I ask this because i get all these good ideas...like daily scalp massage, scalp oilings, adding cayenne to my hair treatments or just to my conditioner, supplements, i could go on, but then i just seem to get distracted and forget to keep them up so i never see if i get any real benefits. Except oiling my hair, that i do remember, but only because i NEED to oil to stop my hair tangling so much and to make it look better.
Now i know that having ADHD makes this a particular issue for me, but i'm wondering if anybody else is like this? Full of good intentions, but they just never run the course, so to speak.

I've wanted to do scalp massages daily for at least the past 3 months or so...and I never do it haha. It's one of those things where you think, "I'd like to start this" but never get around to it.

My house is full of good intentions: a cabinet full of vitamins that I forget to take, half-finished crafts, materials for a home business that never got off the ground, kitchen walls that were partially painted three years ago, bedroom drapes that have been in the box for four years....

And I'm expected to do fancy things to my hair????

I did at least put the bottles of MSM and biotin in the middle of the dining table, therefore they are sitting in front of me when I sit down for meals, so I DO manage to take them, occasionally.

Not that has to do with hair. I have my hair routines.. I donīt do funky stuff with my hair. With other things in life I do get some good intentions that I sometimes forget.

Story of my life Chloe!

Well at least it's not just me...i just get SO frustrated with myself! Especially as my hair is just a stringy, broken, fried mess these days!
Heigh ho, i must try to be optimistic that one day i'll get there!

For people who know about Meyer's Brigg's Personality types, I'm an ENFP. We're classic for not finishing what we start (my hair journal for instance). I too have many bottes of un-taken vitamins and many unfinished craft projects. My problem isn't so much in forgetting, it's in remembering and then accidentally finding something distracting to do instead of doing what I remembered. It sounds stupid, I know. :silly:

My husband has finally learned to not nag me about my personal projects if I don't finish them. If I'm having more fun starting a second painting than I was finishing the first, then that's my issue. However, I do need gentle reminding about half painted walls. (Meaning in need of a second coat, not blatantly half painted)

If anyone comes up with a cure, let me know. And no, the answer is not in making lists. If I were to empty my purse right now, I could pull out no less than 5 unfinished lists. (Not only are the lists unfinished, but the items on the lists as well)

Anyway, to all of my ENFP/ADHD brethren, don't worry too much about the small stuff. No one will say on their death bed "If only I had put a second coat of paint on the kitchen wall" (Except possibly my husband :crazyq: )

I did that with OCM. I never used to wash my face with anything but water and the occasional oil-free wash if I was extra greasy. OCM felt really nice, and I remember thinking, "Hey! I could do this every day before my shower!" Umm, yeah. It didn't happen. I do it maybe once a week. Plain water is my standby.

ChloeDarma, that's my entire life, good intentions, good ideas, never carried out. You are not alone.

*raises hand*
Yup, another one over here. I get a bright idea, start it then something else distracts me and I forg...

...Where was I? Oh yes. Maintaining concentration on my well intended plan is...

...Hard.

and to think I was the only one afflicted with this problem. I now refer to it as my "shiny syndrome." You know . . . when you are doing something and something catches your eye and you're like, "Ooooo . . . shiny!" That probably made no sense to anyone, but me, but that's how I explain it.

BTW, I have a bottle of jojoba oil that I bought two months ago that I used diligently for a full straight week that has since been untouched since the 7th treatment. Your post has inspired me to start oiling again . . . I remember by tonight, that is. :-D

Maybe an idea for us is to try to make 1 thing a habit...like i have with light oilings when i go in the bathroom.
Tambalina, i totally get the "ooh, shiny!" thing!!! That's me, i walk out to go to the kitchen to make a cup of tea, then maybe see my dogs water bowl needs changeing, then notice something on the side that would be better in a certain cupboard...the same thing i brought 4 weeks ago but has sat there after i unpacked my shopping because i never got around to putting it away, so i do that, then wander around not knowing what i'm doing, so i go sit back down, roll a ciggie, then look for my cup of tea...which i forgot to make. So i go make one, fill the kettle, put sugar etc in a cup, then i start playing with my dog while i wait for the kettle to boil, then i decide its a good idea to brush her. Which reminds me, my hairs feeling a bit tangly, so off i trott to the bathroom, combing then brushing, then trying to decide how to wear it, braid, piggybraids, bun...eventually i decide. Then i go sit down...still no friggin cuppa!!!
And that's kinda how my life is!!! lol

Yep.. this all sounds like me too!! But I have to say as far as my hair goes the thing that keeps me motivated to stay with the routine is that I imagine in my mind how I want my hair too look in five years from now.. ( my hair is quite short at the mo..) and that sort of keeps me on track with what I started. Everything else though I have to say has fallen off the wagon ... maybe I should apply the same technique for those things too! ...

LOL!! CD, I'm the same way. I'll always intend to do something, then get sidetracked with about a million other things. I can only manage to take my vitamins if I have them out on top of the microwave, I can only use my spritzes and oils if I have them out glaring at me. Sometimes I'll make lists of things I have to do, because I'm just that easily distracted/forgetful.

Oh don't talk to me about lists!!! I have a notepads EVERYWHERE!! I make a list of stuff i have to do, things i need to buy, food shopping etc, then.....yep, you guessed it, i forget to take it with me! Or, if i do take it with me i get so distracted when i'm out that i forget i made a list and don't even look at it!
OMG how useless am i!!! lol Mind you, it makes my friends laugh!

Ooh, I'm rather anal about the lists, I've got little notebooks for specific lists - hair care, art supplies and ideas for pieces, assignments I need to do for school, the lists go on and on! I'll sometimes have to tack them up to my wall to remember to look at them too. The worst is when I have a really good idea or remember that I need to do/buy something when I'm drifting off to sleep, but I'm too tired to write it down and forget in the morning. That happens to me alot. :cry:

Here's another one. I don't have ADD or ADHD to excuse it though. Laziness, bad memory, etc. are my problems. I just can't keep up with everything, so my hair gets ignored. We're beyond "benign neglect" here, too. Poor hair!

Thanks for this thread. It's reminded me of what my hair needs, and not to make my hair a third or fourth priority. It should be at the top!

BorknagElf i wish i was that organised! I actually did try recently, i got a load of different coloured notebooks. 1 for ideas to search once i got back online, 1 for hair ideas, 1 for food shopping and so on...but i've lost all but 1 of them! I get that thing with needing to write an idea down straight away too.

Zule, i do that an awful lot, especially the more unhappy with my hair i get....well, i'm glad i was of help to you! :)

I'm the same. By the time I remember things, it's too late. Or I'll remember that I was going to do something, and then forget half a second later. OR I'll remember and just not feel like doing them. Weekly treatments, massages, etc have fallen by the wayside, and I only do them every so often. I do keep up with some hair-related stuff though. Mostly because it's a distraction from the things I should be doing. Like, instead of writing, I'll do a S&D. :rolleyes:

I hope I get better at this whole "finishing" thing.

Well Lux, if you do, would you let me in on your secret?!!! ;)

Hi!

I just wanted to be part of the group. :) I'm so glad it's not just me that goes through this.

Does anyone know of any mental exercises to help us with this?

I love the "shiny syndrome" analogy!

This was sure fun to read. I, too, suffer from Shiny Syndrome. It's not necessarily that I'm that easily distracted. But isn't it easy to find other things to do?

Two little thing that sometimes help:

Force myself to tackle the task immediately, and time how long it takes. That's when I realized that a thank you letter can be ready for the letter carrier in 15 minutes, assuming that I have the stationary and stamp, for example. It helped me whittle away at some things.

When it's something that looms large as a major task, set a time limit of say, 15 minutes or a half hour of honest uninterrupted effort. Sometimes, at the end of that time, I keep plugging away, but if not, I quit with a clear conscience, having completed my personal bargain.

But ultimately, I wouldn't change the way I am. I get to be distracted by interesting things daily. The important things get taken care of on time, and when I'm on my deathbed. I doubt I'll be wishing I had really organized that kitchen drawer better.

This is me all over! The only way I can follow through with any good intentions at all is to force them into habits. Eg my vitamins are on the shelf in the kitchen right above my kettle. I take them when I'm waiting for the kettle to boil to make my coffee. It's the only way it works.

The rest of my time is spent feeling guilty about all the stuff I "meant to do" - practicing my saxophone/clarinet, all those books I want to read, things I said I would do for other people, studying - the list goes on! I think my first step should be to force myself to "mean to do" less and admit that I'm just lazy.

This is me to a tee and one of the main reasons I love my WO / NW routine. It is plain and simple and there is nothing to forget.

In the rest of my life this is why I love FlyLady. I have a morning and evening routine written down and I tick it off as I do it. This helps me from getting distracted and things get done.

and to think I was the only one afflicted with this problem. I now refer to it as my "shiny syndrome." You know . . . when you are doing something and something catches your eye and you're like, "Ooooo . . . shiny!" That probably made no sense to anyone, but me, but that's how I explain it.
:-D

I COMPLETELY get that. Believe me you're not alone. Just yesterday I was looking at a bottle of vitamins, almost full, that expired over a year and a half ago. It feels like I just bought them, too.:brickwall

I always think I'm going to change, but I never do. I do improve on some things; slowly but surely I can adopt new routines, but not too many at once, please:grin:

I too am a list-maker. It's pretty sad that sometimes I make lists for fun, because it makes my life/plans/ideas/goals look so pretty on paper. Usually, though, I forget, or the daily schedule I've fallen into doesn't match up with the daily schedule I dream of, so the little plans fall by the wayside. I'm getting better at some things, though...I think it helps me to just pick one thing and do it determinedly for 2 days, and then another 2 days, and then come to find out I've done it a week, and then it's easier to keep doing it the next week. This goes for my hair, my skin, my eating habits, and of course, working out. My plans look pretty on paper, but in practice my life just never turns out so neatly arranged. :-)

Like today I started a list of potential treatments for my frustrating hair, but I caught myself before I got too carried away, and thought "Come on, now, you know this list is going to get put on the stack with all the others, and you won't do any of it!" So no list this time...just one thing: coconut milk conditioning treatment. That seems like a feasible goal for me to achieve once this week.

Yep - this is me. I keep forgetting to take my vitamins and flax seed oil. I keep meaning to try out all these lovely hair style ideas i get on here and then just forget and stick it back in a ponytail.

Oh i get the hairstyle thing! I keep meaning to practice on myself then just cant be bothered, so i stick to a ponytail, single braid, piggy braids, or bun held with a scrunchie.

Shiny Syndrome :) I like it!

Lists are great...if you can use them. If you can't, then maybe make the most of your innate ability: noticing things? Instead of tying a string around your finger, and then forgetting what the string is for (anybody ever sympathise with Neville and the Remembrall?), put a tangible reminder of a thing to do in a place where you can't miss it. Put the dog leash by the door to remember to take the dog for a walk. Put the oil bottle on the back of the toilet where it falls off every time you sit down and reminds you to oil your hair (okay, that one may annoy DH, but you get the idea).

Also, you can try making physical routines for yourself. Example: when I get up in the morning, I go to the bathroom, then have tea and a very simple breakfast. I take my morning meds with my tea (they're in plain sight in the kitchen where I or DH makes tea). Later on in the day, if I can't remember whether I've had my meds, I check my teacup. An even simpler way is to line things up on your bathroom counter from left to right: pre-wash treatment, wash, condition, leave-in, comb, spritzer. Then if you go to grab the wash and jump in the shower, you'll notice that you're not starting at the right place in line. Since you're good at noticing things in the world around you, use that to help you get done what you want, making it a strength instead of a weakness :) Then you'll find that your routine is done, and you didn't even notice it, because you were thinking about how you could do your hair that day or whatever... :)

HTH!
Cheers,
RK

Hmmm, I think I....do....this....Oh, look, a butterfly!

;)

Seriously, I really am terrible for this sort of thing, and very forgetful too. I figure that scalp massages will make my hair greasy quicker to decided to only do it on washdays. How many times have a I managed it? Well, think of a number, devide it by itself, subtract on, there you have it.

Good intentions and plans I don't get around to doing are the story of my life. You're definitely not alone!

Oh that is most certainly me! You should just take a poke in my journal to get a glimpse of it. Plenty of posts about growing my own herbs, different recipes to try, promises to post hair pictures etc. etc. and have any of them ever been done, no sirree! :rolleyes: Ah weel, one of these days I will get around to at least one of them and then feel accomplished! :lol:
Hermit

Well, you are not at all alone. I plan sooo many things. Brimming with good intentions. But the next day, i forget even what i had planned,LOL:rolleyes: !!
And guess what? Its a month since i did something really god for my hair.
I had been puttting off my henna session since 3 months and finally Alley Cat's siggy pic made me go and henna my hiar. Such a lazy, bored and slumpy person i am.
I feel so guilty many times.
Naj

I get so many great intentions, and don't follow through because they aren't already part of my routine. I'm too nervous to actually change my routines, no matter how much I mean to try it.

I like calling it Shiny Syndrome, though. I have that too, although not for hair stuff.