ADD or ADHD?? Here is one technique. A.I. I. P.

[Dien Rice]

Originally Posted by GordonJ

Helping a young person with ADHD, here is one technique I have taught him, culled from my own experiences.

Awareness of thought. Awareness when mind shifts.

Intercept the thought. I write down a key word about what I was trying to focus on, sort of a tripwire to get back to it.

Intervene. Have an intervention for that new thought, or all intruding thoughts, write them down and tell them you will revisit once you are DONE with what you were doing.

Proceed. Go back to your original thought.

Example. I'm writing a scene for one of my scripts, and all of a sudden, out of nowhere, an Idea, about a different scene or even a different script jumps to my attention.

I write it down, always carry a notebook with me, and always have one on my desk.

So I say to the thought. That is a great idea. Let me write it down. Now that I have intercepted and caught you, I now intervene, (come between you and my current work), but know you are not ignored or fogotten...and then I

proceed. I see the word, the trigger, or tripwire to my original train of thought and that gets me back on path.

Early going, it may be constant, but with some practice, it could work for you too.

Hi Gordon,

Thanks, I'll try this advice!

The part I don't do (yet) is the keyword of what you're trying to focus on, to help you get back to it when you're distracted... So I'm gonna try that out.

For writing down thoughts I currently use Simplenote, it's a free app and also a website, which you can use from your phone or from any web browser. It's basically a simple notepad. I like to use it because if I use it (for example) on my phone, I can later access my notes on my desktop or laptop computer. (Or vice versa.)

Gordon, great advice!

By the way, I believe the ADHD market is a big one...

Best wishes,

Dien