Struggle with ADHD / Executive Functioning?
Try externalizing your working memory! (Working memory is kind of like a desktop in your brain... you can be aware of all the stuff spread out on the desk, but some people have very small desks to work on, and are constantly bumping the desk and knocking stuff into the dusty corners behind it.)
My new card holders just came in, and I'm in the process of redoing my Do Deck (cards that help me keep track of things, like my daily routine, my day-of-the-week routines, spring cleaning tasks, goals I want to make progress on, etc.).
The Do Deck is a customizable, portable, modular, infinitely rearrangeable, external memory system that doesn't need to be plugged in, charged, connected to the internet, or otherwise require anything more than cardstock cut to an appropriate size and writing implements. My first Do Deck was made from index cards that I had cut in half. Then I discovered blank playing-card-sized cards.
I use ink to color-code the more permanent categories of card (daily, day-of-week, end-of-month, middle-of-month, spring cleaning). I use pencil to make temporary cards that can be erased when completed, and to make temporary notes on the permanent cards.
Instead of trying to remember each and every thing that Past Me wanted to get done, I only have to remember to check and update my Do Deck hands. It's become part of my day in the mornings, looking at the day's hand, discarding any cards I don't feel like doing that day, arranging the remaining cards into an approximate order of events, etc.
So, anyway, here's your reminder to externalize your working memory, if that's the sort of thing that could be helpful to you.













