Turn Your Switch Off
For most ADD’ers, you probably have experienced or seen energy levels and hyperactivity that are enough to power a rocket!! I can tell you first hand, ADD fuels me so full of energy and vigor it’s hard to imagine anything or anyone slowing me down sometimes.
I’m able to take on large situations, am adventurous, courageous, live outside of boundaries (sometimes foolishly), am ambitious and can do many projects at once. In fact, you’ll find a great list at ADD Adult Coach Pete Quily’s web site called Positive Characteristics of People with Attention Deficit Disorder, detailing 151 positive things about having ADD
http://www.addcoach4u.com/positivesofadd.html#positives
With all these wonderfully positive traits of having ADD, there looms one large negative that can derail the positivity of any train. The evil I speak of is none other than……………your own off switch.
Just like the light switch on the wall that turns a light off and on, we all have our own internal off switch too. Anatomically speaking, our off switches are a little different than the picture above, but it sure would be great if we had an easily accessible off switch, maybe on the arm or back of the head under some hair.
I am guilty of a common trait of ADD’ers, that being trying to do too much. While I am ambitious and can do many projects at once…… this is also combined with kids, work, relationships, time for me and everything else life tosses my way. Where is my breaking point? When is it too much? Can you answer these questions when thinking about your life?
We all must recognize when its time to flip that internal off switch and slow down. Not understanding when it is time to slow down will result in a lack of productivity, over committing, becoming run down, illness and really exposes the traits of ADD in negative ways that impact our lives. Not switching off is like taking care of everyone and everything around you, except you.
Your off switch could mean you will meditate, or go for a walk, maybe you will hit the gym for a work out. You may even realize its just time to flop onto the couch and shut the world out. What ever you need to do to flip your off switch, recognize when you need to do this. Understanding you and recognize when you need down time. It’s a very important element in managing ADD, trust me……I’ve learned that the hard way 