RE: Life With ADHD - Concentrating by UN-Concentrating, and Other Stories of Coping
Oh wow. I have to admit this condition sounds almost a bit funny at first (concentration putting you to sleep due to errors in translation.. :)) but it's amazing what you made of it.
I'm like you - I don't like medicating and I don't like labels - especially ADHD - it's such a broad term and fits almost everyone today.
What if ADHD is part of evolution and the new normal? What if other senses are heightened while concentration goes down? What if the new kids simply are too smart and evolved and know better than to follow orders at school and concentrate and do as they're told? I am convinced that most of the diagnosed children are highly evolved in consciousness and intuition and instead of recognizing that, our society diagnoses them.
Anyway I love how you have dealt with this challenge - it seems to have made you super creative in how to structure and manage your time and tasks - or maybe you just intuitively follow your inner guidance on when to start and stop doing something. It's not a surprise you are self-employed - you wouldn't fit into a 9-5 environment. Neither do I.
I sometimes feel "what's wrong with me" when I can't concentrate, but I still get everything done - just not at the time I wanted do. My brain doesn't send me to sleep :) but it seems to release a chemical that resists any kind of authority - including my own :)
It is a very weird state of affairs, and most people in my shoes would go to some doctor and be diagnosed with narcolepsy, get some medication, be "wired as hell" and still not be any better.
Theoretical research suggests that I may have an autoimmune condition that affects the part of the brain that regulates sleep... that is, I may be producing antibodies against trib-2, a protein that normally regulates the enzyme hypocretin, which regulates sleep. In essence, in some situations I just get "the wrong message."
Simply understanding what is going on is as good as half the cure.
Like you, I'm not sure I need a "cure;" I simply process input in little short "chunks." If you've ever read about NLP, you might be familiar with the term "chunk size" referring to how our brains process information. Some people "chunk small," some people "chunk big." My brain looks at, and processes, lots of little tiny pieces of information in sequence. For me, "an hour" = 60 minutes. For other people "an hour" = 1/24th day... if that makes sense.
I headed for self-employment in the late 1990s because I discovered I would tend to fall asleep during meetings when I worked in IT. The 9-5 thing did not work. So I went looking for-- and then created-- a lifestyle that simply works around how I work.
Thanks for the thoughtful comment-- off to check out your content!