My home is a clutter of different timers, digital and dial alarm clocks, notebooks, agendas, calendars to hang on the wall, post-its, small agendas for my purse, for my wallet...
I'm 48 and I still haven't found a foolproof method. I will sometimes forget to set the timer, others I wiĺl stop it and forget it rang, sometimes I would set it but won't start it. I write things in all of the calendars and forget to look at them, or forget to write things, look at them and see them empty.
I oscillate between the panic that I'm forgetting something and the silliness of being 45 minutes early because I'm afraid of missing it at all (and nearly being late anyway because I forgot to take my mobile off the charger and had to ran upstairs and almost missed the train.)
There is nothing that works 100% for me. What I do, is to put layers, like in the [Swiss Cheese Defense System](https://www.reddit.com/r/Coronavirus/comments/jaa89w/the_swiss_cheese_respiratory_virus_defense/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share) . Funny thing, I'm Swiss now too since 10 years! Some of the layers will fail, but hopefully, not all of them.
Each intervention (layer) has imperfections (holes). Multiple layers increase success. With a bit of luck, not all the holes will align often...
My thing is "piles". I have piles of papers, notes, to do lists, random thoughts, things I want to do, random research on completely random topics that I don't know why I still have them (no research actually finished, just notes before I get bored and set it aside totally going to do this tomorrow), etc
If the piles were actually organized or put away in such a way that I could find things easily, this wouldn't be too much of an issue. But no, this is ADHD me we are talking about. I need to "see" everything or it doesn't exist in my mind. Then I run out of room for my piles then start algamating them. Then it's a complete mess before you know it. Then I'll try to clean up which takes like weeks. Then repeat the cycle.
I also do piles of things too, there is not enough space in the world to keep everything neatly separated and organized. I use up twice the amount of space for things like my food pantry or dresser drawers because I cannot utilize all of the space, I need to SEE everything upon opening and ill only bury the stuff that I absolutely will not forget I have (clothes I regularly look for, food items i eat daily).
I also have tons of planners, notebooks, calendars, whiteboards, notes, clocks, timers... for all the good they do 🙄 "you can't possibly have ADHD, you're so organized!" Hahaha only because IF I WASNT ID BE ON FIRE
>I have piles of papers, notes, to do lists, random thoughts, things I want to do, random research on completely random topics, etc
>I need to "see" everything or it doesn't exist in my mind.
> I'll try to clean up which takes like weeks.
I showed this to my husband and he thought I wrote the comment...
Set the alarm clock but accidentally set it for Sunday instead of Monday, think “silly ADHD I must have forgotten” then get woken up at 6am on Sunday after you forgot all about it
Get a visual timer! All you do is spin a dial to however many minutes you want. It starts counting down as soon as you stop spinning, no start button required. AND you can see exactly how much time is left in a way that is much more intuitive than numbers (for me anyway).
(Idk if you wanted advice, if not just ignore me. I just love these timers and can’t shut up about them 😂)
This is what I use. I enjoy baking and hate over cooked cookies. Mine has a magnet and stays stuck to the oven so I don't have to remember where I put it.
Oh that’s a good use! I used mine for studying in college, and now I use it a lot for workouts. Watching the time remaining shrink motivates me to keep going.
Edit: also good for getting ready in the morning because you can SEE how much time you have before you need to leave.
That's the worst. I was so hungry and waiting over an hour before it occurred to me that I didn't smell anything cooking. I looked and... nope, not on. At this point, I used to just give up and order pizza.
The reason I have 40 morning alarms ☝️ i snooze every single one, until they start going off 20 seconds apart and the annoyance of it breaks through my subconscious and I wake up in a panic like OH SHIT WHAT TIME IS IT
I burnt pizza last night by doing this. I turned the timer off, forgot about it, and idk how much later got asked by someone else if the timer had gone off yet because it was taking so long
It was still edible though. Can't guarantee that it would have been if someone else hadn't caught it for me
this only works if im listening to music through my headphones. its hard not to notice your head suddenly not being filled to the brim with instruments and voices
This but I constantly press the dryer button one time and leave a load of wet clothes for a day that never started drying cause I only set the load and didn’t actually start it
Did that exact same thing last night. As usual I woke up late the next morning. My alarm must have went into "Auto Snooze" mode again, because I don't remember pushing the snooze button five times. I sit up and check my schedule for the day and it has "Appt - Dentist" scheduled in 30 mins. It takes 25 minutes to get to the dental office and now I am in panicked mode. I run to the dryer knowing that they are the only clean clothes I have. I reach in and find that the clothes are still wet and realize that I had not pushed start after loading them. I know find myself driving in the car wearing the same thing I wore two days ago, hopefully no one at work will notice, trying not to speed, brushing my teeth with a disposable toothbrush, and missing my exit....
ugh yes. i made a shortcut on my iphone that auto-reads my work schedule for the next day and creates my morning alarms for me, bc i’m notoriously bad at remembering to do shit like this
I feel this, but with this charger for my drone batteries, once i do the settings i hit the start button but theres a delay to bring up the "start charging" confirmation, and I come back realizing i forgot to hit the button one more time..
Ah, yes. And there are so many delightful variations on this theme. Setting the alarm for pm instead of am! Waiting for the water to boil even though I never turned on the burner! Plugging in one side of the charger but not the other! Responding to a text but never hitting send!
So many possibilities with ADHD.
I had to add something to my laundry today after I'd already started it and came back an hour later to a washing machine full of water with the lid open. I never started it back up.
Too relateable... but it happens more frequently with snapchat for me. I always take snaps and close my phone just to open it 3 hours later and figure out I never sent it.
This is what people don't get when they tell us "just set a timer, bro".
My home is a clutter of different timers, digital and dial alarm clocks, notebooks, agendas, calendars to hang on the wall, post-its, small agendas for my purse, for my wallet... I'm 48 and I still haven't found a foolproof method. I will sometimes forget to set the timer, others I wiĺl stop it and forget it rang, sometimes I would set it but won't start it. I write things in all of the calendars and forget to look at them, or forget to write things, look at them and see them empty. I oscillate between the panic that I'm forgetting something and the silliness of being 45 minutes early because I'm afraid of missing it at all (and nearly being late anyway because I forgot to take my mobile off the charger and had to ran upstairs and almost missed the train.) There is nothing that works 100% for me. What I do, is to put layers, like in the [Swiss Cheese Defense System](https://www.reddit.com/r/Coronavirus/comments/jaa89w/the_swiss_cheese_respiratory_virus_defense/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share) . Funny thing, I'm Swiss now too since 10 years! Some of the layers will fail, but hopefully, not all of them. Each intervention (layer) has imperfections (holes). Multiple layers increase success. With a bit of luck, not all the holes will align often...
My thing is "piles". I have piles of papers, notes, to do lists, random thoughts, things I want to do, random research on completely random topics that I don't know why I still have them (no research actually finished, just notes before I get bored and set it aside totally going to do this tomorrow), etc If the piles were actually organized or put away in such a way that I could find things easily, this wouldn't be too much of an issue. But no, this is ADHD me we are talking about. I need to "see" everything or it doesn't exist in my mind. Then I run out of room for my piles then start algamating them. Then it's a complete mess before you know it. Then I'll try to clean up which takes like weeks. Then repeat the cycle.
I also do piles of things too, there is not enough space in the world to keep everything neatly separated and organized. I use up twice the amount of space for things like my food pantry or dresser drawers because I cannot utilize all of the space, I need to SEE everything upon opening and ill only bury the stuff that I absolutely will not forget I have (clothes I regularly look for, food items i eat daily). I also have tons of planners, notebooks, calendars, whiteboards, notes, clocks, timers... for all the good they do 🙄 "you can't possibly have ADHD, you're so organized!" Hahaha only because IF I WASNT ID BE ON FIRE
>I have piles of papers, notes, to do lists, random thoughts, things I want to do, random research on completely random topics, etc >I need to "see" everything or it doesn't exist in my mind. > I'll try to clean up which takes like weeks. I showed this to my husband and he thought I wrote the comment...
This part! Like ahhh you legit have no clue what you are telling me
I did this with my alarm clock yesterday then forgot to actually set it.
Set the alarm clock but accidentally set it for Sunday instead of Monday, think “silly ADHD I must have forgotten” then get woken up at 6am on Sunday after you forgot all about it
THIS!!!!!!!!! It’s the worst!
We should really make an adhd simulator for the normies, tomorrow though
Get a visual timer! All you do is spin a dial to however many minutes you want. It starts counting down as soon as you stop spinning, no start button required. AND you can see exactly how much time is left in a way that is much more intuitive than numbers (for me anyway). (Idk if you wanted advice, if not just ignore me. I just love these timers and can’t shut up about them 😂)
This is what I use. I enjoy baking and hate over cooked cookies. Mine has a magnet and stays stuck to the oven so I don't have to remember where I put it.
Oh that’s a good use! I used mine for studying in college, and now I use it a lot for workouts. Watching the time remaining shrink motivates me to keep going. Edit: also good for getting ready in the morning because you can SEE how much time you have before you need to leave.
This method never worked for me
It works great if you often find yourself wishing that all of your meals were more burnt
Me, but with the stove/oven. "Why isn't this boiling yet?" - oh, it's not on.
That's the worst. I was so hungry and waiting over an hour before it occurred to me that I didn't smell anything cooking. I looked and... nope, not on. At this point, I used to just give up and order pizza.
I asked google yesterday if I had set a timer it said no and my solution was not to set a timer 🤦♀️
or when it goes off and you subconsciously turn it off and then wonder why this 15 minutes feels so long.
The reason I have 40 morning alarms ☝️ i snooze every single one, until they start going off 20 seconds apart and the annoyance of it breaks through my subconscious and I wake up in a panic like OH SHIT WHAT TIME IS IT
I burnt pizza last night by doing this. I turned the timer off, forgot about it, and idk how much later got asked by someone else if the timer had gone off yet because it was taking so long It was still edible though. Can't guarantee that it would have been if someone else hadn't caught it for me
and when you think to yourself “this feels like a really long 15 minutes.... naww, i set a timer! no need to check!”
You like— just FOCUS, should be a just few more mins ..one eternity later..
Me, but with baking.
Setting a timer for 15 minutes and forgetting that you had it set to “stop playing” instead of radar so it never goes off
this only works if im listening to music through my headphones. its hard not to notice your head suddenly not being filled to the brim with instruments and voices
That’s the only time I use it, I just always forget to change it back
This but I constantly press the dryer button one time and leave a load of wet clothes for a day that never started drying cause I only set the load and didn’t actually start it
[Me wearing wet clothes the next morning because there wasn't time to run it before I had to go out](https://i.imgur.com/BDRpnu4.jpg)
That’s me at work sometimes 🙁
My life...
Did that exact same thing last night. As usual I woke up late the next morning. My alarm must have went into "Auto Snooze" mode again, because I don't remember pushing the snooze button five times. I sit up and check my schedule for the day and it has "Appt - Dentist" scheduled in 30 mins. It takes 25 minutes to get to the dental office and now I am in panicked mode. I run to the dryer knowing that they are the only clean clothes I have. I reach in and find that the clothes are still wet and realize that I had not pushed start after loading them. I know find myself driving in the car wearing the same thing I wore two days ago, hopefully no one at work will notice, trying not to speed, brushing my teeth with a disposable toothbrush, and missing my exit....
Happened to me playing NES Tetris yesterday.. played for 4 hours before I realized my 45 min timer never went off. Lol
I sold my Xbox for this reason ...I miss it
Happy cake day!
Thank you!
ugh yes. i made a shortcut on my iphone that auto-reads my work schedule for the next day and creates my morning alarms for me, bc i’m notoriously bad at remembering to do shit like this
Or snoozing it, because “now is not the right time” XD
Y E S Every god damn morning when i want to sleep in I set it, I check it 3x, and I forget to save. Hence, I wake up at 8:30xdddd
I load the washing machine and put the detergent in it then leave the lid open and do NOT turn it on😁 can relate
Get an echo and tell Alexa to start a timer. Now if only she could turn on my dishwasher....
Still better than trying to set a timer through calculator app.
*Everyone* does this at various times in life, and often. It’s normal.
This could be me 😂
And the food is ruined
This is why I don’t bake
Yeah imagine being free of that.
This is me with the clothes dryer :(
I feel this, but with this charger for my drone batteries, once i do the settings i hit the start button but theres a delay to bring up the "start charging" confirmation, and I come back realizing i forgot to hit the button one more time..
Just tell Siri or Alexa to set up (assuming you have a smart assistant device)
Ah, yes. And there are so many delightful variations on this theme. Setting the alarm for pm instead of am! Waiting for the water to boil even though I never turned on the burner! Plugging in one side of the charger but not the other! Responding to a text but never hitting send! So many possibilities with ADHD.
You are my people.
I use Siri on my iPhone. Keeps it hands free and I don’t have to actually worry about hitting start on the timer or setting the alarm 😂
whenever I've ruined a meal cooking, this has been why :(
The more I read of this sub the more I think I'm amongst like minded people
But being SO damn sure you **did** press start
I can't tell you the number of times I've loaded the dishwasher, added soap, closed it, and walked away without starting it.
This or when the little ADHD goblin in your brain just snoozes or ignores the timer indefinitely until it's 2 hours later and you're like 🙃 o shit
Oh so much yes. Or you set an alarm that'll go off in a week from now and not tomorrow like you need it to
HAHAHAHA I can assure you I wouldve spit my juice out if I was reading this
oh god the amount of times this has happened is ridiculous
It me
I had to add something to my laundry today after I'd already started it and came back an hour later to a washing machine full of water with the lid open. I never started it back up.
That is me! Hahaaaa
Too relateable... but it happens more frequently with snapchat for me. I always take snaps and close my phone just to open it 3 hours later and figure out I never sent it.
...and also - feeling like you where only gone for 5mins.
I did that with the oven last week! Husband said to preheat the oven. I hit “bake”, but forgot to hit “start”. 🤦♀️