First, I wanted to share a video that lightens up the discussion on Attention Deficit Disorder. This video was produced by Pantless Knights:
Second, I wanted to talk about something that’s been bugging me. It’s on my mind a lot and I don’t really open up and share it with people. Consider yourself gifted, because you’ll be one step closer to understanding me.
I frequently think about if I have ADD. In many parts of my life, I am distracted from one project to another, leaving many opportunities unfinished. When I write professional blog posts, it can take from minutes (if I’ve been thinking about it for a while beforehand), to a several hours if I am “live-blogging” my thoughts into an entry. I work 2-4x harder on things than other people in my space because I become easily distracted to other external stimuli.
Be it, people… music…videos…tweets… status updates… etc. I frequently jump from one thing to the next with what I term, wreckless abandon.
Recently, I’ve been trying out a possible chemical/pharmaceutical solution. It’s called Provigil. As a Schedule-IV drug, it’s just a notch above Codeine but a notch less than Ketamine in terms of DEA and FDA regulation (Controlled Substances Act). It’s been written up on TechCrunch, and it’s been endorsed by a few people I know that have regularly struggled with being focused on … well, let’s just say life. Unlike it’s counterpart, Adderall, Provigil is not an amphetamine, that leaves your heartbeat pulsing higher than normal and additional twitching.
(I’ve tried a couple doses of Adderall a few years ago, for recreational use. Interesting, I don’t see how that addresses ADD, it felt like it induced it.)
I don’t trust that a pharmaceutical solution is what I need though. Somehow, I feel it’s just a band-aid for a gunshot wound. There has to be something deeper within me that causes me to lose focus so frequently. I can’t quite nail it down, but I plan to seek professional advice on it. Even then, I know how much of a racket and for-profit nature that doctors are engaged in these days, so I will have to question their every prescription they write. Trust me, they did a number on my mom.
Ultimately, I feel behaviors can be changed and adapted. I also see that various influences can aid in that transition. In many ways my agility and tolerance in going from issue to issue, audience to audience, and artistic to strategic is a gift that I can only embrace. Equally, as such this gift can be harnessed in negative ways if I let it.
Anyhow, only wanted to share a bit of a personal challenge, a problem, and likely — an opportunity– that I’m working towards.
{ 4 comments }
You're story sounds very familiar.
At 12 doctors “tried” to diagnose me with “Anxiety Disorder” and prescribed me a drug called Paxil. Now, at 12 I was no genius (In fact, I was in “Special-ed” classes with other kids who constantly complained about how drugs like Paxil made them feel.) Even still, in my little logical mind could not understand how a pill could change something in my head. In my opinion, things like anxiety disorder and depression are a result of a weak mindset. Anyway, I never took one single pill, I continued to have terrible anxiety attacks through high school but they got fewer and further between as I got mentally stronger. Now 25, I have been able to control my “Anxiety Disorder” for years. I don't even believe I still have it but some doc “diagnosed” me with it so I must still have it right?
I watched doctors kill my mother by prescribing and diagnosing for years. At one point they had her on 3 different pain killers, morphine, methadone, and percasets at the same time. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking medicine. I just know that there are way too many doctors giving people a pill for “disorders” the patient has complete control of. I know that there is a lot we can control in our own mind as long as we have the tools and the education. I'd recommend going to a seminar (like Tony Robbins) or picking up a book before picking up a pill bottle. Your mind is a lot stronger than you might think.
I think this challenge of focus is a normal result of the fact that geeks like us are doing more, and have more information now to consume than ever before. As long as we are aware that we have this challenge, we can begin to catch ourselves more often and improve. One thing that I have started doing to help stay focused is standing at my desk for 50 minutes at a time with breaks in between. I borrowed this for IM genius Eban Pagan who converted his entire office to standing workstations. At a recent tour through Zappos HQ I also notices a lot of the techies and programmers were using standing workstations also. I shot a video a few months ago for my standing office here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWY4H9gdwe4
All in all, I'm with you Joe “behaviors can be changed and adapted.” This was a great post and i think more people could benefit by this way of thinking.
Keep it up!
Brandon
Thanks, Brandon for the thoughtful and poignant comments. I think at a young age, the physiology of the body and mind are still developing. Perhaps with the medical guidance, it helps the body develop in a way that worked out better for you. Happy to hear on your recovery!
For what it's worth, my mom has been on a number of medications in recent years. I am unforgiving for how doctors are typically ignorant to behaviors/choices patients actively or inactively make and slang drugs for the pharmaceutical industry. That said, we've made progress on her situation.
I never knew about the standing office/desk thing that you shared. Very cool. I'll have to spend a weekend and try that in my apartment. I notice that when I'm standing, I am more task-focused than strategy-focused … which is gift in the right doses.
Thanks again for commenting. It's nice to see that some people can identify with how I feel and what's going on.
~Joe
Joe,
You are not alone in your difficulty focusing. In my consulting practice, I use a behavioral assessment tool called PDP which identifies and quantifies a trait called Kinetic Energy. Kinetic Energy is like an individual's battery pack. Those with high levels of Kinetic Energy are naturally multi-taskers, are easily distracted, and are able to take on extra activities without being drained. Those with low levels of Kinetic Energy are naturally able to focus on a single task, complete it, and then move on to the next activity.
As someone with high Kinetic Energy, I can relate to your concern about having A.D.D. However, I am not interested in diagnosing or treating this as a medical condition. I consider it to be one of my strengths, and I prefer to focus on the positive aspects of this trait. Like any behavioral trait, it is neither good or bad. In most circumstances, this trait, like your other natural talents, is a strength you can use to accomplish your goals.
On occasion, we do need to manage our behaviors, though. Here are some tips I can give you for managing your difficulty in focusing. First, consider your physical environment. If you work in an office with cubicles, consider it might not be in your best interest to sit in a high traffic area, such as the end of a row. It may be too hard to resist the temptation to check out everyone who is walking by. Sitting by windows creates the same challenge, as it is all too easy to check out the view, rather than focus on our work.
Second, reduce the automatically generated distractions. Turn off the notifications you have set for when email or text messages arrive, for example. When you are focusing on a task, eliminate unnecessary browser tabs. Most importantly, when you notice yourself being distracted, ask yourself what the most important thing is to accomplish at that moment.
Having high energy can be a challenge for me (and for those attempting to follow my random conversations), but I appreciate my ability to take on all the activities that interest me.
Regards,
Ted
Joe,
You are not alone in your difficulty focusing. In my consulting practice, I use a behavioral assessment tool called PDP which identifies and quantifies a trait called Kinetic Energy. Kinetic Energy is like an individual's battery pack. Those with high levels of Kinetic Energy are naturally multi-taskers, are easily distracted, and are able to take on extra activities without being drained. Those with low levels of Kinetic Energy are naturally able to focus on a single task, complete it, and then move on to the next activity.
As someone with high Kinetic Energy, I can relate to your concern about having A.D.D. However, I am not interested in diagnosing or treating this as a medical condition. I consider it to be one of my strengths, and I prefer to focus on the positive aspects of this trait. Like any behavioral trait, it is neither good or bad. In most circumstances, this trait, like your other natural talents, is a strength you can use to accomplish your goals.
On occasion, we do need to manage our behaviors, though. Here are some tips I can give you for managing your difficulty in focusing. First, consider your physical environment. If you work in an office with cubicles, consider it might not be in your best interest to sit in a high traffic area, such as the end of a row. It may be too hard to resist the temptation to check out everyone who is walking by. Sitting by windows creates the same challenge, as it is all too easy to check out the view, rather than focus on our work.
Second, reduce the automatically generated distractions. Turn off the notifications you have set for when email or text messages arrive, for example. When you are focusing on a task, eliminate unnecessary browser tabs. Most importantly, when you notice yourself being distracted, ask yourself what the most important thing is to accomplish at that moment.
Having high energy can be a challenge for me (and for those attempting to follow my random conversations), but I appreciate my ability to take on all the activities that interest me.
Regards,
Ted
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