First version posted on old Writers website on Monday, 08 January 2018

Reposted on current site (finally!!!) 5-2-19

Dedicated to all the highschoolers (and my college buddies, too).

Hello!

Since I feel like I've learned a LOT in the last couple of years, I thought I'd start a list of tips and tricks for, well, surviving.  Some of them may be geared toward Managing Perfectionism, others towards handling ADD - or just getting through a day.  Some day, maybe, I will put them in some kind of order.  Until then, I will post things as I think of them, in the hopes that they will help you, as much as they have helped me.  Enjoy!

1. The To-Do List

To-Do lists can be very helpful when trying to snatch 1001 important things out of a mental whirlwind and lock them down long enough to sort through what is urgent and what isn't, and what needs to be done Right Now, as well as what is simple and what is complicated.

• My phone.  My phone not only came with a beautiful note-taking/making app, but it can also create check-boxes!  I can tap it to cross off an item, and tap it again to uncross it!!  It's so satisfying!!!  It also saves on 3x5 cards. Like, a lot.  Not to mention that my phone is almost always with me, so if I think of a thing in the middle of doing something else, I can make a quick note of it, then get back to what I was doing
• Small, concrete steps. 
• "Clean bedroom" is alarming to look at, and not very specific.  The ENTIRE ROOM??  At what point is it done??  What if I can only get halfway through?  Does that still count?  I mean, not really, because I'll have to do the rest later - DOES THAT MEAN I FAILED??!!! *Perfectionism screams*. 
• On the other hand, "Fold laundry. Put away.  Put dirty clothes in hamper where they belong.  Go through papers on desk - what keeping, what throwing?" is much more manageable.  I can fold laundry.  That's not too hateful.  And then I can check it off! Hah! I accomplished something!! And look - when I put the dirty clothes in the now-empty hamper, I have accomplished another thing!  I am succeeding!!!  See the difference?  Plus, even if I don't get as far as "Vacuum floor", I can still prove that I accomplished something: I put in effort, and the desired outcome (laundry is off of floor) came to pass.

This leads to point 2: The Importance of Psychology.

I'm not kidding.  Learning to manipulate your own psychology is the key to success.  Yeah, I know that sounds weird, but look at the differences in the two paragraphs above.  In the 1st scenario, the seeming impossibility of the task weighs me down before I can start.  The inability to cross it off makes me feel like I've put all kinds of effort into something, and in the end it made no difference.  I feel like I Failed (possibly the dirtiest, Evil-est word in the Perfectionist's language).  And if I'm a Failure, what's the point of trying?  I will never make it!  See?  Now I am depressed, angry, and frustrated, and likely to snap at anyone who tries to speak to me.  Contrast this to scenario 2: I have accomplished not one, but TWO tasks that needed to be done, I did them quickly, and my room looks much better.  I am Efficient, Productive, and Worthwhile.  I am Worth something, and I am Capable.  I will come downstairs for dinner humming and smiling, and will be a pleasant companion at the dinner table, the embodiment of sunshine, instead of the brooding cloud I was before.  

The difference?  How I set up and approached my To-Do List.