Organization for ADDers

My name is Kristin and I have ADD. I had it when girls didn't have it basically. (Ahem!)  You were just called talkative, distracted and worse. We didn't have ADD meds -- not for girls anyway. My boy cousin was given Ritalin. I was just made to stay after school.  

Luckily for me, I come from a long line of perfectly organized German/English folk who put everything in its place. (My Italian father's side, not so much -- clearly where my genetic make-up comes from.) I have always worked in offices, so I've had to be organized and know how to find paperwork. I am a big believer in the label maker. If I see what's supposed to be in that file, I will put it there.

I'm also a big believer in color-coding. For example, my kids all had a color: Trey was yellow, Jonah was red, Seth was green and Elle was pink. They had a laundry basket in that color, so their clothes went into their basket. Their school folders were each in their corresponding color. Every year, I made an accordion file of all the bills/kids' needs. So if I need to find out what Jonah did in 2016, I go to the 2016 file and pull out his folder. Is it time-consuming? Yes, but if you ask me for the PG&E bill from 2019, I'll get it for you. (I also keep a spreadsheet of monthly expenses.)

I say all this because it's truly a pain in the bum to be like this. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. When most people put something away, they can go find it and that's that. I, however, need a system. And it's so hard to watch people organize whole events for thousands of people when I need a system to do the laundry.

When I'm in a novel, I'm in my element. I understand instinctively how the characters will react and I write them accordingly.  I've written 50 novels just fine. So why do I have to attach my keys to my purse so that I don't leave without both? Why can't life work like the books? 

When my daughter started her business selling clothes on TikTok/Instagram, I watched her do her finances the same way I do. Write it out in a fancy notebook, have rows for costs, rows for profit and the math showing her bottom line. When her husband told her she couldn't do it like that, I showed him my own notebook. Incidentally, I did NOT teach her to do this. It was natural.  It's the way our brains work. Or don't work as the world might say. 

As I plan my escape back to California, I'm overwhelmed by how to get the house organized and only take what I need.  I normally don't care for organizing "experts" because their brains don't work like mine. They can put something in a cabinet and they'll remember it's there. If I can't see it, it's gone. So I have a filing system that is visible. Do I like looking at all that crap? I do not, but I don't want to put it away and forget the taxes need to be paid, so my bookshelf houses these files. (In pretty file folders naturally.)

The one book that I really think gets it for organization and should be called, "Organization for Dummies" is by Martha Stewart. While I'm willing to bet Martha Stewart's brain is wired the exact opposite way as mine, her book has a checklist for everything that makes it easy to understand.

As a side note, I'm glad I had to learn how to do all this without the help of meds. I have nothing against meds, but I would've never remembered to take them anyway. 

I know we're not all created equal and we all have our strengths, but I also think creatives were not meant to live in a money-loving world. Seems like for every artist, there is a left-brainer out there who understands how to make money off of them. Now, back to Martha.