ADHD: Practice Keeping On Task

The constant search for new and exciting experiences is often a hallmark characteristic of Hunters. It has huge upsides and huge downsides.

The constant search for new and exciting experiences is often a hallmark characteristic of Hunters. It has huge upsides, particularly if you’re an investigative reporter or artist, but also carries downsides. A man I met at a workshop a few years ago in Portland (I can’t find his name) told me this:

From a fellow at a seminar in Portland:

You’ve heard the expression “a jack of all trades”? Well, that’s me. The problem is that really I was closer to the whole saying: “Jack of all trades and master of none.” I never stuck with anything, be it a job, a relationship, or even a hobby. Once I “got enough” of something, I was off to something new.

I was over thirty years old when I realized that this was probably because of ADHD, and that maybe I could do something about it. So I started noticing when my attention or interest in something was fading away. And I told myself, like they do in Alcoholics Anonymous, just one more day, just one day at a time. Stick to that for just one more day.

I always thought that was a silly saying, or just something for alcoholics. But I can tell you, that living just one day at a time, and catching myself when I start to lose interest and bring it back, or looking for new ways to make things interesting, has been incredibly helpful.

I’ve been with the same woman for three years now, which is three times longer than I’ve ever been with anybody. And I’ve had the same job for that same amount of time, again a record. I still jump around in my hobbies, I suppose, but that’s an indulgence I allow myself. This month I’m interested in racing dirt-bikes, but at least now I’m smart enough to know not to buy one because I know in a few months I’ll just want to be doing something else.

So I guess, in addition to noticing when I’m drifting away from something, interest-wise, I’m also prioritizing. I’m deciding that in some things it’s ok for me to have variety, like my weekend activities, but in other areas I need to work on sticking to things, like my job and relationships.