Paying (Not Enough) Attention: Ran across this piece sometime ago and then again in looking through the archives of the site, and thought it deserved some attention (rather ironic that my attention slipped to something else, is it not): It’s on ADD/ADHD, a condition that sometimes seems a bit like an epidemic today, and the possibility that maybe such a thing does not even exist at all. Here’s what Doctor Richard Saul has to say about it. Everyone has some symptom of ADD/ADHD at some time, and some of us have it all time. It is not the worst thing in the world: while everyone thinks they know the downsides of the “problem”–lack of attention, boredom, quick changing of interests, etc.–few understand the upside: more creativity, more options, the ability to drill very, very deep when involved in a project, and the capability of instantly shifting focus to something else. Those who are serious about handling this “problem” usually learn how to make it work for them, not against them and solutions don’t usually involve massive amounts of pharmaceuticals.
In the corporate world, if you can instantly shift focus to something else and handle multiple things at once, and are creative and have lots of bandwidth, you are not diagnosed as being afflicted with ADD/ADHD but instead, are known as someone who’s really, really good at….multi-tasking. Which should mean more responsibility, bigger projects, higher titles, and a much larger salary. None of that is bad. As with most things–it’s all about attitude.
The Fine Print: Photo “Pills (white rabbit)” by Erich Ferdinand, taken on 6 May 2006, made possible by FLICKR. Used under Creative Commons license. This photo was not modified in any way. We thank Erich and FLICKR for making this photo possible.