Finally (after 8.5 years of recovery from my Severe TBI) I’m enabled to, as a result of identifying my brain’s consistent desire to alter activities, allow my attention to flit between productive tasks routinely. Fulfilling my mind’s desire to visit a variety of focal points, allows me to decide what these various focal points will be, ahead of time (and fill up my backpack accordingly). This enables me to lessen my distraction by unforeseen, unproductive activities that will obscure my focus. I have learned that in order to fulfill whatever my most pressing task is for the day, I must choose multiple tasks “on my front burner” & bring the necessary components with me to my workplace (overwhelmingly, a cafe).
Today my attention is split between coloring (a pleasurable way of improving my dexterity), composing this post as well as editing other post drafts.
Discipline, presently, and for the last 8 years (since incurring my Severe TBI), has not easily been obtained. As with most else, I’m told by my doctors & psychologist that this is entirely expected. Though I must admit, that my discipline compared to that of other survivors that incurred TBIs of my same severity, they report, is in fact, of vastly greater depth and here’s how (in part): Identification of work-arounds!
Workarounds, like coloring in coloring books, furthers my desired skill (dexterity improvement), while accomplishing a routine desire of mine: creating beauty! Coloring (staying inside the lines – a hardship, since the minute muscles of my hands are still re-learning how to function), consistently betters my handwriting. This minor triumph will (I can now claim confidently, due to telling experiences) eventually lead to the accomplishment of my grander goal: Reclaiming my lifelong, beautiful, (in my opinion:) handwriting in full.
I can once-again stay working from a cafe for many hours, as I used to, by facilitating work on multiple activities of mine, within the same setting. Essentially, I must bring all of the tools I need to work on multiple projects, in-order to accomplish any 1 in totality. I further many projects’ completion, while simultaneously accomplishing the primary one. This alteration in my method, is a small price to pay for achievement!
Identifying & utilizing unique neurological pathways, as was identified by my psychiatrist, is the mode by which I’m enabled to, presently, accomplish completion. It’s mighty fortunate that I’ve regarded creativity fondly, lifelong, as this recovery necessitates it! Identifying & utilizing alternative ways to accomplish routine tasks, demands premier creativity. In tandem, tremendous patience is needed, albeit less-so continually, due to routinely exercising my noggin!