Read more books without trying

Even though I love reading, I often start books and then lose track of them a few pages in when I get busy with some other task or distraction. It never seems like I have enough time in a day to squeeze in reading.

So instead I squeeze in audiobooks. I borrow them from my library and listen to them while I clean the house, drive to and from places, or while I do other things online.

My library offers audiobooks in four formats: books on cassette tape (these are phasing out since most people do mp3 players now instead of tapes), books on CD, "Playaways" -- a kind of pre-loaded mp3 audiobook about the size of an mp3 player, and electronic audiobooks which I can download through my library website. Not all libraries offer those, but many do.

You can also buy audiobooks at booksellers, or through itunes or other online audio vendors. Audiobooks on CD are expensive, often double the price of a book, but digital audiobooks cost about as much as the print version -- $10-$20.

There are also sites online that offer free audio versions of public domain books read by volunteers. A simple google search will pull up several options, but I've used Librivox.com and like it, especially since it offers several versions of the same works.

The only word of caution I can offer is while most audiobooks are done by excellent readers, some voices may not sit well with you. I chose a book early on in my new hobby that was read by a celebrity reader. The voice was so grating I could not get very far into the story. And with the free services, not all volunteer readers are equal. Try a different story, or start with books read by actors whose voices you know and like.

The nice thing about audiobooks is they can be shared by more than one person at once. A long road trip or just family night can become an event with good memories for everyone.

I'm in a friendly competition this year with two friends to read as many books as we can this year. We have agreed audiobooks count, so I might have a chance.

How to organize just about everything

Read enough books that tell you how to organize things, and they all start to sound alike. 100 pages of photographs later and you've seen the perfect but unobtainable goal, feel even worse about your own clutter and now need chocolate.

Peter Walsh's How to Organize just about Everything (Full title: How to Organize (Just About) Everything: More Than 500 Step-by-Step Instructions for Everything from Organizing Your Closets to Planning a Wedding to Creating a Flawless Filing System) is nothing like those other books.

The cross-referenced lists give you step-by-step instructions for closet cleaning, weekly home maintenance, how to keep your car clean, or open a restaurant, or find Mr. or Mrs. Right. There are no pictures, no expectations to meet, just lots of simple, clear lists.

Don't take my word for it. Maybe it isn't the perfect book for you. But you can check it out at your local library, and then if you're like me, be sure to read list #41: Return rentals on time.

I'm really looking forward to spending more time with this book.

iphone as life organizer

I have been using an iphone since last summer as a personal organizer, and I highly recommend it for fellow ADD/ADHD'ers.

Admittedly it can be a HUGE distraction device. There are thousands of games -- let alone other apps -- available, and I probably spend about $10 a month trying new apps, plus looking at free ones.

With that in mind, I still say this tool is designed for distractable people in a good way, and here's why:

It's easy
(It's intuitive and cross referenced.)
When you fill in contact information, the device gives you a keypad for a phone number or buttons with [.com] for one-touch pushing for email addresses. Once you have your contacts put in, it auto links the phone field to the phone, the email address to your email, and the address field to google maps. It's so smart it's easy to use.

It's fun
(It's kinesthetic.)
Even if you're a notebook freak like me, there are limitations to any paper-based organizer. All the neon-colored ink, stickers, tabs and color-coded cross references in the world can't beat five minutes with the iphone's sliders and buttons.

Sliders bounce when they get to the end. You zoom in on pages by a movement so simple it will blow you away. You can't actually feel movement on the slick screen, but your brain fills in the gaps and you get the experience of using a three-dimensional device. Set it up for sound or no sound, it's just fun to use. Fun means I'm more likely to use it and want to use it.

It's small but huge
(It's portable and adaptable)
This can go with you anywhere and as long as you keep track of this ONE THING... you have a phone, phone directory, day planner, to-do list, etc. There are also lots of apps out there -- and websites with app connections -- to help improve your organization. I'll review my favorites in upcoming posts.

I have a mac, and I sync my iphone with my native mac programs, ical, and the apple address book for instance. I can't speak as to how well it works with a PC. I suppose if I were a PC user I would be really intrigued by the blackberry storm, which has a lot of iphone-like qualities.

But I think I'm a mac person in part because of my ADD, and therefore an iphone person for the same reason. Apple's design is really top notch, setting standards other organizers are trying to catch up to. There is no indication this will change any time soon.

One of the biggest challenge for ADD/ADHD'ers is our breakdown in organizational skills. By that I don't mean that we don't have them. Actually, our systems are quite complex and often amaze non add'ers. However, while most people limit their information intake, we do not. Further, because of our distractability, we face gaps in the process and end up storing huge amounts of information with poor processing.

A device that allows me to write (or photo tag) it all down and keep it in my pocket is just the thing.