ADHD memes

I have so many notes in my notes app, it's hard to find the notes i write down because there's so many. So.....

This is one of the things that smart phones have done for me.

I may not remember I wrote it down, but I will remember where because it's in the notes app on my smart phone.

That being said, this obviously still doesn't really solve anything if I don't even remember there was something to be written down.

And it creates a brand new problem if I do remember because then I get caught up scrolling through notes trying to figure out what they mean, if I still need them, and lamenting that I didn't remember to check notes for these other things back then.

My Notepad++ has 32 tabs open with notes, some I don't even remember what they're for.

One white legal pad next to my desk, one pocket notebook and travel pen in my pocket. Have a thought or idea, write it down. Every Saturday I type all those notes into a running Google doc for the year and then put a check mark next to it on the paper.

I have a doc for every year. I regularly go back and read though them starting with the most current year and working back. If something is completed or used in a project I use the mark through function on that entry so it can still be read in case it could be helpful again but to signify that I've used it.

It's not a perfect system but it's helped me a ton.

This is why I carry a pen and little pocket notebook. And I keep all my pocket stuff in the same place every night before bed. Can't (usually) lose anything that way

Bold of you to assume I thought of having something to take notes on handy when I need to take notes....

Several times in my office notes i write something partially during a meeting, and end up blanking out later on what I meant to finish it with

I have a super power. If I was paying attention and not just in my own head ignoring you as you talk, I can repeat most conversations word for word for up to a day. And I can easily give a detailed summary for up to a month.

Acting on any of these memories is the challenge. The executive disfunction is the crippling part.

That and paying attention in the first place.

That said, I can also remember where I left off when I get distracted. This helps but not much.

Never leave the kitchen while cooking, unless you want to eat charcoal or burn down your house. Especially if your laptop or TV is on, or to check your phone.

Say what you want to remember to yourself 20 times in a row. This pushes it into long-term memory. It helps.

I have dozens of notes in my notes app I forgot existed.

Thank God for Trello. Since I started using it about a year ago, anything I put in there gets done. Also I found out that if you put a Party Popper (🎉) emoji in the title of a list, then whenever you pick up a task and move it to the next stage it blows confetti all over the screen. Yay! pat on the head dopamine 😁 Who's a good boy? I'm a good boy that's who!

You'll see it in a moment of clarity, 2 weeks later when you walk past the whiteboard you bought a few months ago to "finally get your shit together"

Stacks and stacks of notes I'll never reference again.

This morning at work i turned on a water valve to fill a big tub of water that would take 15 minutes to fill. I ran across the room to grab my notebook and pen to remind myself. While running to get the pen i found some of my tools out of place as always and started to arranged them. In those two seconds I forgot the notebook and the water, I arranged the tools and left.

When I come back an hour later the water is overflowing and flooding the room.

This is my life, getting distracted by butterflies and forgetting everything

I'll remember this advice

I also forget to remind myself to write down. Or say, I'll write right up when I finish my task in hand.

Deal with it everyday. It's funny and I hate it.

Here is a good one for you:

I have an app that prompts me to do things every day, like take my meds.

I have to click Yes or No on the prompt to clear it.

Some days, ill take my meds but not clear the prompt.

Then ill see the prompt later that same morning and wonder "Shit... Did I take my meds, or did i forget to clear the prompt....."

I always err on the side of "I took my meds".

I just bought a handle for a set of pans with removable handles because I was 100% sure I had bought the pan and needed the handle. Now I have two panless handles.

This is where Bullet Journaling has had the most impact for me. I write it down and I never forget where because it is always in the same place.

The post it/note/reminder/calendar entry has no power either

If it’s something important and that I need to remember that day, I still write it on the back of my hand. If it’s for later, it goes into my calendar with a reminder a week out, a day out and at time to leave.

I just picked a couple apps. Obsidian is a good one, but you have to want to open it because there's no widgets. So my ideas go there. But I also have an open source app from F-Droid simply called Tasks that has a really sleek homescreen widget.

Now every time I open my phone those unchecked tasks taunt me and I MUST check them off. If I don't because I'm being lazy it starts to eat at me that there's an unchecked overdue task. Must. Do. Dishes.

i set reminders, countdowns, put everything in my calendar, i'd be lost without them

I'm going to write it down but just in a different place this time and I'll abbreviated things and write super fast. It's good though I'm making a mental note that I'm doing things a little different this time but at least I'm writing it down. Has anyone seen my glasses? Shit I really need to get glasses, I don't think I rescheduled that optometry appt. Does anyone else smell bacon. I smell bacon right now.

I use my calendar for things that aren’t events. Easy way to habit stack writing things down without scheduling setting a reminder to remember it later. Scheduling remembering things is great.

my solutions so far
1 set a reminder with notification, especially if it's more than a few days out
2 write on the day to-dos on my wrist, (if i write it on my palm, i forget and wash it off usually)