"....so it’s more likely that I’m dying." I mean, aren't we all? (sorry, that was my inner goth coming out there 😬). Jokes aside, thank you again for sharing. I'm definitely not as bored as you are so no worries there! I didn't even know coaching was a thing! It's too bad insurance doesn't cover that because honestly I could see it benefitting so many people as you've described it helping you. Insurance companies are the worst.
It's very helpful to hear your perspective on this. My youngest son has a pretty new diagnosis and I'm struggling with how to support him getting his daily work done, especially chores and cleaning up his stuff. Is there anything you've found helpful around this?
The MOST helpful thing I've found is to attach tasks to routines I have already established. The context-switching is where I get the most lost and distracted, so I try to lump a bunch of routines and tasks together.
For example:
- At the end of every work day, I already make a to-do list for the next day so I can start working without getting distracted by figuring out what to do. Since that is an already-established habit, I added a task of downloading bank transactions to my budgeting app and making sure they're categorized correctly. Previously I never remembered to do this and would end up getting really far behind and out of sync. Now I do it after making my list and before leaving my office.
- Before bed, I have always set up the coffee to auto-start the next morning, plus brushing my teeth and all that. So I added the task of feeding and watering the cats, cleaning out their bowls, etc which I never remembered to do before and they were getting over-fed or forgotten.
So if you can think of stuff like that where you can add a task to what he's already doing, that might help. Like picking up all his stuff as part of his going-to-bed routine, or doing his chores as part of the dinner clean-up routine.
One other that just came to mind is a concept called “body doubling.” Hard to say if it’s as doable for kids, but the essence of it is doing a task alongside someone else. For example, my friend and I often get on a zoom call to do all of our busy work together. She lives in another state. We spend a few minutes catching up, then we just go about our business of responding to emails or whatever while we hang out together as if we were coworking in a coffee shop. This weirdly keeps me focused on the mundane things.
Another thing I used to do a long time ago before I even knew I was ADD, was invite my friend over to watch me clean my house. I told her I didn’t need her to help, I just wanted someone to talk to while I did it. 😂 Now I accomplish the same effect by listening to a podcast or audio book to occupy my mind while I do mundane things. Plus I can time-box my activity by the length of the audio as a way to gamify it. Like, I can motivate myself to clean without distraction while I listen to a 25 minute story.
Not sure if that is too complex for kids to figure out, but maybe something like it may work?
"....so it’s more likely that I’m dying." I mean, aren't we all? (sorry, that was my inner goth coming out there 😬). Jokes aside, thank you again for sharing. I'm definitely not as bored as you are so no worries there! I didn't even know coaching was a thing! It's too bad insurance doesn't cover that because honestly I could see it benefitting so many people as you've described it helping you. Insurance companies are the worst.
Yaaa. I think coaching works best when you have to kick in enough $ for it that it you feel driven to pay attention to it, but it's not out of reach.
It's very helpful to hear your perspective on this. My youngest son has a pretty new diagnosis and I'm struggling with how to support him getting his daily work done, especially chores and cleaning up his stuff. Is there anything you've found helpful around this?
The MOST helpful thing I've found is to attach tasks to routines I have already established. The context-switching is where I get the most lost and distracted, so I try to lump a bunch of routines and tasks together.
For example:
- At the end of every work day, I already make a to-do list for the next day so I can start working without getting distracted by figuring out what to do. Since that is an already-established habit, I added a task of downloading bank transactions to my budgeting app and making sure they're categorized correctly. Previously I never remembered to do this and would end up getting really far behind and out of sync. Now I do it after making my list and before leaving my office.
- Before bed, I have always set up the coffee to auto-start the next morning, plus brushing my teeth and all that. So I added the task of feeding and watering the cats, cleaning out their bowls, etc which I never remembered to do before and they were getting over-fed or forgotten.
So if you can think of stuff like that where you can add a task to what he's already doing, that might help. Like picking up all his stuff as part of his going-to-bed routine, or doing his chores as part of the dinner clean-up routine.
One other that just came to mind is a concept called “body doubling.” Hard to say if it’s as doable for kids, but the essence of it is doing a task alongside someone else. For example, my friend and I often get on a zoom call to do all of our busy work together. She lives in another state. We spend a few minutes catching up, then we just go about our business of responding to emails or whatever while we hang out together as if we were coworking in a coffee shop. This weirdly keeps me focused on the mundane things.
Another thing I used to do a long time ago before I even knew I was ADD, was invite my friend over to watch me clean my house. I told her I didn’t need her to help, I just wanted someone to talk to while I did it. 😂 Now I accomplish the same effect by listening to a podcast or audio book to occupy my mind while I do mundane things. Plus I can time-box my activity by the length of the audio as a way to gamify it. Like, I can motivate myself to clean without distraction while I listen to a 25 minute story.
Not sure if that is too complex for kids to figure out, but maybe something like it may work?
❤️