I’m not sure if this is part of the vanilla ADHD experience or if it is partially (or even mostly) the information overload landscape we now live in but:

Every time I set a serious goal such as losing a certain amount of weight or reaching a reading milestone every week, I utilize my note system to confirm it’s on my to-do list and get reminders from my calendar as well as reminders app to check in with it.

The problem is, by necessity my notes have to also be the destination for my random one-off ideas and brain dumps, not to mention being an archive for the graveyard of previous goals. The alternative is to not save this stuff at all and let a potentially good idea fly away forever. I stick to one short main digital note for the serious stuff and the literal to-do list, but in situations where either my phone or physical pad is not available I have to use the other as a temporary buffer and consolidate the notes to their correct locations later (I prefer digital thru phone for tasks and referential info and physical writing for journaling).

These temporary solutions have become the standard and I never remember where my actual goals are anymore. The calendar is okay but I’m usually out of the house when a reminder hits, and I’m definitely forgetting that by the time I get home.

I could liberate myself from this prison of my own making by forsaking every note of mine to the abyss and starting over, which sounds very spiritually attuned but I worry that I will simply create the same situation again by not addressing the root cause (my brain, forgetfulness, perfectionism, and habit structure, I could have LBS for all I know creating the brain fog in the first place as I haven’t had a blood panel in 5 years)

I could also pick one goal and stick with it in a critical disciplinary tough love sort of way until a single habit such as the gym sticks. I’ve actually done this before with the aforementioned as well as certifications for my job on a separate occasion. This tends to be my go-to, however some “emergency” usually wipes the importance I’m ascribing to the single habit such as a new debt collections letter or some car issues., making that transient situation the new active habit of militaristic focus.

By the time I get it sorted I’ve either forgotten my original goal or otherwise consider using the layover as a mulligan for something new that I now think is more important :|

So yeah these are the dilemmas, just want to know if y’all relate or want to share your own stories. Peace

  • jqubed@lemmy.worldEnglish
    20·
    7 days ago

    I kinda just skimmed your post, but yes, this sounds familiar. I prefer to keep my tasks separate from brain dumps/notes. I just need to find a task app/service that I’m liking enough to actually use regularly

    • aksdb@lemmy.worldEnglish
      3·
      6 days ago

      That’s what I like about Siyuan and Affine. I can have journal-like daily notes to quickly dump thoughts, but I can then re-arrange or cross-reference individual blocks in(to) other pages, that in turn can be in a nested folder structure and/or tagged. I can quite flexibly mix and match organization structures.

  • w3ird_sloth@lemmy.worldEnglish
    13·
    7 days ago

    There are all sorts of discussions in the obsidian community about the architecture/metaphors of note organization. Zettelkasten is a popular one. I would recommend reading about them and coming up with a paradigm that suits the way you think. You can read more about it here.

  • surewhynotlem@lemmy.worldEnglish
    8·
    6 days ago

    It helps to recognize that most of your notes are never going to be read a second time and are only there for searchability. Keep these separate from to-do.

    Information is not activity. Information doesn’t need to be structured, only searchable.

  • Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafeEnglish
    3·
    6 days ago

    I discovered the PARA method a couple years ago. It’s not perfect, but I appreciate that I can walk away (er… Be lazy) for a period of time and when I come back to my notes it’s still obvious what’s what.

    Ignore the hyperbole in that article (“The perfect method!!”, sheesh). I do find the basic structure helps a lot, though I added my own extensions in my notebook - I now also have a Reference section for all my tech docs, how-to, etc.

    I also use a separate app for my daily tasks, todos, etc. It’s not a smooth process, at all, but it mostly works

  • ChaosCoati@midwest.socialEnglish
    4·
    7 days ago

    I experience this as well. I don’t have a solution, although I am trying to use Trello to create each idea/thought as its own card. Then whenever I’m inspired/motivated to sort them into their proper place, it’s a simple drag and drop.

    My consistency with this comes and goes, and I keep reorganizing my lists (the headings I group related cards under). But I lose things less than when they were scribbled on random pieces of paper.