I knew it!

[Mastiffmama]

in the dreadful year of 2020 (Covid), I was diagnosed with ADHD. I was 52. I kind of thought I was ADD growing up, but never got diagnosed. When it came to tests, I stressed out, struggled, and couldn’t retain anything! Needless to say, I felt dumb and overheard a kid say I was stupid. I didn’t do well for grades and my self esteem was low. I got better in college because I took classes that I was interested in. I’ve read a book (I can’t remember the name-the story of my life) about ADHD and I’ve made a few changes. What really works for me is setting alarms and setting reminders on my phone with dates and specific times. I still misplace a lot of things and want to join a group that can help me feel like I can handle all the balls in life that I have to juggle.

[Jozlynn]

Welcome Mastiffmama!

This is the perfect community to come to for suggestions, recommendation, and ideas! I've personally found this community to be extremely compassionate and willing to help.

I wasn't diagnosed too long after you - in 2021 when I was 50. Talk about life changing! I read everything I could get my hands on about ADHD, because my life/personality characteristics/etc., all finally made sense!

I recommend reading Women with ADHD by Sari Solden and Michelle Frank. It really helped me put ADHD in perspective in terms of how it specifically impacts us as women.

I also recommend ADD-Friendly Ways to Organize Your Life by Judith Kolberg and Kathleen Nadeau. They have a ton of excellent suggestions to help with things - like misplacing items.

I'm also with you when it comes to alarms and such. I put just about everything on my calendar. I use Google, so I can add my tasks to the calendar so I don't forget. I run an ADHD virtual assistant agency and there are a boatload of one-off type tasks that if I don't record it on the calendar, it likely not get done.

I also use Trello (there are a ton of similar options) to keep track of all my projects/ideas/to dos, and then I set due dates and reminders. The reminders come to my phone (I have the Trello app) and to my inbox. I use that more for projects or things I need to do that don't necessarily have a specific date attached. Every time I feel like I need to be doing something but can't think of what I want to do, I go to my Kanban board in Trello and read down the list of things that need to be done and choose one. Just what works for me!

Wishing you all the best!

[Mastiffmama in reply to Jozlynn]

Thank you for the book suggestions I will get one of them. And thank you for confirming.