The Disorganized Mind by Nancy A. Ratey (2008, Hardcover)

I bought this book because I was hoping that it would provide me with the necessary tools to calm my otherwise disorganized ADD mind. The book description on Amazon seemed to fit my situation perfectly, and I impulsively bought the book here on eBay. I thought that in a worst case scenario, I may pick up a tool or 2 that would help me somehow. My best case scenario of actually being able to USE the information was what I was shooting for.

Imagine my pleasant surprise when I received this book and found that it would help me in numerous situations that I struggle with every day. If you have ADD/ADHD, then you would be familiar with the impulsivity, distraction, hyperfocusing, finanacial distasters, clutter in your home, and on and on. I deal with one or more of these situations every single day that rolls over my head. For me, it is very frustrating.

Nancy Ratey has ADD and dyslexia, and she has grown up with it all of her life. She has managed to carve out ways to deal with ADD through being a life coach for adults with ADD. This book is a testament to her abilities as a coach, along with client histories to show how she helped those clients conquer the very ADD symptoms that we all struggle with on a good day.

She developed the A.N.S.W.E.R. strategy that gives the reader a way to analyze what is working for them and what is not. My favorite part of the book is how she consistently teaches her clients and her readers to not look at ADD as a problem child, but rather look at it as a neurological condition that has to be managed. ADD patients are NOT a disease. We are all people, creative people, and we all deal with the same or similar situations in our every day world.

Some of us may have more impulsivity and distraction, while others may hyperfocus on things that can cause discord in both our personal and professional lives. The author shows us how bring balance into our otherwise chaotic worlds with down-to-earth strategies and concepts that are easy to understand.

This book gave me hope that I CAN do what I set out to do. I just have to structure my life and my goals in such a way that the ADD works with me and not against me. I can do that! So can others who have the distinction of having been diagnosed with ADD/ADHD.

It does NOT have to be a thorn in your behind, unless you make a conscious choice for it to be there. The author has appendices in the back that list ADD support groups and ADD resources to help all of us change that which drives us nuts without coaching.

I found that I work best with someone to coach me and/or be an accountability partner. Hiring a coach is an expensive venture, and this book shows me how to become my own coach when money is tight, as it is right now.

This is definitely a book that I will refer back to over and over again. I think that if you purchase it, you will use it until the pages are worn out from use. I hope that the author will come out with a workbook that will coincide with the content of this book to offer the reader full-size workbook pages to keep up with the information and questions that we need to ask ourselves when we are trying to come up with solutions based on this book.

Controlling my ADD is going to be easier with the help of this book. I think it just might reach out to help quite a few other people too! I think this was one of my better impulsive buys, and it is definitely one that I do not regret making. Get a copy today!