41 Time Hacks Used by ADHD Ninjas (aka Our Favorite Experts)

7 Comments: 41 Time Hacks Used by ADHD Ninjas (aka Our Favorite Experts)

1. When using a GPS app, back departure time up 15 min for every 30 min of commute time.

   And that’s not even ADHD. Those apps always seem to add to the arrival time after you get on the road.

2. Definitely a fan of many of these hacks; I have a clock in every room, try to organize my day to do certain tasks when I’m in the best frame of mind to do them, try to take care of myself so I can sustain my energy (that includes meeting my needs for rest/sleep, unscheduled time, solitude, high energy activities, time outdoors, etc…and looking after my nutritional needs, including taking certain supplements). I do find that I need to make lists and write things on my calendar, etc, but I can’t “live by my lists”, as much as it would be great to be able to organize my life this way. I use my calendar to make my daily schedule visible at a glance, I write lists to plan my shopping, and as needed to think through and prioritize tasks, but I find that beyond that, trying to “live by my lists” can produce a lot of anxiety and immobilize me. One hack I use every day: I choose a tangible item to carry around, or one I will “bump into” to remind me about/jump start particular tasks. Overcomes a lot of issues with short term memory, and with inertia when starting a task!

3. I liked the things in this article.

   I am fairly recently diagnosed with ADHD age 68, although I am strongly inattentive type, and lesser the other two types.

   Reading this list tells me that so many things all my life were ADHD, NOT me being a failure.

   Yes, my eyes glaze over when lists are mentioned, BUT I have found that it is good to write down what needs to be done. I have an amazing memory… I ALWAYS remember that urgent thing, 30 minutes after the deadline.

   I don’t ever ever schedule actual times to do things – that would never work anyway. But it’s good to have everything that I want to attend, appointments, or “needs to be done” written down in one spot (with deadlines, when applicable)

   I do this on my phone’s calendar, because I can (almost) always find my phone. I use the WeNote app for Android and love love love it! The designer must have ADHD!

   But I really like the idea of also having it written down on a big calendar or page in a prominent spot in front of me so I can see it at a glance. I’m thinking something on the wall would be good for this.

   Obviously, I didn’t read all 41 things. (If you did, you may not have inattentive ADHD) but I did save the article to reference from time to time.

4. Calendars. Crisis at the beginning of a new month. Somehow my head can’t make a smooth transition from month to month. Wherever a month ends on my calendar, I’ll fill in the next blank boxes with whatever’s scheduled that week even though it’s actually on the next month. And believe it or not, when I turn the page over, I go back and fill in events from the previous week in the empty boxes at the beginning of the month. Seeing events in the context of a full week helps orient me.

   1. Yes! This is SO true!

5. I use ‘Freedom’ to block my iPad at various points – including the evening, when I ought to be relaxing and not surfing the internet. I also block it for when I get up in the mornings, so I don’t waste time over my tea browsing. I use a different app on my laptop, but it stops me reading newspapers during the day! Internet use is a massive distraction.

6. Just a couple of these hacks, and Ned Hallowells tips, I can actually use.
   The point is that when you have been dealing with ADHD your whole life, is that making lists and sublists , used to be a hobby, a hobby that sucks a lot of energy, that’s why I do not want to make lists and use pomodore ! These things actually stress me up, so I get stuck before even starting. I tried Mel Robbins’ count to 5 technique ( count from 5 to 0 and just do it ), but then just like today, actually wanting to do my paperwork ( the most exciting part ), but I get distracted by so many things , and the only way to go , is to act on intuition….go play do what you like , but do it ( easy if you like your job like myself ). The distractions are killing me. Yesterday, I was planning the same but ended reading a novel, surfing on the internet, social media , reading a dozen of websites about ADHD, buying boots , playing Forge of Empire, answering emails of a couple of clients, and planning the holiday…but it feels like I have done nothing, feeling guilty about the chaos. So I am taking only two hacks from this post; Ned Hallowells.