The external brain

When the brain is wonky at regulating executive functions (attention, task-switching, initiation/activation, etc.), you gotta find an alternative brain, right? When kidneys don't function, you get dialysis. When a heart is dysregulated, sometimes a pacemaker helps. When a leg is amputated, a prosthetic makes walking possible. And when a brain can't keep track of time or prioritize tasks, we use timers and charts.

I've begun an extensive re-org of how I live my life and organize my household, based on this info about my newly-diagnosed ADD brain. I've been floundering for so long, convinced if I just tried harder I would finally get "organizized". I'm giving up on relying on my brain. It's time to invest in something that works! An external brain.

The (hyper)focus of my (in)attention lately has been the creation of a family organization binder. I will dedicate an entire post to this project soon, but here's a brief overview. The binder contains:

• contact info for family, schoolmates, neighbors, & utilities,
• emergency info,
• a neighborhood map,
• financial accounts and budget information,
• cleaning lists & schedule,
• cleaning supplies list,
• meal planning,
• calendars,
• chores lists,
• household inventory,
• to do list,
• vacation planning,
• Christmas card list and gift planning,
• home & auto maintenance,
• auto maintenance,
• insurance info,
• tax info,
• important dates,
• birthdays and anniversaries,
• pet info,
• some other stuff I can't recall off the top of my head!

The binder is set up to play a crucial role in our weekly family meeting. The thing is 70 pages long-- I've really put a lot of work into it! My hope is that it's going to provide us with the organization my family has been needing.

The most important piece of this project, I think, has been the creation of a daily routine written into a checklist and laminated, to be checked off with a dry-erase marker throughout the day.

The checklist I'm using is really a fantastic document. It was created by Camie Shill of willandcam.blogspot.com. (She offers it as a free printable. Thank you, Camie, my organizational inspiration!) It has the day broken down into four manageable time sections. It reminds me to eat, drink water, take my vitamins, exercise, make school lunches, unload the dishwasher, do laundry, make dinner, and each day of the week has a task or two (such as cleaning out the car or washing floors) assigned to it. It's a brilliant set of reminders to keep me on track throughout the day.

I'll report back on my progress. For now, I'm feeling a bit like the Scarecrow in the Emerald City--A BRAIN!