ADHD Coach Blog

Works for Me

Archives: June 2009

When I Say Ready...

I asked my son what it's like to live with an ADHD mom who's always running late. Seeing things from his perspective was not flattering, but it was necessary.

I asked my son to write a blog post for me. "What should I write about?" he asked. After kicking around a few ideas, I asked him to write about what it's like to live with an ADHD mom.

"What would you say?" I asked him. He laughed and described how we're always late. "You tell me you're ready and it's time to go, so you tell me to hurry up and get ready, and then I do, and then you're not ready. Then I get into something else and suddenly you're yelling at me because you're ready again and I'm not."

"I yell at you?"

"Well, no."

Kids can be so dramatic. But his story made me think. He's right. I struggle with the definition of "ready." And apparently it's pretty frustrating to him.

So let me think. What do I need to walk out the door?

• Lock the back door
• Get my purse
• Fill my water bottle
• Print directions
• Get the stuff I need to bring
• Oops, remember more stuff I need to bring

Hm. These are always afterthoughts. I say I'm ready, and then I start on this list. Five minutes, two more "ready" announcements, and three trips upstairs later, I'm truly ready to walk out the door.

I never gave it much thought. It's just What I Do. I know it irritates him, and every time it happens, I feel bad. For a few seconds anyway, until I forget about it again. But something about hearing it like this has put it into a different light for me. This is how he characterizes me as a mother? Not very flattering.

The good news is that this should be easy to remedy. I've never been late for an appointment with a client, and I don't think any of them think I'm scattered. So I know I can do it. I just need to use more of a business mindset with my family. It's my job to be ready when I say I'm ready.

Looks like it's checklist time for Mom.

Get Back to Work!

10 little ways to recharge your batteries at work without opening the door to ADHD-fueled distraction and procrastination.

In my last post, I wrote about Instant Boss, a free computer application that helps ADHD adults stay on task by running a timer to manage your work and break periods. You tell it how long you want to work before taking a break (say 25 minutes), how long your breaks will be (say 5 minutes), and how many times to repeat the cycle (say 4, for a total work period of 2 hours).

One of the pitfalls of using this system is the easy temptation to ignore the 'boss' and never get back to work. So this time, I’ll share some ideas for what to do on your breaks to make it easier to resume work when your time is up.

1. Drink a glass of water
2. Do some light stretching
3. Do some simple aerobic activity (maybe a few dozen jumping jacks)
4. Meditate
5. Step outside for some fresh air
6. Grab a quick, healthy snack
7. Spend five minutes reducing the clutter in your immediate vicinity
8. Check your email and phone messages IF you can do so without responding to any of it
9. Avoid activities that exert the same sort of fatigue as what you’re working on. For example, if you’re writing a report, don’t switch to updating your blog on your break. You won’t feel refreshed when it’s time to get back to work.
10. Above all – and this is the one that gets most people - avoid activities that draw you in. Don’t start something you can’t wrap up in the time allotted. Don't do anything you know you’ll get lost in, like internet surfing or reading the paper.

It’s helpful to think about your break activities in advance so you don’t spend half your time wondering what to do. Or worse yet, get sucked into something that draws you away from your work for the rest of the day.

Remember that the purpose of your breaks is to recharge yourself for the next work period. Use them wisely.

Stay on Task With This ADHD Timer

Use Instant Boss, an ADHD-friendly download, to help you stay on task and on time at work - without overloading your brain.

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.