Adult ADD and Money

Thanksgiving

Thursday, November 24th is Thanksgiving in the United States. It also kicks off the holiday season that lasts until New Years day. This can be a VERY stressful time for people with ADHD. The holidays seems to offer many challenges in money management, time management, planning, organization, and dealing with friends and family. If you are not careful it is easy to get overwhelmed by all of the stresses of the holiday season. This holiday stress can lead to mentally shutting down, having a negative (grinch like) attitude about the holidays, and over indulging.

Thanksgiving is the perfect time to think about everyone that is important to us, and everything we are grateful for. By focusing on your blessings, it should improve your attitude, and can also help you to not worry about going to events, or completing tasks that have little or no meaning to you. This could mean:

• not focusing on holiday decorations or perfectly wrapped presents
• not over stressing if you are a little late for an event 
• reducing the number of parties and events that you go to
• reducing the number and/or money spent on presents 
• reducing or not sending holiday cards

The holidays are a time to enjoy and share your blessings. Hopefully by focusing on your blessings it will help you to reduce stress and make it easier for you to recover quickly in the new year.

 

How do you hold yourself accountable?

When you struggle with issues like managing money, procastination, organization, and household chores it is vital that you hold yourself accountable for completing tasks the will improve how you live. The paradox is the more that you struggle the less you want to held accountable. A good way to hold yourself accountable is to focus on the positive changes that you are making. One area that I struggle with is household chores. Over the last year I have used twitter to help hold myself accountable when it comes to completeing chores.

Today, in addition to using twitter I set up a written log to help make me accountable.   

 

Date	Accomplished	Total Time
8-Oct	Cleared Clutter, Shredded Documents,	30 min
	Took Out Trash, Started Laundry,
8-Oct	Put away Laundry, Started New Loads for
	Washer & Dryer,  Cleaned Kitchen Table & Chairs	35 min
	Swept Kitchen Floor
		5 min
8-Oct	Put Away Dishes from Dishwasher
8-Oct	Washed Dishes in Dishwasher, New Loads for	20 min
	Washer & Dryer, Put away towels
8-Oct	Put Away Laundry, New Load for Dryer, Cleaned	50 min
	Cat Box, Wiped Counter & Sink, Cleaned Microwave
	Dishwasher, Part of Kitchen Floor
8-Oct	Finished Washing Kitchen Floor, Cleaned	25 min
	Refrigerator, Cleaned Back Counter

By writing down my tasks it makes me feel more positive about what I accomplished, and it also will help me in managing my time to complete these tasks in the future. Writing down tasks is a good tool for holding yourself accountable, if you need a little more help with accountability might I suggest you look into the ADD Action Club.

The Stages – What to Expect After an ADD / ADHD Diagnosis

Date: Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Time: 9:00 – 10:00 pm ET* (New York Time)

Instructor: Stephanie Sarkis, Ph.D.

Listen Live on the Phone or over the Internet!

Wow! If you or someone you care about has been recently diagnosed with ADD / ADHD – you might be wondering what comes next? Why are they acting this way? or Why am I feeling this way?

Join us as we welcome Stephanie Sarkis, Ph.D. to discuss the varying stages she’s identified in her book, “Adult ADD: A Guide for the Newly Diagnosed.” Learn about the stages people go through after an ADHD diagnosis as well as how to recognize them and navigate through them.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

 

Are you a Peacock trying to be a Chameleon?

Are you a Peacock trying to be a Chameleon?

 

This sounds like a silly question, what would prompt a Peacock to think that they could blend in and hide. Everyone has certain characteristics that from time to time makes them stand out from the crowd like a Peacock. These characteristics makes you unique and helps makes the world a more interesting place. But they can also alienate you from the crowd and make you feel inadequate. By trying to blend in and hide it can give you a feeling of acceptance and of safety.

If you have ADHD it is very likely that there has been times when you have felt like the Peacock who stands out from the crowd. It is also very likely that there have been times when you have wanted to blend in and hide. Peacocks don't often have good luck when it comes to hiding and blending in because they are not physically able to. They are better off by just showing the world their true colors. The next time that you feel like trying to blend in and hide you might want to ask yourself 

"Am I a Peacock trying to be a Chameleon?"

 

Parents, Children and ADHD – Getting Families Back on Track

Date: Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Time: 9:00 – 10:00 pm ET* (New York Time)

Instructor: Mark Bertin

Listen Live on the Phone or over the Internet!

We all know that ADHD obviously affects the children who have it, but what about their parents and families?  Recent research has also shown that parents of children with ADHD experience increased rates of anxiety, depression, stress and marital issues. When children have ADHD, it often affects their relationship with their parents, and their parents’ relationship with each other. This added stress makes it more difficult to parent consistently and to effectively problem solve.

Join us as we welcome Dr. Mark Bertin to discuss not only how ADHD affects your child, but how it may be affecting you and the rest of your family.  Learn how understanding ADHD and executive functioning more fully can allow you, as parents, to make changes you need to get everyone back on track.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

 

To Coupon or not Coupon that is the question.

Although I do not have ADHD, I struggle with organization. When I create systems to help me organize, I like to keep them as simple as possible. When I prepare to go food shopping:

• I clean out the fridge, freezer, and cabinets, and see what I have left.
• I prepare a menu, trying to use many of the items that I still have at the house.
• I write my list based on my menu.

 

This simple system has helped me to save time, reduce waste (save money), and for the most part get the items that I need for the week. What this system does not include is looking at circulars or clipping coupons. I will look at a circular or use a coupon from time to time, but for the most part coupons seem to me like a drag on a system that works for me. Coupons seem to be making a comeback, and I should probably think about incorporating them into my system. I am still skeptical about how much money I can save with them, but I would really like to hear how other people who struggle with organization are saving money with coupons.

Advocacy and ADD / ADHD

Date: Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Time: 9:00 pm – 10:00 pm Eastern (New York Time)

Instructor: Robert M. Tudisco, JD

Listen Live on the Phone or over the Internet!

Have you ever just wanted to sit down with an attorney and ask him or her what the best way to advocate for yourself or your ADHD child would be in a situation? Whether it be entering a new school or starting a new job. Join us as we welcome Attorney Rob Tudisco to discuss how advocacy works for individuals with ADHD.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Credit Card Research Survey (Guest Post)

My name is Shawn Whitmore, and I am a graduate student at the University of Hawaii. This project is a requirement of my Master’s degree program. The purpose of my research is to assess the general knowledge, uses and, behavior of credit card users.  Survey questions are multiple choice, scale, and some fill in the blank.  The questionnaire is completely anonymous and take about 15 minutes.  The internet survey is posted on the link below (works best in Internet Explorer). 

http://www.pacrin.com/default.aspx

I plan to post the survey results on the same site this September, 2011 for anyone interested.

Thank You

 

Scanning Documents

Do you have issues with managing paper, I know that I do. On my end table, I am looking at what seems like a small mountain of paper that I need to file or shred. The good news is that most of the financial documents that I need to keep are now available in electronic form. This has helped me immensely with managing both paper and my finances.

What I am thinking about now is scanning other important financial documents. This will allow me to have all of my financial documents available to me with the click of a mouse. I know it will take a little work with the initial scanning of documents, but scanning all of my documents should save me time in the long run because it should reduce the possibility of not filing or misfiling a document. That way I won't have to rummage through piles like this to find missing documents.

Calming the Caveman to Engage the Thinker

 

Date: Tuesday, July 26 2011

Time: 9:00 pm – 10:00 pm Eastern (New York Time)

Instructor: Dr. Lynne Kenney

Listen Live on the Phone or over the Internet!

Attention parents! Do you seem to be caught in the discipline trap.  This trap originates from the belief that coercion and punishment would ultimately change behavior.  Once you’ve gone down this path, according to Pediatric Psychologist, Dr. Lynne Kenney, the best you can hope for is damage control.  Never fear!  Dr. Kenney will be joining us here at ADDClasses.com to discuss in-home family interventions and ADHD, or as she likes to put it – Calming the Caveman to Engage the Thinker.  Dr. Kenney will help you, as a parent to enhance the cognitive, social-emotional, motor, academic and friendship skills of their children through interactive strategies that engage the Thinker and calm The Caveman in each child (and family).

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER