Category Archives: Time Management

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Add Hours to Your Day

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ADHD and ADD lead to time management challenges.  Do you joke that you would like to add more hours to your day?  I propose that you can do this!

Okay, I’m not able to change the clocks, but by implementing some of the tips below, you can create more productive hours in your day.

Plan

Start by planning your day. If you know what you need to accomplish and identify when you can accomplish it, you increase your odds of getting it done. Don’t feel like you have time to plan?  Start with 5 minutes for your daily planning. Even just a small amount of planning can really help.

Track Work Time

After you plan your day, estimate how much time each task will take.  This is a great double-check on your planning. If you have planned 16 hours worth of activities into your workday, chances are, you cannot get it all done.  No one could!  It is a sign that you need to prioritize what gets done and take a few things off the list.

The most powerful part can be when you go back at the end of each task and note how much time each one actually took you to complete. You can develop more accuracy in your plan and become more realistic in the future.

Prioritized “To Do” List

Use a prioritized “to do” list instead of giving every activity equal weight. During your weekly planning time, take a minute to assign a priority to each task. This will help to ensure you don’t waste time on low priority tasks

Limit your Time Spent on Email

Email uses a lot of time.  To control the amount of time you spend, consider checking your email only a few times each day. If you check your mail each time you get a new message, you time transitioning between your current task and checking that email. You’ll spend less time on email if you check it in chunks of time.  I do this and spend about 50% less time on email than previously.

What do you think?  Can you add more productive hours to your day?

 

 

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Practical ADHD Strategies – Time Management @ Home

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Do you struggle with time management at home?  Are you rushing to get out of the house at the last minute?  Listen in to my Blog Talk Radio show as I share practical tips to help adults with ADHD manage their time at home.  The show is 15 minutes – a small investment of time to manage the rest of it better!

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Listen to internet radio with Laura Rolands on Blog Talk Radio

ADHD causes challenges with time management and Laura has some great strategies that you can start implementing as soon as the show ends.

Need some additional assistance with your Time Management?  Consider joining me and ADD Classes for the Adult ADD Time Management Intensive in January 2011.

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Prioritizing and Procrastination with ADHD

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Recently, as I was preparing for my procrastination discussion with Tara McGuillicudy on ADHD Support Talk Radio I asked my Twitter followers for input.  The first theme that arose was prioritization which tends to be difficult for someone with ADHD.  When someone has trouble prioritizing, it can lead to procrastination simply because you don’t know where to start.

Skill Building

While prioritizing can be difficult for someone with ADHD, it is a skill that can absolutely be developed.  Stop reading for a moment while you get a piece of paper and a pen.  Don’t wait until later (don’t procrastinate!)

Make three columns on your paper and label the columns, “Task”, “Must?” and “When?”  In the task column write down everything you can think of that is currently on your To Do list.  Don’t worry about the other two columns for now.  I recommend just writing out the list to avoid getting stuck on the actual priorities at this point.

Do you dislike the idea of writing a list?  If you prefer another method, try using sticky notes and putting them up on a wall.  The movement can be helpful and you can move your tasks around as needed.

Prioritize

After your list is done, go back and answer the question, “Is this something I must do?” and answer yes or no.  Next, for the items that must be done answer the question, “When must this be complete?”  After you have done this, look at your must dos that are due in the next few days.  These are most likely your top priority and need to be tackled first.

Rewrite

Now, write down your top priorities in your planner on the day that you plan to complete the task.  What?!?  No planner?  Be sure to get my guide to choosing the right planner before starting your shopping.

Now that you have your prioritized list, we have broken down one barrier to procrastination!  Congratulations!

Teleseminar

To learn more about overcoming procrastination with ADHD, join me on May 31, 2011 for a free teleclass titled “Procrastination and ADD / ADHD: Strategies for the Real World“.  I will help you identify how procrastination affects you and learn how to develop strategies and an action plan to overcome procrastination in your life.

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Prioritizing ADHD Goals

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Why Prioritize?

When you have ADHD, prioritizing your goals can be extremely difficult, yet it is an important skill to develop.  Prioritizing your goals allows you to focus on the most important ones. With prioritization you can gain:

  • focus on what is important
  • positive feedback when you accomplish necessary tasks
  • more time when you can take lower priorities right off your list

Without prioritization, we may get overwhelmed by too many goals, especially if we have a large number we would like to achieve.  All of your goals, of course, have some importance to you, but I would encourage you to move away from the idea that everything must be accomplished TODAY.  By applying some priority to your goals and responsibilities, some of the typical overwhelm can be taken away.

Priorities Change

Remember, your prioritization may change over time and that is perfectly okay!  Review your goals regularly to ensure they are still prioritized correctly.   Of course, this happens with business projects all the time, but it can also happen in our personal lives.

How to set priorities

There is no secret formula that is going to work for everyone when setting their priorities.  It can be helpful, however, to ask yourself a series of questions such as:

  • Do any of your goals have external deadlines?
  • What are the deadlines and are they negotiable?
  • How do the deadlines impact the priority of your goals?
  • Is this goal a high or low priority?  (Remember, this isn’t set in stone.  What feels right this moment)

After working on your priorities, take a step back and determine what you need to put on your Must Do list.  Remember that you can’t get it all done at once.  What are the critical goals and action steps that you need to set in the next day, week and month?

How do you prioritize and how can we help?

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Manage Your Email to Get Focused

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Email can be Overwhelming with ADHD

Check your email only a couple times each day and close it when you are finished.  The distractions and interruptions can really decrease when you do this and you can save time!

Delete emails as soon as possible so they do not clutter your inbox.

What tools do you use to manage your email?

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