ADD / ADHD Community

I'm 48, female, take meds for ADD and depression and love finding out what other people are doing that helps with their daily lives. Perhaps the things that help me might help someone else.
I, too, have a problem reading where my mind wanders off although my eyes keep going down the page. I use my finger instead of a ruler (because I can usually find one easier!)....I also read aloud for better understanding. I use a calendar online (Cozi.com) that will send me text messages reminding me of the most important things. It also helps having someone else (in the family or a friend) who will sit down once a week with you and help plan the week ahead.
As far as being late, I'm still working on that one. Setting alarms for the time to leave the house is good, but I still have to allow an extra 5 minutes for the extra trips back into the house for things that I forgot...lol!! Having a static place for my keys and purse (and meds) are essential, but I still manage to lose them at times. Luckily my one child that isn't ADD will spot them and put them away, sometimes I've also found that if I take a few minutes to lay out things the night before, it helps the morning go easier. (See www.flylady.net)
Anyway, learning what type of things distract you during conversations can be helpful in recognizing when you drift and will help you to be able to get back to the conversation before you are totally lost. I'm distracted by sight and sound, but I've learned to force myself to look at the person's face/eyes while talking to keep me from wandering visually, but sounds are harder. I have explained my problem to close friends and asked them to help bring me back on topic (kindly) when they notice I've drifted. It has helped a lot because at least those people don't get as irritated with me and seem to like being "needed" to help me stay focused. Also, if I'm having a problem focusing during a phone call, I'll close my eyes. (It's probably not a good idea to try this while driving or even walking!)
Housework is still my greatest nemesis and I seem to get much more done if I listen to something online or talk on the phone to a friend while doing the mindless tasks (dishes, laundry, etc). Also, I tend to procrastinate less if I work with a deadline.
In my career(s) I have found that I am not well suited to running my own business, but I do work well for others. There are times that I had to take some extra time (off the clock) to get myself organized so that I could function more efficiently during regular hours when things got hectic and I failed to follow through. I took the time to explain this to my boss when caught, and one boss understood, another was rather unimpressed and made reference to it a few times in a not-so-favorable way. I think it depends on the boss and how you present it: not as an excuse, but as a way to stay on top of things.
At home, in order to get excited about cleaning, I sometimes have to change whole rooms around in order to actually clean and force myself to organize, but my family has gotten used to it and I try to warn them if possible...lol... If I can't see a big difference, I'll give up.
As far as meds, instead of using the time-release types, I use a short lived type and after a lot of trial and error, I like this much better because I have more control over the times of day that it is strongest and can plan the meds around my day instead of my day around the meds (if that makes sense..lol).
I hope that folks continue to post ideas and tips. I have found the info on www.totallyadd.com to be helpful as well.
Don't be too hard on yourself and remember that each new day is a new beginning!!