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Bryan & ADD VS Francisco Bustamante
Before I was diagnosed with ADD I got extremly frustrated that I could not keep my concentration. I tried things you wouldn’t believe, even to the point that I wore shoes which were too small believing that being uncomfortable would help me keep my focus. Believe it or not, a lot of my tactics worked, but usually just as long as I paid attention to the tactic and that usually wasn’t very long.
Lucky charms were a personal favorite. I would find something, a rock, a ring, a necklace, just about anything and believe holding on to whatever it was would help me stay in the here and now. Talk about being desperate!
There came a point that I decided to see an eye doctor. When I was very young I wore glasses for reading, they didn’t help me keep my focus when I was a kid and later when I tried them, well, they seemed to help just as much and about as long as my lucky charms did. Don’t get me wrong, a lot of people need glasses and they are helpful, but I have very good eye sight and the doctor simply prescribed me reading glasses, believing that my eyes get tired from reading.
Armed with my new reading glasses I entered a Grad Prix Billiard Tournament in St. Ingbert Germany back in the 1990’s. The glasses seemed to help a great deal. The tournament was filled with all the great players in Europe at that time— Ralf Souquet, Oliver Ortman, Steven Knight amongst so many others and Francisco Bustamante was the top player at the time.
 Well, I made it to the top 8 out of 180 participants and came up against Francisco in the quarter finals. With my new glasses I felt undefeatable and kept the match close tying the match at 6-6, then took the lead and made it 7-6 my favor! With the lead and a good break I ran the balls all the way to the 7 ball. It was a long shot, I was on a rail, but knowing I had the glasses on I felt confident I could make the ball. No need to fret! I missed it by a hair and Francisco ran out the rest of the match. I lost 9-7!
Hey, it was a great tournament; I made the top 8 amongst the greatest players in Europe at the time and nearly beat Francisco to boot. What more do you need for a nickel? Certainly not those glasses! I threw them away and in the very next tournament I played in I took the prize, first place!
What is the moral of this story? Without a diagnosis it is very hard to determine what you need to do in order to improve. You can try just about everything you want and it might help for a while, but with ADD and ADHD a diagnosis is imperative to finding the correct solutions. Out of frustration with my concentration and inability to stop being distracted I eventually quit tournament and league play. It’s been about 6 years since and I don’t know if I have the energy to go back to the drawing board; however, if I do, at least this time I will know that I have ADD and can discuss this with my doctor to help me find a proper and realistic solution.
What sort of things have you tried?
~Bryan
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I have also been partials to lucky charms. Problem is I lose interest so fast….
I ordered a watch from a catolog that was made specifically for ADD people. You would set the timer for specifics tasks that were programmed in. It was light up with hints such as, ” pay attention” , “talk a walk,” “check your messages”, “regroup yourself.”
While the idea was good, the watch was large, bulky, and I kept needing to change the battery so I gave up on it. I wish I had kept it…
Timers work better for me then lists. I’ve thought about getting a little voice recorder that I can carry around with. My only fear with doing that is I’ll repeat my pattern. Buy something new, use it for a short time, then find a reason it doesn’t work. Or lose it.
Lists, the one tool that always comes up as being helpful to others, does nothing for me. The truth is my organization skills (or lack of) does not include the secret to making and keeping track of lists.
I just bought a book called, Conquering Chronic Disorganization”, by Judith Kolberg. Although generally, books on organization DO NOTHING for me, I felt this book explained why “conventional methods” will not work for me . I do not respond to conventional organizing methods, such as filing systems, storage systems, and time management. Those things have a certain logic to them that do not fit with me. That is why I failed so many times with those methods. I have beat myself shamefully, over the head, with trying to convince myself, if I tried harder, those things would work for me.
This book explains why those methods don’t work. Although I have not implemented any changes with my filing style yet, the book has offered me some comfort to know there is a reason for my “madness”.
Great topic Bryan, I would also love to hear what works, (or doesn’t work) for other people.
Reply to LisaHi Stacey,
I bought the book on Amazon.com.
The author is a professional organizer. She has made the connection that some people see organization in a unique way. So she sets about to help each client in the way, she observes is the way they think about things. She realizes that emotions play a part in organizing these people, so she allows for that. For example:
She has a lady who can’t throw anything away, a packrat. Judith comes to her house and they start going through her stuff. Judith notices that if the “lady” picks up a item and touches it, she cannot part with it. If only “Judith ” handles the item, the lady is willing to part with it. Judith notices the pattern and calls it , “Kinetic sympathy”, which is the act of organizing without actually touching the items. She notices that “touching” a thing can set off a emotional response, for chronically disorganized people.
This is just a example, I don’t claim all ADD people have this problem.
Reply to LisaThe point is is that she recognizes the different style people have, she doesn’t try to fit us all in the same box. The book was not written for ADD people even. It was geared toward the people who had great success in many areas of their life, just couldn’t organize their stuff. That is me in many ways. She has many other examples. The book is definitely worth getting if you need a fresh new way to look at things. : )
Hi Stacey and Lisa
Thanks for the insight on this book Lisa, sounds like something I might read and gain some benefit from! I guess we have Chronic Disorganization Syndrome! I am going to check it out!
Yes, Stacey, I played at a pro level for a while, however, my ADD caused me too many issues with concentration and consistency that I never really ‘made it’, but who knows–I might rejoin the fray eventually!
~Bryan
Reply to Bryan