Month: July 2023

ADHD Productivity Tips Video

by hkatz, posted in Struggling Striving Healing

If you have ADHD, typical productivity advice may not work well for you, as discussed in this YouTube video. For example, breaking a larger project into a list of smaller tasks may make you feel even more overwhelmed with all of the steps you need to take, or you may wind up just wasting time writing lists of what you have to do.

Starting around 12 1/2 minutes into the video, there’s a discussion about different components of motivation followed by some productivity suggestions that may be more useful (although, as with any advice, effectiveness isn’t always the same for each person or for each set of circumstances).

One example is working in brief “micro commitments” – instead of declaring that you’ll clean your whole kitchen in a single day, start by saying that you’ll put away three dishes. Don’t think about or list all of the things you need to do. Just tackle one small commitment. Maybe doing this will lead to a buildup of momentum, and if it doesn’t, at least you got something done. Other pieces of advice include making a particular task more like a game or using a Pomodoro timer with a work-break ratio that’s calibrated to you.

Also, even if you don’t have ADHD, it may be worth checking out the suggestions, because maybe they could still be effective for you.

Three good novels with old characters

by hkatz, posted in Readings

One reason I recommend these novels is because they show some of the absurdities and terrors of old age while giving the characters dignity too. The authors, who are all English, mix humor with devastating observations.

First, Quartet in Autumn by Barbara Pym, where two out of a group of four old people retire from the office where they all work. Up until that point, they were able to get by on small plans and routines, and just enough company to keep away unbearable loneliness.

Second, Old Filth by Jane Gardam, where a man who established a successful career as a lawyer and judge looks back across his life and revisits old relationships and places. A sworn enemy may become something of a friend. Periods of love or terror may surface in memory and change what remains of his life.

Then there’s Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor (not the actress). An old woman asks a young man to pretend to be her grandson, so she can save face in front of others and not appear so lonely. Meanwhile, he uses her for material for his novel. I’m going to share one excerpt from Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont, because the line stuck with me even after I returned the book to the library:

“She did not explain to him how deeply pessimistic one must be in the first place, to need the sort of optimism she now had at her command.”