One of my first attempted actions of the day is grinding coffee beans and making a pot. Over the years I have had several ADHD-type mishaps related to this activity- some of which may sound familiar to you:
- putting the ground coffee in the filter, turning it on, returning to find that you’ve forgotten to place the coffee pot in the coffee maker. MESS
- filling machine with water, making a pot- of hot water- oops- forgot coffee
- pouring ground coffee into the coffee grinder- Not as messy, but still forehead-slap-inducing
- forgetting to pour in the water- no mess, but also no coffee
Ok, granted, today started out differently with a county sheriff police woman dashing through our house at 6:30 A.M. (more on that later), but I once again pulled my best ADHD coffee-making trick. This is a real time-saver. There’s a ledge around the kitchen counter, wide enough for our Brita filtered water dispenser w/spout, and the right height to put a water pitcher under if I spin the dispenser 90 degrees.
So here’s the trick- you flick the water spout lever so it’s locked in “on” position, then go grind the coffee, and when the coffee is ground, you turn around, and voila, the right amount of water is in the pitcher. Perfectly synchronous. If I turn off the spout. If I don’t get distracted between when I turn on the grinder, and when water overflows on to the counter, into the kitchen drawers, and onto the floor. Which I don’t notice ishappening until Bobbi my girlfriend walks in and calmly says “Jesus, Tommy”, and grabs a towel. I go downstairs and grab a jumbo bath towel, since it’s something like a gallon or so spillage.
I am only upset with myself for a brief second, and then join Bobbi in cleaning up the spill (I do however feel a bit of California drought guilt. "The blinds are open- will a neighbor turn me in to the water police? Should we squeeze water from the towels into a bucket to water our drought intolerant plants?") I’ve used this coffee-water technique perhaps 10 times, and I’ve only caused a major spill three times. That’s a .700 average. Twice as good as Babe Ruth! Despite the stat, I am rethinking the process.
Neither one of us got upset. Bobbi said what she said with a sigh, I mentally slapped my forehead and proceeded to dash downstairs for a towel. I didn’t get lost in a negative zone, cursing my stupidity, going down the ADHD rabbit hole. We just moved on. This is a major improvement. And another positive outcome- all the drawers under that counter and now clean inside and out.
Damn multi-tasking- great concept, thanks. I try to do 2 things and screw both up. I am sticking to uni-tasking. Do the one thing I’m doing, then do the next thing. I hear Bill Murray cheering me on- “BE the water pitcher, Tom”. Be present for the the task at hand, then be present for the next one in the sequence, and know the tasks and sequence. That works, and helps me avoid things I should never do, for example “Never start cooking something on the stove and then dash off for a quick email check, UNLESS you have a very loud alarm or like the smell of charred food”.
As to the police woman running through our house at 6:30 A.M.? Bobbi had to call the Sheriff on our neighbors who sounded like they were somewhere in the before, during, or after stage of dismembering each other (at 6:30 A.M.?), and she had to point out the scene of the alleged crime. Maybe the neighbors ran out of coffee…The policewoman, however, appeared to have a serious java/donut buzz going. At least I THINK that was powdered sugar on her upper lip…
- putting the ground coffee in the filter, turning it on, returning to find that you’ve forgotten to place the coffee pot in the coffee maker. MESS
- filling machine with water, making a pot- of hot water- oops- forgot coffee
- pouring ground coffee into the coffee grinder- Not as messy, but still forehead-slap-inducing
- forgetting to pour in the water- no mess, but also no coffee
Ok, granted, today started out differently with a county sheriff police woman dashing through our house at 6:30 A.M. (more on that later), but I once again pulled my best ADHD coffee-making trick. This is a real time-saver. There’s a ledge around the kitchen counter, wide enough for our Brita filtered water dispenser w/spout, and the right height to put a water pitcher under if I spin the dispenser 90 degrees.
So here’s the trick- you flick the water spout lever so it’s locked in “on” position, then go grind the coffee, and when the coffee is ground, you turn around, and voila, the right amount of water is in the pitcher. Perfectly synchronous. If I turn off the spout. If I don’t get distracted between when I turn on the grinder, and when water overflows on to the counter, into the kitchen drawers, and onto the floor. Which I don’t notice ishappening until Bobbi my girlfriend walks in and calmly says “Jesus, Tommy”, and grabs a towel. I go downstairs and grab a jumbo bath towel, since it’s something like a gallon or so spillage.
I am only upset with myself for a brief second, and then join Bobbi in cleaning up the spill (I do however feel a bit of California drought guilt. "The blinds are open- will a neighbor turn me in to the water police? Should we squeeze water from the towels into a bucket to water our drought intolerant plants?") I’ve used this coffee-water technique perhaps 10 times, and I’ve only caused a major spill three times. That’s a .700 average. Twice as good as Babe Ruth! Despite the stat, I am rethinking the process.
Neither one of us got upset. Bobbi said what she said with a sigh, I mentally slapped my forehead and proceeded to dash downstairs for a towel. I didn’t get lost in a negative zone, cursing my stupidity, going down the ADHD rabbit hole. We just moved on. This is a major improvement. And another positive outcome- all the drawers under that counter and now clean inside and out.
Damn multi-tasking- great concept, thanks. I try to do 2 things and screw both up. I am sticking to uni-tasking. Do the one thing I’m doing, then do the next thing. I hear Bill Murray cheering me on- “BE the water pitcher, Tom”. Be present for the the task at hand, then be present for the next one in the sequence, and know the tasks and sequence. That works, and helps me avoid things I should never do, for example “Never start cooking something on the stove and then dash off for a quick email check, UNLESS you have a very loud alarm or like the smell of charred food”.
As to the police woman running through our house at 6:30 A.M.? Bobbi had to call the Sheriff on our neighbors who sounded like they were somewhere in the before, during, or after stage of dismembering each other (at 6:30 A.M.?), and she had to point out the scene of the alleged crime. Maybe the neighbors ran out of coffee…The policewoman, however, appeared to have a serious java/donut buzz going. At least I THINK that was powdered sugar on her upper lip…
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