Category Archives: Organization

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Using Routines and Checklists to Manage Your Day

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Join me for this helpful (and free!) webinar hosted by Attention Deficit Disorder Resources at www.ADDresources.org on January 22nd at 9pm eastern (6pm pacific).

Routines and checklists can help you easily manage your days, but it is easy to get overwhelmed trying to do too much at one time.  ADHD can make it difficult to efficiently finish (and even start) everyday tasks.  During this webinar, I will be sharing strategies, tricks and techniques that have been helpful for my clients when trying to make their routines more manageable.

During this webinar, you will learn…

  • Why routines and checklists can help maintain calm and increase productivity (and time for fun).
  • How routines can make an impact for you on a daily basis – from getting ready in the morning to paying your bills!
  • Simple strategies to implement routines and checklists in your everyday life!

Register today at Attention Deficit Disorder Resources: http://bit.ly/ADHDRoutines

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Have ADHD / ADD? My 5 Favorite Articles on Getting Organized

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Are you overwhelmed by your disorganization?  Does it feel like you can never dig out of the paper pile?  Below, I am sharing my 5 favorite organization articles here at My Attention Coach for adults and students with ADHD / ADD.

1.  Improve Time Management and Organization Skills: Categorize

Categorizing can help with both organization and time management by ensuring you spend time in high priority areas.

2.  Are you Disorganized or Unorganized?

Take small steps for big success if you are disorganized or unorganized.  The tips in this article can help you avoid the overwhelm that often comes with getting organized.

3.  Overcome your Disorganized Desk

If you have ADHD, chances are that you have a disorganized desk.  For simple ways to organize your disorganized desk under control, follow the tips in this article.

4.  Start a Tickler File to Get Focused

ADHD can make it hard to manage all of the paper you get at home and/or work.  This can cause huge challenges with organizing.  Using a tickler file can be a helpful way to gain control of the paper.

5.  How Students With ADHD Can Use Tickler Files to Get Organized

This is a newer concept for me.  This article discusses how students might use tickler files to get organized.

What are your favorite articles on getting organized?

Link to them below so we can all learn.  Thanks!

 

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Disorganized Students: Buy this Book!

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Disorganized?  Know a student who is disorganized?

The Organized Student: Teaching Children the Skills for Success in School and Beyond by Donna Goldberg is an excellent resource for students in middle school and high school.  It is useful for their parents as well.   Goldberg is an organizational consultant and founder of a company called Organized Student.  The book has excellent tips and the Goldberg does a great job of breaking down the organization process for parents and children.  Read the chapters that are most interesting, but don’t feel like you need to read the book in one witting.  Goldberg gives excellent advice for organizing a student’s locker, her back pack, school and home paperwork and homework areas.  She also discusses time management, planners, end-of-the-year wrap up and the teenager’s bedroom.

My favorite tips are listed below:

  • When talking to children about working on organization tools focus on one area at a time and use the tools that are easier for the child to start.
  • Give the systems time to work – Goldberg reminds the reader that habits take 21 days to form.
  • Use the assessments that Goldberg provides to make sure you are properly customizing the organization system for the child.
  • If a binder doesn’t work well, a clear plastic accordion file works well to organize all of a child’s school subjects.
  • Use a Desktop Filing System to keep papers organized at home.  If you have a file box for each child organized by subject, they can easily file their paperwork every couple of weeks.
  • If the child doesn’t do homework at their own desk, or likes to do homework in different places, a tackle box or art supply box can be used to hold/organize all school supplies and go with the student where ever they study.

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Are you Disorganized or Unorganized?

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Take small steps for big success

If you are disorganized or unorganized, chances are the idea of getting yourself organized is overwhelming.  Those stacks of papers, books, toys or other stuff can be pretty imposing can’t they?  I encourage you to take some of the pressure off yourself and commit to taking some small steps to get organized.  True, you would rather get it all done today, but you need to determine whether that is realistic.  If it is not realistic or seems too overwhelming, take a short time today to identify small steps that you can take to overcome at least some of your disorganization.

Set Organization Goals

Before you begin, think about what goals you have regarding organization.  What goals do you have?  What can you accomplish once you achieve your goals?  How can you break your goals into smaller goals?  How can you utilize the suggestions below to get started?

Small Steps to Implement

If you are disorganized or unorganized, pick a couple of the steps below to implement and start moving toward organization success.  Add your own suggestions in the comments!

  • With email, color code to prioritize email by the sender.  This way, you can see emails from your priority customers, family members and bosses first.  Taking care of priority emails will help keep your email organized.
  • Use the automation features of your email program to automatically move incoming emails to mailbox folders.  Some of my clients use this feature to move low priority items to a “Read Someday” folder.  Saves a lot of time!
  • Set timers to sound 10 minutes before you need to move to your next assignment.  Use these 10 minutes to clean up your current activity or project so that everything can get put away.
  • Make an appointment with yourself to organize.  Spend 30 minutes or less at first.  Any more time can get overwhelming.  If you have ADHD and can make hyperfocus work to your advantage, you might want to plan ahead and schedule a block of a few hours in one day.  Check in with yourself – how much time works best for you?
  • Systematize:  Set up a simple system for yourself when going through mail whether at home or the office.  Give yourself a few options such as File, Toss, Do and Delegate.  If you have trouble setting up a system for yourself, hire a coach or partner with a friend to figure out a system that works for YOU.
  • Motivate:  Identify a reward for yourself when you accomplish a small goal.  Anything that will keep you going and that is affordable for you is a good idea.
  • Limit distractions when you are getting organized.  For example, turn off your computer and don’t answer the phone.  It will take a significant amount of time to refocus on the organizing which makes the overall process take longer.
  • Set up simple file folders that work for you.  Label them in bright colors and use them!

Share your ideas in the comments.  What else can your fellow readers do to get organized?  Looking forward to your feedback!

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Improve Time Management and Organization Skills: Categorize

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If you have challenges with your time management and organization skills, categorizing will help to ensure you spend time in high priority areas.

Main Categories

Identify the main categories of work and family priorities in your life.  These categories will depend on the nature of your work and family responsibilities as well as the amount of time under your own control.

Time Required

Decide how much time you need to spend in each of the categories.  Consider standing meetings, appointments already scheduled and the amount of time available.  When I recently went through this exercise, I was careful to add in all of my children’s activities and school schedules.  This helps to avoid surprises and missing important events.  Also, remember, just because there are 24 hours in each day does not mean you can schedule work activities in all them!

Enter all of your standing meetings into your calendar.  When you are getting started, I recommend using my Weekly Planning Snapshot to help you track your time.

Where do you need to focus?

Look at the remaining time you have available and identify how many hours you can spend on each of your remaining categories.  Note this at the bottom of the Weekly Planning Snapshot.

Schedule Your Time

Make appointments with yourself to spend time on your areas of focus.  Check the amount of time to make sure you are focusing on your priorities and requirements.

Review and Do It Again

In order to improve your time management and organization skills, you need to review your progress at the end of the week and start the process for next week.

If you have any questions or any feedback, please let us know here.  We will answer your questions and provide additional information in the future.

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