those of us who do have it, hearing things like “oh, just sleep and exercise more” is like a slap in the face. The line “make an appointment with a doctor. It’s can’t hurt” is disgusting, frankly. It implies that because someone cannot organize their thoughts or actions, it’s a disability and that one can simply take a pill for that. In case you don’t actually know an adult with true ADHD, (which I suspect you do not, since you were so callous in this article) let me clue you in to something. Taking a daily pill is not a magic bullet. I have been on medication since college for my ADHD. It HELPS, but it certainly doesn’t magically change anything.

The implication that one’s biggest challenge with ADHD is that he/she is disorganized is ridiculous. That is the least of my problems when dealing with my ADHD, lady, and coming to a blog about planning and organizing, only to be told that my diagnosis is my problem is like telling someone who has a child with ASD that their child would be wonderfully perfect if only he didn’t have ASD. Duh. We know. We don’t need MORE people pointing out how disorganized we are. It’s already lorded over most of us as it is.

ADHD is not a stigma any longer. I suggest you get your head out of your butt and stop writing articles about things you know NOTHING about. Living with ADHD and a spouse with ADHD is the biggest challenge I have ever faced. How about some tips on how to organize instead of why you think people with a real disorder are somehow less worthy of an organized life or that we should just sleep and exercise more.
SarahButtonedUp

@25cf644beed0af581adc94ebe7132dfc:disqus – I am very sorry that you heard those kinds of judgements coming through in this post. It absolutely, positively was NOT the intent. The actual intent was to say “please stop doing this” to all of the people who have NOT been diagnosed with this disorder and who casually throw around the phrase, “Oh I have ADD!” as an excuse. The article was expressly written for people who do NOT have ADD or ADHD.
Appy

I have ADD, and it is extremely helpful for me to organize and use to do lists to make sure that I stay on track and do what I need to get done. I will not lie, however there are days where even with my medication, my brain will refuse to complete anything… I just use those days now to relax and reflect, then conquer what needed to be done the next day.
SarahButtonedUp

@a8fa5cdea8ab3834fb3863aecc15431c:disqus – wise of you to accept where your brain is on those “non-cooperative” days and relax and reflect. We probably ALL could use more time for reflection and synthesis. Thanks for sharing.

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