WASTE BOOKS: A different take

I have been told that persons who deal with ADHD find Lichtenbergianism to be helpful, and yesterday on Twitter I saw an ADHD strategy from someone else’s book that resonated.

Thriving with Adult ADHD: skills to strengthen executive functioning, by Phil Boissiere, is the book, and the technique is called a “distraction log.” Simply put, it’s a sheet of paper or notebook you place next to your workspace and any idea that pops into your head you write on the log for later.

As Tweeter @LouisatheLast describes it, the log keeps you from pursuing those thoughts/ideas until you have time for it, i.e., not while you’re trying to get something else accomplished. It “scratches the itch” of a new thought and lets you keep working.

In other words, a WASTE BOOK.

She also points out that even though there are apps for this purpose, using a screen is risky since it provides multiple escape hatches from the task at hand. Plus, as I point out in my book, a paper-and-pencil WASTE BOOK is usually faster than any electronic solution. By the time you’ve brought out your phone, wakened it, gotten past your security check, opened the app and started a new note, I’ve whipped out my WASTE BOOK, scribbled my note, and put it back in my pocket.

I am always amazed (and thrilled) to see how much this fake philosophy of ours actually correlates to what we laughingly call Real Life.