Organization and Time Management HELP!

[Anonymous]

rufina,

A suggestion on how to choose what to put on your one item list is, put down the first thing that comes to mind; when you accomplish that one task do it again and so on; it works very well… try it. good luck

K

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[Bill]

Thanks Rick – that’s exactly the sort of creative approach we need!

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[Anonymous]

Well, I am not here to detract from what has already been said but I would submit that most of our problem (us with ADHD) is finding and using ‘time management’ tools that will work with us or those we can utilize to make us more effective and efficient at our work or whatever we need to do better with.

For me, my work involves being a financial and administration manager and the attributes of organization, prioritization and synergistically blending aspects of my work and tasks together is paramount. Since being medicated with 36 mg of Concerta and ADHD coaching seems to be working very well for me.

Using what others are doesn’t necessarily mean that if I adopt what they are using, it will aid us with our issues or allow us to operate at a high-level. Often times, at least I have found, in doing so, my ability to overcome and improve just seems so stifled, then I end up feeling as if I have taken those “three steps backwards”.

Good fortune has smiled upon me in many regards and I feel that the universe is finally working with me as I have always wished it would.

Should anyone be interested in what I have been given, in relation to the organization of my work load. I would be more than happy to share what I have learned.

Sharing what I have learned allows me to internalize those things more and more each day.

Distracted66

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[Bill]

Rick – I know you have been called many things — please add “genius” to the list! Focusing on one thing actually allowed me to get a bunch of things done.

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[nellie]

Yes focusing on one thing until it’s done really works well. Especially when things have gotten out of control it helps bring things back.

When I do have lots to do but am having one of those can’t get started days, I ask myself what one thing , if I get it done today, will make this day a success? Then I start it. If it takes me all day fine, if not then it’s a bonus and I can go onto somehting else.

Another thing that helps is planning out my day the night before, not the morning of the way I used to. Far too many distractions would come along before the daily planning session ever even got started! Now I set a reminder for the planning session at 9PM and at least map out a cursory plan for the next day.

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[Anonymous]

Wow! One thing, eh!? I agree, brilliant. Also, planning that list the night before….by setting the timer… Love it! One thing… so many days have gone by with nothing done, even though I had a huge list of ‘must do’s’. The guilt! But, a one thing list… great idea. Giving it a try. Though, if I can’t get just one thing done… the guilt will kill me!!! LOL

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[Bill]

Has anyone tried online to-do lists – the kind that will send reminders to your cell phone etc? Are there any that don’t suck . . . um . . . are suitable for highly creative, talented and intelligent individuals?

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[nellie]

I haven’t used any on line ones beyond the trial period. But I do use OmniFocus, a GTD application. I lets you itemize projects into step by step tasks. I find it great for when I have a multi-step project. The only thing is it might be a MAC only software – can’t remember. But I like that it syncs between my iPhone, Mac and iPAD.

Franklin – Covey has an online based one but I never liked the look of their interface. I need “pretty” software or my visually inclined brain won’t stick with it

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[ADDled]

Distracted66

I’m interested in learning about your techniques because my job has requirements for a highly complex set of organizational skills.

Thanks

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[Anonymous]

At work I have this funky system that really works for me (for the time being anyway). I have one list that just gets added too. I use a green highlighter (my favourite colour) to “check off” the tasks that have been done. The reason I keep a running list is that when the self doubt talk starts up and I feel like I haven’t accomplished anything I look back and see all those pretty green lines and realize that I am getting things done. I know more psychologist than anything but sometimes I need to remind myself that I am accomplishing stuff and that I am good at what I do!!

I find with the electronic to do’s the completed tasks disappear and all I am left with is all the stuff I haven’t done yet!!

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[nellie]

Babyanne,

I do that as well because there is an adrenaline rush from crossing things off a list ( I think it’s even scientifically proven).

That said, I flip flop between paper lists and electronic ones. OF course we’ve all read a thousand times you’re supposed to pick only one and stick with it, Problem for me is I like both and depending on my level of mental frazzle one or the other works better.

But thinking this over for a while now, I realize what’s failing me is not the system ( I’m careful about double entry etc.) but actually using any system. As long as I use one, all is fine.But… the minute I get de-railed then it’s a big slip slide into organizational chaos.

I got off my electronic Omni-focus software somewhere back in December and decided, after re-reading above posts I must confess- to see where I had left off. Don’t suppose it should surprise the rest of you ADDers that there are a slew of un-dones in there! Seeing it in black and white is actually a good thing for me – I’m very visual so it really hits home. For the last few days I’ve been thinking how I can use the knowledge of my visual propensity to an advantage when it comes to getting things done. I think one way I’ll try is to leave the software open on my desktop.

Also Babyanne, maybe keeping it in electronic form might help to track the undones – it just sure shocked me into action! Have you thought about printing out your electronic version and then following along with a pen so you can get the adrenaline rush as well? I tried this before the New Year ( I’ve been on vacation so haven’t needed to be uber – organized again until this past week) and it worked.

If you plan – or I should say map out your day the night before then one of your tasks can be to print the page with your tentative plan for the next day and you’ll be all set.

Not sure about the rest of you, although I love fancy paper agendas I stopped using them a while ago because they become a collector of all kinds of other paper – bills and what-not – that eventually become a form of paper background noise and no longer affect my sense of urgency or action.

I’ve made organization my theme for January and so hope the perfect system will reveal itself by the end of the month!

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[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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[Anonymous]

Distracted66, I’m going to try that with my iPhone. Great tips. I’m also going to get a date stamp. keep them coming. : )

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[laddybug3]

There was a week course that my advisor made me take. The professor told me that I don’t need this class, because I use all the techniques all ready. What he doesn’t know that if I forget to put in an event my world falls apart. It amazes me that if I put an event a week head and discovered I miss it. My brain panics and I have to go over my agenda for each day. He had us plan a hole day in the twenty-hour status.

Here it is:

5:00 Am Wake up

5:01 put contacts in

5:03 brush teeth

5:03-5:10 take shower (While taking shower, I started daydream. The shower ended 5:30. Daydreaming in the shower is a normal thing)

5:30 get dress

5:36 (it takes me a while to decide on clothes) brush hair

5:40 go over to do list for today

5:40-6:20 free time (Read, watch TV, daydream, study for unknown exam)

6:30 still have free time. Getting bored. I know I will make faces in the mirror (I do that sometimes when I am bored)

7:00 Eat breakfast even though I am not hungry

7:30 Hang out at the library

8:00 gather books and whatever I need for courses. Making sure I have everything I need. Put extra supplies in purse, since I am known to lose them.

8:15 lock dorm room, after making sure I have everything

8:15-8:20 extra time incase I forgot something

8:30 arrive early for the first class

9:00 take quiz (Brain is panic, because I didn’t study for quiz. Since you can’t study for quizzes in class)

10:00 go to your class

11-12 PM lunch, also take bathroom break

1:00 last class, writing

2:00 read homework assignments

2:15 start homework

3:00 take break

3:10 go back to homework, and say, “Why me?”

4:00 find out I finished homework, because I forgot to take the break (that normally happens. Thanks to my friend hyper focus, or I get to focus and freak out, stare into space, or just plan forgot to write homework down in my assignment notepad.)

5:00 more free time. Thinking of what to do

6:00 time to eat

7:00 go to the fun activities on campus, because the RA is always telling me to do something.

7:30 arrive at the dance, because I said I would

8:00 complain the music is too loud. (No one seems to understand how loud the music truly is. I have supper sonic hearing. Ear drums hurting.)

10:00 scream, because I wanted to go to bed but newly made friends convince me to stay up late

10:05 In bed

12:00 wake up to use the bathroom

2:00 wake up use the bathroom

3:00 wake up thinking to clock oh, you are going down. Curse and say, “Why do you this to me every day?”

5:00 wake up and do it all over again.

My professor asked if this worked? Mostly, until I woke up at 4:00 and could not go back to sleep. Deciding to unplug the clock as I do every day for time seeming to go too slow or too fast. Normally I extend time for everything too. Add the daydream of me with a hammer destroying clock into little pieces. Somehow find an axe and do the same thing. Then get some TNT and blow up clock. Wake up from daydream and smile. Then look at clock and think, Great thing it is satellite clock.

The dance sucked. Too many people, the music too loud, and I then I cannot stop dancing because I could not stay still. Thinking about taking my revenge on the speakers, but go and drink a new found energy drink. I discovered later that energy drink makes me crabby. Deciding if I should go to bed early tonight.

LOL! I found the assignment and wrote it close to what I had on the paper. Oh, I lost the time management sheet my professor gave. Okay I left it behind, but my time management was more to reality then his.

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[Anonymous]

My coach has me doing the following things to help me in my ADHD micro-world so that I can better get along in the Non-ADHD big-world (my little twist on life if you will… pardon the parody).

With my employment I typically deal with financial and administrative matter in tremendous volume. So, it becomes imperative for me to ensure that I am organized and functioning at a high rate of efficiency and accuracy.

One of the very first things that my coach had me do is to ensure that I have color coded folder files. In my case the following work:

– Yellow – Vacation

– Blue – Claims

– Red – URGENT

– Purple – Awards

– Green – Promotions

– Orange – Travel

– Grey – Filing

– Brown – Follow-up

Within each of those folders, on the left side when they are opened, is a short label that is affixed that outlines for me the criteria with respect to organizing the work within this folder – why particular items are done prior to others.

She told me to bring out my ‘smart phone’ in my case I have a iPhone which has some very nice applications that you can get for ‘free’… most of mine are… LOL

My coach suggested that I set my cell phone with calendar alerts to trigger me at certain points of my day to perform particular tasks. I was to eliminate all sounds except for the calendar alerts which would serve to trigger me to do particular tasks. The very first alert is for my filing. She has me performing my filing – an ongoing task which is always added to – at the least busy time of my day. So every morning between 7:00 – 7:30 am I do my filing and only spend 30 minutes doing it… no MORE! If I don’t get it all done, it placed back in the folder for the next day.

My office phone provided a major distraction for me. The ringer was one thing but that flashing red light would drive me up the wall and really would knock me off my train of thought because it was flashing right under my nose – the curiosity to know who it was and what the message was because an obligation (in my mind) but it never was.

My coach suggested that I limit myself to never answering my desk phone, that I only return messages which was the next step with my alerts from my cell phone was to set two alerts, one for 11:00 – 11:30 am and the next for 2:00 – 2:30 am where I am to stop and review all voice mails and return them all within that half hour time frame.

She also told me that for me, that email would be my best friend because it would provide a record of all discussions, conversations and directions from superiors and others. It would serve to eliminate the need for me to try to remember every thing all the time – impaired memory being a co-morbid condition that is underlying the ADHD (she being aware of this gave me more home work in connection with that).

I will post more a bit later… I will also add some of my own developed ‘time management’ tips that I have developed over the years – which oddly enough never properly been capable of implementing due to the ADHD – strange but true story.

Distracted66

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[Author]

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