Making decisions in the moment can be challenging for many with ADD. For some types of decisions you may only need a few moments to assess a situation, and determine what would work best for you. How often do you make decisions too quickly? What if you took extra breath?
Taking a Breath.
What would you do differently if you gave yourself time to make decisions that were more in line with what is important to you throughout your day. What if you had more opportunities to make choices that you feel good about. Look at the following examples.
You made a commitment to take on an additional task when realistically you did not have time for one more responsibility on your plate. And, after committing, you felt that you could not back out. Now you are on the Widget Committee!
While in a meeting, the chair asked you to serve on a the Widget Committee. Instead of saying, “sure,” you took a breath. And said, “Let me get back to you tomorrow after I talk to Beth and take a closer look at what is on my plate.”
You listened impatiently when a close friend approached you and started talking about her fear of losing her job.
You took a breath and said, “It sounds like things are really tough. I’m sorry… I really want to talk to you about this, but I promised Bob that I would give him this letter by 11:00. Can we have coffee later today when I have more time to talk?
You belabored a point even after thinking, “I should stop.”
Hmm… You took a deep breath and stopped to listen to others.
You impatiently answered the phone when you were in the middle of working on something that needed to get done…in the next hour! And breathlessly told the person that you didn’t have time to talk.
You heard the phone, took a deep breath, let the answering machine get it and decided to call back when you had more time.
You thought of something really funny and blurted it out to a colleague. And decided after the fact that maybe it was “not so funny.”
You felt yourself getting ready to deliver your line, took a breath and decided not to say it in that moment to that person. Instead, you saved your punch line, and shared it with your friend who appreciates your sense of humor!
What if you took an extra breath?