Brain Chaos

It's hard to get things done when you have so much to do. It's even harder to get things done when you are stressed out and have too much to do. According to Dr.Edward Hallowell, a noted adult and child psychiatrist and author of Crazy Busy: Overstretched, Overbooked and About To Snap—Strategies For Coping In A World Gone ADD, this is a case of attention deficit trait (ADT). The difference between ADD and ADT is that attention deficit disorder occurs all the time, whether you're on vacation or at work; ADT on the other hand is environmentally dependent.

Given my new job situation, the amount of work required for my three writing classes, and the dwindling money in my account, I think I qualify as stressed. Given my recent grades and work quality, I most definitely qualify as an ADT individual. But what is the cure for this? Medication? Hallowell answered this in an interview with Sonja Steptoe of Time Magazine:

One the misconceptions is that people should be super-organized. But that's just not going to happen for most of us. It's a goal that just ends up making you feel guilty and think that you're a bad person. What I say to folks is: You don't have to be super-organized. Just be well-enough organized to reach your goals. The best treatment is to take time to slow down and think and connect with the outside world. And to stop being a total slave to your electronics.

This is kind of a blow to my new routine, but a necessary lesson to learn: there needs to be a balance. I've loosened up on finishing my to-do lists every day. Now, I prioritize it. If I don't get to the bottom errands, well, I can do them tomorrow. Or I can pay the teenager across the street to buy me groceries. Balance. I don't have to do everything.

To read more of the Hallowell interview: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1147207,00.html