Over the years, I’ve learned different ways to cope with ADHD, even though I never new I had it. The key that I found was in processes and routines. For example, I found out about twenty years ago that I don’t do well if I don’t get at least seven hours of sleep. So over the years I developed a routine for getting to bed at a decent hour.

Here’s my routine:

1. I use my watch to track my sleep at night, so at eight o’clock, I charge my watch.
2. When it’s fully charged, I know it’s time to get ready for bed.
3. I put on my watch, charge my phone, and put my glasses on the kitchen counter? Why do I put my glasses on the kitchen counter? Because over the years I learned that if I left them in the bedroom or bathroom I’d forget them, and then I’d wake up my wife going back into the bedroom.
4. Next I get my mouthguard ready as well as my CPAP.
5. I brush my teeth, take my vitamins (which are in a pill box I fill every Tuesday morning), use my dental rinse and climb in bed.
6. I read until around ten, or after dropping my Kindle twice because I’m too tired to stay awake.
7. I put on my CPAP and go to sleep.

Every night, it’s the same thing. Last weekend we were in Boston to watch the Cardinals beat the Red Sox. That was still my routine. Without it, I can’t get to sleep, it’s so ingrained in me. And if I leave out a step, it simply won’t get done. I have a similar routine when I wake up around six.

So my life is this type of pattern. Find a routine that includes all the things that I need to do, and follow it to the letter. Otherwise things will be left out. Need to do something new? Figure out where it can fit into one of the routines or create a new one and learn it by rote. The routines change over time as needs come and go, but there’s always the routine.

Now I’m learning different ways to do ADHD through coaching. It’s been an interesting change for me, and I’ve started to add new routines into my life that make some things easier. When I finally do get “diagnosed,” I’ll prayerfully be able to have medications that will possibly help ease some of the stress and anxiety I feel trying to manage all of the routines. Until then, I keep to the same old, same old. Until next time…