Time Management That Works For ADHD Adults

DESCRIPTION: Learn how to be more strategic about how you prioritize your task and then execute so you can do what’s most important to you. KEY TAKEAWAYS: * Why trying to be more efficient usually does not work. * 5 strategies you can use to decide on priorities. * 5 strategies you can use to execute. RESOURCES: * 1-3-5 Rule: A Better To-Do List: The 1-3-5 Rule * Eisenhower Matrix: Urgent Important Matrix TRANSCRIPT: (00:01): If you struggle to decide which tasks to do and in which order, you may end up doing either whatever feels most urgent or perhaps is the easiest or maybe the most interesting. There’s a better way to choose. You’ve tuned into Scattereded, Focused, Done – Reimagining Productivity with ADHD, a podcast for ADHD adults like you who want to learn how to adopt the best strategies, tools, and skills to get your essential work done in a way that works with the way your brain is wired. I’m Marla Cummins and I’m glad you’re joining me today on this journey to reimagining productivity with ADHD so you can get what is important to you done without trying to do it like everyone else. (00:50): I bet you often have days where you feel like you’re struggling with time, feeling like you’re falling behind as the minutes tick by knowing that you should probably stop working but not feeling like you’ve accomplished enough even on the days when you’ve worked long hours. And at the end of those days, you may say to yourself, I should have managed my time better. I should have gotten more done. You may even have compared yourself to others wondering, why can’t I work like everyone else? And this thinking leaves you feeling even worse. And then instead of doing your work, you might have Googled, time management and ADHD. Because you just want to figure this out once and for all so you can stay on top of your work. It can get better when you learn how to combine task management and time management. (01:40): Right now, you might start each day with a list of tasks that you want to complete. And maybe you look at your calendar to see how much time you have available. But you also likely make your list from memory based on what feels most urgent. Then you see how many tasks you can get done. But not really confident you can get done with the whole list. You hope so, though. But, as a former client used to say, hope is not a strategy. But that might be your strategy right now. That is, you hope you can get through your list. If this is how you’re operating right now, it’s likely because you just don’t have a different way of managing your task yet. (02:21): And the primary way you choose to work is guided by your sense of urgency. In part, this may be be because you don’t have the executive function skills, including estimating time, sequencing tasks, prioritizing, etc. to be able to strategically plan on how to execute differently. And because you have challenges with these skills, looking at your long list of tasks reminds you of all your open loops and contributes to your stress and overwhelm. (02:51): So again, you go through each day guided by, yes, a sense of urgency as to what you should be doing,