My psychiatrist introduced me to a new word today: “glimmers.” These are the opposites of triggers. Recent glimmers in my life: new flowers springing up out of the ground, fresh air, gratitude when a friend gets me, preparing a beautiful bowl of food for myself.
I’ve been thinking a lot about the word “trigger” lately. When my brother visited us recently, he told me that he had told himself before coming, “I will not allow myself to get triggered by anything in Lisa’s house.” I think that by this, he meant, “I will not clean up any/all the LEGOs even if they are in my way.” (Last time he visited he did a complete overhaul of the LEGOs.) It made me think about how I have a hard time turning off my response to these kinds of triggers as well. For example, it’s really hard to stay focused on my morning routine when I feel crumbs on the floor while walking to get my coffee. It’s super hard to resist the temptation to grab the vacuum or broom. One way of I’ve decided to combat these triggers are with my own intentional triggers. I have a highly simplified checklist of what I *must* do before morning. I’ve honed this down to the point where I can trust my list, that following it will be way more satisfying that responding to unplanned triggers.
David Allen claims that we shouldn’t let physical objects be our triggers, e.g., leaving parts of a project out on our desk to remember to finish it. We should put it on a list and review our projects systematically and with intention. Maybe this trains us do items because we choose to, not because we are distracted by them.
I love the concept of having everything you need at the “point of performance”. I first heard this term from the YouTube channel, How To ADHD. For example, having all the tools you need to clean the bathroom in the bathroom, or all the things you need to make coffee in the same corner of the kitchen. The reason it’s beneficial to have everything you need for a task at the POP is so that you don’t get triggered by other open-loops when you leave your spot to get something you needed for the thing you were doing, and then forget to finish the thing you started.
When I’m feeling stuck, I sometimes set a 5 minute timer and allow myself to respond to triggers. Like, if I can’t decide where to start cleaning up, instead of trying to be systematic, I just let myself go in a “random” fashion. This sometimes helps me just get started. It also helps me when I have an unexpected block of time to myself. I often feel so much pressure to Make The Most Of It that I don’t know where to start. I’ll set a 10 minute timer and allow myself to to do “anything” - putter, pick up clutter, start a random project, etc. And then when the timer rings I assess where I’m at and decide how to use the rest of the time I have.
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