One of my clients graduated from college recently. She has a great idea about how to plan for shopping trips for toiletries that will also help curb impulse purchases. First, she will make an electronic list of everything she buys on a regular basis like toothpaste. She’ll include the brand and specific product name she typically purchases. Then she will print the list when she goes shopping and highlight the items she plans to buy. This strategy will help her remember what she needs and help resist the urge to make impulse purchases while at the store. How can you apply this strategy to your shopping?
How often do you find yourself asking this question? It can be difficult to determine where your time goes, but if you can figure out the answers to that question, you will make big strides in your time management. For example,
If you know that you are spending 3 hours on Facebook, you can save some time by shortening the time!
When you see that you are super productive between 10am and noon, you can schedule your most challenging times during that time.
Below are a few ideas that you can use to figure out where your time goes.
Weekly Snapshot
Use a Weekly Planning Snapshot to keep track of your time in one-hour increments over the next week. At the beginning of each hour, write (or type) how you spent your last hour. Make it short; write for 30 seconds or less. At the end of each day, look at how you spent your time. Where did you spend your time? What were your productive times?
Estimate Your Time
When you are planning your day, estimate the amount of time each task will take you to complete. Add up the time you estimate. Does the total equal more than the amount of time you have to work today? If it does, you need to take some things off the list.
At the end of the day, compare your estimates to the amount of time your tasks actually took you to complete. How close were you? How can you adjust your estimates to be more accurate?
Notice
Yes, this sounds too simple to be helpful, but it can work. Spend the next week consciously noticing where you are spending your time. Tell your inner critic to be quiet and let you just pay attention to time. At the end of each day write down or record what you noticed during the day. Noticing where your time goes will give you new insight into time wasters and time savers that work for you.
Which one of these strategies will you try this week?
I recently finished a Practical ADHD Strategies radio show on planning projects with ADHD. I don’t have to tell you that ADHD can make it difficult to plan and start projects. Projects can be overwhelming which can lead to procrastination. Listen in as I share some quick strategies to get you started on your next project. Whether your projects are related to work, volunteer activities, family and/or home; they all need to be planned and managed. .
Choosing the right planner for you and your lifestyle is very important, especially if you are busy, overwhelmed by your To Do List and/or have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD or ADD). This is true no matter what profession you hold and no matter what your age. By third grade, even elementary school students need some type of planner or way to keep track of assignments.
ADHD Creates Significant Challenges
for people when it comes to using a planner and therefore managing their time. Your list might be too overwhelming, you might forget to look at your planner or perhaps there are other reasons. I am frequently asked to recommend the best planner for someone with ADHD. The bad news is that there is not one best planner. The good news is that I can still help you select the best planner, especially if you have ADHD.
Prioritize
If you have determined that you need a better system of planning (or just need to start one!), I first recommend that you select the planner characteristics that are most important to you. The checklist at the end of this article will help you identify those characteristics.
To use the checklist, place a check mark next to each characteristic you would like to have in a planner and indicate an A, B or C priority next to each characteristic you check.
A = planner must have this
B = would be nice for planner to have this
C = not so important to me
After you select which characteristics are important, take the list with you to the store or have it next to you while you search on-line. This will help narrow your search and end up with a planner that really works for you.
Select Your Planner
After you have picked your characteristics, it is time for shopping. A couple of sites to investigate are www.FamiliesWithPurpose.com, www.FranklinCovey.com and www.DayRunner.com. If you are interested in electronic planners, be sure to review free sites (i.e. Google Calendar) in addition to all of the devices that are available. If you have a smart phone, integrate with available on-line tools if that will help you remember to use it every day. Once you have selected your planner, work with it for at least one month before evaluating it’s effectiveness. If it doesn’t work for you after trying a new planner for at least a month, you may want to consider something different. Commit to USING it before you discard it though.
Using Your Planner
Here are a few tips to help ensure that you use your planner.
If you currently use multiple planners, try to consolidate into one.
After you purchase your planner, commit to using it for at least one month.
Keep it in a location where you will review it every day.
Review it at the same time each day to help enforce your habit.
The right planner can make a big difference in getting more done, and more importantly getting your high priority tasks done. Share your comments to let us know how the check list works for you. Good luck with your planner search!
Planner Characteristic Checklist
_____ Month-at-a-glance view
_____ Week-at-a-glance view
_____ The ability to see each day separate from all others
_____ Spiral bound so I don’t lose any pages and can have the entire year in one product
_____ Binder format so I can add and remove pages as needed
_____ Zippered binder so I don’t lose any pages
_____ Electronic with no need to print
_____ Electronic with the ability to print a To Do List
_____ Electronic with the ability to print an appointment schedule
_____ Paper so I can write in it when needed
_____ To Do List available for every day
_____ To Do List for the whole month
_____ To Do List for each week
_____ Room to plan for multiple roles (i.e. Employee, parent, spouse, business owner)
_____ Calendar and To Do List integrated into one planner
_____ Calendar and To Do List separate from each other
_____ Small size for easy portability
_____ Large size for ease of writing and room for more items
_____ Medium size as a compromise between small and large
_____ Time slots for meetings and appointments all day
_____ Specific time slots included in the Calendar section
_____ Pockets for other items such as cell phone or wallet
_____ Wall calendar format
_____ Portable format
_____ Attached strap so it can be carried like a purse or briefcase
_____ Price is no object
_____ Budget = $______
_____ Add your own characteristics here: __________________________
Spend a few minutes to plan your weekend to get focused today. Whether you have ADHD or not, you can increase your chances of getting more done when you have a plan.
Spend 10 Minutes
If planning is something new for you or if you really do not like doing it, start small. Spend just 10 minutes and see if it helps you get more done.
Use your planner or a piece of paper and write down the top 5 things you need to accomplish this weekend.
Estimate how much time it will take to accomplish each.
At the end of the weekend, look back at your list and see if your estimates were accurate. What did you learn and how can you adjust your plan the next time?
What do you think? Will planning help you this weekend?
PS – Do you need help getting more done with ADHD? Register for our FREE teleclass on Wednesday, February 23rd from noon – 1:00 p.m. eastern to learn 4 Keys to Getting More Done with ADHD.
