My Day with ADHD Analysis Paralysis

And F, Marry, Kill: Thanksgiving Sides Edition

Yesterday was a day. I wanted it to be “a productive day” but instead, it was just “a day.” I had an unfortunate bout with ADHD Analysis Paralysis, which I wrote about in detail on the blog.

If you’ve never experienced this, first off, congratulations on having normal brain chemistry! I envy that. But I’ll give you the abridged version here: it’s like your body and your brain WANT to do things, but something is holding you down, physically and mentally. Below are a few excerpts from the blog…

Instead of getting shit done, I became irritable and anxious, then became incredibly tired, then started a bunch of different tasks at once, never finishing any of them. After all that, I just shut down completely and did nothing. Some of you may read that as me just being irresponsible and lazy, but it’s actually a real thing that people with ADHD (like myself) experience from time to time. I take medication and it still happens. And when it does, it ruins my entire day.

In a special case like today, where it feels unnervingly hard to shake, I attribute it to a fun little thing called “analysis paralysis.”

Now, there’s your regular garden variety analysis paralysis, which means you just think about something for too long, so you end up doing absolutely nothing about it because you end up overanalyzing it instead. Annoying, but it’s usually specific to one problem, one time, and you can move past it.

For those with ADHD analysis paralysis, you can overanalyze not just one thing, but many things, to the point of talking yourself out of them entirely. This can cause stress, anxiety, fatigue, irritability and social isolation. This has happened to me more than once, and it happened today. I cancelled plans with a friend tonight simply because I was in such a shitty mood from not being able to get my life together. It sucks, but I’m unfortunately used to this.

I never talk about it much, but I wanted to today because I’m sure I’m not alone here. And I know it’s comforting to know there are others out there who deal with this too. Additionally, I’m usually able to snap myself out of it a little, so I thought I’d offer some advice on that as well.

Continue reading here.

Now onto the more fun stuff, like eating! Next week is Thanksgiving, which is my favorite holiday, and I’m also hosting a Friendsgiving this weekend. To that end…

You’ll be seeing this promo a lot so get used to it: use my code DARA for $50 off your first FreshDirect order of $99 or more. It’s good until 12/31/22. You’re welcome fam!

While planning my menu, I got into a debate with one of my friends over Thanksgiving sides so we came up with Fuck, Marry, Kill: Thanksgiving Sides Edition. Who ya got?! See below and feel free to sound off in the comments with your own. Turkey wasn’t included because I can safely say almost everyone would kill turkey without even blinking. Thanksgiving is about the sides and everyone knows it.

F, Marry, Kill: Thanksgiving Sides Edition

• Mashed Potatoes & Gravy

• Green Bean Casserole

• Stuffing

I’m gonna kill stuffing, as much as that hurts me. Marry mashed potatoes & gravy, and fuck GBC. All day baby.

Additionally…

Are you team homemade stuffing or Stove Top? Homemade Green Bean Casserole or the Campbells soup version?

I’m Team Stove Top for stuffing and Team Homemade GBC. Why? Because Stove Top is wonderful and reminds me of my childhood. And I have my own GBC recipe which happens to be prettyyyy killer. Obviously, it has bacon in it, but you can leave that out.

GBC Recipe on the blog

Shameless self promotion? Maybe. But the people who have made it, love it too. Here’s that recipe for ya, and you do not have to make the homemade fried onions if that’s too much. Even I have started cutting corners on that one with the French’s Fried Onions the past few years, but if you want to try, then by all means.

Happy almost-Thanksgiving!