Appointments and Routines

As anyone  with attention deficit disorder can attest, ADD (or ADHD) confounds and frustrates all whom it affects. We, the clinically deficient of attention, have a terribly frustrating time developing routines and keeping appointments, so we seldom attempt to establish either, which confounds our loved ones. Intellectually, we understand how important routines can be for accomplishing multiple daily tasks, so we do endeavor to involve others in our new routine-building methods. Unfortunately, others have their own routines that suit them quite nicely, so our novel attempts at adopting good habits are often forgotten.

Our remaining option is to sincerely attempt tried and true methods that we know have temporarily worked for us in the past. Alas, we need to spend much attention to build routines – constant, patient attention – and by definition, attention is a strength ADD denies us. Hypothetically, should one of us develop a routine (through some combination of good luck and hard work), one must never make appointments because isolated events would break the rhythm of one's routine, for which one has worked so hard – and therein lies the real tragedy, since one cannot go through life without visiting bankers, dentists, doctors, lawyers, and other professionals of that sort: because the time of "professional" people is extremely valuable, and one must make an appointment to take advantage of their valuable time.

As the reader has, no doubt, already intuited, I find myself in one suchpickle today. I have an appointment – this afternoon – and the keeping of that appointment is requiring the full focus of my scattered attention. I have forsaken all routines I had hoped to execute on this otherwise beautiful December day, and I can only hope that I will be able to muscle enough attention to start re-building my routines tomorrow. Yes, ADD confounds and distresses us all.