Suggestions about how to smooth the way as a VAA endowed person

Another view of ADHD
Another view of ADD
Another view of Attention Deficit Disorder
It's really Variable Attention Ability

This page was NOT prepared by a medical doctor. Do not follow ANY of the suggestions on this page without FIRST consulting with a physician. Even then, what are you thinking? Why would you listen to an outside authority like Marshall or Steve? find your own authority and follow that. Don't listen to us. We don't know you.

This is a proto-book. Marshall and Steve are fleshing out the themes and tips in this book or booklet about how to we benefit from being who we are.

We've accomplished a number of positively deviant things.

We had no idea that we were labeled something so degrading and debilitating as a "disorder." If thinking outside the box is a disorder, may we all be afflicted with it.

Generosity
Marshall calls ADD "alfred do good." There's a "lack of focus" on our particular agenda, we are available to help others... and we genuinely like hanging out with others and fighting fires. A person with ADD really enjoys being or feeling effective...

Flexibility
When there are LOTS of things to do, some of them will conflict and that leads to the perception that a person with ADD is very flexible. Don't be fooled. We can be very sincere and strong in convictions. We might not always act out our convictions, partly because we forgot what we promised to do or we forgot to monitor something ("oh, your goldfish is dead?" oops)

Wonder
Because an ADD person has a short attention span, a visit back to a place that we've seen 20 times is often NEW! It's a lot of fun to go to Disney Land or World with a VAA person.

Ability to start fresh
To turn over a new leaf
Memento
This suggestion or capacity of the VAA person is here because we saw the movie Memento. See it. You'll know what it's like to wake up some mornings as a VAA person and I have the sense that there's something I've forgotten to include on my to do list today.   Oh, yeah, find out who killed my wife. (that's the basic plot of the movie.)

Specific tips

Get 15 copies of any important document.
Okay, maybe two copies and the original are enough.

Naps
Take them. There's something refreshing about starting the day over with a new perspective. "Do over!" Edison took naps, why not us, too?

Exercise
A little bit of tiredness leads to greater ability to focus.   Yes, we are so busy doing the 14 things that are on our lists that we don't make time to exercise, but it's WORTH IT. Make sure muscles get tired and there's lots of deep breathing.

WONDER
Look at the sunrise or sunset. take a moment. In fact, I'm stopping to type right now so I can go outside to look at it.

PMA
Positive Mental Attitude. hang out with positive guys like us. If you say something grumpy, we'll give you one chance to "reframe" or restate your attitude... if you are still grumpy, we'll be off line!

There's something remarkable about an ADD person who doesn't know that they have ADD or an ADD person who thinks he's "with Alfred Do Good." There's a positive vibrancy, connection to life and wonder.   I love teaching kids with ADD when we don't have to be on deadline.   Then we can discover. "Hey, what animals do you see in that book?"

It's all about energy, activity and desire to participate.

Hang out with negative ADD and ADHD "victims."
You know the type. "I just can't hold a real job because I have ADD and I just lose focus." Blah blah blah, yes, there is a serious issue, but at some point, we have a choice:   Let's embrace the condition instead of complaining about it.   Where do you want your energy to go?
The idea is SPEND SOME TIME with an ADD victim. Hear the excuses, "Oh, sorry I'm late, I locked my keys in the car and I had to wait for a locksmith."
(why not just buy an extra set of keys?)

ANTICIPATE
Yes, we have lack of foresight. We have some self knowledge, so let's use self knowledge to over come the lack of foresight.   Then we will have foresight. "I thought I might lose my keys or lock them in the car, so I made an extra copy and I hid the key in my wallet. Bravo!"
Marshall knows that he will leave his expensive sunglasses somewhere. So he takes the time to add an address tag. It has his cellphone and address on the string that holds the glasses around his neck, so if he leaves the glasses somewhere, someone can track down the owner.   That's an example of living with VAA.

Creative Mess
VAA means "I want to see everything." that's the filing system. Counter that tendency with a hidden stuff room, perhaps a warehouse or storage locker.   Steve keeps his secondary files in a place where he can walk in and SEE EVERYTHING. It's not efficient but it keeps wiht his learning style. His main office is often cluttered, but not as bad as it once was!...

"I gotta finish it now."
The VAA tendency is "stay focused on this important project NOW because if I put it aside, I will lose the pieces and forget where I was headed and it will never get finished." So we work on it for 2 hours and now we are 90 minutes behind for the entire day.   NO!   Instead of going for 100 percent, go for "30 minutes." We can tell ourselves, "I want to get this done, but I am going to work on it for 30 minutes.   If it's not done, I can schedule a later time for it."   This web site is not finished, but it was a 30 minute project, that's it.   Okay, 37 minutes.

Plunger
My wife keeps trying to get rid of the second toilet bowl plunger. "We have one. We don't need a second one." So find a neighbor or an outside closet to hide the second plunger...

Quotations
We surround ourselves with quotations.   Inspire ourselves to maintain that positive mental attitude.

If we ever were asked to give an experiential seminar, we would probably include these quotations

And then there are these quotations, too... See ALSO the Double Moon Shot
Quotes from Daniel Pink's A Whole New Mind
"A designer gives to the world something it didn't know it was missing." -- Paola Antonelli, curator of design, MOMA

"Design is shaping our surroundings to serve our needs and give meaning to our lives." -- John Heskett, Toothpicks and Logos: design in our everyday life.
Design is utility enhanced by meaning.

Three forces are shaping our world: Asia, automation and abundance.
Daniel Pink recommends that we ask three questions about our work:
1. Can someone overseas do it cheaper?
2. Can a computer do it faster?
3. Does my product offer meaning to a customer in an abundant society?

3.3 million white collar jobs in the USA will shift to low-cost countries by 2015.
Nations like Japan, Germany, and the United Kingdom will see similar job losses. -- quoted in Pink's A WHOLE NEW MIND

What is an ideal vocation for a person with ADD?
Just some suggestions.... DO NOT BASE YOUR LIFE on this list.
creating a set of test questions that cover 25 subjects.

Compiling a quotation book

Working on a magazine with 300 different topics in each issue.

Fire fighting.

NOTE TO MARSHALL

Just email me any suggestions and we can start compiling our OWN book about VAA.   We have the ability... Let's vary...

Cool quotes
Some clever quotations to inspire us
> You never grow old until you've lost all of your marvels.
Merry Browne

Don't wait for inspiration to find you -- go out and hunt it down.
Jack London (he probably had ADD)

> Dreams come a size too big so that we can grow into them.
Josie Bissett

> Sometimes you just have to take the leap, and build your wings on the way down.
Kobi Yamada

> If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much space.
Lou Whitaker

> Masquerading as a normal person day after day is exhausting. Anonymous