Well, my therapist did not disappoint! When I arrived I told her that the agenda for the session was on my blog. I was going to bring my reMarkable 2 with me to therapy but at the last second I decided not to because I was worried I would lose it. So she wrote this for me. (Her handwriting is a lot better than mine.)
When I got home, I got my reMarkable out and wrote the notes on my outline from earlier. Some of the things, such as moving to my own place or having children, are too far in the future to worry about right now. Other things are already in my calendar or are established habits, and I don’t need a daily reminder. The things in-between, which are either new or are habits that I’m still trying to solidify, are the ones I highlighted.
So, for those keeping score, the highlighted things are:
- Walk in place in my room
- Shower every other day
- Do physical therapy exercises once a day
- Meditate 2-5 minutes a day
- Watch “How to ADHD” YouTube video (As I mentioned in the margins, I have C-PTSD and not ADHD. However, they overlap in that they both limit executive functioning, and there seems to just be a lot more resources out there for ADHD than there is for loss of executive functioning from C-PTSD. Besides, this is a fantastic channel with entertaining but useful videos, and it would be a waste to skip over it just because I’m not the primary intended audience.)
- Finish Smart But Scattered
- Look for other ways to improve executive function
- Complete daily care task for my turtle
- Organize my room
- Find a ride to get my ears re-pierced (This is probably more a category of “finish what I started.” I got my ears pierced at 14 years old but in 2018 my roommate stole all my jewelry so the holes closed back up. Now I want to get them re-pierced as a way of moving forward after a lot of really bad situations.)
- Keep in touch with two of my friends who I’ve known for years but sometimes fall out of touch with
- Keep in touch with my cousins
Okay. So one thing Dr. X and my social worker always worried about with me was my propensity to overextend myself. I remember when I excitedly told them about my self-improvement plan that involved doing 18 daily activities. As I recall, I gave Dr. X a run for his non-judgmental money with that one. So I have a better idea. I’m going to use the Elizabeth Filips Method ( https://apostateturtle.com/?p=1003 ) and not do everything every day. Some of the above activities must be done rigidly. These are:
- Shower every other day
- Do physical therapy exercises once a day
- Complete daily care task for my turtle
So those can go on my weekly planner every week. Then, each day I can PICK TWO of the following:
- Walk in place in my room
- Meditate 2-5 minutes a day
- Watch “How to ADHD” YouTube video
- Finish Smart But Scattered
- Look for other ways to improve executive function
- Organize my room
- Find a ride to get my ears re-pierced (This is probably more a category of “finish what I started.” I got my ears pierced at 14 years old but in 2018 my roommate stole all my jewelry so the holes closed back up. Now I want to get them re-pierced as a way of moving forward after a lot of really bad situations.)
- Keep in touch with two of my friends who I’ve known for years but sometimes fall out of touch with
- Keep in touch with my cousins
Now remember, we’re supposed to be using SMART goals according to Dr. X’s note that he wrote for me while I was inpatient
If I’m just going to pick two, then I’m going to have to modify the SMART goals to something that can be begun and completed in one day. For example, I originally was going to call my cousins every other week. The problem with that is it takes two weeks to achieve and besides, what if I’m fully engrossed in watching The Home Edit and organizing my room that day? So, my new modified plan to achieve my overarching life goals is as follows:
- Shower every other day
- Do physical therapy exercises once a day
- Complete daily care task for my turtle
- PICK TWO of the following:
- Walk in place or cycle in the air for 15 minutes
- Meditate 2-5 minutes using a guided meditation on YouTube
- Watch a YouTube video from the channel, “How to ADHD”
- Read at least 10 pages of Smart but Scattered
- Organize my room (or read a book about organizing, or watch organizing shows or YouTube videos) for 40 minutes
- Find a ride to get my ears re-pierced
- Call or text one of my two friends who I went to church with ages ago and who have stuck with me ever since
- Call or text a cousin
So that’s the plan. I’m going to make it look cute and save it somewhere prominent in my room. It is probably not the plan, the plan that will carry me through the rest of my life and launch me to success in every one of my goals. But it sure is better than anything I would have come up with a year ago, and it’s good enough for now.
