There are two, exactly two activities I do that keep me sane.

1. Create something.
2. Do nothing or otherwise relax.

The ADHD part of me desperately needs to change tracks every now and then. Both activities do that for me, as they either let me relax or let me fire up my brain in a pleasurable way.

Too bad most of life is maintenance.

Maintenance drives me nuts, and I'm not talking the mechanical kind of maintenance either. Cleaning, errands, or anything else that is repeated ad infinitum just to keep life working is the worst kind of activity for me. It's boring, repetitive, and doesn't require any thought whatsoever.

It's also what I do most of the time. Hell, most of my job is maintenance.

I used to make this big mistake where I spent my lunch hours running errands or otherwise "taking care of business". I'd get back stressed, get home stressed, and then be useless.

Now lunch is for creation and/or relaxation. Writing, or problem solving, or reading, or anything else that requires actual neurons that don't fire during repetitive tasks.

My lunch hour is now sacred fucking territory, no matter how much is on my to-do list. Same if I'm working at home.

It works absolute wonders.

Every now and then I need to remember that my brain works differently, and if something "normal" doesn't work right for me, sometimes the answer can be found at the opposite end of the spectrum.

If I ever find the answer to world peace while taking a break from the laundry, I won't really be surprised.