If you missed my memo, I fractured my heel in early December and have spent much of the past two months unable to put any weight on my right foot. No walking; no driving. Ouch is right!

Luckily, I didn’t have to miss a single day of work. As an ADD coach, my days are spent talking on the telephone. Walking isn’t a requirement.

I’m pretty much back on my feet again, though I’m still working out of a temporary office in our guest room for a couple more weeks to avoid the steep flight of stairs that takes me to the Effortless Living, LLC World Headquarters (aka my home office).

Not having access to my office and files has made being organized very challenging; especially at tax time.

At our tax meeting, I didn’t have all the papers I needed and those I did have were jumbled. I felt like a confused, distracted dolt.

CPA Kay gets gold stars for not laughing. If she saw the irony figuring up the taxes for a very disorganized organizer she was polite enough not to mention it.

The formula goes something like this: physical disorganization fuels emotional distress and mental chaos.

When you can’t get organized it takes a toll. Each time you look at your home, your desk or your car, the piles and clutter send messages straight to your psyche.

The Four Hidden Costs of Disorganization for ADHD Adults

• The Cost of Confusion. When your world is cluttered, life is more confusing. You won’t know where to start and can’t figure out what to do next. Without a starting point to grab onto, your thoughts start spinning; only making the confusion worse.
• The Cost of Distraction. Clutter is distracting. With a plethora of things lying about to catch your eye, you’ll get pulled off track more easily. A more simple, clear environment makes it easier for the distractible ADHD mind to stay focused.
• The Cost of Overwhelm. As clutter builds it becomes harder and harder to function. Simply looking at all the decisions you need to make and actions you need to take can flip your mental switch into overwhelm. When you get overwhelmed it’s nearly impossible to make progress on anything.
• The Cost of Negative Self-Talk. As a former ADD coaching client, Sean, so eloquently put it, “When I look at the piles and the clutter it reinforces my belief that I’m a failure. That I have no hope of ever getting a handle on managing my ADHD. Everywhere I look I see what a loser I am.”

The ugly fact is these emotional costs can block what needs to be done to get organized and to handle the problem. It’s a catch-22.

Many ADHD Adults tend to make light of the clutter. But clutter takes us into dark places. Clutter increases the challenge of living more successfully with Attention Deficit. The hidden costs of disorganization with Adult ADD / ADHD are nothing to laugh about.

My ADHD coaching clients have taught me something interesting though. Most of them rarely lose their iPhone or smartphone.

Because that iPhone is such an important lifeline to being organized and connected to the Internet and world, they pay attention to where they put it.

Personally, just as an extra precaution, when I recently bought my iPhone I decided to spend a few more dollars each month for iPhone insurance. That way if I lose it, I can easily get it replaced.

I’ll more likely need the insurance if I drop the iPhone and break it. It’s already taken a couple of spectacular falls. Someday, the little protective cover it wears won’t be enough to avoid fatal damage.

It is nice to know however, with all the things we lose living our ADD / ADHD lives, we don’t need to worry too much about losing our iPhone. It’s shiny enough to catch out attention and help us stay organized with ADD / ADHD.

I’ve told you my new iPhone 4s is the most useful ADHD management tool I’ve come across. (Other than a top-notch ADD coach, of course!)

Initially, my whole premise may ring a little bit counterintuitive. “Mobile technology….isn’t that the ultimate distractor factor?” you might be thinking.

Well, maybe. Certainly, there are some sand traps we all need to be aware of with an iPhone or other Smartphone.

With the Internet always at your fingertips, it’s alarmingly easy to get pulled off track. Ready access to information is a marvelous thing, and it’s wonderful that we can easily find the facts we need without, say, making ten phone calls or driving to the library.

Yet what happens when you look up the title of a book online? First, you find yourself browsing other titles by the same author.Then you start reading an interview with the author. Of course the interviewer refers to a controversy the book stirred up on another site, so you go take a peek to see what that’s all about. And before you know it, you’ve frittered away another hour.

Then there are the more overt iPhone time-wasters. Facebook (hey, my brother finally posted his ski vacation photos!). Twitter (that marathoner I follow in Seattle just completed how many miles?). Angry Birds and other games are forever awaiting you.

The biggest challenge, though, is when you let your iPhone interfere with sleep by spending precious nighttime hours texting and checking Facebook on your phone instead of going to bed.

Getting to bed at a reasonable hour is already difficult for many ADHD adults and the easy accessibility of the iPhone can make it even harder.

The solution isn’t complicated, but it does require self-awareness. You have to really be attentive to how you’re spending your time and what you’re doing when you have this constant entertainment system right there in your pocket.

Fortunately, there are some really handy alarm and reminder apps for your phone that will keep you on track.

Despite all its potential pitfalls for distraction, my overall assessment is still positive: the iPhone is a fundamentally powerful tool for organizing and managing adult ADHD.

I happen to use an iPhone. I was a skeptic and for many years put off making this seemingly expensive purchase. It turns out, though, that the cost is negligible compared to the benefits I reap by using the iPhone to easily stay more organized. Remember, losing things, not having information, and missing appointments cost money in the long run as well.

The benefits of smartphones are not exclusive to iPhones. Most makes and models include valuable organizing tools as well. But it’s the iPhone 4s — the model that includes virtual assistant “Siri,” who responds to voice commands — that has particularly amazed me with how quickly it has become an integral part of managing my adult ADHD.

Innovative Ways Of Managing Adult ADHD Using an iPhone

Moments ago, while writing this post, I suddenly remembered I needed to water the house plants. That’s something I often forget to do. Before Siri I would have fallen into the typical ADD trap of jumping up to immediately water the plants forgetting I was in the middle of writing a blog post!

Today, with a push of the button, I simply asked Siri to remind me to water the plants later in the day. Siri made it simple to create a reminder and not get distracted from my task.

My ADD coaching clients tell me they too are using their iPhones to manage adult ADHD in innovative ways.

• A client whom I’ll call Carla (I never use real names of clients, of course) uses her iPhone to take photos of recipes. Then, when she’s at the supermarket, she can check the photo of a recipe to be sure she to get the ingredients she needs. No more frustrations with the grocery list being left home, forgotten on the kitchen counter.

• Terry uses her iPhone to snap photos of the tasks that she wants to do around the house. Then she looks through the photos and makes her list of things to do based upon the photos taken.

• Another great iPhone function is that when you schedule a phone call or appointment in the Calendar app, you can use the Notes section of the Calendar to record the phone number of the person you are calling or seeing. No more searching for the phone number when it’s time to get on the call – or if you’re running late for the appointment or need directions.

The iPhone is truly a brilliant ADHD management tool. As a relatively new user, I’m just beginning to scratch the surface of its potential. These are just some of the ways you can use your iPhone, or other kind of smartphone, for managing your ADD.

Let me know. How does your iPhone help you to stay on track and better manage your Attention Deficit?

It’s a tangled relationship.

Impulsive shopping and spending make it much more complicated than organizing paperwork and learning to pay bills on time. Our impulsive spending also means we need to learn how to eliminate debt and create a savings plan.

Yes, money management is a thorn in the side of most ADD / ADHD adults.

If you are ready to overcome the chaos in your finances and get your money management under control, you’ll be interested in a FREE teleseminar ADDClasses.com is offering:

ADHD Money Management: How to Eliminate Debt and Save

Date: Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Time: 9:00 pm ET (New York Time)

Instructor: Stephanie Sarkis, PhD

Where: Listen over the Telephone or Internet!

Here’s the deal. To listen for free, you must register for the teleclass before Tuesday, February 7, 2012.

Can’t make the call? Don’t fret. If you’ve registered you’ll have access to a recording for a week.

If you’ve found this blog post after the teleclass? No problem. You can still listen to it for a only a few dollars.

Click here to register for ADHD Money Management: How to Eliminate Debt and Save

The Last Word in ADD Success

Like all good spouses my husband has a favorite story.

He regaled us with it, once again, just the other night.

Scott loves to tell about the ADHD money management system I used when we got married. How soon after we got home from our honeymoon I handed him a purple shoe box stuffed full of past due bills and unfiled statements.

When you’re married to the same man for 27 years you can expect to hear the same hilarious stories repeated over and over.

It doesn’t matter that now I handle all the family finances with an iron fist. The bills are paid on time. I can produce any receipt or statement and he asks for. I have a money management system and schedule I stick with.

I still can’t live down that little purple shoe box.

It’s okay. I really like the guy. If I’m lucky I’ll be hearing about my purple shoe box ADHD money management system for the next 50 years.

Take Janice, for example (no, that’s not her real name). Janice is a middle school teacher who hasn’t been able to get her afternoon dose of short-acting Adderall.

That little blue pill is pretty important to Janice. Without it her afternoon devolves into a wasteland of distraction and puttering. She can’t focus on her paperwork and she gets home late from work.

Janice’s problems snowball from there. When she gets home too late, she doesn’t eat a good dinner and she doesn’t have time to exercise or follow the basic organizing routines that keep her life running stress-free.

Without that afternoon Adderall boost, we’ve been forced to switch the focus of Janice’s coaching calls from achieving her goals of playing bigger in the world to more basic ADD / ADHD management skills.

Perhaps that’s not such a bad thing.

Janice will become more adept at managing her ADD without the medication’s help.

Yet because of the ADHD medication shortage, it’s no longer Janice’s choice of how she treats her ADD. I think that’s wrong.

What do you think about the consequences of the ADHD Medication Shortage?

A number of my ADD coaching clients can’t get their stimulant medication prescriptions filled. Obviously, it’s posing problems. These folks require their ADD medication to function. We’ve been forced to switch the focus of our coaching calls from achieving goals and playing bigger in the world to more rudimentary ADD / ADHD management skills.

Naturally, many of my clients look to me for news about the ADHD medication shortage. CHADD, the international, non-profit ADD / ADHD organization, has become my most reliable source for information.

Will you help CHADD keep their finger on the pulse of the shortage? Even if your ADHD prescription isn’t effected, can you spare a minute to complete a survey?

The quick, anonymous survey asks what ADHD medications you take, if you are having trouble filling your prescription and in what part of the USA you live. Your name and other personal information are not collected.

CHADD is requesting anyone who takes ADD / ADHD medications complete the survey even if they’re not effected by the shortage. The data collected will help CHADD know much more about the extent of the problem, all the medications being affected, and the geographic distribution.

Here’s the link to the ADHD Medication Shortage Survey

The ADHD Medication Shortage is complicated. The CHAAD web site has some useful posts to help you in managing the issue.

If you want to learn what has led to the ADHD Medication shortage, read “Why Can’t I Get My ADHD Medications?”

If you would like some tips on how to find a pharmacy that can fill your stimulant prescription and managing the ADHD medication shortage check out “Shortages of ADHD Medications.”

You were born with potential,
You were born with goodness and trust,
You were born with ideals and dreams,
You were born with greatness,
You were born with wings,
You are not meant for crawling, so don’t.
You have wings,
Learn to use them and fly.

You are more than your ADD. Celebrate its gifts and embrace and manage its challenges. And remember always, you have the right to be successful.

May your world be filled with peace, prosperity and abundant good health.

Dana Rayburn is an ADD Coach dedicated to helping adults outsmart their ADD / ADHD and live more successful and satisfying lives. Read more free articles about living successfully with ADD / ADHD. 

Hence, I’m departing from my normal blog posts to write about something other than living more easily with Adult ADD / ADHD. Thanks for indulging me.

Was it only a week ago I thought balancing ADD Coaching clients with gift buying and baking was important?

Now, thanks to an impulsive in-the-dark, dash down our steep stairs I’m focused on surviving the next eight weeks with a fractured heel.

I’m thankful it’s a clean break and that the pain is moderate.

Yet to avoid future surgery my doctor says I can’t put any weight at all on my injured right foot. I also must wear a clunky boot, cast thing 24/7.

This means no walking, no standing and, gulp, no driving.

Suddenly, even the most simple task like taking a shower is an exhausting ordeal.

With this I must face head-on one of my greatest challenges; asking for help.

I don’t know if asking for help is an ADHD thing or not, though I do know many of my ADD Coaching Clients have a hard time with it, too.

At the risk of doing some unlicensed psychotherapy, I suspect I’m struggling with remnants of a childhood of undiagnosed ADD.

Those old messages that I can’t do much right. That I’m a failure and not good enough. Deep down I don’t think I deserve help.

Such silly old messages. Especially as I’m blessed with a considerate husband and supportive friends and family. My people want to help me.

Asking a neighbor to give my daughter a ride to basketball practice because I’m under doctor’s orders not to drive doesn’t mean I’m an incompetent failure.

Asking my husband to lug in a load of firewood doesn’t mean I’m lazy.

Though I won’t go as far as saying I’m glad my heel is fractured, I will say I’m thankful for this opportunity to tackle my reluctance to asking for help.

May you and yours have an enchanted and peaceful holiday and a New Year brimming with ADD Success.