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Procrastination Revisited: The Effect of ADHD
When I started this blog a few years ago, one of my most popular posts was about procrastination. In that post, I argued that I procrastinate to deal with the anxiety that accompanies decision making. (You can read the original post here.) What I didn’t know, though, was that I had ADHD. Everything I wrote in that post is still true. Increasingly difficult tasks still cause me increasingly high levels of anxiety. I still find it best to start with an easy task involving little to no decision making. That helps me get the ball rolling. But, now I know that there’s more to the procrastination story for me. During…
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Information Sources: Deciding What’s Trustworthy
For my first post since the blog re-launch, I want to discuss something that’s becoming increasingly more important: evaluating your information sources. The internet is a great thing. We all have so much information available to us. And now, with smart phones, that information is literally available in the palms of our hands. How long does it take to hard boil an egg? A quick Google search will tell you the answer. But, how do you know whether the answer is correct? In this day and age, finding trustworthy information sources on the internet is actually more complicated than it seems. For better or for worse, social media has given…
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Re-Launch—Fresh Content, Fresh Look
When I wrote my last post, nearly two years ago now (yikes!), I thought I was going to be taking a short break from writing. I’d take a week off, maybe two, and then I’d be back at it. I never thought I would be doing a re-launch two years later. Well, clearly things did not go according to plan. My “brief” hiatus from writing turned out to be not so brief. The virus we all thought we’d beat by staying home for two weeks is something we’re still battling. Lots of things in my personal life have changed, too. Little Man is older now and becoming ever more curious…
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A Brief Hiatus from Posting and Time to Regroup
Hello again my friends. It has been a few weeks since I’ve written a new post. I want to take this opportunity to explain. At this point in time, I probably don’t have enough readership for too many people to have noticed the disruption in my otherwise consistent posting schedule. But, perhaps a few of you did notice my absence. ( I can’t say thank you enough for caring about my writing to the point that you might actually have missed me!) I am disappointed in myself for not staying consistent and delivering posts on a weekly basis. But, I’m not giving up or abandoning the blog. I had fully…
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Waking Up Is Hard To Do: Why I Can’t Sleep
I watch the blades of the ceiling fan spinning around and around. I roll to my left and give Hubby’s face a gentle shove—-he’s lightly snoring again. Inhale. Exhale. [...] Despite my best efforts, I really, really struggle to fall asleep at what most people would consider a “normal” time. Most nights, I spend a minimum of an hour awake in bed before my brain is willing to turn off and succumb to sweet, sweet slumber...
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The Fundamental Attribution Error: It’s All How You Look At It
Today I want to talk about a nifty concept called the Fundamental Attribution Error. This concept helps explain why we view the causes of certain situations differently, depending on whether the situation is happening to ourselves or to someone else. Before I dive into the nitty gritty of explaining the Fundamental Attribution Error, though, I’d like to tell two short stories. Situation 1 Not too long ago, as I was heading to work, I was sitting at a stop sign and waiting to turn out of my neighborhood onto the main road. It was a dreary day in the Chicago metro area—gray skies, a misty drizzle, and very foggy. Car…
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Overwhelmed & Over-Thinking
This isn't the post I was planning to write this week; but life happened, and here we are. As I mentioned in my post on procrastination, there are times when everything I'm thinking about just becomes too much. The past week or two has definitely been one of those phases for me.
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Please, Don’t Try to Fix Me: How to Respond When Others Express Their Feelings
Have you ever confided in a friend or family member about something upsetting, only to walk away from the conversation feeling worse than at the outset? I know I have...Despite the fact that I, too, am guilty of at times responding by suggesting possible solutions when loved ones tell me about their problems, I can say with certainty: it is the wrong approach.
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Someday, But Not This Day: The Life of a Serial Procrastinator
Procrastination is a popular topic for self-help gurus. Lately, it seems like everywhere I look, there’s a new book or blog post or TED Talk dedicated to tackling the procrastination problem once and for all. The other day, I made the mistake of saving a spoof anti-procrastination motivational quote on Pinterest. “Why put off until tomorrow what you could get done today?!” Adages like this now populate my feed. They warn me that “procrastination is the enemy of success!” They admonish me that “a person who really wants something will find a way…a person who does not will find an excuse.” I find adages like these to be simplistic and,…
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That’s Me in the Spotlight: Thoughts on Performance Anxiety
For today’s post, I want to talk about performance anxiety. You know, that debilitating fear or extreme case of nerves. Sometimes we call it “stage fright.” It overtakes some of us when we’re faced with doing a particular task in front of a group of people (um, public speaking anyone?). To start our discussion, let me tell you a story: Ancient History Once upon a time, in a decade long, long ago, I was a competitive figure skater. (OK, it wasn’t that long ago, but it certainly feels that way to me.) It has been many years since I laced up my skates and stepped onto the ice. Even so,…