Surviving a day as me

[azurelunatic]

It was a toss-up whether to use this icon or the St. John's Wort icon, but I went with this one.

My depression bites me in the ass frequently enough, and my base level of distractibility is high enough, that I often require checklists to keep myself either doing normal tasks in a reasonable length of time, or simply just to take basic care of myself like a normal human being. I use Hiveminder for my to-do lists most of the time, and all of these items are set to repeat regularly (most daily, some less frequently based on how things actually are). I mentioned this in IRC and there was interest in actually seeing this, so!

These are three of the lists that I use. Some items appear on more than one list. Some of these things are totally autopilot things, but having them on the list so that I can check them off resolves a good deal of my anxiety about "wait, did I forget to -- !!!" that often accompanies absolutely anything that's out of standard routine, especially something that involves me walking out my door.



Dayfacing:

This list is for the moment I get up.

• ATTITUDE CHECK [dayfacing health] - http://www.moodscope.com/date_checker.php (the concept here is good, but the implementation is flawed enough to give me rageface regularly
• face? [dayfacing grooming launchpad]
• pocket stuff in pocket (lipbalm/pen) [dayfacing launchpad]
• got bags? [dayfacing launchpad]
• Phone need reboot? [dayfacing launchpad]
• got lunch (packed)? [dayfacing health launchpad]
• Are we wearing perfume? [dayfacing grooming self-care] - (BPAL, or perfume of the moment)
• Are we dressed? [dayfacing grooming launchpad self-care]
• teeth [dayfacing grooming health]
• plan dinner? [dayfacing health launchpad]
• Hankies/washcloths? [dayfacing launchpad]
• Are we wearing socks/shoes? [dayfacing launchpad]
• Where are we going? Address/map/foursquare? [dayfacing launchpad]
• deodorant [bedtime dayfacing grooming launchpad]
• sunscreen [dayfacing grooming health]
• rebraid hair [daily dayfacing grooming]
• Turn on fireplace [dayfacing]
• Is mailbox on fire? [dayfacing launchpad]
• Are we wearing enough lip balm? [dayfacing grooming self-care]
• Turn on music [dayfacing self-care]
• Are we signed in to IRC? [dayfacing social]
• bathroom [dayfacing health]
• pills [dayfacing health]
• wash face [dayfacing grooming health launchpad]
• wash glasses [dayfacing launchpad]
• got breakfast? [dayfacing health launchpad]
• water bottle [dayfacing health launchpad]
• Caffeinated? [dayfacing health launchpad]
• Allergy meds? [dayfacing health]

Launchpad:

This list is to make sure that I don't forget anything before leaving somewhere. A number of these items are pretty flexible, because too specific and it doesn't work with a repeating list, and too general and I'll panic.

• pick up my desk [household launchpad]
• Jacket? Purse? Phone/keys/cane? [launchpad]
• book [launchpad]
• Do we need scarf/umbrella/jacket/sunscreen? [launchpad]
• Craft (crocheting? sketch?) [launchpad]
• beverages? [launchpad]
• face? [dayfacing grooming launchpad]
• Do we need to repair our appearance once there? (hairbrush/makeup) [grooming launchpad]
• start dishes? [launchpad]
• hair presentable? [grooming launchpad]
• put away the internet [bedtime launchpad]
• pocket stuff in pocket (lipbalm/pen) [dayfacing launchpad]
• got bags? [dayfacing launchpad]
• Phone need reboot? [dayfacing launchpad]
• got lunch (packed)? [dayfacing health launchpad]
• Are we dressed? [dayfacing grooming launchpad self-care]
• plan dinner? [dayfacing health launchpad]
• Do we need pretty accessories? [launchpad]
• Hankies/washcloths? [dayfacing launchpad]
• Are we wearing socks/shoes? [dayfacing launchpad]
• Where are we going? Address/map/foursquare? [dayfacing launchpad]
• medical kit/zippy in bag [launchpad]
• snack zippy in bag [launchpad]
• makeup zippy in bag [launchpad]
• laptop in bag [launchpad]
• got headset? [launchpad]
• no food left out [bedtime launchpad]
• Got transit fare/card? [launchpad]
• deodorant [bedtime dayfacing grooming launchpad]
• event-specific items packed? [launchpad]
• Is mailbox on fire? [dayfacing launchpad]
• wash face [dayfacing grooming health launchpad]
• wash glasses [dayfacing launchpad]
• got breakfast? [dayfacing health launchpad]
• water bottle [dayfacing health launchpad]
• Caffeinated? [dayfacing health launchpad]
• start laundry [launchpad]

Bedtime:

Some of these things are on multiple lists, and that means that if I get them done before bedtime, great, but if I haven't done them at all, that I need to do them or check that they're done before I actually crash out.

• PCOS haircare [bedtime grooming]
• Charge headset (disconnect first) [bedtime]
• waterbottle [bedtime]
• pajamas [bedtime]
• prep for next morning? [bedtime]
• all dishes off desk [bedtime]
• detangle hair [bedtime grooming]
• put away the internet [bedtime launchpad]
• Have we showered? [bedtime grooming self-care]
• charge emergency solar panel [bedtime]
• We are taking our St. John's Wort regularly, right? [bedtime health]
• no food left out [bedtime launchpad]
• deodorant [bedtime dayfacing grooming launchpad]
• Brush teeth [bedtime]
• bedtime pills [bedtime]
• glasses off [bedtime]

Comments

[musyc]

*nodnodnod* I often operate with several lists as well. There are several things that don't require tickie marks (drink coffee will never be forgotten), but plenty of things that "average" people think wouldn't be required (brush hair - yes, I will go three or four days with the same braid/ponytail if I don't remind myself. It's not a priority most days, especially if I'm not leaving the house.) need to be on my lists.

[azurelunatic]

My hair gets all the knots if I don't brush it twice a day. So while I may be able to wrangle it into a configuration that looks vaguely presentable, if I do not brush it twice a day, it gets the sort of hilariously bad knots that require oil to actually untangle.

[not_a_sniglet]

We hadn't ever thought of lists like this. We need to start making them. I wonder if there is an ap for iDevices somewhere into which one can input checklists of this nature and have the iDevice notify you at certain times for each item. Semester's about to start up, so we have to juggle four classes, on top of everything else we normally have to do, and we're distractible like you are,and sometimes people come up here and forget what exactly we needed to do or get to doing one thing and forget the other things that needed to be done. Poor management skills led to failing last time we took this many classes, and we don't need that again.

So if there're any strategies you know of, please halp? :P Also, depression bites us in the arse on top of it. The depression is the trouble for us, not the multiplicity.

Also, what do you mean, "Is our mailbox on fire?" LOL

[azurelunatic]

I have one iDevice, and that's an iPod Shuffle, so I'm not much help there for specifics, but for stuff at certain times, I use a calendar and repeating events. I have a reminder for bedtime, and my aunt's dog class that I help her with, and basically everything that has to happen at a certain time. I could (and probably should) put in a specific reminder to go through a checklist, especially if putting the whole checklist on the calendar would be too much of a pain.

The "is our mailbox on fire" is a reminder to both check email and also if there is nothing urgent in there, to get on with whatever else needs to be done instead of getting bogged down there.

[geekosaur]

There's any number of to-do lists of various levels of complexity, with reminders, which have support for iThings and Androids: Remember The Milk, Hiveminder (although the iApp is said to be not very good), SpringPad, Appigo To-Do, etc. Poke around a bit ("todo reminders" is a good search phrase), as each of them has a slightly different focus, different user interfaces, etc.

I second that

[valancy]

I tried a whole bunch of these iPhone apps for lists a while back. Most didn't suit my needs. One was just a To Do list that didn't let me categorize things enough, and I remember not being that impressed with Remember the Milk (I was only looking at the free versions), but you can get others that will let you put things in categories, set different alarms to go off. I'm sure there's something way better now than even when I tried all this, which might've been a year ago.

I also use the calendar app on my iPhone and have, like, 7 or 8 different calendars in it - one for Doctors, one for work, one for home, one for family, etc. It alerts me for all kinds of things.

Re: I second that

[azurelunatic]

synecdochic swears by http://hiveminder.com/, which is what I've been using for lists.

[automaticdoor]

I am adapting this. Also, I signed up for Moodscope. I've been trying various methods to track my moods for almost 5 years now and nothing's worked, so I might as well give this a go because it's quite different than anything else I've tried. I like the concept of daily email reminders.

[azurelunatic]

Best luck!

[valancy]

geekosaur sent me here because I was griping that I can't leave the house any more without forgetting something, usually something important like "morning meds" that I can't take for 12 hours. I can't say I totally understand the things in brackets (eg., what's "dayfacing"? are those keywords or categories?), but I may need to adopt something like this. I won't forget to go out of the house without clothes on, for example, but would I be better served if I got my clothes assembled the night before? Probably.

Ever since an especially bad bout of depression and unemployment, I find I don't jump out of bed and eat breakfast and take a shower immediately like I used to, and that if I'm not careful, I'll have gone more than a day without showering which, besides being embarrassing, bothers my fiance on a hygiene level. I'm going to look again at the list-making apps I played with on my phone which will remind me to do certain things and maybe install one to remind me "did you remember your meds?" and like that before I leave the house in the morning.

[azurelunatic]

I exported this from Hiveminder, so the things in brackets are sortable tags that describe what lists the item can be found in. So if I only need to do something once between waking up and leaving (like, say, washing my glasses), I tend to put a single item shared between both lists. The tags are mostly meaningful to me.

I really miss my Handspring Neo, which broke years ago -- its calendar/to-do list was integrated in a way that was amazingly useful to me and that I haven't been able to find exactly right since.

[valancy]

I hear you. The Handspring Visor was my first handheld. I loved those Handsprings. Those were the days...