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Laura Rolands, ADHD Coach

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Prioritizing Helps with ADHD

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ADHD can make it difficult to prioritize.  If a task is important, but not interesting, it can be difficult to make it a top priority.  Read on for suggestions on ways to improve your prioritization skills!

If you have ADHD, I recommend that you commit to spending 5 minutes each day making a quick plan.  Once each week, spend 10 or 15 minutes.  If this is a task you dislike, set a timer so you know you’ll be free when the buzzer sounds!

When planning your week and day, make sure you are working towards your top priorities.  Ask yourself a few questions regarding each meeting, task or other assignment to help you decide what are the highest priorities in a given day or week…

  • How will this task or meeting move me towards my goals?
  • Is this task or meeting important?
  • Does this task feel important just because it is urgent?
  • Is there another way for this task to get accomplished?

If you commit to asking yourself these questions for at least 3 weeks, experience tells me that you’ll see a positive change in your prioritization skills. Are you ready to commit?  Leave us a comment and let us know your plans!

PS – We have an exciting call coming up on Monday, June 14, 2010.  Turmoil to Tranquility:  Tools for Increased Productivity.  Register today to make sure you don’t miss out on the call or the recording!

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Stop Procrastination from Interfering – Don’t Wait!

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ADHD can cause challenges with procrastination. If this resonates with you, read on for some simple ideas that can help you end the procrastination right now. Before you continue reading, just pause and commit to take ONE action today or tomorrow. Can you do that for yourself? Agreed? Okay, read on….

  • Decide when you are going to take the first step in that project hanging over your head right now.  Schedule time in your calendar right now and set an alarm to “beep” and send you an email.  These reminders can be very helpful in moving forward.
  • Start your day tomorrow by working on that big assignment for 10 minutes.  That’s it, set a timer to remind you when 10 minutes is done.  When the timer sounds, decide whether you can stand it for another 10 minutes.  If not, do it again the next day, and the next….
  • Give yourself encouragement.  All too often, ADHD, and some of the co-existing conditions that come with it can cause a lot of negative self-talk.  Try to change that self-talk to something positive.  Start your day tomorrow by saying, “It will be great when I get this project started,” or something similarly positive.
  • Do the hardest part of the project first.  Once you have accomplished the hardest or most unpleasant part, the rest will seem like a breeze!  If this isn’t feasible, just start with something on the harder end of the difficulty scale.
  • Spend some time planning out your work and break it into the smallest steps you can develop.  Commit to taking one step each day for the next week.  The momentum could be just what you need to make big progress.

As I said earlier, just commit to taking one of the ideas above and putting it into action.  Do you feel like you might procrastinate?  Leave a comment with your commitment and when you will start.  I’ll send you a reminder!

So tell us, what are you going to do?  Good luck!

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Summer Vacation Planning

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Do you struggle with the chaos that sometimes comes with Summer Vacation.  I recently wrote a guest article for the Families With Purpose newsletter on how to best plan your Summer and included a Summer-at-a-glance calendar.  Stop by the blog at Families With Purpose to read the whole article.  Be sure to sign up for their newsletter and receive useful articles from me and other moms a couple times each month.

What are your Summer Vacation plans?  How will you maintain order at your house?

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Making Routines Work as an Adult

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Are mornings a struggle for you?  I’m not talking about the struggles that we have with our kids.  I’m talking about the ones we have with ourselves.  If you work long hours, stay up late or have ADHD, chances are that getting ready in the morning can be a challenge.  The reasons can be varied such as losing focus or being overly tired.  I recently decided I need a morning routine; I have too much going on to waste time in the morning!

For starters, last week I tracked how much time I typically spend on various tasks in the morning.  Wow, I learned that I waste a lot of time on some activities!  This week, my goal is to shorten the amount of time I spend getting ready.  I will use this tracking document to get started:  Morning Routine Time Tracking.  I included the steps in my routine and also included a blank chart on page two so you can insert your own steps.

Do you need to move through your mornings faster?  You might want to try working out a morning routine for yourself.  I’ll be sharing my progress here and would love to hear about yours.  Good luck!

Update:  Here is my morning routine with times inserted.

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Close Email to Save Time

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Does email seem to chip away at your day?  As an ADHD Coach, I often brainstorm with clients about ways they can manage their email.  The amount of time it takes to go through email can be overwhelming, and the interruptions caused by frequent email checking really can chip away at your day.  If the volume of your email is overwhelming you, close it!  Try checking it just a few times during the day.  The philosophy is that you can get through your email faster this way.  Give it a try and let me know how it goes!

How do you save time when managing your email?

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