Do you think in spirals rather than linerally like your friends?
Think of 20 things at once rather than one thing at a time ?
Do you have to do 431 things first before you get that one task you really need done, but you get more done in the long run just like everyone else?
Welcome to the Jackson Pollock/Picasso Brain
I've always been old school and have written things down.
For me it takes two seconds to write something in a day planner and 10 minutes to data entry it into icalendar. For me in the past year one of the toughest things I had to come to terms with is that my brain is wired differently than many others.
I can't process information like others and I need a system of my own to get stuff done. For anyone else who feels this way I have a couple of tips:
1. It's ok to be different.
I think as a society we pigeon hole ourselves to think in a certain manner because it's socially acceptable. We put ourselves down when we can't conform to the norm. There is this story about the glass jar that I've always tried to accomplish. The story goes like this: if given a glass jar how would you fill it if you were given: Rocks, pebbles, sand and water. The correct way is the rocks first, then the pebbles, sand and water. The jar represents time, you get the big and most important tasks done first thing in the morning and then you complete the rest in chronologically order -- thus spending time wisely.
I need my morning coffee before I wash my face, it's my system or I don't function -- and I've learned that's ok. I walk downstairs with a bedhead mohawk -- scare whoever is in the kitchen -- drink my happy juice and then get ready for my day.
I can't be June Cleaver and I'm ok with this.
2. Know yourself.
This ties in with numero uno. I truly believe that confidence comes in knowing who you are. For me there was a great deal of shame when I came to terms that I couldn't think like a "normal" person. Over the last 10 months I've questioned, "What's normal? Who's to say how I think is normal or not normal for a lot of people?" Maybe using a pencil is a loss art -- maybe there is a secret society of 2HB pencil users hiding out in the basement of Curry's coloring adult coloring books? I thinking knowing who you are as a person and human being is important.
3. Being proud.
I think one of the most difficult things with having a Jackson Pollock/Picasso Brain is being proud that you have one. I'm still working on this. Pollock people are highly adaptable. But I often find myself around people who have Caravaggio Baroque Brains who can schedule the precise moment to over-easy their eggs to make a yolk free success. I DO SO WISH I thought like them. It'd be an easier life for me. Over-easy doesn't work? Hello omelette.
We need to celebrate our differences. If you are one-na those who have to listen to Yanni while doing the dishes in order to figure out how to market a niche for winter fresh sea breeze laundry detergent -- Well -- Yanni it up!