NeuroPunkNonsense Posted January 1 Report Share Posted January 1 So I'm not a resolution person (semantically speaking) but I spent a little time this morning putting together a short list of goals for the year. I've separated them into three categories: onetime, sometimes, and daily goals. For example, I want to move my entertainment unit and bookshelf (onetime); I also want to have a volunteer job and join a VtM chronicle (sometimes). More to the point of this challenge though are my two daily goals - moving more and brushing/flossing regularly. Goal 1 - Move More This is any type of physical activity lasting 30 minutes or more in duration. Typically it'll be walks just because I find them enjoyable and once I form the habit it's reasonably simple to stick to. (The downside of my ADHD means that habits are tricky to start and maintain. If I skip a single day often the habit is broken instantly and no amount of "discipline" can override my executive function issues. I'll just try to do my best and hope it works out. [An unofficial goal is to stop bullying myself for perceived shortcomings so an attempt at unconditional positive self-regard will also be made].) Goal 2 - Dental Hygiene For some reason this is an aspect of life I really struggle with. I'm lucky that I have decent teeth but I've been experiencing some pain/sensitivity recently so I'm going to attempt to take better, dentist recommended, care of my teeth. Goal is to brush twice daily and floss everyday. I'll be tracking these goals in my bullet journal (which isn't fancy or pretty but is functional). Additionally, to encourage myself to move more I've decided to track the potential benefits of exercise bimonthly. A bunch of the suggested benefits are difficult to track (looking at you "success" and quality of life) but I've picked four measures that I can test and retest. Regular exercise is supposed to help sleep, cardiovascular health, and mental health. I will be using my fitbit to monitor my average hours of sleep and my resting heart rate to cover the first two points. I will also take anxiety and depression screening tests to monitor my mental health. *Note on my mental health: I'm working closely with a psychiatrist so please don't be alarmed if I score high on these measures; it's not new and I am taking steps to resolve the issue* I did my first assessment on December 28th: 2/28 walks 5h35m average sleep 61bpm average RHR 13/21 (moderately severe) anxiety 18/27 (moderately severe) depression Next assessment set for January 11th. 1 Quote Current Challenge Reboots: Sane Cholesterol / Perfectionism Horse / Charity Masquerade Wheel II Wheel Triumphant Present Stumbles Original Challenges: 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Link to comment
Tanktimus the Encourager Posted January 1 Report Share Posted January 1 Following along. Anxiety and depression are not fun, here for support. 1 Quote Current Challenge "By the Most-Righteous-and-Blessed Beard of Sir Tanktimus the Encourager!" - Jarl Rurik Harrgath Link to comment
NeuroPunkNonsense Posted January 1 Author Report Share Posted January 1 40 minutes ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said: Following along. Anxiety and depression are not fun, here for support. Yeah, they suck. It's really common in late diagnosed autism/ADHD though. Decades of masking take a toll. Thank you for the support. 1 Quote Current Challenge Reboots: Sane Cholesterol / Perfectionism Horse / Charity Masquerade Wheel II Wheel Triumphant Present Stumbles Original Challenges: 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted January 1 Report Share Posted January 1 1 hour ago, NeuroPunkNonsense said: (The downside of my ADHD means that habits are tricky to start and maintain. If I skip a single day often the habit is broken instantly and no amount of "discipline" can override my executive function issues. I'll just try to do my best and hope it works out.) I hear you. I'm normally able to roll with this, but I'm temporarily having a challenge where it bothers the snot out of me. 1 Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
NeuroPunkNonsense Posted January 6 Author Report Share Posted January 6 A humble start; yet a start nonetheless. 1 Quote Current Challenge Reboots: Sane Cholesterol / Perfectionism Horse / Charity Masquerade Wheel II Wheel Triumphant Present Stumbles Original Challenges: 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Link to comment
NeuroPunkNonsense Posted January 12 Author Report Share Posted January 12 January 11th assessment: 3/14 walks 6h5m average sleep 59bpm average RHR 12/21 (moderately severe) anxiety 13/27 (moderate) depression Additionally, I brushed my teeth 12/28 times and flossed 2/14 times. Still room for improvement. I might have to look into habit stacking which I know some adhd folks swear by. Or come up with an incentive to do the things I want to. Maybe stickers for my journal? Not sure yet. Next assessment set for January 25th. 1 Quote Current Challenge Reboots: Sane Cholesterol / Perfectionism Horse / Charity Masquerade Wheel II Wheel Triumphant Present Stumbles Original Challenges: 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted January 12 Report Share Posted January 12 This is odd, but an electric toothbrush sometimes helps with getting teeth brushed. It takes all the performance effort out of it. It does the timing. It does most of the work. All you need to do is get the toothpaste on it. 1 Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
NeuroPunkNonsense Posted January 13 Author Report Share Posted January 13 3 hours ago, sarakingdom said: This is odd, but an electric toothbrush sometimes helps with getting teeth brushed. It takes all the performance effort out of it. It does the timing. It does most of the work. All you need to do is get the toothpaste on it. Thank you for the suggestion but I don't think that would work for me. It's not the effort that's the issue - it's the executive function required to start a task. And that's true for most things in my life; whether it's something I dislike such as washing dishes or something I enjoy like driving or something tedious like when I've had homework in the past. Once I start I can follow through with whatever but starting is the issue. So an electric toothbrush would probably get ignored as much as my manual one does lol (I'm definitely going to remember this to suggest to other people though; just because it won't work for me doesn't mean it's not great advice!) Quote Current Challenge Reboots: Sane Cholesterol / Perfectionism Horse / Charity Masquerade Wheel II Wheel Triumphant Present Stumbles Original Challenges: 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted January 13 Report Share Posted January 13 2 minutes ago, NeuroPunkNonsense said: Thank you for the suggestion but I don't think that would work for me. It's not the effort that's the issue - it's the executive function required to start a task. And that's true for most things in my life; whether it's something I dislike such as washing dishes or something I enjoy like driving or something tedious like when I've had homework in the past. Once I start I can follow through with whatever but starting is the issue. So an electric toothbrush would probably get ignored as much as my manual one does lol I understand that, because I have ADHD, too. I found that reduced the mental cost of initiating the task, because there was less task planning I had to keep in mind. 1 Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
NeuroPunkNonsense Posted January 13 Author Report Share Posted January 13 1 hour ago, sarakingdom said: I understand that, because I have ADHD, too. I found that reduced the mental cost of initiating the task, because there was less task planning I had to keep in mind. I'll keep it in mind if habit stacking doesn't work. I'm hesitant to try one though because I'm also autistic and typically sensory avoidant. The thought of something vibrating in my mouth is unpleasant - but perhaps the sensation wouldn't be as bad as I imagine it. I'd just hate to waste the money if it turns out to be something I can't tolerate. 😕 Quote Current Challenge Reboots: Sane Cholesterol / Perfectionism Horse / Charity Masquerade Wheel II Wheel Triumphant Present Stumbles Original Challenges: 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Link to comment
NeuroPunkNonsense Posted January 16 Author Report Share Posted January 16 So far habit stacking a brush and floss with taking my night meds seems to be doing the trick. 1 Quote Current Challenge Reboots: Sane Cholesterol / Perfectionism Horse / Charity Masquerade Wheel II Wheel Triumphant Present Stumbles Original Challenges: 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Link to comment
NeuroPunkNonsense Posted January 26 Author Report Share Posted January 26 January 25th assessment: 6/14 walks 5h47m average sleep 57bpm average RHR 9/21 (moderate) anxiety 18/27 (moderately severe) depression Additionally, I brushed my teeth 17/28 times and flossed 14/14 times. So. Habit stacking seems to be working. I've gone from almost not flossing entirely to doing it every night. Still need to find something to incentivize morning brushing though. Walking/exercise also needs improvement. I did double it from my last check in but it still accounts for less than half the days. (And apparently my area is getting a polar vortex this weekend? I mean I do prefer cold weather to hot weather but I don't particularly enjoy going out in it regardless.) Mental health is fluctuating like usual. More info in the spoiler; cw: death (a lot of it). Spoiler The higher depression doesn't really surprise me - my grandpa died in March last year and it would have been his birthday this month if he hadn't. Three days after mine. Plus that reminded me about my other grandpa who died 12 years ago at the beginning of January. I also found out a university classmate of mine died a week or two before my birthday - we hadn't talked in seven years but I liked her - plus she was close to my age and it was sudden from what I understand. I have no clue if it was an accident or not. And a local who I really liked also died. Cancer I guess. He wasn't young but he was just such a genuinely kind individual. Definitely sad. This whole month I've felt haunted. Not in the 'I see dead people' sense, but in the memories and rumination sense. Next assessment set for February 8th (which is after this challenge is over oops). 1 Quote Current Challenge Reboots: Sane Cholesterol / Perfectionism Horse / Charity Masquerade Wheel II Wheel Triumphant Present Stumbles Original Challenges: 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Link to comment
Tanktimus the Encourager Posted January 26 Report Share Posted January 26 That's a lot of death to deal with. Sorry it's hurting so much. Quote Current Challenge "By the Most-Righteous-and-Blessed Beard of Sir Tanktimus the Encourager!" - Jarl Rurik Harrgath Link to comment
NeuroPunkNonsense Posted January 26 Author Report Share Posted January 26 1 hour ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said: That's a lot of death to deal with. Sorry it's hurting so much. Thank you. Just part of getting older I suppose 😕 Quote Current Challenge Reboots: Sane Cholesterol / Perfectionism Horse / Charity Masquerade Wheel II Wheel Triumphant Present Stumbles Original Challenges: 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Link to comment
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