As hard as some of us try, procrastination seems to be that old acquaintance that just kind of hangs around, waiting on that perfect time to make his presence known…usually in the most inopportune way possible.
You know the kind of person I am talking about. You see him at Walmart and immediately hit the next aisle over to avoid any eye contact, only to physically bump into him as you are looking towards where you came from. Procrastination is just like that.
I tell myself that I will not put anything off, only to be scrambling at the last minute, again. This may have as much to do with my ADD as anything, but it does come with what I refer to as somewhat of a “superpower.” The superpower I am referring to is called hyperfocus and it is definitely something you regular-minded people should be envious of. I am not condoning envy in any way, but if I did, you should.
Hyperfocus allows the individual experiencing it to do a great deal of things in a short amount of time. It is a pretty awesome ability and I would probably be wealthy beyond my means if I could ever learn to harness it. It allows the person experiencing it to focus on whatever the current task at hand is in a way that cannot be understood by regular minded people. He just digs in and gets it done and can absolutely tune any and everything else out.
He can do great amounts of work in a short period of time that usually leaves folks dumbfounded because just five minutes ago there was no house and now, there it now stands, 4,000 square feet of two-story domicile. Of course, I jest, but when hyperfocus kicks in, nothing can stop it. The clarity it brings is astonishing and I wonder if I really suffer from ADD at all during those times, thinking I can just pull this ability out of my pocket at any time. Then reality sets in and I realize that most of my days are spent under very little pressure and in my job, the pressure is just multiplied with a lot of last-minute info coming in just before our paper printing deadline.
This kicks it into overdrive and I just basically wash and repeat. This ability has served me well in my past career in law enforcement and my sporting days. You see, ADD allows me to focus on many things at once…which is not necessarily a good thing when I am conversing with my beautiful wife, but an absolute gift when dealing with crowds or a great deal of information in a short amount of time.
I could focus on different situations and see many different scenarios that could possibly unfold in just one quick process and this was especially helpful in crowd situations. I also remember back during my athletic days when I longed to be the one in a pressure situation. I wanted to be the one at bat with the game on the line with two outs and the tying run at third and the winning run at second.
The ability to hyperfocus, which was an unknown ability during that time, was something I just could not get enough of. The adrenaline rush was something that I craved and I reckon that was a big reason I got into law enforcement after college and my playing days were over. As I have gotten older, I wish I could just rip my adrenal glands out and just lay on the porch. Just like that old dog that looks up and stares out at whatever odd sound he heard thinking he should chase it or bark at it but decides otherwise. He is doing just fine laying there waiting for supper.
You regular-minded folks out there may not understand what I am talking about in this column but for the ones that do, I feel your pain but I feel your last-minute victories too. So if you see me and don’t speak and go on about your merry way, I probably did see you…remember that. I just cannot unsee something or someone, which is another blessing (curse) from this “supernatural” ability. I often tell my wife that my mind is not wandering, it is just exploring, and that is not such a bad thing, at least on my end of things. Parents, ADD is not necessarily a curse if you put it into perspective and give that child the proper outlet to let his or her own light shine. If given the chance, they may leave you in awe.
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Stan Beall is the sports editor at The Star-Herald. He can be reached at sbeall@starherald.net.
