How ADHD Helped Me Create the Bullet Journal Method
When the usual systems failed me, my ADHD led me to create something new
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I haven’t spoken much about my experience with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and recently I’ve been asking myself why. After all, without my ADHD, I wouldn’t have come up with the Bullet Journal Method. Maybe the best way is to tell my story is for me to describe what ADHD has been like for me. Of course, I can only speak to my experience, which may differ from others’ experiences.
Having ADHD is like trying to catch the rain.
Imagine you’re in a small hut on a wide-open field. As the storm approaches, you prepare yourself to head outside and catch the rain, just like everyone else.
You step outside and your attention is drawn to the darkening sky. The first drops of rain fall. You catch one, then another. The storm picks up, and the rain falls faster. You miss a drop, then another. Soon there are so many things raining down that you don’t know which drops to focus on. Do you go for the ones coming from a distance, or the ones closer to you? The ones within easy reach, or the ones you can get in position for? The more you frantically deliberate, the more drops you miss. Still, the storm grows ever louder — then lightning strikes.
Having ADHD is like trying to catch the rain.
All thoughts vanish. There is nothing but you and the lightning. Then it fades, and you find yourself soaked, sinking into the mud.
You return indoors with the other rain catchers. They, inexplicably, seem dry. You’re met with disapproving, mocking, or pitying gazes. No one cares about your stories of lightning or how overwhelming the rain felt. That wasn’t the point. All they can see is the rain you didn’t catch. None of them seem bothered by — or even aware of — the impossibility of the task.
They go about their days, playing cards and reading books. They leave the storm outside behind. What they don’t understand is that for you, the storm never stops.
From the moment you wake up, the clouds gather in your mind. By the time others are getting ready, a million drops have already saturated your…
