Cluttered desk syndrome
I have ADHD. Even with meds, keeping my environment tidy is a challenge at best. Ironically, I feel intense relief when I have a “clean” desk. I’m just not built to automatically maintain one.
Here’s what happens:
- I’ll get ready for the day, maybe starting with an administrative task.
- Suddenly, I think of something I should do. So I write a sticky note to address… something.
- I then notice there are a number of sticky notes in a jumbled pile.
- I pull some files related to said notes. Maybe make some calls, email, or add to a to do list.
- I notice I have 3 different to do lists. I try to consolidate them.
- After a while I realize I really need to write. I don’t do anything with the notes, they’re still on the desk, with a notebook sheet opened to “to do list.”
- As I write, I realize I need to research something. I open my browser and open a tab.
- As long as I’m here, I peek at social media and respond. That’s marketing, isn’t it?
- I see someone post about something. Oh! That reminds me… (new sticky note.)
- If that looks painful, it’s worse in my head, but neurodivergence makes this natural. By the end of the day, I have 15 tabs open in my browser, about a hundred emails, and my desk is a disaster area of sticky notes, folders, and notebooks.
Writer’s mind = cluttered desk.
Let’s use this as a metaphor.
You have folders strewn around: clumps of story ideas in various states of progress.
You get struck by “sticky note” action items for things you should probably do. Maybe they’re story related, or research, or marketing. Or just your daily life. Maybe it’s a new story idea (or twenty.)
Maybe you’ve got a dozen tabs open in your “browser” (inputs: internet, courses, people talking to you) and you’re hopping from one to the other.
You literally can’t deal with them all at the same time, but your brain won’t let you tuck anything away. It’s afraid, probably with cause, that out of sight is literally forgotten. So you’re buried in stuff and overwhelmed.
“Just make it a habit.”
What I learned: neurodivergent people don’t develop habits, per se. No matter how often we do something, it never truly becomes “autopilot” (something which often baffles the “normals” around us.)
So no matter how often we’ve done something, if we miss a few days, we often feel like we’re back to square one. And we do tend to miss days, due to overwhelm, forgetfulness, or lack of motivation.
What’s worse, some well-meaning suggestions like “put things away every day” or “clean as you go” have burned us. We’ve lost things by putting them somewhere we’re sure we wouldn’t forget (and then quickly forgot!)
Add perfectionism and unrealistic expectations, and the whole thing feels hopeless.
Not habits but systems.
The solution isn’t building habits. It’s creating systems, based on your real strengths and weaknesses.
A habit relies on your brain to do something that, let’s face it, it cannot or will not do. If it could, you wouldn’t have this problem. And that’s perfectly fine!
A system on the other hand, is a thing outside of you that you build. Something you can go back to and pick up after you’ve dropped things. Something you’ll be actively iterating.
What is a system?
A system is a deliberately created framework of tools and tricks that help you do what you need to do.
That’s it.
If you put your cell phone on a folder you need to take to work, then put them on the floor in front of your door so you won’t forget them, that’s a tool.
If you install an app blocker so you can’t get on social media for a set period of time, so you can focus, that’s a tool.
If you have an “accountability buddy” who helps you stay focused by writing together in a cafe, or giving you an external deadline (because you know, left to your own devices, you’re not getting writing done) that’s a tool, as well.
So if you have a checklist that says:
- Set two alarms on phone. Put phone on dresser across room.
- Pack lunch for tomorrow.
- Put keys on anything you need for work, and put all on floor by front door.
- Lay out clothes for tomorrow.
That’s a system, specifically for a morning prep routine. This one’s short, but it’s still complete.
Keep systems simple.
A lot of people look for the Perfect Solution™ that will address everything. They won’t ever be late to work, the writing will flow easily and need no revision, and their homes will be showroom perfect. Worse, they expect one system to address all those disparate elements.
From experience and from research, I can tell you… I’ve searched far and wide for what I called “The One System to Rule Them All.”
And it doesn’t exist.
What you want is to create one system at a time. You want it to be as simple as possible, and you want it to work with your natural strengths. You want to repeat it and repeat it, not to form a habit (because that probably won’t work, although it will get easier) but to strengthen and iterate it, and get results.
Once you’re used to developing one system, you’ll stack more onto it. But you can’t move forward until you’ve got a core competency in place. (Patience isn’t our strong suit, either, so this can be tough.)
Also, only start with one or two tools. (Note: if you think this doesn’t apply to you, that you can handle more – this is absolutely meant for you. Just. Do. Two!)
When you’ve got a system in place for a month, you can add a tool or two.
When you’ve got a system in place for three to six months, you can add a new system.
What if you hate routines and don’t follow systems?
That’s the other “neat” trick of neurodivergence: we often hate the things that would help us the most. Routines and systems can be boring, and we often need the sweet, sweet dopamine hit of fun (or adrenaline rush of stress) to do things.
(Incidentally, there are tools for that!)
If there’s a part of the system that seems like a solution, but you just hate it and won’t follow it, then you need a different tool.
If you need a lot of energy to carry something out, it won’t work, because energy’s finite. Your system will inevitably break down.
For example, if you don’t pack lunch ahead of time, or don’t want to lay out clothes the night before…
Or, in writing terms, if you hate planning plot points ahead of time, or knowing the ending…
Don’t do it.
There will be trade-offs, of course, but you’ll find a different solution.
Maybe you buy a bunch of pre-packed lunches that you can just grab in the morning. Or you budget to buy lunch at work.
Maybe you just have your clothes set up so you can grab an outfit easily in the morning (all shirts on the treadmill back, all pants on window seat, whatever.)
Or maybe you realize that not planning the plot points just means adding a few months to an exploratory draft when you’re scheduling an editor, instead of trying to force yourself to rush or forcing yourself to plan the points you’ll change anyway.
A system that doesn’t work without you “forcing” yourself is not a workable system, period. There will be some discomfort and effort in enacting a system, sure. But actual strain, or anything that makes you avoid it? Means you’ve chosen the wrong tools.
We’ll be talking about writing systems.
I’m going to be offering a writing course soon, the one I mentioned in the last newsletter. It covers my Rock Your Plot process in depth. (I had to cut revisions, because the course started getting ridiculously long! Also, it’s better to keep focused… and simple!)
While the system may not help all types of writers, the components and the concepts underneath it should help whether you’re a plotter or pantser, someone who loves draft or loves revision… whether you’re a brand-new writer or someone with dozens of novels under your belt.
I’ll be talking more about it, and it should soft launch in July. I’m also going to be taking down my Rock Your Writing books this week, since they desperately need updating!
Until then, see you next week!