Daily Tip: Wishing and Hoping is different than working and action

Today I was busy the whole day long, and I have my husband to thank for being right by my side assisting me in all the chores.  Stove corn fuel is heavy and he brought in 600 pounds for me.  Going to the gym is great when your husband goes with you and cleaning and vacuuming the living room, making supper and walking the dogs together makes the load lighter.
I must say life means a lot of work, and there is a lot of joy to be had when one has a good partner and a plan to get things done.
Today my gratitude is for pen and paper.  I used the back of an envelope to write out my to-dos, but we got 'em done.
Now it is time for bed.
Amy Zents

© Amalia Zents 2010

Daily Tip: There is a lot to do, and a lot of distractions

It is Saturday.  I go to work this afternoon at the radio station.  I have chores at home this morning and I am tempted to escape by going shopping instead.  Nevertheless, I need to go to the Hardware store where I can pick up Science Diet pet food for the dogs and the cat, and I need to buy Cat Litter.  The corn stove needs to be filled because the backup heater has kicked in, that means the radiators are on burning natural gas, instead of cornstove fuel.
I hate confusion, and tedious tasks, but I need to hop to it.
How do you deal with the boring and drab chores?  I used to be all over the place, but starting today I will keep a master list of everything I do to keep the house in order.
Well, the house is not in perfect order, but I did not allow a HDP (huge dish pile-up) to happen yesterday.  Instead, I took 15 minutes to nip the problem in the bud yesterday.  As soon as supper was over, I emptied the dishwasher of the clean dishes and put them away, and then filled the dishwasher with dishes I had that were soaking in the sink, and from supper.  I knew if I did not take care of the dishes last night the kitchen would be a mess today.  Thankfully, it is not.  I was able to make a nice meal just now, and it was easier in a cleaner kitchen, except now, I am back where I started with more dirty dishes.  I need to do the same task as last night.  I need to empty the dishwasher and put the new dirty dishes in it.
I have things to do today, and the computer or rather the Internet  and the TV are two of my most pervasive distractions.  The dogs are waiting to go out, and I need to drag a 50 lb. bag of corn stove fuel in to put in the corn burner.
Life is good, and I will have some time before work to decompress after I do my chores.
Take care,
Amy Zents
© Amalia Zents 2010

Daily Tip: Hyperfocus Zone and Internet Temptations

There is a ton of information online, and a great chance to waste a lot of your time.  You can start a search at Google and wind spending 12 hours watching videos on YouTube or staring at Celebrity photos on Tweetphoto.
Time disappears if you have A.D.D. or A.D.H.D and when you have entered into: a phrase I have coined, the Hyperfocus Zone.
In HZ, you can fritter precious momemts of life in many unconnected, mundane ways, or you can decide to take use your skills, experience, and interest and channel your energies into making YOUR life the best it can be, and succeed wonderfully!
Alas, what generaaly occurs in the HZ, is we get so caught up in our Internet fun, that we create an atmosphere of obssessive attention  forming a type of self-hypnosis, that mesmerizes us and glues our bums to our chairs. so that even the thought of taking a potty break does not appeal to us!
How do we counteract this Internet addiction, or hyperfocused zone?
Well, the first things we need to do are Prioritize, Plan and decide.
Then we need to act.
1 hour on spent on Facebook, or Twitter is fine to catch up. 
10 hours is not really very wise, unless you want to, and can afford to.
Do your best to get real, and get offline, and I will too. 
It is hard. 
What good are your opportunities to visit the library, go to the ice rink, the park, the pool, the playground, the community centre, or your job when you have the Internet?
You decide.  You have the Internet now, like a giant fun temptation, a huge personal amusement park, and you also own an awesome ability to hyperfocus on what you like for hours on end.  Will you use your power to hyperfocus for good time use, or for evil time wasting?
Will I?
I shall make my list and hop to it.
I hope you will too.
Hyperfocusedly yours,
Amy Zents
© Amalia Zents 2010

Daily Tip: Don't start your engine late. Read my scary tale.

You see I am late.  Always, always late. What? You gotta be kidding!  Well, it takes me awhile to warm up to an idea, a problem, a gig, a place.
My boss gave me an ultimatum (well sorta, he teased me about tossing me in the dumpster,) in a kidding way.  Recently for my on-air shift he asked me politely to arrive 10 minutes early to work.  Happily, my attempts at doing so, have resulted on my arriving for my board-shift on time, with me being a lot more composed and prepared for the show.  Now the out-of-town, on-location gigs are a different story.    Read my scary tale:

This morning was a fast and furious one.  I had to move fast this morning.  When I'd finally arrived to meet a colleague to follow him to a broadcast, he was furious I was late!  He'd anxiously waited for me to arrive for our appointment.  It was pre-arranged that I should follow him in my car to another town for the broadcast, and he was positively fuming when I finally walked in the door.  He growled at me that we would have to drive fast.  So, I followed him out of town and he drove so fast, I lost him for awhile, but caught up to him even though I felt he was over-dramatizing my tardiness by driving dangerously at scary speeds to make it to the Cafe on time for the broadcast.  When we had both finally arrived to the broadcast location, and I had warmed up to the idea that it was time to get to work, then things settled down, and it was business as usual. 
The other day I had to meet a different salesman to drive to a broadcast except, in that instance, HE was late, and I felt a tad vindicated THAT morning.  But, NOT this morning! 
It was I who was the one who got dumped on for being late.
Most of all, it was stressful raising the ire of a respected colleague. 
It was also quite nerve-wracking to me to have to follow an angry driver out of town in rural country parts hastening at scary speeds on slippery roads.
The message of this story? 
Don't start your engine late.
Warm up to the idea of your appointment, task or chore, well in advance of crunch-time. 
This goes for me and anyone who has time management and organizational issues. 
A lot of A.D.D., and A.D.H.D-sufferers have problems shifting gears from one activity to another, but real life demands it. 
Just like sticking your hand in a pot of boiling water will make you cry "Ouch," lateness, and the REALITY of it, can bite you in the butt if you ignore getting to where you need to be, or doing what you need to do on time. 
If he says, "Meet me at 7:10am," and you say, "OK."  Then meeting him at 7:25am is late!
Don't be late.  Know what you need to do, and think about shifting gears, and activities before you wind up in a frenzy.
Remember: warm up your brain before you wind up late, or dead!
Peace,
Amy Zents
© Amalia Zents 2010

Daily Tip: Online and Out of Time, or 'Tis the Gift to be simple

Hello my fellow blog reader,

It is amazing how the Internet can be a tool for success and a tool for failure.  It can be a time-sucker or a life-line.  It all depends on you!
If you have ADHD or are prone to being seduced into the magic of the World Wide Web, to the detriment of yourself and others, then let me tell you something: 
YOU ARE NOT ALONE!
There is nothing wrong in enjoying yourself, and nothing wrong in enriching your mind, or amusing yourself by surfing, or "networking," playing video games, or socializing online.
There IS something wrong in screwing up at work, neglecting your family and duties in exchange for a headrush or a "computer" fix.
I struggle with this continually because I am mesmerized by Twitter, Facebook and the like.
So, today is the first day I am going to try to limit myself to only 60 minutes of "on-line time."
I will let you know how I do on tomorrow's blog.

     Like a fish in a fishtank, I am going to look out of my glassy manse, from my corner, and soak in the World Wide Web on my computer screen, but then, unlike a fish in a fish tank, I am going to breathe the real air, in my real world.  And in my real home I will set to: cleaning the fridge, showering, tidying up, cooking, and work-at-home teaching my music students, and then rehearsing, and readying for my 3 upcoming music gigs with my music duo Molly and Sonny Boy, instead of, frittering away most of my precious life-time online.  Here is a great discipline quote I found online on Twitter yesterday:
"Self-respect is the root of discipline: The sense of dignity grows with the ability to say no to oneself." — A.J Heschel
Peace to you and yours, and I hope you follow the advice of that old shaker song written by Elder Joseph while he was at the Shaker community in Alfred, Maine in 1848:

'Tis the gift to be simple

'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free,

'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,

And when we find ourselves in the place just right,

'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.

When true simplicity is gain'd,

To bow and to bend we shan't be asham'd,

To turn, turn will be our delight,

Till by turning, turning we come round right.

 
So, until tomorrow, let's keep turning, turning, and doing what it takes, 'til we come round right, even if it means turning off the 'puter to get our work done.
 
Happy Hump Day, 
I remain yours truly,
(continually coping with my ADHD,)
Amy Zents
© Amalia Zents