Posted on 02/03/2023 6:00:26 AM PST by sodpoodle
Thank GOD there's a name for this disorder.
Age-Activated Attention Deficit Disorder.
This is how it manifests:
I decide to water my garden. As I turn on the hose in the driveway, I look over at my car and decide it needs washing.
As I start toward the garage, I notice mail on the porch table that I brought up from the mail box earlier.
I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car.
I lay my car keys on the table, Put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table, And notice that the can is full.
So, I decide to put the bills back On the table and take out the garbage first...
But then I think, Since I'm going to be near the mailbox When I take out the garbage anyway, I may as well pay the bills first.
I take my check book off the table, And see that there is only one check left. My extra checks are in my desk in the study, So I go inside the house to my desk where I find the can of Diet Coke I'd been drinking.
I'm going to look for my checks, But first I need to push the Diet Coke aside So that I don't accidentally knlock it over.
The Diet Coke is getting warm, And I decide to put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.
As I head toward the kitchen with the
Diet Coke, A vase of flowers on the counter Catches my eye--they need water.
I put the Diet Coke on the counter and Discover my reading glasses that I've been searching for all morning. I decide I better put them back on mky desk, But first I'm going to water the flowers.
I set the glasses back down on the counter , Fill a container with water and suddenly spot the TV remote. Someone left it on the kitchen table.
I realize that tonight when we go to
watch TV, I'll be looking for the remote, But I won't remember that it's on the
kitchen table, So I decide to put it back in the den where
it belongs, But first I'll water the flowers.
I pour some water in the flowers, But quite a bit of it spills on the floor.
So, I set the remote back on the table, Get some towels and wipe up the spill.
Then, I head down the hall trying to Remember what I was planning to do.
At the end of the day: The car isn't washed, The bills aren't paid, There is a warm can of Diet Coke sitting on the counter,
The flowers don't have enough water, There is still only 1 check in my check book, I can't find the remote, I can't find my glasses, And I don't remember what I did
with the car keys. Then, when I try to figure out why
nothing got done today, I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all day, And I'm really tired.
I realize this is a serious problem, And I'll try to get some help for it, but
first I'll check my e-mail...
Do me a favor. Forward this message to everyone you know, Because I don't remember who I've sent it to.
Don't laugh -- if this isn't you yet,
your day is coming!
P.S. I don't remember who sent it to me, so if it was you, I'm sorry
God bless.
Yup.
I have developed mild cognitive impairment. Same results as this. Disheartening…
Thanks much for the humor, Sod!! d:^)
I think your hose is still running water.
It’s kind of pleasant, sometimes. Like a distracted dance.
Same results as this. Disheartening
Forgot to include the part about writing lists, that are discovered later when you have forgotten what you forgot.
If you stop writing the lists, you’ll not feel so upset.
Just don’t start cooking anything without a potholder in one hand. With long covid, I couldn’t even tell that i left the dutch oven on the gas stove on low for so long that the sliced onions i was caramelizing went well past onion brittle and ended up as well charred. And i was in the kitchen reading a magazine ten foot away. Interesting article though, about …….
I’m 83. In my early sixties I felt the beginnings of what you describe beginning to squiggle up in my being. Sensing where it might lead to, whenever I sensed it I immediately headed for my recliner, and still do. I have achieved complete victory over all that blundering around. Blessings.
I put a to do list on my Apple watch. I do wind up doing other things, but the day isn’t done till the list is checked off. Works for me. (I’m 81).
Cheer up, it could be worse. You could be President and not even know the difference between your wife and your sister.
I just call it “multi-tasking”.
First, have a fixed place for some things. For example, always leave your keys in the same place. ALWAY, not sometimes.
When you put something on your desk or counter that you'll need later, say out loud, "I'm putting my reading glasses on the kitchen counter." Repeat if necessary...several times.
It doesn't always work, but it sure does help.
And get rid of all clutter. Clutter is the enemy.
In fact, it's clutter in the brain that caused this problem to begin with.
I call it my Sometimer’s
My wife and I got the latest/local Covid 19 variant from attending a local family Thanksgiving dinner.
We are in our 80’s, married for 62 years and our memories weren’t that great before the Covid Variant visited us.
Since then, it has even been worse.
I have in self defense?/retaliation, started her writing in her brown binder, what she asked me to do and the time.
She was an RN most of her adult life and worked with very forgetful Doctors. So she jotted down the date, and time if and when the Docs asked her to do something. She used a mini ring shorthand binder that fit perfectly into her lab coat pocket. Now, she keeps an 8.5 X 11 inch brown binder, kept on the table by her chair.
Often, now, she is amazed that something in her handwriting is or is not in her log. She no longer argues that she didn’t ask me or tell me what to do. Also, I now, have my own spiral notebook.
Before getting our Thanksgiving gift of the latest Covid Variant, she seldom failed to jot down whatever she asked me to do. Now, it is a rare day that she jotted down 40/50% of what she claimed to ask me to do. Now, she often forgets to jot down what/when she asked me to do.
As noted above: Now, I keep a little spiral note pad that fits into my front shirt pocket or on my laptop desk. I try to jot down, the time/date when asked to do something. Also, I note if I’m not in my Lazy Boy or in another room, or often entered into notes on my Chromebook, are comments. Like if I’m headed out a door to do something outside when she says, “While you are up ~~~~~~!”
I know that I am absent minded and forget things. The joke in our family is my wife has a built in Kray computer recording everything she has ever said or had been told before the latest Covid Variant. Now, she is a normal and absent minded 82 year old.
I'm 81 and today I ate an apple.
What's a apple watch?
I sat and looked at my apple for over an hour, still no list, so I ate it.
I put my list on my fridge, but it's too heavy too carry around, so I don't give a damn about the list...it's still there since 2019.
Works for me, did I mention that I'm 81?
I have some of this but I think it is more a focus issue. I do put things in the same spot so I know where to look for them later. I have a bit of OCD so have habits I have formed such as mot leaving the driveway until the garage door is closed. I know some of this is my body on auto pilot moving while my mind I’d focused on outlying the next lesson in my class I am teaching.
The cure...
More wine...earlier in the day.
LOL that’s the first thing I thought after reading this.
GMTA!
If you complete one job at a time this problem doesn’t ever occur. Stop trying to optimize footsteps.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.