ADHD + learning disabilities / ADHD/LD Awareness Month / life

ADHD tech tuesday: forest. [18/31]

• by kerri

I was a bit skeptical about an app where I planted fake trees with the intention of the fake digital trees helping me focus.

Really, duh, why would I not be skeptical?

But curiosity won. I mean, if $2.79 helps me focus—or at least alleviate phone based distraction—well, let’s give it a shot, right?

I started here:

https://i0.wp.com/farm9.staticflickr.com/8408/30122323440_f5e1ba6af8.jpg?resize=281%2C500&ssl=1

And honestly this was probably the ONLY amount I focused ALL DAY last Thursday. But hey, ten minutes is ten minutes. 

Yesterday (which says today but is really yesterday) was better.

https://i0.wp.com/farm9.staticflickr.com/8621/30302665872_86050c2bfe.jpg?resize=281%2C500&ssl=1

I set it for 15 minutes. And then 15 more minutes. And wrote, knowing if I used my phone for anything but keeping the app open my trees would be deadsies. Somehow not killing fake trees is super motivating.

https://i0.wp.com/farm9.staticflickr.com/8558/30302665792_a3ed893ebb.jpg?resize=281%2C500&ssl=1

I upped myself to 20 minutes after awhile, after I’d gotten 123 minutes of work done in short intervals.

LOOK HOW MANY FREAKING TREES I GREW.

https://i0.wp.com/farm9.staticflickr.com/8414/30419259485_9448d33e54.jpg?resize=281%2C500&ssl=1

I don’t think I should be this proud of myself for fake trees and bushes, but you know what? Sometimes seeing what I have actually done is good.

It doesn’t mean I can’t get distracted by my laptop, and yeah, the novelty will wear off, but I think it makes me more conscious of NOT allowing myself to get distracted, at least by technology. If I’m writing, unless I’m doing research and then get sidetracked, I primarily check my phone for social media stuff (although iMessage does come through on my Mac). And when I glance down at my phone I see this screen with how long I have left on the timer ticking down, and it tells me to like, put down my phone, and I’m like, oh yeah this app is so on to me.

I didn’t take my Concerta at noon. It was evident when I was coaching tonight, although my Special O parents get me (specifically, Terri who laughs with me about my ADHD). And at least in a gym, I can run around and laugh about it and just live my life.  So, maybe ten minutes to write this post is all I’m getting tonight. But I’m sure the Groundhog and Capture the Chicken did me some good—when it comes to ADHD (and many things but ESPECIALLY ADHD) exercise is freaking medicine.
 
Well, on the note of medicine, I also got my flu shot done tonight. So, pending they formulated it right and everything, no flu for me and my stupid asthma lungs. Yay! ‘Cause I presume exercise does not work as well on the flu as it does on ADHD…
 
 
Challenge Update: Day 18
Plank: 135 seconds = 2 minutes, 15 seconds. Pretty shaky toward the end, but hey, done is done. Maintain at 135 tomorrow. See how the flu shot arm takes that. 😉
 
Meditation: I did the study meditation midday.
Curiously, I did not meditate before I went to sleep last night, and whether it was due to that or that I had to wake up early today (which often has a negative impact on my sleep quality, or an average of an 8% reduction per SleepCycle) my sleep quality was only 68% last night, versus an all time average of 74%. 
ADHD + learning disabilities / ADHD/LD Awareness Month / life

ADHD tech tuesday: google calendar ramblings [11/31]

• by kerri

The great thing about technology that is great for ADHDers is that it’s also great for like 95% of other people. Most of it is not eve designed with ADHDers in mind, but for everyone. (That is where good design comes in!) However, good technology is even more of a benefit, I think, to those of us with ADHD than it might be for others—if that’s even possible given how much the world now relies on technology.

This is where Google Calendar comes in.

I am not a crazy colour coder. I do use Calendars 5 for iOS which has some colours in it for different To-Do list fields which is okay, now that Microsoft killed Sunrise, because Microsoft is mean that way. (I’m pretty sure they also killed Timeful. Damn it, Microsoft!) But my Google Calendar is not all colour coded. Everything feeds into my iPad, iPhone, and Mac (except I currently lack a calendar app on my Mac because I don’t like anything except for Sunrise which is now dead, and refuse to pay $60 for a calendar app. C’mon guys.)

I’ve been a pretty thorough Google Calendar user for years. And years. Except now that I bullet journal (more on that Thursday), I am less into the Google Calendar. But, with IFTTT (more on If This Then That next week), I do still store a TON of information in my Google Calendar, ready to access wherever I need it. (Because somehow I never lose my phone ever. Miracle.) Foursquare checkins and other such things are pushed into my Google Calendar so I can check back later to see where I was on a particular day, or when I want to whatever place. If I’ve used Foursquare anyways which I usually forget to.

Sunrise made a lot of my Google Calendar-y things even easier. But, hey, maybe sharing my rambly love for Google Calendar with you all is the way I can actually get myself to IFTTT more things to my Calendar. (Maybe not the best idea to keep things uncluttered, but in terms of an archive, it’s super great.)

One thing that I hugely appreciate from Google Calendar that my Bullet Journal cannot give me is alerts. Alerts are SO freaking important to me (although I did get really alarm fatigued by my Fitbit and all my Concerta alarms so I am STILL trying to figure out a way to ensure I take my Concerta at noon everyday…). But for special tasks, they are great. Like submitting a job application or—for next year—I have four reminders set asking me if I want to cancel my Visa card because it keeps auto-renewing and now I finally have a record of the auto-renew date.

Because honestly, y’think I’m going to contact my BANK? I’d need four alerts for that, too ;).

Challenge Update Day 11:

Meditation: Body Scan Bubble Journey meditation last night, 7 minutes.

Plank: Crossed the 100 second barrier today: 105 seconds. It was friggen hard. It’s hard to believe that after just 11 days, I can do 50 more seconds than I could at the beginning of the month. Day 30 will be 205 seconds—ridiculous!