Stay on Task With This ADHD Tool

Did you ever notice that sometimes you can get more done with two hours of sustained effort than you can in an entire day? The illusion of having lots of time tends to make us more prone to distractions. "I have all day. I’ll just do this one little thing before I get started..." Next thing you know, the day is almost over and you haven’t done anything you planned.

I’ve found it helpful to designate finite work periods and set goals for what I will accomplish during that time. Having ADHD, I can’t focus on one thing for very long. Sometimes I can go an hour, sometimes I can only focus for five minutes. What I do is set an ADD-friendly timer for the amount of time I think I can be successful, and then take a short break. I repeat the cycle for the duration of my work period.

There’s a great little free computer application called Instant Boss that helps with this. Like a real boss, it tells you when to work and when to take breaks. Here’s how it works:

• You tell The Boss how long you think you can work without getting distracted, how long of a break you need, and how many times to repeat the cycle. For example, maybe you decide to work for 25 minutes, take a five minute break, and repeat that four times. That gives you a total work session of two hours.

• You start the timer

• The Boss tells you when it’s time to take a break

• The Boss tells you when it’s time to get back to work

• The Boss tells you when you’re done for the day

This is a beautiful thing for those of us who do well with timers, but aren't so good about setting them for breaks - or setting them again afterward.

There is a bit of flexibility in case your good intentions are unrealistic. You can tell it you want to extend your break, or skip your break, or stop the clock to answer the phone.

I use Instant Boss whether it’s crunch time or I just want to be proactive. It keeps me focused and has done wonders for my productivity.