Welcome to Living in the Noise!

What is Living in the Noise?

So, you have decided to take 30 minutes a day to study for that upcoming exam that you have in two weeks. On the first day, you go to study, and wake up the next morning with an outstanding new painting that you worked very hard on. It's brilliant, and provides you with a grand sense of accomplishment, but... you realized you need to get on that studying that did not happen.

The next day, you get ready to study, and spend 30 minutes reading the same paragraph over and over again, and decide that you need a new pen. After setting out to get a nice new pen, you come home with a kitten that was being sold in the parking lot, and realize you're not supposed to have pets in your apartment complex, without a pet deposit. Fortunately, your student loans are enough to cover the pet fees, but you realize you forgot to buy that pen. By the time you get home, you get ready to set back out for that pen, then find that you have accidentally kept the pen from the renter's office... but hey, now you have a new pen!

Now that you've looked at the time, it turns out that the first class of the day has already ended, so you go about the rest of your day. Skipping a few days ahead, you realize that you were supposed to be studying for something, and now it's the Sunday morning, before Friday's test. Loading up on coffee simply sounds like a great idea, so you head to a coffee shop and browse the internet for awesome desk chairs that have built in speakers, and interesting looking textures. Two hours later, you suddenly find yourself locked into your studies, as if nothing else on the planet exists.

Eventaully, the barista comes to shatter your focus, by telling you that they closed 45 minutes ago, and you need to leave. You studied for a solid seven hours, and have no idea where that time went. One way or another, you definitely got some serious studying done. As a matter of fact, you were so locked in that you did not even take a break to eat lunch or dinner. You feel accomplished enough to skip studying for the rest of the week, until the night before.

The night before the big test, you buckle down to study, at 5:00PM. By midnight, the cat has an awesome hand knit kitty sweater. You didn't even know you knew how to knit, but it's absolutely perfect! You run to the local gas station to pick up a mad stack of energy drinks, and by 2:00AM, you're back to studying like there's no tomorrow... as a matter of fact, it's already "tomorrow," and the test started 15 minutes ago. You hustle to class and the professor hands over the test, in dissaproval of your tardiness. You begin the exam. In a flurry of anxiety, you fly through the papers of the test, as fast as your fancy new pen will take you!

Suddenly, the teacher makes the announcement:

"Everyone, put your pens down, and turn in what you've finished on your test. Time is up!"

You're only one fourth of your way through the exam, and have no idea what you're going to do, but then you remember that you've been formally diagnosed with ADHD. After shuffling through your pack, you find an invaluable piece of paper; the paperwork notating that you have ADHD and must be allowed time accommodations. The teacher now has to allow you to keep working on the test until you finish, thank goodness.

You feel so glad that you got a fancy new pen!

Welcome to the "Living in the Noise!"

I go by Red, and this is my blog for professional development advice, catered to you young developing professionals who deal with ADHD. I refer to Attention Defecit Hyperactivity Disorder as "the noise." The purpose of the little story, above, is to illustrate a few weeks in the life of what ADHD can look like. Notice that once locked into something, the ADHD mind forces a deathgrip-like focus, without distraction, on random tasks that may or may not be essential or relevant. This is called "hyperfocus." As a matter of fact, once locked in, we're practically unstoppable. The short story is an example of an individual who has not mastered how to properly leverage the positives of what ADHD does for them. My entire goal of creating "Living in the Noise," is to provide guidance toward mastering the benefits of ADHD.

Here is a random rhetorical question. Why am I sitting here, writing a blog at 3:35 AM, in the morning?

Navigating ADHD in a world where most people simply cannot relate, can get sticky. A common misconception about those with Attention Defecit Hyperactivity Disorder is that we are unable to focus or follow through on anything without assistance. Though these levels of fault are often the end result of an individual with the disorder trying to operate like someone with typical psychology, it is far from true. Having ADHD is ultimately an atypical psychology that is just as capable as any other mindset, just with very different strengths and weaknesses.

There are some significant benefits to having ADHD, where "normal" folks fall short. On this blog site, I will teach those working through ADHD how we work best, and how we can take over the world around us. I will be posting at least twice a month, starting with getting into the strengths and weaknesses of ADHD. If anyone has any requests, I will most certainly take them into consideration for additional posts, as well. If you identify with the scenario I've presented, you have come to the right place to figure out how you can start pulling your life together to start knocking out those serious dreams and goals that you've been trying to figure out how to initiate.

My next blog will be posted on the 15th of March. In the meantime, random questions can be emailed to me directly, at red.riley@livinginthenoise.com!

#ADHD #ADD #attentiondeficitdisorder #hyperfocus #focus