I started the system that I’ve come to refer to as my “Virtual Mind” early in life. That was before “virtual” was commonly used to mean “electronic” or “computerized”. And, in fact, I didn’t have any term for it in those days. There were just certain things I found useful to help me feel organized.

Now, before I describe what they are, I have to explain some things I know now that I didn’t know then.

Feeling Disorganized Is a Way of Life For Someone With ADD

I was 45 years old before I ever heard of the concept of ADD. It was a revalation to me. It explained so much of the difficulty and grief I’d experienced over the years.

Now I know there’s a difference in “feeling organized” and in “being organized”. I may (though it’s doubtful) reach a point of being organized. But even if I did, I still would not feel organized. That’s an internal state that ADD people generally get just enough of a glimpse of to know what they’re missing.

I’ve learned that, for me personally, even the best system in the world will get stale in time and stop working for  me. I used to view this as failure — either by me or by the system. I went through a lot of frustration and even despair looking for the ultimate system that would organize my life once and for all.

Over the years I’ve tried, enjoyed for awhile, then discarded, and later picked up again nearly every organizational plan ever invented. At last I understand that, for my particular mental makeup, this revolving system has been exactly the right thing. I’ve developed quite a repertoire that I draw on as inclination strikes me.

The overall Virtual Mind that has evolved serves me pretty well. As an example, I suspect that my memory is not as good as it was when I was younger. But I’m less likely to forget something important now than when I was 30. Why? Because I have a better system.

How I Began My Virtual Mind

The beginnings of the system I use today might be back in the diary I started to keep in the third grade. The diary has now evolved into my Journal, and it goes back fifty years with very few breaks.

Or maybe it was the little ledger my mother insisted my brother, sister and I use to keep track of our money. Each week when we received our 25-cent allowance, it had to be recorded in our books — which had columns for “Debit”, “Credit”, and “Balance”. (Mama is a bookkeeper. Yes, still. At age 89 she works at home keeping the books for the farm belonging to one of our neighbors.) By the time I was grown, it was unthinkable to spend or receive money without recording it in some way.

I suppose the actual beginning of my Virtual Mind was when I started my file system in high school. At that time an art teacher suggested we start a “swipe file”. We were to collect pictures we liked for one reason or another and set up a file to organize them. He assured us that it was an important part of every professional artist’s toolkit — where they found inspiration, or went for reference. (That was the old days, before the internet. In those days, if you wanted to know if a fox had round or pointy ears, you couldn’t just Google it.)

I started my picture file with enthusiasm. Before long, I was adding articles and clippings too. By the time I was married, my files filled three one-bushel apple cartons. By the time my daughter was a year old, it was up to seven. Now I have two large filing cabinets, one small one, and a few sundry boxes on the side.

The file has been re-organized a number of times over the years. In the early 70s, when The Whole Earth Catalog came out, I set up my file with divisions based on the chapters of that book. That lasted a long time.

About fifteen years ago, I again re-organized and went to a number system. That was not really feasible until I got my first computer, since it depends on keeping an index.

This is the system that has served me well, and which I’ll describe in detail in a later post.

I’ve added various planners, calendars, organizers, gadgets, software, cabinets, books, and so on. Taken all together, this Virtual Mind lets me learn, remember, process, plan, control, and evaluate in ways that — even on my best day — I never could have done with my puny “organic mind”.