=== Center of Attention ===
Newsletter of CHADD of Northern California
Also at: http://www.chaddnorcal.org/newsletter
25 October 2004

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>> IN THIS ISSUE <<
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*Calendar of Events
*Announcements:
CHADD Suports Yes on Prop 63
Santa Cruz chapter opening
*Feature Article: Tedium Management - Strategies
*Please Tell Us
*Subscription Information
*CHADD Information

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>> CALENDAR OF EVENTS <<
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This calendar only has events for the next 3 or 4 weeks listed. It
also does not list some other CHADD groups which may be closer to you
and it does not list some non-CHADD events. For a thorough calendar,
including directions, look at: http://www.chaddnorcal.org/schedule
and also http://www.chaddnorcal.org/schedule/otherevent.htm.

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Marin - 10/25/2004, Mon. 12:30 pm - 2:00 pm
Parent Resource & Support Group -- Call for directions in Mill Valley.
Mill Valley Home, Mill Valley - Contact: Victoria Vogel & Holly
Seerley: 415-383-6048 or 415-924-6656
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Alameda - 10/26/2004, Tues. 7 - 9 pm
Adult Support Group --
Lynnwood United Methodist Church, Pleasanton - Contact: Pattie: 925-548-3997
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Contra Costa - 10/26/2004, Tues. 7 - 9 pm
Danville Parent Meeting: -- Topic followed by Group Discussion
Los Cerros Middle School Library, Danville - Contact: Liz: 925-886-8735
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Out of Area - 10/28/2004, thru 10/30/2004
The 16 th Annual CHADD International Conference on
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder -- Striking the Right Note
Through Science, Education and Support.
Renaissance Nashville Hotel and Convention Center, Nashville, TN -
Contact: See Website: www.chadd.org
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Sacramento - 11/2/2004, Tues. 6:45 p.m.; 7-9 pm
ADHD and Preparing for College: Transition Help for the High School
Student -- Presented by Laurie Dupar, MN
Sutter Center for Psychiatry, Sacramento - Contact: Greater
Sacramento CHADD: 916-552-1557
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San Francisco - 11/3/2004, Wed. 6:00 - 7:45 pm
"Developing Minds" Video: Master the Challenge of Reading --
Sponsored by the SF Unified School District, Schwab Learning, the
CAC, SF PTA and SF School Volunteers.
San Francisco Public Library, San Francisco - Contact: Marilyn Dong,
Librarian: Resource Collection for Learning
Differences<br>415/557-4540
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Santa Clara - 11/3/2004, Wed. 7:15 - 9:30 pm
Sarah Cheyette, MD -- A neurologist practicing in San Mateo, Dr.
Cheyette will talk about the treatment of pediatric and adult AD/HD.
She is also the author of "Mommy, My Head Hurts: A Doctor's Guide to
Your Child's Headache."
Friends Meeting House, Palo Alto - Contact: Silicon Valley Warmline:
650-949-5472
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Santa Clara - 11/4/2004, Thu. 7:15 - 9:30 pm
Kitty Petty ADD/LD Institute - "Everything You Wanted to Ask About
ADD: Q & A" -- Matthew Stubblefield, M.D. neuropsychiatrist in
private practice in Palo Alto (formerly at the Amen Fairfield clinic.)
Friends Meeting House, Palo Alto - Contact: Kitty Petty ADD/LD
Institute: 650-329-9443 or visit www.kpinst.org
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Santa Clara - 11/9/2004, Tues. 7:15 - 9 pm
Support Group for Partners! -- Support and community-resource
information for the partners of folks with ADHD. PLEASE NOTE: This is
NOT a support group for people with AD/HD, nor for couples, nor for
parents. It is EXCLUSIVELY for PARTNERS of people with ADHD, and
others will have to be turned away.
Friends Meeting House, Palo Alto - Contact: Gina Pera: 888-759-9758
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Alameda - 11/10/2004, Wed. 7 - 8:45 pm
Tri-Valley Parent Support Meeting --
Thomas J. Hart Middle School, Pleasanton - Contact: JoAnn Matone: 925-484-2173
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San Francisco - 11/15/2004, Mon. 7 - 9 pm
Adult Success Group -- Share skills and strategies for success at
home, in the workplace, in relationships, etc.
First Unitarian Universalist Church, San Francisco - Contact: Rachel
Rosenfeld: 888-759-9758
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Marin - 11/16/2004, Tues. 7-9 pm
Adult Support Group, with SueZee Poinsett, Professional coach and
organizer. -- Free, drop-in peer-support group. Talk with others who
really understand. And share and develop life skills. In addition, if
you want to work on skills for sorting and purging papers, bring your
paper piles.
Marin Community Mental Health, Greenbrae - Contact: Beverlee: 415-789-9464
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Santa Clara - 11/17/2004, Wed. 7:15 - 9:30 pm
Silicon Valley Adult and Parent Support Groups -- Separate
peer-facilitated groups let you share struggles and strategies with
each other. Includes video.
Friends Meeting House, Palo Alto - Contact: Silicon Valley Warmline:
650-949-5472
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Online - 11/18/2004, Thu. 6 - 8 pm PST
"Ask The Expert" Chat -- Chris Dendy will chat on "Adolescents and
Executive Function"
Online Chat, Internet - Contact: Chat Web Page: www.chadd.org - Support - Chat
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Napa - 11/18/2004, Thu. 7 - 9 pm
Parent/Guardian Support Group -- Focusing on education, ADHD
strengths, and strategies to manage challenges. (It's good to call
first to confirm the date/time and to inquire about the meeting's
topic).
St. John's Lutheran Church, Napa - Contact: Karen Shepard:
707-452-8970, or ksnapa@...
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Marin - 11/18/2004, Thu. 7-9 pm
Ask the doctor. Dr. Sheldon Whitten-Vile. -- Note location change
for this event. Send e-mailto: DoctorW-V@...
Town Center Corte Madera Community Room, Corte Madera - Contact:
Beverlee: 415-789-9464
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Alameda - 11/23/2004, Tues. 7 - 9 pm
Adult Support Group --
Lynnwood United Methodist Church, Pleasanton - Contact: Pattie: 925-548-3997
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Marin - 11/29/2004, Mon. 12:30 pm - 2:00 pm
Parent Resource & Support Group -- Call for directions in Mill Valley.
Mill Valley Home, Mill Valley - Contact: Victoria Vogel & Holly
Seerley: 415-383-6048 or 415-924-6656
============================
Contra Costa - 11/30/2004, Tues. 7 - 9 pm
Danville Parent Meeting: -- Topic followed by Group Discussion
Los Cerros Middle School Library, Danville - Contact: Liz: 925-886-8735
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Santa Clara - 12/2/2004, Thu. 7:15 - 9:30 pm
Kitty Petty ADD/LD Institute - Discussion, Sharing Successful
Strategies with other ADDults. --
Friends Meeting House, Palo Alto - Contact: Kitty Petty ADD/LD
Institute: 650-329-9443 or visit www.kpinst.org
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Stanislaus - 12/7/2004, Tues. 7 - 8pm
Modesto Support Group -- (No children please)
Doctors Medical Center, Modesto - Contact: Bonnie: 209-523-4939
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Alameda - 12/8/2004, Wed. 7 - 8:45 pm
Tri-Valley Parent Support Meeting --
Thomas J. Hart Middle School, Pleasanton - Contact: JoAnn Matone: 925-484-2173
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San Francisco - 12/13/2004, Mon. 7 - 9 pm
Adult Success Group -- Share skills and strategies for success at
home, in the workplace, in relationships, etc.
First Unitarian Universalist Church, San Francisco - Contact: Rachel
Rosenfeld: 888-759-9758
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Contra Costa - 12/14/2004, Tues. 7 - 9 pm
Danville Parent Meeting: -- Topic followed by Group Discussion
Los Cerros Middle School Library, Danville - Contact: Liz: 925-886-8735
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Online - 12/15/2004, Wed. 6 - 8 pm PST
"Ask The Expert" Chat -- Andrew Adesman, M.D. will chat on AD/HD and
Co-existing Conditions
Online Chat, Internet - Contact: Chat Web Page: www.chadd.org - Support - Chat
============================
San Francisco - 12/15/2004, Wed. 6:00 - 7:45 pm
"Developing Minds" Video: Getting Thoughts on Paper -- Sponsored by
the SF Unified School District, Schwab Learning, the CAC, SF PTA and
SF School Volunteers.
San Francisco Public Library, San Francisco - Contact: Marilyn Dong,
Librarian: Resource Collection for Learning
Differences<br>415/557-4540
============================
Solano - 12/15/2004, Wed. 7 - 9 pm
Parent/Guardian Support Group -- Focusing on education, ADHD
strengths, and strategies to manage challenges. (It's good to call
first to confirm the date/time and to inquire about the meeting's
topic).
Matrix - Vallejo, Vallejo - Contact: Karen Shepard: 707-452-8970, or
ksnapa@...
============================
Marin - 12/16/2004, Thu. 7-9 pm
Holiday Party --
Family Works Counseling Agency, San Rafael - Contact: Beverlee: 415-789-9464
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Marin - 12/21/2004, Tues. 7-9 pm
Adult Support Group, with SueZee Poinsett, Professional coach and
organizer. -- Free, drop-in peer-support group. Talk with others who
really understand. And share and develop life skills. In addition, if
you want to work on skills for sorting and purging papers, bring your
paper piles.
Marin Community Mental Health, Greenbrae - Contact: Beverlee: 415-789-9464
============================

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>> ANNOUNCEMENTS <<
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CHADD supports Vote Yes on Prop 63 - Mental Health Initiative

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author.
However, CHADD of Northern California does fully support and endorse
Proposition 63.

This election there is an amazing chance to increase funding for
mental health services in California. Proposition 63 will add a
surtax on the wealthiest Californians-1 percent of personal income
above $1 million. This is the same group who got a 3% or more tax cut
from the current administration.

Bottom line, if you have no health insurance and have even a
low-middle income, you probably will not be able to get mental health
care. Counties are responsible for providing care for this group but
are so underfunded they treat only about 10% of the need.

Have you ever wondered why someone with a physical problem can
usually get medical care but someone with attentional problems,
depression, anxiety and other daily struggles often cannot? Have you
ever wondered why our prisons and jails end up being our largest
mental health institutions.

Proposition 63 would raise about $750 million a year for
mental-health care. The money would allow counties to expand services
and to try innovative approaches for the mentally ill. The
proposition would establish an accountability commission to oversee
spending and outcomes.

Okay, this is not the ideal way to fund mental health services but it
is the best chance we've got. Learn more at www.Yeson63.org. Read the
San Francisco Chronicle editorial of Sept. 27th.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/10/17

Please get registered to vote and vote Yes on Prop 63.
Please tell five other people, who can tell five others to vote Yes on 63.


Beverlee Kell
CHADD of Marin, coordinator
NAMI of Marin, Board member
Marin Mental Health Board, vice chair

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Santa Cruz Chapter Open. See their independent schedule at
http://www.chaddonline.org/chapters/chadd605.html

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>> FEATURE ARTICLE <<
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The following article has been published with kind permission from
Lew Mills, PhD LMFT, a Bay Area psychotherapist working with
Attention Deficit in Adults.

Tedium Management - Part II: Strategies

This is the second half of an article on managing tedium. These are
some categories of strategies, not an exhaustive list. Once you
understand the categories, you may be able to invent some strategies
that work for you based on them.

Lighten Up

The first tip is to notice that succumbing to tedium is more often
than not also accompanied by anxiety and self-reproach. Furthermore,
setbacks can be discouraging. So your first strategy ought to be to
lighten up on yourself. It's going to be hard, but you don't need
another taskmaster giving you grief over it. Move forward when the
time allows for it. Let go when the time is just wrong.

Chunk it Up

This is the favorite strategy of those who do not have as much of a
tedium management problem. Just break a big task up into smaller
tasks. Yeah, and whistle while you work. Sometimes it works. And
sometimes you just stare at the task longer, trying to figure out
where to make the divisions. However, if you can find a way to take
bits at a time, setting the rest aside so that it does not overwhelm
you, this will be a winning strategy. If you can provide yourself
some structure, you might set a particular time each day that you
will do a part of the task.

A very effective variant of this strategy is to commit to doing just
a few minutes of the task. By removing the dread of taking on the
whole thing you can get a lot done in a few minutes. Then rest and
come back for another chunk later. Intersperse tasks that you enjoy
and that re-energize you.

The reason that this strategy works so well and why it is so hard to
do is that it really amounts to applying your executive functions. If
it were easy for you, you would already be doing it. Nonetheless,
consider if there aren't some ways that you could apply the chunking
strategy.

Nibble

But let's say that you hit the wall with trying to chunk the task.
Can you just work at any part and make progress?

If you can be fairly confident that whatever you do on this task is
going to advance you, then just start anywhere. Acknowledge that you
don't need to measure your progress, proceed systematically, or
anything of the kind. After you nibble for awhile, you know that the
task will get smaller.

As you transform your tedium (executive function overwhelm) into mere
boredom, you can detach from it. Play good music or something that
you enjoy and just keep nibbling away. Don't try right away to back
up and get the big picture. Establish your momentum.

Once you have nibbled at it awhile, you will realize that the hardest
part was starting. After you can feel that you are making progress,
the pieces of the big picture may come into focus with less effort.
Now you can see the bigger picture without the overwhelming ambiguity
that you experienced at the beginning.

The danger with this strategy is that you may in fact totally lose
sight of the big picture. Beware misdirected hyperfocus. After four
hours of color-coding the file folders you will use to organize your
project, it's time to stop nibbling and look again at the big picture.

Find the Melody Line

Some tasks seem to come automatically. The basic patterns are so well
known that once you start, each phrase of the melody leads naturally
to the next. This concept of a "kinetic melody" has been applied to
motor tasks, but it is also true in many other efforts.

Once I start writing, the paragraphs seem each to be sponsored by the
one just before it. I can generally trust that another idea that
roughly follows from the previous one will be waiting for me when I
get to the place where I need it. It feels like a familiar melody,
where you always seem to remember the next note just as it is coming
up.

Finding the melody is the hard part. It can sometimes pop up if you
just start. Once you find it, keep going until it runs out. Then you
can go back and do the evaluating and repairing of what you've done
so far. But if you wait for the whole symphony to come into your
head, you'll be stuck.

Borrow an Executive Function

Most people find that it is easier to do another person's tedious
task than their own. When you are personally worried about
consequences, your executive function gets strangled in anxiety. Use
someone else's executive function, someone who is not going to be
emotionally involved. They don't have to make your decisions, but
they can help a lot by asking you the right questions.

Sometimes your "executive function buddy" can just be a "pair of
eyes." If they watch you, it helps you watch yourself. I really mean
it. Have someone sit in the room and just watch you. (They can bring
a book or something, so long as they don't distract you or stop
watching.) If you get past the silliness of it, this works some great
magic.

Eat Chocolate

Hey, don't ask me why. These are just the things that work for me.
But have you noticed that when you amuse yourself, distract yourself,
or even just show kindness to yourself, you don't notice the tedium
so much? Music can help. Finding something funny about your bosses
wardrobe choices may do it. The idea is to distract yourself from the
feeling of tedium. Just try to get out of "suffering mode."

Change the Frame

The meaning of a task can make it tedious. Play that it is something
else. Right now I am attacking my tedious brain-splashing task by
pretending that I am actually just testing the ideas I am writing
down here for you. Most of the ideas are working, and the task is
yielding a bit. Go ahead and attack your tedious job with the
intention of carefully documenting how none of my tips worked. Go nowŠ

Another example in this category is a trick for finishing tasks.
Because starting tasks is often easier than the cleanup at the end,
change the frame. See if there is a way to make "finishing up" into a
new project, which you are just now jumping in to start.

Run the other way

You've got nothing to prove. Just make your life work for you. If you
can avoid getting into tedious tasks in the first place, by all means
do so. Now that you understand tedium a little better, you are going
to get better at recognizing it, and avoiding it.

Buy makeup and clothing that matches the egg on your face

A lot of the things you worry about may not amount to so big a
problem in the long run. Even when they do, what is past is past.
Apologize where you have to, let go, and move on.

Ok, these tedium management strategies are not as clean and neat as
the time management seminars where they convince you that you can
find 30 hours in each day. Tedium management is messy stuff. There
are no easy answers or systems. Just a handful of tricks that may
help you out.

Did I tell you that the egg makes your eyes look very pretty in this light?

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>> PLEASE TELL US <<
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We thank members for their responses to the Newsletter. Any comments,
suggestions, or criticisms will be greatly appreciated. Please
continue to help us make this newsletter and CHADD of Northern
California more beneficial to you all.

We also invite readers to share their experiences with us and other
members. Please feel free to write to us about anything that you
would like to see published.

You can e-mail your comments to us at Lew@.... Simply
replying to this e-mail will also send your message to the editor.

Lew Mills, Editor

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>> CHADD INFORMATION <<
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Visit our webpage at http://www.chaddnorcal.org if you wish toŠ
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About the Newsletter:

The Center of Attention is CHADD of Northern California's bi-weekly
newsletter. The newsletter is designed to keep you up to date with
CHADD of Northern California's activities and updates in the field.

* CHADD Works to Improve the Lives of People with
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder through Education, Advocacy,
and Support *

Contact:

--

Lew Mills, PhD, LMFT
Editor, "Center of Attention"
CHADD of Northern California, Chapter # 504
mailto:Lew@...
http://www.chaddnorcal.org/newsletter
Fax or Voice Message: 510-291-2950
Toll Free 888-759-9758