ment, so he would agree to them too quickly,
without thinking about how they would fit
into his existing commitments.
James made a two-part plan. The first
part was to make sure he put commitments
into the calendar on his phone. The second
part was to resist agreeing to anything new
(no matter how interesting) without first
checking his calendar and making an honest
assessment of whether he could fit it in. He
would occasionally take on too much, but it
happened less often, and that made a big difference in how people thought of him. A
ARI TUCKMAN, PSY.D., MBA, is the author of
Understand Your Brain, Get More Done; More
Attention, Less Deficit, and Integrative Treatment for Adult ADHD: A Practical, Easy-to-Use
Guide for Clinician s.
ORGANIZATION
DON’T BE
DEFENSIVE
Getting advice from
a friend or family
member, solicited or
otherwise, is a good
way to learn about our social blind spots.
ADHDers, though, are generally quick to
get defensive when it comes to receiving
advice. Here is a constructive way of
looking at feedback from others:
> Remember that no one likes getting
negative feedback, but if the feedback is
accurate, it will save you more pain later.
> Ask yourself whether the person is
giving the feedback with good intentions
and is trying to be helpful.
> Ask yourself whether you have gotten
similar feedback from others. If so, it is
more likely to be accurate and reasonable.
> Stop yourself from responding and
listen to what they are saying. Ask for
specific examples to ensure that you
understand what they mean.
> Remember that it is your choice to
follow the advice, but also remember
that the benefits will be yours as well.
Calling Your Memory
Use your smartphone to remember more. BY THORIN KLOSOWSKI
EVERY DAY YOU HAVE ALL TYPES OF information thrown at you, and a lot of it needs to stay in your memory for
at least a short period. Maybe it’s a phone
number, the name of your new dentist,
or the distinctions between mitosis and
meiosis for a biology test. It’s easy to remember these things when you use your phone to
get information several times a day.
it. Create a reminder for each task on your
to-do list, so that every time you get to the
location where you can actually complete
the task, your list pops up.
Use Your Phone’s Lock Screen
How often do you look at your phone?
Chances are, it’s pretty often, especially
if you use it as a clock. Your phone’s lock
screen is a great place to flash something you
need to memorize. Something like a train
schedule or work schedule is useful to have
on your lock screen. Having trouble remembering one section of a test? Take a snapshot
of the question to commit it to memory. The
same goes for any other quick reminder—
medication doses, your nephew’s shoe size,
the time your favorite show is on. If it’s short
and should be pounded into your brain, your
lock screen does the trick.
Repeat Reminders Through
the Day (or Week)
Some things need to be repeated to get into
your memory. That means getting them in
front of you a lot. For that, use MemStash
(
memstash.co). Highlight a block of text in
your browser, bookmark it, and MemStash
will send you an e-mail or SMS message
several times throughout the week. Use the
app for things like quotes you’re trying to remember, a complicated concept, or even the
name of that guy in accounting who always
rides the elevator with you.
ISTOCKPHOTO/THINKSTOCK ( 3)
Use Location-Based Prompts
Tie a task to a location, and use location-based reminders apps, like Checkmark
(
itunes.apple.com) for iPhone (or the
built-in Reminders app), or Astrid (astrid.
com) for Android, to help you remember
Change Names to Numbers
Sometimes we don’t remember things because we don’t have to. But that’s not always
good. For instance, it’s good to know your
emergency contacts by heart. Replace their
names with their phone numbers in your address book. When your mom calls, you’ll see
the phone number each time, not “Mom.”
You’ll eventually commit the number to
memory. A
Excerpted from LifeHacker (
lifehacker.com),
by THORIN KLOSOWSKI.
