ADHD Online Time Management Trick

Do you find yourself distracted whenever you turn on your computer?  Going online is especially distracting for everyone – not just people who have ADHD.  Email, social media, online games, banking and blog feeds are all appropriate uses of online time.  But they can also keep you from focusing on more difficult computer uses like researching and writing papers.

There are a lot of tools you can use to monitor your online usage.  Timers, lockdown tools and parental nagging all come to mind.  Keeping your priorities in mind can be the simplest, low-tech, no hassle solution to using your time wisely.  How?

• When you turn on your computer use the boot-up time to set your priorities.
• Write on a sticky note 3 – 5 things you must accomplish during your day and post it at the top of your screen.
• Before you do anything else, work on the first item on your list.  For example, if you are turning on your computer to work on a paper, spend at least a half hour working on it before you check your email.  If you are turning on your computer to check email, don’t go to Facebook first.  You get the idea.
• It’s okay to take a break now and then to play on Facebook or read a few blogs, but be sure to keep checking your priority list and returning to work away on it.
• Be sure to spend more time on your work than you spend playing.
• Keep a running list of things you don’t have time to get to and at the end of your session circle or highlight the items you want to get to another time.

What do you do keep on track while you are online?