The Forums › Forums › Emotional Journey › I'm Sad › Drowning › Re: Drowning
Good advice Curlymoe! Especially the Breathe part
Carrie you are where I was when my kids were little, only I had no idea about the ADD so you are way ahead of the game and things will get better!
Just wanted to add the following in terms of time management because it seems like your life is very hectic. I’m still working on becoming as efficient as I would like but have found the following is really starting to work for me :
1. I recently found that if I look at things more visually when planning my day or week it goes a lot better, so started to use one of those planners that have the time set out in 15 minute increments and is in a week at a glance format.
Draw a square to represent the time range of your task or appointment. In other words, if you have an appointment at 2 PM, don’t just write it next to the spot for 2 PM – outline a square to represent the amount of time it will take, say from 2-3 PM. This will give you a much better graphic representation of how much time you really have for the day.
If I don’t plan out the day very precisely it all goes to pot. That means from time to get up, leave the house, when to take out the garbage, cook dinner, go to bed, whatever.
Planning in driving and waiting times really puts things into perspective as does planning backwards: have to get there at 3, means leave by 2, start getting ready at 1:30 ( get dressed, lock up dogs, gather up required materials), stop my previous work by 1:20, etc. etc. Suddenly that 3 Pm appointment doesn’t seem to far into the day and I realize I have lots less time to do other stuff than I thought.
The planner also has squares on the side for notes etc. I use this to plan ahead with tasks I know I have to do in the week coming up but haven’t had time to schedule yet or are flexible and can fit around more urgent things, or may depend on someone else’s schedule.
2. Schedule tasks for a specific time, don’t just make a to do list. This way you are committed to getting them done and they don’t end up as a wish list.
3. Set aside a time to review your agenda. I do it the night before to make sure I don’t forget I have an appointment and to get me in the right mindset for the next morning. On the weekend I plan ahead for the coming week. In addition, I have an alarm set on my computer and phone to remind me to check my agenda at 9 AM and Noon ever day to keep me on track.
4. If you have a huge problem area in your house – say the basement or guest room from hell – make it a project. Plan out exactly what needs to be done, estimate how long it will take, add in 20-50% error factor, then decide when you will do it. If it’s a huge project you’ll probably have to schedule in a few hours at a time over a period of weeks or months.
Don’t get discouraged, the first time I really tried this I underestimated and the whole thing took double the time. But it got done in a matter of 10 days and was something I’d procrastinated on for 15 years.
Anyway hope the above helps,
According to my schedule it’s past my bedtime