Followers with and without inherent ADHD traits will likely relate to aspects of this month's blog, the beginning of a new series. As you read, notice what hit home for you? Where do you hit snags? What helps? Feel free to share via email to Sherri@thePracticalSort.com. I appreciate hearing from my readers. Your struggles and victories could hold the keys to help someone else looking for support.
That enduring punch list bugger taunts you. How many times did you plan to tackle it? How quickly did you anticipate knocking it out? How often did you start, make headway, then smack into a brick wall? Or distracted by shinier things? Why is it that the more force you apply to make yourself do it, just get it done…
Why can’t you simply do it and move on? Believe me, I feel you. My yard weeds are taunting me outside my office window. I don’t want to pull pernicious weeds again and again (resistance, no desire). I don’t use herbicides except for targeted vinegar and baking soda applications along the driveway and sidewalk. Those liquids will leach into the soil, and kill the plants I want to keep. I realize that’s my choice, a choice that makes the bending, the pulling, the carting away that much harder. And, much more frequent.
I’m writing this blog at the moment, then there’s laundry, appointments, plan for my son’s visit, and a walk, possibly two (diversions). I will notice lots of shiny things instead of weeding. Even not so shiny things (laundry isn’t exactly shiny).
This month’s blog was a virtual finger dance, a no-brainer. I was jazzed to write it, then hustle on to the next item down the list. Today is the start of week 5 working on it. I hit a seemingly impenetrable brick wall somewhere during week 1. What happened? The pages filled effortlessly as I anticipated. Finally, time for proof-reading before inserting the “done” checkmark next to June blog. Ugghh. Pure compost! Far too much incoherent information. No clear direction (ADHD traits?). What’s important to retain? What’s needs hurling? How do I restructure the keepers into a coherent, deliverable format to effectively help my readers? Where do I start when my brain’s off chasing squirrels? Why don’t squirrels eat weeds?
Perseverance is my modus operandi. Push through, get it done, move on before I get impatient or bored. What if I could just do it? But I couldn’t. Eventually, I gave up. Back again the next day. Back again, the next week after week. Lots more paragraphs, many more distractions. Allergy sneezes; cottonwood brain fog; incoming texts; emails; and easier knock-out punch-list items. My squirrely brain refused to focus or harness gallivanting thoughts. Frustration-filled tension burbled. Tight neck. Constriction in the small of my back. Shoulders concaving. Self-preservation guided me to do the next best thing: BOLT. Blog and June newsletter were side-burnered auspiciously awaiting a divine download, aka procrastination!
With a self-imposed deadline nearing, my patience withered. Time to buckle down for a self-reflective curiosity session. What was really go on here? Absolutely no idea. Fast forward to an afternoon journaling disgorgement. The first 10 minutes, blah, blah…nothing enlightening. Then the grit dissolved from my cognitive lenses. Those dang old perfectionist tendencies loomed large. Kyboshing my ingenuity, annihilating my motivation, keeping me stuck. Selfishly, and not easy to admit, I didn’t want to face a large swath of you unsubscribing over publishing absolute crap. [Still could happen, I’m aware, thanks for hanging this long]. Call it weak ego and all that. But wait. Turns out my fragile ego was merely a fleck in this story. A much larger share was benevolence. I see and feel far too much pain in the world around us, around me. I have a strong desire to be helpful, to you, to others, to myself. Groovy, how do I do that?
My personal and professional circles (maybe it’s an age thing) are brimming with folks at wit’s end due to chronic pain and disablement. My coaching now goes well beyond “what goes where and how”? We go big, we go deep. Long-standing, complex organizing woes are rarely the sole chronic attention-grabbers. Our attention naturally gravitates toward the loudest, most painful, most annoying distractors. Think about a screaming child in a grocery store. You try really hard to concentrate on your shopping list. Grab what you need, and get out. But it’s so hard to focus amidst that ear-piercing noise. Unnerving distraction leads to forgetting vital list items. Fortunately, that errand situation is temporary. When we live in the noise, physical noise, mental and emotional noise the hurdles are enormously distracting and potentially debilitating. The higher the volume, the more problematic. We get little to nothing done while it perseverates, as we ruminate in fear, panic, rage, and agony. We dwell there, understandably so, until the volume turns down to a more tolerable, less noticeable level. What happens when the volume remains untenably, screechingly high?
When we live in the noise, physical noise, mental and emotional noise the hurdles are enormously distracting and potentially debilitating. The higher the volume, the more problematic. Image by Moondance from Pixabay
Pain volume, particularly chronic pain, is a continuous distraction and an impediment. Organizing along with other punch list items are hampered by physical and/or brain-based (mental or emotional or both) challenges**. Chronic back, neck, shoulder, and knee pain. Sciatica, neuropathy, migraines or less severe chronic headaches, vertigo, arthritis and other inflammatory ailments. Physical conditions may stand alone or co-exist with periodic or chronic depression, anxiety, panic attacks, sleep deprivation, eating disorders, obesity, and so on. To-dos never stop. They continue to taunt with no understanding or compassion that you’re in the throes of chronic challenges. The longer it takes to be well, the higher the piles and the more list items amass.
Every day, every minute consumed by chronic conditions are minutes, hours, days, and even years, that are hijacking time and attention away from the things we need or wish to do. Now my perfectionist tendencies are no match for the maladies listed above; however, keep in mind that anything that inhibits progress leads to an assortment of mild to severe consequences. Perfectionism can be a genesis behind physical derailments like a stiff neck, digestive irregularities, tension headaches. No less impactful to well-being and productivity are the psychological affects such as irritability, mood swings, frustration, anger, self-criticism, criticizing others, I could go on. Can you focus, truly concentrate, give something your best effort when you’re about to blow a gasket or on the verge of tears?
As my attention and growing passion are called to attune to chronic impediments to organizing and overall living life to its fullest, here’s my plan. Over the next few months, my blogs will explore, from a non-medical person’s perspective, chronic physical, mental, and emotional afflictions impeding headway and stomping on abilities to experience joy. How am I distinguishing between mental and emotional health and related challenges?** That deserves more depth, I will dive into the distinctions down the road. In quick summary, the mental health umbrella encompasses over-arching psychological well-being, cognitive thinking, information processing, comprehension, memory functions, decision-making, and includes the subset of emotional wellness. Mental health disorders such as bi-polar, ADHD, anxiety, depression, paranoia, psychosis, neuroses to name a few can impair daily functioning.
Emotional well-being enables processing and expressing emotions, feelings, thoughts, and behaviors in a balanced, rational way. Compromised emotional health can lead to outbursts, shutdowns, self-medicating, isolation, and possibly unhelpful physical manifestations such as sleep and eating disorders to untenable chronic pain.
I also plan to distinguish between acute disturbances vs chronic conditions. I’ll examine intrinsic human traits common to those predisposed to experiencing chronic disorders. And finally, offer avenues based upon my extensive personal journey, from the educational resources I’ve been studying, and the tools I’ve been amassing along the way. If relentless physical or psychological pain is slowing you down or stopping you cold, I hope you stick around to see where this leads. Your destination possibilities are nearly limitless including sequestering in a soothing, steamy shower for an extra second or two to wash away the dregs of a draining day or invigorate every aspect of your being to boldly face whatever a new day holds. Your journey will be as unique as yourself with countless communal intersections along the way to remind you that you’re not alone. I wish you the best as you traverse along, and that you find desired healing and optimal wellness for smoother travel to your destinations.
Below are 2 resources to further clarify the differences between mental and emotional health.
**The Difference Between Mental and Emotional Health: What Your Organization Can Do to Support Both
**What’s the Difference Between Emotional Health and Mental Health?
