One Less Iron in My ADHD Fire

Got too many irons in the fire? Running out of room in the furnace you call your schedule? Maybe it's time to focus in on your core projects so you can actually complete them. That's what I'm doing with this very last ADDaboy! article.

Take adults with ADHD, mix in a healthy dose of impulsive creativity, and set them loose on the world, and they'll have a dozen ground breaking projects in the works before the end of the week. Then they'll have another dozen the week after. They won't finish any of them, but wow! Are those ideas amazing!

At the snap of a whim, I can conceive of any number of more exciting things I'd rather be doing than what I'm supposed to be working on. I'm not necessarily brilliant. I just have a low threshold for boredom and a tendency to be spontaneous. After my twenties passed by in a whirl, I realized I didn't have anything to show for all my projects. I began to see that whenever I was bored, I shifted gears and started something new. A new project. A new job. Even a new career. Boredom was my master.

Don't Let ADHD Boredom Sway Your Decisions

That's why when I decided to stop blogging here for HealthyPlace, I spent two months making sure I wasn't just being impulsive. I couldn't quit writing here because I was "bored". I'm ALWAYS bored. That's part of having ADHD. I'm old enough to know that every new idea that captivates my mind will become a boring old idea soon enough. Besides, there is plenty to write about here on ADHD. Every day I live I have something new and embarrassing to share with you.

The problem is that there's only so much time in the day. That's why we need to be very particular about how we spend it. I am a full-time dad on disability with Depression and Chronic Motor Tic Disorder. That's a big chunk of time spent daily. When I have free time, I either write for ADDaboy! or I work on my novel, but usually I only have time to write here. My novel is wasting away. Oh, I've finished four children's book manuscripts, but I never seem to have time to ship them around. My chapter book became an unfinished novel that I've started over twice this year, and my novel is collecting dust in the back of my mind. I am writing, but not with focus.

Simplifying Your Schedule Requires Tough Choices

Sometimes we have too many irons in the fire. They're all terribly important to us, but if we want to succeed we need to focus in on one to see it through to the end. Never mind that picking up new irons is easy for adults with ADHD, some of those irons are hard to give up. I liked writing here. It gave me purpose. But blog writing was only ever meant to be a means to my dream of becoming a published author.

I'm taking the ADDaboy! iron out of the fire today and leaving only my writing iron in there beside my father and disability iron. That is still a full furnace. You can follow my progress over at my personal blog if you wish. Or we can part ways now. There's plenty of good material to read about ADHD on this site. Either way, I'm glad to have known you all.

Writing About Adult ADHD Here Has Been an Honor

I want to thank everyone at HealthyPlace for this fantastic opportunity to reach a new audience. I have enjoyed my time here and feel I've stretched and grown. I am most grateful for HealthyPlace's faith in me and ADDaboy!. They gave me free reign with little editorial input. It was a dream assignment. I thank my readers as well for their support. I know you were a mostly quiet bunch. Many people don't feel comfortable discussing their ADHD in public. There's so much built in shame, but I've read your tweets, I've received your emails, and I've read your comments. I thank you for your heartfelt support.

If there's anything you take away from this blog, it should be this: I believe in you. Life is too short to hate yourself for stupid mistakes. Learn to laugh at yourself, then learn to like yourself. You are amazing. ADHD is a tool that needs honing and shaping. It doesn't have to control you or define you. Pick your irons carefully and force yourself to refine them through to the end. You can do it.

My fire's stoked and burning hot. Is yours?

Follow me on Twitter for my ADHD escapades at @SplinteredMind or my novel writing project over at @DouglasCootey. And if you're a glutton for punishment you can friend me on Facebook as well.