[geeks] RE: [rescue] OT: ADD - MOVING to geeks

[R. Lonstein]

On Mon, Jul 08, 2002 at 12:50:12PM -0700, Fogg, James wrote:
> This is the normal operating mode for an ADD'er. We are
> mono-focused at best, or completely unfocused and all over
> the map at any moment.

That sounds familiar. While I wouldn't describe myself as being an ADD
adult (my wife might...), I was called a "hyperactive" child with the
typical middling grades and high test scores. My mother, a teacher,
refused to put me on the usual drugs and gave me coffee for its inverse
effect. I do a sort of daily self-medication with caffeinated beverages
to maintain the right balance. I can focus for long periods of time
when something interests me (usually code or puzzles) but prefer to
change focus frequently since I quickly get bored when I'm not juggling
a dozen things.

Regular sleeping hours are hard to maintain because just as I relax I
get floods of ideas and some will catch my attention and I'll want to
pursue them. I've taken up a fairly hard schedule, do regular exercise,
stop working on things a least an hour before bed and try light
meditation while going to sleep to try and regulate.

Sound familiar to anyone else?

> It happens because I rapidly (instantly really) follow a
> splinter of the conversation out to its logical conclusion
> in my mind and that will fire some new line of thought. I
    [snip]

This sounds familiar, too.

    [snip]
> carefull not to disrupt anybody's line of thought.
>
> Another hallmark of the ADD'er is a lack of short-term
> memory for anything uninteresting to them.
    [snip]

And this is familiar, too.

I may need to reclassify myself. :)

- Ross