Accentuate the Positive

OK, so, here are the positive thoughts and realizations I had about keeping a schedule/routine last week.  The only order these are in is the order they came to me throughout the week.

1.  I can start my day with less stress because I can flow through my routine and not have to be sure I remember every single thing every single morning.
2.  Following a routine gets me out the door on time more often than not.  This helps me be on time to work which makes me seem more like the productive employee I am.
3.  Following a routine helps minimize the chance that something important (like paying bills or meeting a suspense at work) slips through the cracks, which helps improve management's view of my work performance and lessens my stress.
4.  Ensures I take my medicine on schedule so it can work better and I feel better.
5.  Keeping a routine helps me better manage my time and get more things done which gives me a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day instead of a sense of failure for missing deadlines and not seeing things through to the finish.
6.  Getting in the habit of writing things downs as they are told to me, especially if I can't work on the at that exact moment, makes me more likely to remember to do them later instead of getting caught in the "what's hot now" mode and never getting back to them.  Also, the simple act of writing it down helps it stick in my memory.
7.  Writing down accomplishments for the day makes it easier to write my significant accomplishments at rating time.  It also gives me a point of reference if a similar issue should arise or questions come up regarding what I did.
8.  Keeping a routine and writing down the things I need to accomplish each day helps me to feel better when I get home from work.  When I go through the day reacting instead of planning my ADHD mind is overwhelmed at the end of the day from trying to keep up with everything.  Therefore, when I get home I am too tired to take on even a small task so everything gets put off until the weekend which, in turn, overwhelms me again and it never all gets done.

Unfortunately, even with all this positive thinking, last week does not count as my first week completed for the new task.  I understand that life throws things at us sometimes that causes us to have to temporarily throw our routines out the window, BUT, I feel like I used things like a terribly unorganized training exercise at work as an excuse and was already off-kilter when I got the news that someone I was very close to passed away.  I'm not down on myself for not meeting the goal.  I realize life happens and then you move on.  I just don't feel I can justify counting last week in the "W" column.  I got it this week though. :-)