The Cure For a Disorganized Mind

Revenge of the Goldfish by Sandy Skoglund

Goldfish brain. That’s what my friend Anna calls it. Cute but vacant: you can tell a goldfish anything – and expect it to be gone within the second. While it’s great that your goldfish will never tell anyone that you clean your earwax with your car key, it’s not awesome when it comes to anything approximating normal life. See, I have goldfish brain right now. And let me tell you it’s not at all cute in a human adult.

Let’s be honest: I’ve always been a little more scattered than most. I forget so many things that it’s become a punchline among my friends. One doctor a few years ago told me I had mild ADHD but that since I’d learned over the years to compensate well for it he considered me a success story. You know what’s fun? Going into the doctor and getting both diagnosed and cured in the same appointment! Unfortunately these days, thanks to my anti-depressant medication screw up (and possibly my birth control method, the Mirena IUD) I’m way more than a little scattered and I’m not compensating well at all. And also my hair is falling out.

Tonight a friend told me that she’d noticed a difference in me lately – that she could see it as I walked into a room. A shadow over my eyes. A tightening of my jaw. An uncertainty. This made me sad. Not because it isn’t true but because I’d thought I was, well, compensating. I’ve been trying so hard to just be normal. (Whatever normal means to me these days.) But you know what happens the harder you try to be normal? The weirder you get. And trying to be normal is exhausting. I feel like it takes me so much effort just to function at what used to be my baseline. I was supposed to go out with my girlfriends Saturday night for some much needed r&r but instead I cried for an hour and then fell asleep. By the time I woke up they were all ensconced in The Hunger Games and I had to spend an hour prying my contacts off my eyes.

This is not me. But it’s the me I am now. And I hate this me. I can feel my mind swirling and slipping and I hate it. But my insurance company, after much faxing and hold music, decreed that I can no longer have my medicine unless I want to pay $700 for it. Which I can’t. I cried about this all weekend. It makes me feel trapped. But then I started researching my non-medication options. There are ways, apparently, to cure a disorganized mind.

1. Meditate. Who saw that one coming?? One site called it “bootcamp for brains” and pointed out that learning to focus is, well, a learned skill. Sometimes the easiest cures are the ones we resist the most (pride? unbelief? boredom?).

2. Brain games. A couple of months ago, I signed up on Lumosity.com – a site run by Harvard researchers designed to enhance your cognitive nimbleness in 5 different areas. While I originally signed up to see if I could fix my horrendous spatial sense (the only thing I’m better at than forgetting is forgetting where I’m going – getting lost is practically my profession) but what it’s turned into is a measure of how I’m thinking. I’ve played faithfully every day for two months and my chart shows a marked decline starting a month ago when my meds got switched. It’s interesting to see it so quantified. I am, literally, getting dumber by the minute. But the games are very entertaining and they’ve definitely helped me try new ways of thinking. I tend to stick to word puzzles in real life but Lumosity forces me to work on what I’m weakest at: numbers, math, spatial orientation, memory.

3. Get organized. While this is a great life skill for everyone it’s particularly crucial for people like me. The advice is to have a calendar. Set up timers and reminders on your computer. Use an alarm clock – all day. Color code things. Write things on your hands. Write things on post-its. Write everything down. At first I rebelled a little at this. It makes me feel incompetent. And yet I will look at my calendar first thing in the morning and see I’m babysitting a friend’s kid at noon and 9 times out of 10 I’ll have forgotten it an hour later. Pride in pocket, stat.

4. Keep a set schedule. Schedules are my lifeline and heaven help me when something interferes with it. But the part of this that was new to me was to write down my priorities and schedule my tasks based on that, rather than just on time.

5. Get enough sleep.

Perhaps this debacle is a blessing in disguise by forcing me to finally learn some better techniques to deal with myself. Or maybe I have a brain tumor. (Catastrophizing is a seriously underappreciated talent.)

Anyone else have a goldfish brain? What are your tricks to being more organized? Any tips for me??

P.S. I’m sorry about the pity party. I’m even annoying myself right now. I promise I’m not just trying to whine – I really am trying to fix this!

58 Comments

  1. this so great article and I like it.
    thanks that you shared this.
    great job.

  2. Oh my goodness, this is me all over….and I’m a teacher so fish brain = many an embarrassing moment in front of a bunch of 11 year olds. I like to think that I’m humanising the teaching profession for them.

    I live and die by my diary, and notice a marked increase in my mental faculties when I make an effort to eat well and rest. Sounds so simple but can be difficult in practice when shit gets crazy at school and home.

  3. This is SO me right now. I was doing great ‘balancing life on the head of a pin’ with two kids, training, and work. It does not take much to push things very out of balance and for me it’s a frustrating hip injury that is preventing me from running right now — no one seems to know what is the matter. It’s as if 40% of my brain has been consumed by unconsciously thinking about it and the rest of the brain can barely barely keep up. It’s awful. I’m either firing awesomely on all cylinders or most definitely NOT. There’s no in between.

    I would agree with your list with the addition of one — for me, I need to spend less time on the computer just frittering away time. So that is my vow, we’ll see if it makes a difference.

  4. sleep sleep UNPLGGING LONG BEFORE BED sleep.

  5. Have you tried ingesting fairly large quantities of coconut oil? (I’m talking minimum 4 T a day.)
    I’m pretty sure I’ve given you my coconut oil shpiel, but in case I haven’t…many people have trouble converting carbs into the glucose needed for proper brain functioning. The medium chain fatty acids in coconut oil are converted directly into glucose which goes to your brain when you need it!
    My hubby swears that his daily fat bombs* have saved him from brain fog.

    *fat bombs: melt coconut oil and throw in blender with cocoa and (optional) sweetener, pour over shredded coconut in ice cube trays, freeze, pop out and store in your freezer. Eat when needed.

    Coconut oil is expensive, but even I can’t go through $700 worth in a month.

  6. I would spend at least one month pitying myself if I heard I can’t have my medication. I think you’re entitled to have your pity party!

    I guess sleep and meditation can well wirth being scatter brained. I used to meditate years ago but gave up the habit.. Meditation is a hard habit to adopt, vecause you have to practice it diligently. Sometimes I really hate Internet, Facebook and Twitter because they make me more scattered than I would be otherwise (can’t even remember what otherwise used to feel like).

  7. Aw! I’m sorry Charlotte. Wish I could offer some helpful advice.

    I am somewhat scatter brained, and I find getting enough rest and not over-scheduling myself definitely help. I need some down time/time to myself or I start to get a little nuts. And I definitely have to write things down and have reminders.

    Hope you find something that works!

  8. Firstly: no need to apologize for a little pity-party! We’re all entitled to them now and again, and if anybody is entitled to one right now, it’s you.

    Secondly, I have to echo some of the above folks and say: unplugging from the internet more often. Not even so much the computer, but especially the internet. I feel like I’ve become increasingly ADD the more time I spend on it, and I’ve read research (okay, if I’m being honest, I’ve skimmed and read ABOUT research) that talks about how it practically rewires our brain and our entire modes of thinking. We shift into a much shallower, 15-tabs-open-in-one-browser-window, “ooo look another hyperlink! onto something else!”, butterfly-flitting-from-one-window-to-another mode of processing information, instead of focusing deeply on one sustained thing for a period of time. I think it really prohibits “flow” (a concept I only recently learned about, but I love: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)).

    So, I’ve come to the decision to try to shut the internet down for myself for sustained periods of time to focus intensely on other things. We’ll see how it goes.

  9. I don’t have any advice, but I’m sorry you’re going through this rough time. I can’t believe your insurance company won’t cover your medication. It’s just ridiculous.

    Hugs!

  10. Goldfish brain ha haaa, I totally have goldfish brain. So sorry you’re feeling frazzled. Keep pushing forward.. you’ll figure it out. You have a huge support system. Besides, you’re a success story, remember? 😉

  11. AHHH, health care in this country SUCKS! I am sorry you’re feeling bad. Thank you as always for sharing. I’m definitely checking out that Lumosity site when I have a chance. And yes, I should meditate more too. There are plenty of good phone apps that are a great way to start. I like “Simply Being” and “Mindfulness Meditation” for the iPhone.

    Sending lots of love, Charity

  12. Oh my goodness do I ever know how you are feeling! Almost 5 years ago now, I got really sick with an illness that caused, in addition to a bunch of other fun things, severe cognitive problems. It started off very similar to what you are describing (forgetting EVERYTHING and just generally feeling stupid/doing poorly in school), but eventually turned into getting lost a block from my house…

    Anyway, the #1 most important thing to do is to WRITE EVERYTHING DOWN! I see you have it there, but I seriously cannot underestimate this! When I figured out what was up with me and started feeling better, I quit doing this. Then I relapsed, and I resisted bringing my notebook to everything I did because it felt unnecessary. So I just started forgetting everything all over again and looking way MORE incompetent than I would have if I had written everything down.

    I also used every alarm available in my phone. And I stuck sticky notes to my phone (because I look at it regularly), my computer, my driver’s license…the trick is that if you have something important on a sticky note you have to put it somewhere you will see it.

    And as for the spending every ounce of energy just trying to be normal…yep. I am there right now too. It sucks. If these strategies you have here don’t work for you, go to your doctor and strategize with HIM (/her). North America’s health care system is screwed up (I am in Canada, but we have the same issues with insurance covering pills you do, even with “free” healthcare), but you should be able to find SOME other option.

    • OMG, I just discovered this lovely article of your’s while browsing around the net with at 1st a slight sense of “crap I know nobody out there will relate to this” on the exact subject of why in the hell am I so disorganized, abd to my great surprise not only were there signs of other life forms out there who are experiencing the same struggles w disorganization as me based on the sheer volume of articles i got in the search results, but I also found your article which I could honestly have not written any better myself as to how to describe what it’s like to have an at times completely unhinged, totally unreliable and frustrating as all hell ADHD mind. And as you can probably tell from me just hammering all of that out just now as one big long sentence, mine is flaring up big time right now lol. But yeah, goldfish brain SUCKS, and I’m just really glad there’s someone else out there who experiences it and was able to describe it so perfectly. Ill also try some of the suggestions y’all have posted as well as go off of some of your findings for how to help myself..(in theory) lol… Meditation though, idk if that would really be a sure fire way to help ADHD symptoms across the board as yeah it would theoretically make sense in that it could boost one’s ability to maintain concentration, which could be a good thing, but I don’t know if it’s specific enough- I wish there was some way to be taught not just “how” to focus, but to be able o train your brain rather to filter through all the various stimuli and racing thoughts to immediately recognize which thoughts are important to focus ON. cuz yeah you can get good at focusing all you want bit in my ;admittedly crazy mind it’s like yeah but unless you train yourself to be able to distinguish btwn whats worth focusing on and what isn’t your still going to be left in the hands of fate to be potentially capsized by a tidal wave of your own amassed hurricane of thoughts crashing down on you

  13. Oops, pressed enter too soon. Anyway, to follow up with my last comment- the medication you can’t have is your anti-depressant, right? Have you tried supplementing whatever you are currently doing with any natural remedies? I see a naturopathic doctor who is amazing, and has me on a supplement that is helped me a lot (B complexes are especially good for improving your mood).

    I’m sorry you are struggling so much with this. I understand how much it sucks. Hopefully, it will pass. If it doesn’t, don’t just try to tough it out, because that won’t work. Health care might suck, but if you have a decent doctor they should be able to help you. Just remember- you don’t HAVE to do it all right now, but you shouldn’t settle for just getting through the day

  14. Good luck to you! And thanks for the link to lumosity.com, I had never heard of it. I’m definitely going to go check it out.My cognitive prowess could definitely do with a tune-up. 🙂

  15. I write everything down. EVERYTHING. I have several ways too – I carry a notepad with me at all times, I have a calendar app on my iphone that syncs with my calendar on my computer, I have a planner that I write things on, i have a “notes” app on my phone and a grocery list app. I quite literally have at least 5 to-do lists going at any given time. If it isn’t written down, it won’t get done. I blame my mom.

    You should call your insurance company while crying and go postal on them. (I kid about this, though it is a serious problem, only because if I didn’t crack a joke, I’d be crying for you.)

  16. I’m sorry you’re having these issues. Will your doctor write you a prescription that tells them not to give you generics because you have an adverse reaction? That’s what got my insurance to pay for the brand name when I had the same problem. Other than that all I can say is positive thinking. Sometimes if I tell myself enough that it will be okay, it is.

  17. Dang, it seems so unfair that you can’t have the medication you need! Especially since you’ve documented the clear changes happening with the medication switch.

    I also have a goldfish brain, which I’d blame on menopause but I’ve always been really scattered and forgetful. But now it’s worse: I have no short term memory, no sense of direction and also have trouble recognizing faces and names, even of people I’ve met many times before. I sometimes worry about early onset Alzheimers no matter how many articles I read about the normal effects of aging.

    So thanks, these are all great suggestions! I’m working on the “mental focus” muscle myself as mine is very weak. The only thing I’d add is the “forgive and let go” piece… often the self-castigation that comes with slip-ups compounds stress and frustration, and getting more quickly to a place of acceptance and humor is helpful in being more present and calm, which then seems to reduce likelihood of further goofs. But easier said than done… guided meditations seem to help me with this.

    And if this is a pity party, then you’ve got a lot to learn about whining!

    Good luck and I hope the insurance company gets its head out of its ass and helps you deal with this.

  18. I feel for you…I hope you can find what you need.
    I don’t know if it would work for you, but I was given an iphone for my new job and it has really changed how I deal with things and made me far more sane. The calendar on it has made me so much more organised. I set alarms for things and syncs with my laptop so I get emails and update things on the fly. Maybe the rest of the world has been onto this for years but for me it’s all new ;). The biggest thing has been If I think of something – anything- I can write it down right then to read later. Even workouts. I still fail on some things, but I try not to beat myself up about it too much. You can’t get everything right, right?

  19. Hi Charlotte- long time reader here. I’m sorry you are feeling so down & discouraged, I do understand the feeling: I have been on/off anti-depressants & birth control many times and each times it screws me up. Maybe i’m being over sensitive but unless you really think you might have a brain tumor, please don’t make comments like that. My 30 yr old husband was just diagnosed with a brain tumor last November and there is nothing funny about it. I know you were being sarcastic but just as you wouldn’t call your self retarded as to not offend those with intellectual disabilities, please think before you make such comments about any illness/disease.

    • That’s awful. Hope your husband’s doing ok. My partner and I have been through his cancer several years ago, and just had a recent scare, though it turned out clear, thankfully. *hugs*

  20. Just letting you know I’ll be pinning this on pinterest!

  21. Well written Thanks for sharing these article..Hope more people can help you…

  22. F$%^ing insurance company.

    I think you should talk with your doctor again, as one of the other comments suggested–
    don’t give up the fight yet!

    I am so sorry you have to deal with this–
    honestly, it’s ridiculous!

    Praying for your sanity and serenity, Char.

  23. It’s barbaric: you have medication that you NEED, that WORKS, and they take it away from you?!?!?!

    I spoke with my doctor the other day about antidepressants, and he suggested I up my intake of Vitamin D for a month and see if it makes a difference. Maybe that’s something you could ask your doctor about?

  24. in DBT there’s this module called PLEASE MASTER… it stands for several things that you’re supposed to work on… including balanced eating, sleeping, and exercise… I find that when I make a conscious effort to focus on those things and incorporate a bit of bikram yoga into my life each day that I feel mentally sharper.

    When I don’t eat well, I don’t sleep as well. When I exercise too much it messes with those things as well… and I find my ability to function optimally (especially cognitively) suffers.

    My therapist and I were actually discussing this Friday… how I sometimes wind up having difficulties with simple things when I’m not taking care of myself… How it left a girl who used to be know as a human calculator unable to count the cash properly at work

  25. Thank your for the link to lumosity.com. That I will certainly check out 🙂

  26. We wouldn’t be your faithful followers if we weren’t just like you! I didn’t even know there were drugs that would help me so much, I wouldn’t need all the coping strategies you just found out about! I’m sorry, but one can cope. I teach special Ed. So I look somewhat normal! And I know what my peeps are going through. It all feels normal to me! Love you and I feel you!

  27. I love you the way you are Charlotte but this is your life & I understand your need to feel better. I hope you find things that will work for you!!!! Me, got nothing. My brain resembles your pic & I accept it! 😉 Np, I don’t have ADHD or anything but I have never been the most organized person… 😉

    HUGS!

  28. I know a lot of people have disorganized mind and sometimes, I even have it…But as I read the post here, I really am more familiar with it now and about how to cure it…

  29. I am going to copy #3 for my daughter who was recently diagnosed with ADhD (inattentive isn’t that nice?) and maybe even for me. Poor kid struggles so much with organization..and focus..and tests and math and science! Thanks you always manage to post things that are timely to my life! Hugs to you and I hope that things get better real soon!

  30. You’re in my prayers…

    I use a ‘moving meditation’ like walking to get my thoughts/ideas to settle and record those thoughts on my phone so when I get back I can jot them down in a journal and/or fill out the calendar. Sleep does help too. Take care

  31. Oh Charlotte, HUGS! Sit down (take the laptop off the wall desk and find a chair) and get a cup of tea.
    We all want to help and are responding to your request for practical assistance, but I know that when I’m totally unwound I can’t absorb the suggestions and I just need a cocoon. I hope that the support you’re seeing here gives you a little of that, as we can’t take up a casserole delivery rotation for you.
    You’ve said you have a cupboard full of supplements and vitamins – do you have high-dose vitamin D drops? I agree with whoever said those might help. The hair loss is significant – a canary in the coal mine. In my case it seems to be related to stress, thus yeast overgrowth, connected to diet. Paleo keeps it under control (I “met” you on an MDA comment string). I know that a diet overhaul is NOT HAPPENING right now, but could you reduce sugar? Try replacing candies with coconut oil/cacao/honey (& optional cinnamon) bonbons (or frozen coconut treats, as above). Chris Kresser did an article on B12 deficiency, saying its symptoms often mimic “aging” and so go undiagnosed. As someone else said, a naturopath could meet withyou and set up a plan; that shouldn’t cost the Earth. You could check if your MD has an ND s/he often collaborates with – ask the secretary.
    But back to the tea – do you need a refill? Can we check that your phone alarm is something cheerful and not harassing? What needs to get done today that we can help you with? Can someone at your church or in your neighbourhood be delegated a fixed task for a few weeks that would make doing the things only you can do easier? Let’s phone them now. From that comfy chair.
    (There’s a B12 summary and 3-ingredient fudge recipe on my blog if you need them.)

  32. I just read a great book called “Organize your Mind, Organize your Life” by Paul Hammerness and my own teacher Margaret Moore. I think you will really like it! When I saw the title of this blog, I thought maybe it was a review of the book 🙂

  33. The meditation may yield surprising results. I just finished the book Mindsight, about how you can grow and unite different parts of your brain, and meditation / practicing mindfulness is a big part of how it’s done. It seems like a helpful starting point for any mind problem. Good luck!

  34. We live in the age of too much information (and too many things to do). When I asked my son’s violin teacher yesterday why she had cancelled an upcoming lesson in April, she reminded me that he would be on a school band trip that week–I, his sleep-deprived, overworked mother, had forgotten about it completely. Very sad. Cut yourself some slack–don’t beat yourself up. Get more sleep. Take more vitamin D (I’ve decided that this is the “magic bullet” vitamin–I take massive doses whenever a feel a cold coming on and I haven’t been sick in almost 3 years). Also, make sure you have fun–I recently realized that even though I (mostly) like my job and my workouts, I don’t do anything just for fun. I spent last Sunday afternoon in a craft class (needle felting) and felt amazing when I went home.

  35. Never needed help for a disorganized mind until the last few years. Scary in some ways for someone so organized to become a little scatter-brained, but I guess its all part of the “growing up” process.

  36. <3

  37. Just wanted to say that I’ve had a psychiatrist write “brand name medically necessary” on my prescriptions before and my insurance company had to honor it. I didn’t read all the comments to see if it was already suggested, and you may have already gone that route, but I still thought I’d pass it along just in case you hadn’t heard of this. <3

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  39. Ugh – mine will manifest when I’m super stressed and/or got too much going on by spacing in the middle of a conversation or just babbling. Embarassing for anyone, but TERRIFYING for a manager who on a weekly basis has to get up in front of almost 200 people and speak on microphone at a weekly meeting, and lead and guide another 30 minute one with 50 people. And lately, I’m exhausted and frazzled on those meeting days.

    My best suggestions is take a LOT of notes and set calendar reminders. Also, breathe in, breathe out, and focus on one thing at a time. The task at hand. Get enough sleep and r and r (I’m running on fumes right now and I am REALLY relying on my notes and reminders). Exercise clears my head. Also, relax and enjoy the time around your good friends and family who don’t care if you are a goldfish brain and love you anyway.

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  41. What a great articles, thinking about thus is pretty awesome…

  42. Charlotte!!! Get that evil Mirena out of your body!!! My hair stopped falling out immediately. I’ve lost 5 inches off my stomach in a freaking month. My mood and energy are night and day. People who suffer with depression should not have that thing in. Figure anything else out! I’m sorry things are so hard right now. I’m sending very positive thoughts.

  43. I don’t have any answers, but remember, you had a baby not long ago. If nothing else, hormones do a number on you.You may be overtraining with the amount of exercise you do. Stress will make you crazy. I can’t tell you how to slow down, but if you can find a way to relax and stop going a million miles an hour, you might find you are less depressed and you have greater concentration. Age will help too. I find the older I get the more stable I am. I don’t think anything I said is particularly helpful, but know that others have been there, and it does get better.

  44. Hey, is the antidepressant Lexapro? My insurance stopped paying for it, and it was awful, and I jumped through a million hoops and they still refused.

    BUT! Lexapro just went generic, and now I can get it for a $12 copay a month.

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  46. I can completely relate- SISTER!
    The whole trying to appear normal exhausting ordeal. then beating yourself up for not getting it right. The getting lost, I’d never make it home without the gps.
    I love “getting organized” as advise. Is “get skinny” the advise to an obese person? “get smart” to a dumb one?
    We just have to keep trying,right?

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  48. I think you have to find ways to compensate and then look around at all the people in misery and realize that this gift is awesome. I’ve heard people describe me in 2 different ways,
    type A personalities;
    -scatter-brained, unorganized, off in the clouds, random, they never know what I’m going to do next

    Ppl who are somewhat depressed, or lost, or not feeling good about themselves;
    -Carefree, invigorating, fun, spontaneous, youthful, free.

    Either way I think sometimes those sets of people can be jealous of a lot of the ADHD qualities. Ignore them and be you, if they do not like ur qualities find ppl who do. Maybe have a chat w/these friends and say I wish and struggle w/the things that come so easy to you. I’m sure u have ppl in ur life who get it and are compassionate
    -We do not always care where we are going we are here or there and free

    There are a few dif personality types of ppl w/ADHD. Mine wasn’t diagnosed until I brought my son to a specialist and he had asked how I handle and cope w/my extreme ADHD.
    I’m off in the clouds, scattered, creative, can be obsessive, always have creative projects going on, disorganized, have to write everything down(like u I can write it down in the morning and forget by the afternoon), excessive amt of energy, my brain has to be stimulated and I have to be into something whether it’s a project or research etc., easily taken advantage of, see everyone as being kind and good, can over share, extremely sensitive/compassionate/sympathetic, kind, charismatic

    The real difference and why I think I was never diagnosed was bc I always tested well, got a perfect and an award/scholarship on our state test while walking up in front of my grade the 400 students were gasping and in total confusion and shock as to how that was even possible. I really could never do the homework and was completely unorganized and off in the clouds.
    Use everything u have to get ahead and figure out what makes ppl tick. I always used the charismatic part of my personality to get extensions on papers, hw, etc. Others can see what is hard for u and u don’t have to say it. I always used the off in the clouds, compassionate, kind qualities I have to compensate for my faults. Then I use my strengths to do well and fully get ahead.

    I try to be organized but usually at some point it falls apart and I have to start all over again. Find a person who is willing to help remind u of deadlines, obligations, where u have to be and when, and have them send u a text.

    I have 3 boy 9,7, and 6 so I have the principle teachers etc. specifically email me the week and day of certain events bc they know I want to go and would forget w/o. I don’t hide who I am and tell them I have extreme ADHD and if they could help me I would appreciate it.

    You should never change who you are or apologize for being you. Most ppl have no clue who they r or how they come off, at least you do. Take every strength you have and use it to the extreme. Take every weakness you have and find and use every angle you can to strengthen this part of you.

    Sorry this was so long it came up on google and I just dealt w/this exact circumstance 2days ago w/2 ppl describing me in 2 different ways

  49. Great article and very helpful. I am a 48 yr old man and found this article when I typed “I am so disorganized and I hate myself for it” into Google. It is just nice to hear someone else say they have the same problem. It is really hard to talk to those in my life about it because I have created a full time persona everyone knows as hard working (which I am) and together (which i am so not). Thanks to yoiu and all the previous commenters.

  50. I used to put my canned goods in alpha order. No more, I now live in a tiny apartment and completely disorganized. I also don’t have the physical ability to get everything done. I do suffer from PTSD but I try to cope and do organize things, but can’t. It seems as if I am going around in a circle. While I could invite people over before, I don’t dare now because I would feel ashamed. I really am trying but seems like it doesn’t show.

  51. ive been looking for the answer for a while now. i started a college course as i failed most of my gcses. im not dyslexic or dispraxic or have add or adhd. my mind has been incredibly disorganised since i was a child, my mum even took me to get tested.
    my mind was (and still is fairly) that i could read books well above my level one day then the next i could hardly read at all. does this sound familiar?

  52. Girl this was awesome may be i got a gold fish mind but i got a lot on..i have no clue on how to organize this mind of mine im scared cause i have no Idea how to. Its hard…im sad and confused i have parents that just look at me like a troublesome person. I miss my son that i can’t see because his mom..long story short i feel alone and in a box of broken glass with dead rose thorns. What is next. Im broken

  53. Thank you! You nailed it what a blessing you have shared your experience. While i think my goldfish brain is a milder case, my doctor dx’d me with “disorganized brain”. I’ve been feeling the need to meditate and set a regular schedule with a big calendar-maybe on a poster. Since i live alone, i can post reminders anywhere i like and plan to start TODAY. Thanks again!