When you have ADHD or executive functioning challenges, you may feel restless, impulsive and have difficulty paying attention. That can make managing your time much harder. ADHD symptoms may mean you may not be as aware of time passing, able to predict how long tasks will take, or able to monitor your progress and make necessary adjustment. There are skills you can learn to help overcome these challenges.
Skills to Improve Your Time Management
Laurie Dupar, PMHNP, RN, PCC recommends these simple things you can do to help you build confidence, clarify and prioritize your goals, minimize your ADHD challenges, and get you past being stuck to actually following through with your plans.
- Plan – Start each day by taking time to think about what you want to accomplish that day with specific emphasis on one to five things.
- Check in periodically during the day – Ask yourself frequently during the day if what you are doing at that moment is what you want to be doing and if it is helping you accomplish your goals.
- Use a planning system – The more time we spend planning a project, the less time is required for it. Use a calendar, smart phone, or computer calendar to keep track of tasks and break them down into manageable parts.
- Concentrate –The amount of time spent on a project is not what counts; it’s the amount of uninterrupted time. Make sure you are in the right environment for you.
- Take breaks – Working for long periods of time can decrease energy, as well as increase stress, tension, and boredom. Switching from a mental task to a physical task and back can provide relief, increase your efficiency, reduce tension, and even benefit your health.
- Reduce clutter – In most cases, clutter hinders concentration and causes frustration and tension. When you find your desk or work space becoming chaotic, take time to reorganize.
- Avoid perfectionism – Getting something 85 percent perfect and completed is better than 150 percent or more than perfect and not completed.
- Learn to say no – Practice learing to decline, tactfully, politely, yet firmly.
- Don’t procrastinate – Waiting until the end may feel like you have more energy to do the task, but more than likely you will end up rushed, out of time and with results less than what you would have done if you had started earlier.
- Delegate – Assign the tasks that someone else can do, wants to do and takes you too long to do.
ADD ADHD Time Management Techniques For Success – ADD Crusher
Help Getting Started
Don’t try to do everything yourself. Seek out support as use to learn these skills. For example:
- Help from friends or family -Consider enrolling a trusted friend or family member, too, for additional assistance in help keeping you on-task and more focused.
- Tools & Apps – Scores of apps have been created to help you manage your time more effectively. Read the reviews and decide which ones will work best for you. Many of them are free. Avoid any app that seem to be complex or confusing.
Remember, you can improve your time management skills, overcome the challenges of ADHD and be more productive at work and in the rest of your life.