As usual, I woke up this morning around 6 am. Mornings are my quiet time. I like that!
I don’t usually eat early in the morning, but after a couple hours, I do get a little hungry. Today, I decided that eggs and toast would be a good breakfast. I put the pan on the stove, added olive oil, and turned it on. I had already started some laundry and the washer stopped while I was putting on my breakfast. I went to change the laundry around, and got distracted with other things. Next thing I know, the smoke alarm is going off!
The pan on the stove was smoking hardcore! The oil wasn’t actually burning yet, but it was smoking and stinking. This isn’t the first time this month I’ve set off the smoke alarm trying to get something to eat. I think that’s positive proof I have a bad case of ADOS.
It might be good for me to find someone to do the cooking for us. ADOS is really interfering with my cooking.
I wonder how many of you have figured out what ADOS is… ADOS stands for Attention Deficit Oh Shiny! I’m not sure who originally came up with this variation of ADD, but it really fits! I start stuff that needs to be done, then get distracted with more interesting things. It never seems to fail. I started this short post over an hour ago, but got distracted with laundry, my son stopping by, my e-cig, cleaning out the vacuum cleaner, and who knows what else. Oh, I did make my breakfast. When I decided I was hungry enough, I just made it with out distraction.
After writing all this down, I realized that another thing that I’ve suspected is probably true, too. I work best under a close deadline. The less time I have to accomplish a goal, the better chance I’ll get it done. I have operated this way for most of my life, but just never really put it in perspective.
What’s really hard is putting a deadline on myself. I work for myself. I have one client at the current time and they take all my time. I have complained about it a little, but I don’t do anything to change it. I think I don’t change it because I like having someone else tell me what to do and when to do it. If I have an external deadline, I meet it every time. If I give myself deadlines, I never, ever meet them.
They say the first step in changing something is recognizing that it needs to change. This is my first step. I need to take myself more seriously. I have lots of talents, but never use most of them. I know it isn’t going to be easy, but I know I can do it.
Ok, well, I just discovered another reason I get distracted: my priorities. When the people important in my life come to me with anything they want to talk about, I stop what I’m doing and give them my full attention. Always, when my children come to me, they get my full attention. My parents come second, certain friends come next, and anyone else who’s important to me comes next. Nothing I am doing is more important than the people in my life! I know this is something that I won’t change.
I tell my children often: Things can be replaced, people can’t. I have a bigger challenge learning to refocus after one of these interruptions than just staying focused in the first place. Work and other deadlines are things. I can’t just put them ahead of the people in my life.
I discovered this while writing this post because my son came back and needed to talk to me again while I was actively writing this post. I dropped what I was doing and attended to his needs. He’s 17 years old and doesn’t come to me for advice and council very often. It was incredibly important that I take that opportunity when it presented itself. If I had passed that opportunity up today, it may not have come around again for a long time.
My morning had gotten away from me again. I still need to pick up some things for my younger daughter for the day, and I should be to work by noon. Work is going to have to wait because finishing this is more important than being “on time” to my “job”. I contract my services, so really, I can do the work whenever I want as long as I get it done by the deadline. To meet deadline for today’s work I don’t really have to start until 12:45.
Stay tuned for more updates on my insights and successes!
