Category Archives: ADHD Coaching

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Measure for SMARTer Goals — overcome your attention challenges

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In my last post, I talked about how to make your goals more specific.  If you did not get a chance to read it, I encourage you to read that post first.  It will help put your SMART goals into better perspective.

The next element of SMART goals is M – Measurable.  A goal absolutely must be measurable.  When goals are measurable, we objectively know when we achieve our goals.  Without something to measure, you will never know when you reach your goal, or worse yet, when you do not reach it.

When you have ADHD, this element of goal setting becomes even more important.  Distraction can too easily take you away from your goals.  Post your measurement at your desk or put it on your calendar so you have somewhere to focus your attention.  Without something on which to focus, that distraction will keep coming back.  ADHD can also cause you to take on too much at one time.  Measurement has a way of grounding you in the critical elements of a goal.  Again, helping you to focus.

Consider the goal of managing time better.  If you give yourself a goal of managing time better, how will you know when you have succeeded?  You risk being too easy or too hard on yourself.  You do not need to take that risk.  Instead, set a goal that you can measure.  For example, you could set a goal to get to all of your meetings and appointments at least 5 minutes early.  Even if you don’t feel like your goal can be measured, come up with something.  Perhaps a percentage or time frame will help.

Leave a comment with your thoughts about measurable goals, and let us know your questions.

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Set Specific SMART Goals — overcome attention challenges

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I often talk about the importance of SMART goals with my attention coaching clients and workshop participants.  Over the next week or so, I’ll cover each component of SMART goals.  Be sure to review each one to set yourself up for success this year and beyond!

As you probably already know, the S in SMART goals stands for Specific.  Even though we know that it means, it can still be difficult to make sure a goal is specific.  When you set your goals, ask yourself these questions to do a specificity check.

For illustration, consider the following examples of non-specific goals:

  • Organize my desk.
  • Get better grades.

Okay, so I made it a little obvious that these goals are not specific.  Take this opportunity to look at these goals and figure out how to make them more specific.

Organize My Desk
Ask yourself how you will know when you have achieved this goal.  Are you looking for the top of your desk to be clear of clutter, do you need to get your junk drawer clean, or do you need to get your files organized?  Think about the end result that you want.  It may be helpful to visualize your goal.  If you can see what it looks like, you have a better chance of making it specific.  A goal such as, “Remove all of the clutter off my desk and keep my desk clear of clutter,” is much more specific than the earlier example of Organize my desk.

Get Better Grades
If a student wants to improve their grades, I encourage them to set specific grades for each class or a specific grade point average for the current or upcoming semester.  A goal of “Achieve a 3.0 next semester,” will give you something more to strive for than simply to, “Get better grades.”  The level of specificity nees to make sense for you.

When reviewing your goals to ensure they are specific, try asking these questions to yourself to help get them as specific as possible.

  • How will I know when I have achieved this goal.
  • What will it look like when I have achieved my goal?
  • How will I be sure I have met my goal?
  • Can I be more specific?

Next post I’ll talk about the M in SMART goals.  Until then, let us know what goals you are working on and how you are ensuring they are specific!

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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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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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