Mecca to the Planner

There are others like me. I love this weekly group that is now on week two. I know I wonder if my interest in attending will fizzle like so many other things in my life. Sooner or later there is an annoyance that emerges and then explodes.

The group consists of other mature adults with ADD—mothers, wives, husbands. We all look professional and rush to the pow wow in our work attire of suit and ties.

The theme yesterday was planners. The word planner sends chills up my spine, mostly because I've been searching for a planner that works much in the same fashion I seek a man or a high heel that is comfortable. It's rather hopeless.

Somewhere in one of these entries I mentioned that I've purchased half of Staples. It is becoming my regular hangout, the Staples around the subway stop. I go in and am swallowed by the colors, sizes and the complexity of it all. Each slices and dices up time differently but to me, time is meaningless. I wear a watch and in fact have seven at home, but I forget to look at them. Staples should give me an ADD discount. ;)

I hauled in the mountain of planners yesterday, there were at least six, a monthly, a weekly, a Lifesaver-colored palm sized organizer, a manila folder with the Post-Its system that I thought was working (I write down stuff I'm supposed to do on one side and move the post-its to the other when I complete it). The yellow color reminds me of puke. I've literally gotten sick of it.

Our group leader turned on a light in my brain yesterday. She said that the to-do list is a bridge to the planner or scheduler. Little did I know. To date I've been operating on my hot-wired brain. I'll think of something and do it when I think of it, and everything else will slip through like water in the hand.

It might seem normal to the non-ADD world, but the to-do list, the scheduler and planner, and their purposes were as foreign as Greek until yesterday. I think I'll stay away from the fancy schmancy iPhone stuff though, lest I drop it in the pool.

It was a relief to realize that others struggled, too, with things like paying bills, managing daily work flow, the incoming stream of email, phone calls, and demands—always more, never less. I always leave feeling somewhat happier and more relieved.

I awoke this morning earlier at 7:10 (better than the 8:10), but I did make an excursion to Staples once again and arrived at work 15 minutes late, because I strolled up and down the aisles mesmerized by holiday cards and then wondering what I needed to buy everyone for Christmas. I did find a planner, a $30 leather bound black book with space to schedule daily things, and I have vowed to stick with it through thick and thin. Just hope I don't lose it.

What planner or to-do system works best for you?