MyCopingStrategies

Laundry Systems

2008-06-28T09:30:00.001-07:00

Summary: Easily reduce 'laundry mountain' to 'intimidating laundry hill'
Cost: Nearly Free

I'm a guy working in an industry that accepts casual clothes, which pretty much puts me in the 1040EZ laundry category. I don't have delicates. Only my sweaters can't be put in the dryer, and I try to minmize my exposure to dry cleaners (Ever get this phone call: "Hello!? You have dryclean shirt here for whole year! Come get shirt or we throw out!") because it is all to easy to forget something there.

So Laundry reduces itself to just a few mountainous tasks:

Pre-sorting
Washing
Drying
Post-sorting
Sock Matching
Hanging up
Folding

I have some systems for each of the tasks to make them easier;

Pre-sorting - for me it is a lot easier to sort colors and whites when I take them off than to face Laundry Mountain in each of the phases. I use two bins for dirty clothes -one for color, one for whites. I can do the bins one at a time or both on laundry day. I also use the bin to govern when to do laundry - when either bin fills up it is laundry time. Extra basket - $7

Washing - push-button Tide is one less thing to measure. Oh, and that soapy, goopy cup that you use to measure the liquid soap? Just toss it in with the load of laundry.
It amazes me in 2008 that washers don't work more like color printers - I want to snap in (goop free) a cartridge of soap, bleach, and softener that come in standard sized packs. I could have control of how much of each goes into each load specifically (light soap, please), and the little display would tell me when I was getting low on Downy.

Drying - I don't have a fantastic system for this - the most important thing is that the wet clothes actuallymake it into the dryer. Currently I leave the dryer door open (it has an automatic light) whenever the wet load of clothes goes in. The light and open door make sure I will at least do them that night.
I have a 'clean clothes' basket specifically for post drying step.

For some reason I don't have any problem cleaning the lint out of the dryer before the next load - it could be that it is a well-lit space with a large sign that says "REMOVE LINT BEFORE EACH LOAD", or it could be that I like the tactile rolling up the lint ball and replacing the clean screen. Add a comment if you struggle with this and maybe someone will have a system. I have a trash can in the laundry room - optional but useful ($5).

Post Sorting - isn't ideal - I make the bed, and just dump the clean loads of clothes out onto the top of the comforter. This makes a physical barrier that helps me focus on getting the laundry done and not having a giant basket of clean clothes to go through. On the other hand there are a few too many exhausted days where I am sorting clothing because I put it off. Open to suggestions on this one. (Free)

Post Sorting, Two kinds of socks - I have mentioned this in another post, but I have dark socks and white socks - all the same type.

I never do sock matching now because there is no need - this was a major impediment to successful laundry -I always have clean socks and they are effectively self sorting. I have also as a side effect removed any concern with the 'lone sock' problem. I tossed all the old single socks and bought all new socks of the same type. To do over, since I wear mostly jeans, black, and white I would have bought gray socks - because the soft black mens socks did not hold their color as well as I hoped and have reverted on their own to a dark navy. Gray socks would always be some shade of gray and probably okay. I still don't spend ANY time matching them. Not free but worth it - I'll say 20pr at avg $3/pr, $60.

Post Sorting, One drawer for drawers - I have a dedicated dresser drawer for socks, one for undershorts, one drawer for t-shirts, one drawer for misc (swim suits, lounging pants, etc) - when doing post-sorting I can sort directly into the drawers very easily. It is also an easy system to maintain because the level in the drawer represents the clean inventory - never any surprises running out of t-shirts or socks.

I hang everything - I like my t-shirts and everything else hung up - so I immediately gather all the hangers and start hanging stuff up. At my girlfriend's prompting I was able to toss all the remaining wire hangers and free drycleaner hangers and replace them all with sturdy plastic or wood hangers - that removed the decision and 'hanger hunt' looking for the right type for pants or shirts or whatever. Dollar store is a good buy for these - 5 or 10/$1, 70 hangars about $7-14

Fold the big stuff first - Part of being able to continue with a boring and repetitve task is to maintain steady progress or the *illusion* of progress. For me, folding up the sheets and towels moves a large volume of material in a hurry and reduces 'laundry mountain' to 'intimidating laundry hill'. So fold the big stuff first - having those neat stacks is encouraging. (Free)

Never let the milk leave your hand!

2008-06-28T09:28:00.000-07:00

Summary: Got Spoiled Warm Milk?
Cost: Free

This is just a specific implementation of the 'One Hand Physical Reminder'
For some reason it is really easy to leave milk out on the counter. With the ADD mind having some cookies and milk isn't a simple thing - there are many independent steps:

Get out the milk
Get out a glass
Pour the milk
Wipe up the little sloshed bit (Oh Dang!)
Get the cookies
Get a napkin or plate
Juggle sloshy glass and the cookie plate to the entertainment or activity area
Enjoy the delicious milk & cookies

See how easy that is? Did you forget something? Yeah, you forgot to put the milk away in that list. The satisfaction of seeing and anticipation of the taste of the 'milk and cookies' somehow short circuits the 'put the milk away' task. In the ADD brain you've got 'milk and cookies' as a task and not the series of steps, and somehow 'put milk away' seems to get left out.
Okay, apparently so does 'wipe up the sloshed bit' if you are 15.

This coping strategy uses a physical reminder:
Never let the milk leave your hand. -

You can also say it to yourself as a Mantra.

If you can follow this rule you will never leave the milk out. Keeping the milk in your hand lets you do the preparation steps, pouring, and returning the milk to the fridge. If it touches the counter for any reason you are likely to leave it out and have sour warm milk very quickly.

Dramatic reinforcement:
If the ADD person appreciates the story visualization, you can use this one.
"You are an ancient Samurai warrior, trained in the code of Bushido. The Bushido only draws his sword to attack and then puts it away. (role play it... You put out the glass on the counter.) That is the enemy Samurai. You draw your sword (open the fridge and take out the milk), make the perfect cut "Hai!" (pour perfectly without spilling), and then sheathe your sword expertly (put the milk away). Would the Samurai warrior lay his sword on the ground? (put the milk on the counter). Never. (snatch it back up, deftly reapply the cap and put it in the fridge). "The sword always goes back in its sheath". (Add a polite bow Sensei).

Retain the Retainer

2008-06-26T03:02:00.000-07:00

Summary: System for retaining the retainer
Cost: Free

I was helping my son try to hang onto his ($300-400) Dental Retainer.
It would get lost at home.
It would get lost in the backpack if he took it out at school.
It would spend more time lost than keeping his teeth straight.

He wasn't yet using the Home Base system - so I made a simple one for him. I took one of the standard dental retainer cases (The Orthodontist will probably give you one or two for free). His was bright yellow - pick something easy to spot not a color that will blend in a dark backpack.

I took a drywall screw and just screwed it into the wall by his bed. (Hinge side down, so you couldn't drop the retainer)

I gave him a simple mantra.
"IN ITS CASE OR IN YOUR FACE"

He had a second case for his school backpack or pocket, ostensibly to hold the retainer during lunch. The retainer had to either be in its case or in his mouth at all times. By having an easy to see, always findable case at home we dramatically reduced the 'where did you last chew something' hunt.
And really, one time searching through wadded up napkins in the trash bin is more than enough.

This coping strategy combines Home Base, Visual Reminder, and Mantra

Home Base

2008-06-26T02:59:00.000-07:00

Summary: Having a very speicfic place for essentials reduces panic searches

Cost: Free

There is a single spot (no matter where I call home) that is my 'Home Base'.
Home Base is the place where all the essentials go. It is where I empty my pockets at the end of the day.

At home it holds, wallet, keys, cell phone every day. If I need anything else special it can go there too (tax forms that need to go out that day, etc). When I travel it has those essentials plus my conference badge, plane tickets, and hotel information.

If you have a designated home base you will dramatically reduce the time you spend looking for lost things.

Rules for making a home base:

It must be a flat surface
It must be 100% visible on the way out (visual reminder)
It must have space to hold all your essentials

Bonus points if:

It is near an outlet (easier to charge things and leave them in the home base)
It is free of other distracting clutter

Once you have established your home base - if you EVER need to take one of the essentials off of your person, you can use the One Hand system until you can get it to home base. If it bothers you to have your phone, or wallet, or keys on your person then you'll need a different system to manage them that works for you.

Keysafe

2008-06-26T01:20:00.000-07:00

Summary: Add a keysafe and instant peace of mind

Cost: $25

Your precious house key. You ARE going to forget it, lose it, misplace it, lock it inside, lock it in your car or something worse. Face it - it is your unavoidable fate.

Maybe when it happens you had set up a firend with a key (Free) and you can contact them.

Maybe you can get ahold of a locksmith that can get there within a couple hours ($100).

Maybe you can break in with a bent credit card through that back window and only bend the screen and your back a little...

Maybe just isn't good enough.

Immediately go and get yourself a Supra Keysafe. They are $23 at my Home Depot store. They are $28 at Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Supra-Products-Inc-1004-Keysafe/dp/B000LNMW5C

At an average of one lockout per year - this is the best money (and friend) saving device you will buy.

These are rock solid, have a selectable combination, hold a couple keys or even folding money and you can give it to a concerned friend or neighbor over the phone. "Hey, I noticed water coming out from under your front door" - hopefully you'll never get that call but you can instantly give someone the door key to your house if you do.

You have all the benefit of giving friends a key but none of the worry since you can control who has the combination and entry to your place remotely. (You can also tuck a car key in there and you'll never be locked out of anywhere).

My highest recommendation for these SUPRA lock boxes which I have used on big house and tiny house for the last several years with no problems.

Room Keys & LIght Switches

2008-06-15T12:36:00.000-07:00

Summary: Always hang onto your hotel key card
Cost; Free

In most hotels in Europe and Asia there is a little card pocket near the door that you put your room key in to activate all the lights - and when you leave you simply remove it on your way out to automatically shut off the lights, lower the thermostat, and let the maids know they can clean up the room.

It saves money and electricity, it is convenient for the hotel staff, and generally a good invention - except if you have ADD. What it means for ADD is that after an exhausting day of business meetings or pleasure travel - and you lug all your packages up to your room, that you then go through a furtive search through all your pockets or bag for your room key, schlep all your stuff back down to the front desk, wait in line, get a duplicate key, drag your stuff back up to your room and open the door to see your old room key smiling at you from the switch.

The hotel room was forcing me to violate the rule of home base.

My previous coping strategy had been to just get two room keys, put one in the wallet and one in my pocket - and if I left the key in the room no worries. A friend let me know that the pocket isn't a sensor at all - you can just drop a business card in there and put your key back in your pocket. Either system works great - as long as you keep your key on your person or at home base.

Using a Staging Area

2008-04-16T17:50:00.000-07:00

Summary: Pack early in a specific location
Cost: Free!

Travel represents a big change in routine, with a lot of picky but high priority details. Reduce departure panic by planning a 'staging area' for any kind of trip. The staging area holds everything that is going to go on the trip. Get things into the staging area as early as possible...your clothes aren't going to get that much more wrinkled if they are packed 8 hours earlier.

A perfect staging area is:

Is impossible to miss on the way out (e.g. near the front door, garage door, or keys)

Has enough space to put everything needed for a trip (air travel, car, or camping even) or that needs to go to the office with you.

Is not a storage space or 'dumping ground' - everything put there is intended to go with you on the immediate trip - there is no time for last-minute sorting in the staging area

Here is my typical staging area with suitcase, carry-on bag, and the phone charger plugged in with the phone in the luggage. That way you travel with the cell phone charged but can't leave anything vital behind. Since I'm using the 'two of everything' method there is no reason to wait until I've brushed my teeth before packing the toiletries bag - its already in there.

When I travel I always pack the day before, I also lay out my clothes for the next morning like a 5 year old. I am a tiny bit (okay, a lot) foggy in the morning - especially for that 8 am flight you leave at 6am for...and what might be manageable 'normal' level of forgetfulness becomes a travel minefield.

If you have something you need to travel with but cannot pack ahead of time, my suggestion would be a long color cloth ribbion (I got the idea from the 'remove before flight' tags that aircraft crews use) that you can leave hanging out of the bag as a visual reminder that you need to put something in there. Binder clip your ribbion to the inside of your suitcase.

Using the oven timer to prevent fires

2008-04-16T01:58:00.000-07:00

Summary: Use kitchen priorities for safety
Cost: Free

Please Note: The smoke alarm is not a good substitute for the oven timer.

The problem is that waiting for food to cook or water to boil is boring. And boring times are the most likely problem areas for your ADD.

If you are preheating the oven, use the oven timer for 5 mintues. If you put something in the oven, set the timer for just under the right amount of time (to give you time to set down whatever project you were doing for the 14-16 minutes that it took the pizza to bake).

Then turn off the oven, then turn off the timer.
If (ohmygosh the food is burning!) you get distracted taking the food out, or finding a collander or a hot mit - just leave the timer buzzer going off. Never turn off the timer until you have turned off the heat.

I have not left the oven on once by mistake when following this coping strategy.

Related:
Another good idea is to never leave the kitchen when you have food cooking for any reason. There are plenty of distracting things do do and clean while you are waiting for water to boil. If you do have to leave the kitchen for some reason - try to take a big cooking implement with you (spatula, hot mitt, something like that). If UPS is at the door, they won't mind if you sign for a package with a hot mitt on - way less embarassing than explainging the fire-truck to the neighbors.

Related:
The toaster oven (with no built-in timer) is dangerous for this reason, use 'toast' but not 'bake' in the toaster oven unless you set a separate reminder alarm.

Related:
Never get out of arms reach of any faucet you have opened.

The Leg Wrap

2008-04-16T01:45:00.000-07:00

Summary: Use physical attachment to stop losing items
Cost: Free

Whenever you have a personal item that you can't near you leave in plain view all the time (like a laptop bag or backpack when you are at lunch), wrap the strap around your leg or put your ankle through the loop - so you can't leave the table without it. If you get up to use the restroom, you might want to take it with you.

You might trip yourself or jump along like a cartoon dog on a leash, but you won't forget your expensive laptop at the restaurant.

I also use my shoes as markers because I won't go off without them. If you have a shopping bag that won't loop comfortably - you could put your shoe under (or inside) it and then sit on your stocking foot. Any physical reminder that stops you from forgetting the item is worth considering.

Never use the hotel dresser drawers

2008-04-09T20:01:00.000-07:00

Summary: Using the luggage rack reduces lost items
Cost: Free

Nearly every hotel room has a folding luggage rack to hold your suitcase. When you get to your room grab this thing out of the closet and put your suitcase on it. When I have hanging clothes (suits, etc) I'll hang them in the closet and put the luggage rack in there with them. To get my suitcase I have to 'see' the hanging clothes as well.

Tip: Anything invisible will be left behind in the hotel room.

I carry a mesh dirty-clothes bag to hold the dirty clothes so they are separate from the clean clothes. I will usually hang this from the luggage rack that holds my suitcase (or chair if it is on a chair). All clothes are either in the suitcase or in the bag -not on the floor or anywhere else they are likely to turn invisible.

Your preparation for check-out is faster, you will *never* leave clothing behind in the hotel room again.

If you have work-out clothes or swimsuits that need to hang out in the bathroom consider adding a reminder tag to your suitcase.

Use only the desk and bathroom plugs

2008-04-09T19:41:00.000-07:00

Summary: Use visual plugs as reminders not to leave things behind
Cost: Free!

One tough thing about travel is that every hotel room is different, there isn't an established 'home base' for your things, and it is incredibly easy to leave things behind.

TIP: Your most important ally is putting things in your visual space. You are a keen observer but if something is hidden it is likely to be left behind.

One of the big culprits with leaving things behind for me (especially expensive electronics things) is the outlets in the hotel rooms. There aren't enough is one problem - which tempts you into using the deadly outlet behind the bed, under the desk, or under the nightstand.

Scenario: You plug your cell phone into the nightstand outlet. Perfect - your phone is there when you need it. The next morning you are in a rush to get up - you unplug your phone and leave the charger. You pack your bags and check out the charger (invisible) is left behind.

I use only the bathroom outlets and the desk outlets (by necessity) - brick chargers in the bathroom outlet jump right out at you. When I pack my toiletries bag I grab the charger and pack it at the same time.

If I have early check out I will pack my suitcase and leave it in the bathroom with the phone sitting on top of the suitcase. Morning comes, brush teeth, pack toiletries bag and the cell phone charger has never been left behind since.

Two of Everything

2008-04-09T19:29:00.000-07:00

Summary: You might as well buy duplicates when you can
Cost: Varies (but less than buying in an emergency)

Travel brings with it a lot of risk and challenges for the ADD person...new locations, new patterns, sleep disturbances, and many many distractions. There are a few worries we can just eliminate immediately with one system:

I call it "GET TWO OF EVERYTHING"

You just get two of everything and pack one of them. You leave it always ready for travel and always in your suitcase ready to go. Keep it contained, packaged, and ready. I can always be ready for travel on very short notice without a lot of panic or forgetting things.

You know how you are - you are going to mess up somewhere forgetting to pack something if you have to remember to take it back out of your bag and put it back in with every trip. Because you will inevatibly forget something you'll be forced to buy it where it might be really difficult to find (cell phone charger for a Verizon phone in London) or very expensive (pretty much anything you need).

When you forget something, you are scrambling on short notice, sometimes with a language barrier, no sense of where things are in your location to try to get the things you need most to be functional when you travel.

Implementation:
You need a packing checklist (covered in another post) - just get two of anything that is on your essentials list, a travel toothbrush, a travel phone charger, a travel laptop charger, a set of headphones, etc.

I have a toiletries bag that has a duplicate of everything I need in it.
I have a backpack for my laptop (I didn't duplicate that of course) that has all the things I need there for travel (my laptop travel charger is a duplicate of my desktop one - worth it - I had to do a major presentation on a borrowed laptop because I forgot the charger once.), lan cable...anyway, I'll cover this in more detail with the packing list.

Meds Reminder

2008-04-05T08:18:00.000-07:00

Summary: Reminder system for medications
Cost: Free!

I have a little pillbox for travel so the storage and reminder is built in. This works great and a 7 day box holds meds and vitamins needed for my typical trip.

I had the problem of not being able to remember if I took my prescription meds that evening or not, but a pillbox is kind of a pain for daily meds - so I came up with a simple home system that tracks my meds using the bottles they come in. (This works great for me because mine are one-a-day meds). No more refilling pill containers and no worries that you've forgotten today's meds or risk of double-dosing.

Keys to this approach: Very visual reminder, self-updating when you do the task.

Instructions:
Make a chart with the days of the week (or times) in large squares with a marker and paper. Use bigger paper if you take a lot of meds.

Use:

As you take the dose of medication you just put the bottle in the next slot. This system would of course also work for vitamins, supplements, etc. if the bottles are a managable size.

History:
I came up with this system about 10 months ago and it has worked just great. I did replace the paper once when it got wet - can't beat the cost of this system.

Kitchen Whiteboard

2008-04-05T07:56:00.001-07:00

SUMMARY: Full Sized Kitchen White Board
COST: $25

I have a full-sized office whiteboard in my kitchen.
When I put it up I wondered if people would go 'ew, white board in the kitchen' and turn up their aesthetic noses - but the reaction has been 100% positive. What a cool idea! How useful! I wish I had that.

Life lesson - Create a functional lifestlye first (then make that style as cool as you can), people will respect you for that (and you're a lot less likely to miss Jury Duty again).

My sister the designer suggested a frame around the outside that matches the cabinetry - when I do that project I'll post.

I'd suggest a ceramic board (erases more cleanly) white board that is also magnetic (lets you get the clutter off of the fridge and post papers)

I love these Expo Dry Erase Markers. These dry-erase markers have a little eraser on the cap instead of having an eraser that keeps falling off of the board tray and getting lost or needing a boardside rack.

My Coping Strategies

2008-04-05T07:33:00.000-07:00

I have always been Attention Deficit Disorder - there wasn't a name for it when I was growing up that anyone knew. Dreamer, distractable, forgetful, not working up to expectations - the school had a lot of labels but not a lot of help. I just learned ways of dealing with the world that worked for me and let me be functional in the areas that school and work demanded while still being able to take advantage of the incredible creative engine that was also part of who I am.

My son is 15 now and takes meds to help him with school and to manage some of the hyperactivity (I'm ADD without the 'H') that he has to deal with - but I thought I should start writing down all my coping strategies for him and my nephew the G-man. Along the way I thought it might help the occasional adult that always seems to be forgetting their phone charger on business trips, leaving their credit card at the restaurant, or losing their keys.

My intent is to post my own coping strategies - the habits, techniques, tools, or gadgets that I use to get through my day - I'm not sure how often I'll update, but hopefully you'll find something that is useful to you and pass it on - or let me know your own strategy.