James Michael Tyler: Dr. Edward Hallowell, the author of Crazy Busy overstretched, overbooked and about to snap joints us today to talk about strategies for coping in a world going ADD, Dr. Hallowell thanks for being here.
Dr. Edward Hallowell: Thank you.
James Michael Tyler: In your book, you say that ADD is a metaphor for modern life.
Dr. Edward Hallowell: Attention-Deficit-Disorder, which is a biological condition, people have trouble staying on task for more than a few seconds. Has become the state that most people find themselves in, we all look like we have ADD in us, we don’t worry when we sleep.
James Michael Tyler: You identified four qualities that are typical of modern life and our guilty of stealing away our attention, what are these?
Dr. Edward Hallowell: Number one the “Rush” and that’s the speed at which were going. We have speeded up over the past ten-year and then most people are simply doing more and doing it faster than they’ve ever done before and that pre-hits the frantic feeling.
Number two is the “Gush” the torrent of information, of messages, of obligations, the amount of data points that the human mind is asked to attend to everyday is exponentially more than it is ever been in human history.
Third, the “Worry”, as we have so much to do and so much to keep track off and do it fast we worry, you get anxious, it’s natural. Plus we don’t have this much human contact which tends to lower worry and calm us down, we have less and less of that because were so electronically engaged which just sends worry even higher.
And then the fourth is “Clutter and Bladder”, clutter is all the junk that you accumulate. And bladder is all the verbiage that just sort of oozes out of screams everywhere that we hear and often upsetting in a sort of a big kind of way and it sort of creates this feelings of malaise that so many people live with.
James Michael Tyler: You coin a new term in your book, Demil’s Merch.
Dr. Edward Hallowell: I was looking for a word that was both complicated sounding and sticky. For concept I was wanting to define is the force of distraction. It is pulling you out of the present moment you are taken elsewhere all the time. By Demil’s Merch and so it’s very hard to focus fully anywhere or anytime.
James Michael Tyler: What about cell phones and black berries, don’t they really help us become more efficient?
Dr. Edward Hallowell: I love cell phones and black berries they're wonderful, but if you don’t use them right they have become the tool of the devil. The trick is for you to be in-charge of technology rather than letting it be in-charged of you.
James Michael Tyler: Why is it that women have it tougher than me?
Dr. Edward Hallowell: The most women have more responsibilities, more data points, and more obligations than most in man. So they're more emotionally invested and they take on more that most men do.
James Michael Tyler: Doctor there are so many obstacles to slowing down, what are some of the keys to finding the better way to live.
Dr. Edward Hallowell: The key to it all I think in to managing modern life is to take charge. If you don’t take your time, it will be taken from you because now we have thieves of attention. Demil’s Merch the force of distraction, screams like in the magnet doesn’t move screens the intrusiveness of modern life.
James Michael Tyler: With this book, you can say goodbye to feeling stressed and over worked and learn how to once, again enjoy life, family, relaxation and your favorite hobbies and activities. Crazy Busy by Edward Hallowell M.D offers strategies and solutions that will help each of us to do exactly what we want to do with our lives.
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