Proposal Round 1
“I think I have ADHD,” I brought up with my doctor. I was experiencing depression and anxiety at the time, so Dr. S gave the first and second numbers. ADHD was given the third and told to wait line until the others were served. Since being diagnosed in 2014, my curiosity about ADHD has never been curbed. Initially, I believed if I gobbled up all the knowledge, learn all the techniques, I could be normal again. (For the record, it was never that way to begin with………and I knew that. There were parts of me I LOVED that were different.)
I had desperately wanted to return to school and had been searching a graduate program that would fit Fine Art and Business together. A pretty good match presented itself at DSI.
I struggled the first year. I was drained and I would venture to say those around me (especially those in group projects with me) felt it too. I don’t think anyone is ever prepared for what is revealed about themselves when they work in groups, but if you’re willing to take a step back and look at the shit show that comes out of you in those situations, that’s one of the places real change thrives.
As you might guess, it was working in a group that I became KEENLY aware that ADHD was smothering himself all over me and I was doing everything I could to ignore him.
#nothappening
Planaphobia Flooding Treatment
I had to do something about it. A few emails here and a couple of phone calls there and I would start the Fall 2018 semester going part-time and working with an ADHD coach. The goal now was to learn how to weave ADHD into my life, instead of trying to exorcise him.
I first needed to understand how long it took me to read, write a paper, do things I’ve never done before (like code), so I could get a sense of how much time to block off for completing assignments. And more importantly, to stop myself from overcommitting and double booking. (My apologies if any of you have been victims of this. #lookingatALLofyou)
My charting began with an intense Pinterest search and reflection on the mechanics of a planner that would keep me interested, not set off any triggers and not be too cumbersome. That took a little experimenting.
The coloring was pretty and fun, but the time it was taking became an added stress.
Iteration #1
When I initially chose the coloring method, I had a gut feeling it was going to take too much time. The other thing I knew I needed was moveable parts. I backtracked and followed my gut and tried using sticky notes so I could easily move tasks I didn’t finish or get to to the next day. This also helped me break down blocks of reading and projects into more manageable parts.
Each color of sticky note represents a different class or personal to dos.
Reflection Time: Is it working?
Accounting for what I did during a day was eye opening.
On average, I underestimated my time by half.
Enter Data Viz Final Project
I scratched the surface enough to understanding the logistical side of managing time, but I noticed I still felt anxious and stressed about time. Granted, ADHD isn’t going away even when I get a black belt in time management, so there must be another layer to making this easier to do.
My goal with my final project for Data Visualization is track my emotions in connection to the way I feel about planning, keeping track of time while I am working and what’s going on in my head before, during and after a project. I also want to attempt to get feedback on how I am interacting with team and class mates and their perspectives of me vs. my own. Check out the deck below for the full proposal.