OCD and ADD Face Off

I'm sure you have all heard about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD).  Everybody likes to laugh at characters like Monk who struggle to deal with everyday life with OCD.  You have probably also heard of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). I still use the old name for it - ADD - because anyone who knows me would just laugh hysterically at the hyperactivity part.  I deal with the inattentive variety. Anyway, I live my life dealing with these little issues in a completely unmedicated state (Duh!  Isn't that so painfully obvious?).

People are starting to understand OCD, and they are also starting to really get a handle on ADD, but they have no idea about the craziness that ensues when the two face off.

Let me illustrate an example for you:

As you know, I love to read.  I read a lot.  I read books, newspapers (all online now), magazines, blogs.....just about anything that interests me that I can get my hands on.

For a long time, I had my blogs all neatly organized within a generic reader.  Then I discovered Google Reader (which I love!) so I moved all my blog subscriptions there. I have about 250 blogs (give or take) that I monitor. I used to spend an hour or two every night scanning them through Google Reader, giving more attention to the posts that really interested me, and skipping by the ones that didn't.  It was great. Some people relax with a cocktail in the evening.  I read blogs.

Then I started to notice that I was reading some more regularly than others, and I didn't want to wait until the end of the day to read them.  However, if I even opened Google Reader during the day at work, I'd get lost in the reading, unable to stop (Hello, OCD!), and my productivity at work would decline dramatically.  What to do?  What to do?

I had the bright idea that I would subscribe by email to my favorites.  Then I would get an email notification whenever a new post went up for any of those and I could take a few minutes during my day just to read those. I started with about 10 of my favorites.  Then it was 15.  Then 20. Yes, my "little touch of OCD" took over and I couldn't stop doing the email subscriptions.  I liked them all, you see.

Now, my email inbox is overwhelmed with these blog posts. They keep coming. Like locusts. They won't stop. I tried to unsubscribe to some, but it didn't help. And I would re-subscribe to some soon after unsubscribing. Indecisive? Me?

So, I face an inbox overflowing with blog posts, junk mail (spam filter? right...sheesh), Facebook notices (that's a story for another day), and real work-related email.

Here's where my ADD kicks in.  I stare at the list of 2,970 unread messages in my inbox and I am overwhelmed.  I can't focus on any of them, at least not for long.  I try to organize them into folders (Hahahahahah).

My OCD says, "For gosh sake!  Delete as many as you can! You can't live with all those rows of bolded, unread subject lines in your inbox!  You won't be able to focus until every single one is handled."

ADD responds, "Ok, let's start....deleted 10, read 5, filed 6 more.....Oh, look at that hummingbird outside my window!  I need some coffee. I'd better get that contract written. Did I take my vitamins this morning? Why am I staring at my email inbox?"

OCD jumps in, "While you're at it, clean up this office!  I can't stand it!"

ADD replies, "Sure. No problem.  Where do I start? I should call Client ABC first, though. Oh yeah! I really need to get that report written.  That takes precedence over everything..."

Meanwhile, the unread email count is now 3,052. The blog locusts just keep coming.....

It's amazing I get anything done, isn't it?