The Forums › Forums › What is it? › ADHD/ADD in Adults › Organization and Time Management HELP! › Re: Organization and Time Management HELP!
Anonymous
ADDled,
So sorry, I have been away for a bit.
My employ involves financial and administration but organization is paramount as well given the volume that I deal with.
My ADHD coach has been nothing short of a god-send (I am not a religious sort of guy – so I say that with tongue in cheek).
A couple of things that have worked well for me so far are the controlling of the distractions.
One thing that drives me nuts is that red flashing light on my phone that indicates that I have a voice mail or that fact that the phone rings and I feel obligated to pick it up regardless what I am doing. Now, the light is covered and the ringer is turned off.
My coach has told me to take out my ‘smart phone’ (Black berry or iPhone or whatever you have). She told me to turn off all alerts except for the calendar or tasks. Then I was to set two alarms, one for 11:00 am and the other for 2:00 pm. At each of those times, I was to stop everything and listen to my voice mails and return all calls within a half hour. I was not to touch my phone other than that. It was hard at first because some of my colleagues didn’t share that mentality or thought process. They have all adjusted fine now. Oddly enough, it forced my hand into the email system which allows me to keep a closer view on my tasks – keeps me accountable. Not only that but it gives me a visual reference to my work and keep not only me accountable but those who contact me. There is always a phone call where I will still ask the person to “Please send me a fast email with a bullet point of details form me to look at, it will trigger my memory so that I can be reminded to get it done!” It’s amazing how fast people jump on the band wagon to comply.
Another thing that I do is ‘date stamp’ all work that comes to my in-box. The policy is first in, first out! Chronologically I do my work unless something is a glaringly emergency… which is another thing. I have an RED folder on my desk with a white label and large red letters that says URGENT – there is only a maximum of five items per day permitted to flow through that.
There are more but I’ll leave it at that for now.
If you want to know more, please contact me – I would give out my email but I am not sure if that is acceptable to do here.
Distracted66
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