Today, as an ADDer who also coaches and counsels other ADDers, I became aware of difficulties attending to detail on a tedious task. But my problem went far beyond just not paying attention. After procrastinating for several months, I decided that it was time to record all my business expenses for the year. Most of the expenses are on credit cards, thank God!
I took out my checkbook of the year, and diligently recorded every expense. In attending to the detailed account, I became aware that some items did not make sense. For example, why was my office rent lower than I was paying now? I almost called the landlord about this. Or, I remembered giving a particular client a rebate one year ago and not two months ago. I continued with my task so that, despite hurrying through it, it would be completed. However, when certain items and dates didn’t compute, I should have stopped and thought of alternative explanations. But no, I just wanted to get done.
Was there an alternative explanation? Yes, I was using last year’s checkbook and not the current one. I simply had tunnel vision, which must occur on many tedious tasks. As a coach and therapist, working directly with people and their issues is rarely tedious, and if anything, I am hyperfocused in this arena. I feel I can integrate a variety of information and think of alternative hypotheses.
If you are an adult ADDer, does tunnel vision occur on tedious tasks?
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