Michael Sandler, ADD coach
A year ago, my client, Kathryn, was having trouble juggling her kids' needs and her full-time job as an administrative assistant. This single mom with attention deficit disorder (ADD ADHD) from Baltimore was so stressed that she had no time to take care of herself.
Another client, John, who ran a building contracting business in Denver, found himself showing up late for important jobs - or forgetting about them entirely. His upbeat personality couldn't make up for his poor time-management skills, and his clients were irate.
Today Kathryn and John are fitting just as many commitments into their days, but now they feel in control of their schedules - and their lives. The key to their transformations? Each started using one of the note-taking, calendar-keeping wonders known as personal digital assistants (PDAs).
Multitasking mom
Kathryn's hectic schedule was literally killing her. (At one point, she was briefly hospitalized for heart palpitations.) After our first meeting, she purchased a $99 Palm Z22. Then we entered her family's schedule, labeling her commitments in green, her son's in blue, and her daughter's in purple. She found the process scary, yet enlightening: She had more commitments than hours in the day!
Next we downloaded the calendar program Life Balance ($39.95 at LlamaGraphics.com), which helped her prioritize her commitments. PalmaryClock's ($12.95 at PalmarySoft.com) customizable, full-screen countdown timers were hard to miss - which made it easier for a visual learner like Kathryn to track her time.
Kathryn's new system for managing her commitments lightened her daily burdens and allowed her to carve out time for herself. If she knew she'd get stuck waiting for her kids in the minivan, she downloaded "e-books" (from Amazon.com or Palm.com) to escape and unwind. She also signed up for AvantGo (free at Avantgo.com), which enabled her to download, save, and read free news stories.
As a final step to regain control of her life, Kathryn turned her attention to her health. She joined a gym and keeps track of her progress on the Diet and Exercise Assistant ($19.95 from Palm.com/us).
Businessman on the go
John had a well-organized office staff, but he found it difficult to remain on schedule once he left the office. He invested in an HP IPaq Mobile Media Companion rz1715 ($249.99 at BestBuy.com). This Windows-based PDA has a color screen and comes equipped with Microsoft Transcriber (download it for free at Microsoft.com). This program allows John to write directly on his PDA's screen in his own handwriting, rather than with the clunky block-letter system known as "graffiti."
Each morning an assistant loaded John's appointments onto his PDA, complete with driving directions from MapQuest.com. She color-coded jobs to make sure that he left with proper supplies, and even scheduled alarms to remind him to eat.
Although he's a bit of a technophobe, John quickly became comfortable with the device and began venturing onto sites like Download.com, where he found the free dictation program Pocket Dictate 1.02. To track expenses and generate quotes for building projects, he downloaded an accounting program, Pocket Quicken ($39.95 at PocketQuicken.com).
John quickly became more productive and reliable. Now he earns his customers' trust instead of their ire.
Whether used at home or in the office, the PDA is one device never to be without.
This article comes from the April/May 2006 issue of ADDitude.
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