Let’s start by entering all of the critical information you know about this year. Start with the long-term items, and work into the more specific ones. Find work and/or school schedules for yourself and anyone in your household you should be responsible for - transfer all critical dates such as days off, breaks, and holidays into the monthly and weekly sheets in this planner. Add your pay dates to the planner. Consider marking them on the year-at-a-glance page at the back as well. Now think about things at home and write them into this planner: special events, travel dates, birthdays, family gatherings, chores, tasks, etc. If you have certain bills due at the time of the month, adding them to the planner will help...
Lists! (Stop relying on your working memory!) Working memory is the part of your brain focused on immediate tasks, steps, to-dos, and conversations (ie: choosing your words carefully). But when you use your working memory for too many tasks and challenges, it causes cognitive fatigue. If you struggle with paying attention, remaining focused, and task completion -- you need to learn to use external tricks instead of relying on your brain to hold a million details. This is where lists come in handy; when you are trying to get a lot of things done, lists can feel like a waste of time or the best idea ever. Understanding what they are good for will help you decide when to use...
Accountability means taking responsibility for your own stuff. If you find yourself saying: “I didn’t know,” “No one made me a list,” or “No one told me what to do.” Then you aren’t being accountable for your own responsibilities. Yet sometimes, we do need someone else’s assistance. Accountability partners can help you reduce stress and pain, allowing you to refocus on the task. Accountability partners can be a friend, a colleague, a co-worker, a family member — someone who is interested in you as a person and wants you to do well. This person isn’t going to help you do the work, answer your questions about the work, or get mad if you don’t get things done. Instead, this is...
This technique is useful when you have a lot of thoughts rolling through your mind. It is the act of writing down everything that comes to your mind. This is a way to get your thoughts out of your brain, onto paper, and free up space in your mind. This is done without self-criticism, self-editing, or trying to cut anything short. All thoughts and ideas are welcome during brain dumping. How to do a brain dump Find a blank space to write - it can be scratch paper, somewhere in your planner, or a note on your phone. Write down everything that comes to mind. It doesn't have to be orderly, just get it out of your head and onto paper....
Plan for the long term. When you need to tackle a large project or have a big goal you want to accomplish, it can be helpful to understand the difference between a macro-view and a micro-view of the tasks involved. What must get done now? And what can wait? Understanding macro and micro can help us prioritize when there’s too much to be done at one time. Macro-level thinking is long-term and big goal-focused: completing a year of school, renovating a room, and completing a large work project. These things take focus on the long-term. Micro-level thinking is the small steps that build a foundation towards the bigger goal. These close-up, detailed views are important because they help you make...
I need a break! Yes, your brain needs breaks, like your body after an intense activity: weight lifting, running, or after an illness. Brain breaks are for recovery after building and learning – and returning yourself to a baseline level. Healthy physical recovery choices include rest, ice, water, or nutrition. Unhealthy recovery choices include excessive rest that weakens muscles, sitting too long without moving, and consuming sugary drinks or junk food. Now let’s translate that to your brain and understand checking-out vs re-charging. Smartphones, computer screens, and electronics are amazing. They grab our attention, help us get lost in amusing entertainment, connect with others, and give easy access to research questions. These devices help us check-out, turn our brains off,...
Practice this re-charge. What is your energy level right now? Do you feel like a hummingbird, a sloth, a grizzly bear, a worker bee, or something else? Take time to think through how your body physically feels. Scan your body, posture, gut, breathing, head/neck/shoulders. Are you carrying pain or tightness? Are you breathing shallowly instead of taking clean, deep breaths? Are you holding tension in your back? Are you bouncing and fidgeting out of boredom or anxiety? Mark the spot below that feels most like your energy right now. What about your mental energy? Is it early in the day, mid-day, or late at night? How awake are you? Is this a good time for focus, or are you winding...
"I should just stop what I am doing and take the time to eat" is NOT a reasonable expectation of yourself as someone with ADHD. You will experience overwhelming moments and periods of hyperfocus -- so prepare ahead of time to handle it successfully. Let's start with some basic truths about ourselves: Eating on a regular schedule helps your body regulate mood, and any medications you take. This is particularly true for any time-sensitive medications for ADHD, depression or anxiety. When you don't eat regularly due to hyperfocus, and you lose track of time, your body will feel sluggish once you do eat as your body works to get back to a healthy baseline. When you are overwhelmed by the decisions or...
Here’s a scenario: You decide you want to start eating a healthy breakfast. Your excited about how this is going to make you feel, but when you wake up, you go through the old motions. You do what you’ve always done and grab some mini donuts from the bag in the kitchen before heading out the door. Midway through your morning, it hits you — UGH, you wanted to make a different choice and didn’t remember. Does that seem familiar? Do find yourself wanting to start a new habit or routine, but in the moment you keep forgetting to do the thing? Make a plan Sometimes succeeding in a new routine is about planning in advance. What can you do now...
How is it going? We are going to take a few minutes to think about what has gone right since starting this planner and the skills introduced. Identify a day or week that felt particularly good and consider what you did that week that made a difference. How can you have more days or weeks like that? Did it help to have a number or marker of progress towards a goal? What made you feel motivated? Review the list of skills we’ve covered so far: Setting up a schedule that works Checklists Macro-planning vs Micro-planning Accountability planning Brain Dumping Check-out vs Re-charge Pre-planning for future schedule Re-charge practices Starting a new habit Re-visit and prepare for next week by checking on your macro-level...
Sleep is the “night fuel” for your body and mind. During the day, we need a variety of fuels, but at night we need sleep—quality and quantity matter. It’s hard to work, take care of small humans, make meals, see your family, have some relaxation time, and get enough sleep. Let’s take control of the different factors that affect your rest by doing a sleep inventory. Mark the items that apply to you. Asses Where You are At What is your sleep like now? It’s hard to fall asleep I fall asleep as soon as my head touches a pillow I want to sleep all the time I fall asleep during the day I take long naps I wake up in...
Self-care is a trendy concept, but what is self-care? Is it sitting by the pool or getting a massage? Self-care Purpose Self-care is evaluating and doing things that result in being less stressed or more at peace within yourself. Self-care is self-awareness. Because you are unique, the care for yourself will look different than what someone else needs to do. It should include checking your mental and physical health and doing what your body and mind need. Here are some examples of ways to be more self-aware and care for yourself: A body scan is a great way to check in on yourself. Try asking yourself how your body feels in this position. Do it right now, even as you...
Habit bundling, also known as habit stacking, is when you combine an existing habit with a new behavior you want to implement. This approach makes use of the momentum of an already established routine to create a structure that helps overcome procrastination, a common challenge for individuals with ADHD. Here's how habit bundling can be used to manage ADHD-related procrastination: Identify an Established Habit: Begin by identifying a habit or routine that you already do consistently, like brushing your teeth, making coffee, or starting your computer in the morning. This existing habit acts as an anchor for your new behavior. Choose a Desired Behavior: Next, determine what habit you want to build or task you'd like to complete. This could...
How do I get started when I am not motivated? Or even worse, what if I don’t want to even start? You are in luck; we’ve got some handy and quick tricks for you to try. Pick one from the list to gain momentum: Split the difference — Sometimes, you can’t get going because you think about what you wish you were doing instead. When that happens, try splitting the difference. Use a timer do whatever you want work on your project do whatever you want work on your project Beat the clock — if you can’t get started because it feels overwhelming, set a timer for 10 minutes and challenge yourself to see how much you can get done in 10 minutes. Brain...
Take a minute to see if there is anything you've missed or need to review from the Skill Building Activities we've introduced so far:
Set Yourself Up for Success: Quick Start
Get Organized: Stop Relying on Working Memory
Get Organized: Help Them Help You
Get Organized: Brain Dumping Method
Get Organized: See the Future
Decompress the Stress: Check-out vs Re-charge
Decompress the Stress: Re-charge Practice
Body Balance: Fuel Your Brain
Brain Hack: How to Start Something New
Body Balance: Sleep Inventory
Decompress the Stress: Redefine Self-care
Brain Hack: Habit Bundling
Brain Hack: Motivation Magic
Color coding is like "brain candy" for people with attention and focus issues because it taps into the brain's attraction to visual stimuli, offering a simple yet effective way to organize information, stay focused, and manage tasks. How information is organized and presented profoundly affects our brain’s ability to process that information. It can affect how quickly we can understand the information or how well we can remember it. Take these two lists as an example, which list would help you structure your time better? To Do's: Email family about party Unload the dishwasher make dinner fold laundry pack tomorrow's lunches lay out kids clothes Check tomorrow's schedule Load and start dishwasher To Do's: Email family about party Unload the dishwasher...
If I asked you what makes you anxious, it probably wouldn't take long to come up with some go to things, and most likely they are things like public speaking, job interviews, and first dates. It's easy to feel the nerves, the stomach flutter, and the flush of your skin even when just thinking about those things. Let's take that intuition a step further and look at your plans for this week. Zoom In Is there anything on your calendar that is holding a sense of dread, anything you secretly wish you could reschedule? Are there any times when you always feel stressed - running late to pick the kids because your standing Wednesday meeting runs long? Mark those moments on...
Human brains are great at doing routines (and habits and patterns), but stopping a bad habit is hard on our minds. If you want to drop a habit (like using your phone in bed), you must interrupt your routine at an earlier point in time. To successfully change that routine, you may need to move your charger away from your bed to a different side of the room. You could power it down, turn it off and set it on your nightstand. You can hand it to someone who will tell you NO when you ask for it. Creating an interruption ensures you won't just go back to the usual pattern. Interrupting your routine is just making one thing different to remind yourself about...
Take a minute to see if there is anything you've missed or need to review from the Skill Building Activities we've introduced so far:
Set Yourself Up for Success: Quick Start
Get Organized: Stop Relying on Working Memory
Get Organized: Help Them Help You
Get Organized: Brain Dumping Method
Get Organized: See the Future
Decompress the Stress: Check-out vs Re-charge
Decompress the Stress: Re-charge Practice
Body Balance: Fuel Your Brain
Brain Hack: How to Start Something New
Body Balance: Sleep Inventory
Decompress the Stress: Redefine Self-care
Brain Hack: Habit Bundling
Brain Hack: Motivation Magic
Get Organized: Color Coding is Brain Candy
Decompress the Stress: Anticipate Anxiety
Brain Hack: The Trick to Stopping a 'Bad' Habit
Are you frustrated by your short attention span and the amount of focused work you can accomplish? Just like learning to run a 5k, it takes time to build your distance and speed. You can build the amount of time you can focus and the intensity of your attention. There are lots of methods to increase your ability to get work done (even the kind you don't like). Want to build your endurance and focus? 1. Create a to-do list of tasks or goals you want to accomplish. Set a timer for 10, 15, or 20 minutes. Be realistic about picking a time that is a stretch for your current skills. Remove the usual distractions, and hit start on the...
Why can’t I focus when I read?? Use audiobooks. This approach benefits people who learn through listening, are easily overwhelmed when faced with a page full of text, or need to have movement while focusing. You can use your hands to make artwork, color, paint, or fidget. You can move your entire body on a walk, pacing the house, or just wandering around doing some tidying up. Use the physical copy of the book. Reading on your computer cuts out some methods of learning. A paper book requires you to hold it, you can follow words with your finger, and you have to turn pages as you move along. Divide and conquer! Break the material into smaller, more manageable chunks....
How is it going? We are going to take a few minutes to think about what has gone right since starting this planner and the skills introduced. Identify a day or week that felt particularly good and consider what you did that week that made a difference. How can you have more days or weeks like that? Did it help to have a number or marker of progress towards a goal? What made you feel motivated? Review the list of skills we’ve covered so far: Setting up a schedule that works Checklists Macro-planning vs Micro-planning Accountability planning Brain Dumping Check-out vs Re-charge Pre-planning for future schedule Re-charge practices Starting a new habit The trick to stopping a 'bad' habit Redefining self-care Habit bundling and improving...
The words “sit still” might bring up memories of younger years and unmet expectations from the adults in your life at the time (but stay with us here for a minute). Intentional moments of stillness are good for your brain and body. These moments help the neural pathways that fire between your brain and body connect. Deliberate stillness helps increase your awareness of mindless fidgeting and movement. This creates endurance in your ability to focus. Some work islike a marathon; your brain and body are an endurance athlete, so think of this as marathon training. Make an effort to sit still as you do things that don’t require movement, like listening to podcasts, reading a book, or sitting at meals. Think about...
Revisiting: Plan for the long term. Macro-level thinking is long-term and big goal-focused. Micro-level thinking is the small steps that build a foundation towards the bigger goal. These close-up, detailed views are important because they help you make lists, check off to-do’s, and make slow, steady progress. Now that you are further along in the year, have learned about micro and macro level planning, you can add more context to your plans: When planning your long-term project, use these two different levels/views to set milestones and keep yourself on track. Start with the macro view. Find today’s date and mark it as your starting point. Mark the date your project is due or when you want to accomplish your goal. Check how...
What is your energy level right now? Do you feel like a hummingbird, sloth, grizzly bear, worker bee, or something else? Take time to think through how your body physically feels. Scan your body, posture, gut, breathing, head/neck/shoulders. Are you carrying pain or tightness? Are you breathing shallowly instead of taking clean, deep breaths? Are you holding tension in your back? Are you bouncing and fidgeting out of boredom or anxiety? Mark the spot below that feels most like your energy right now. energy image here What about your mental energy? Is it early in the day, mid-day, or late at night? How awake are you? Is this a good time for focus, or are you winding down from a...
What would your day look like if it ran perfectly? Pick a weekday, weekend, or a work day. Think through the day: What time would you wake up? How long would it take for you to get out of bed, what would you do first? Would you check your phone, or would you get up and go for a walk? What about stretching when you wake up? What would you eat or drink to fuel yourself? How would your body feel with your choices? When would you ready yourself for the day and what would be the best way to go about it? Now think through the productive part of the day - would you work or work out? Would...
It's hard to let others into our messes, whether its a proverbial mess of a disorganized life or the literal mess of a living room buried under all your stuff. But, letting someone in can be incredibly freeing - learning that others can help you be a better version of yourself simply by allowing them in. Sometimes, people with ADHD or executive functioning challenges can struggle with friendships. They often experiencing their personal challenges through the lens of shame and self-criticism. This shame spiral undermines all the positive work you are doing to learn and incorporate new skills. Letting someone into your "mess" means being vulnerable, sharing imperfections, asking for help, acknowledging what you don't do well. Allowing someone in means: - openly...
One of the most effective strategies to manage holiday stress is to plan ahead to prevent holiday meltdowns. We come into the holiday season with a mix of feelings, happy and sad, maybe even with some anxiety. The logistics, expectations, commitments and obligations can be so overwhelming. But, if we look at what we've done previous years and what we can do before the holiday season this year then we can put some strategies in place. This isn't about creating the perfect holiday -- this is about creating a realistic and enjoyable holiday season. Let's start with taking measure of your own holiday emotions and energy levels. Get out a pen and paper, jot down some feelings words. Push yourself...
Are you doing what is best for your body? Our bodies send signals about all kinds of things: anxiety, thirst, hunger, need for movement, need for rest, anger, health, and fatigue (just to name a few). People rely so heavily on their bodies to be "just fine" when sitting and working at desks, couches, beds, and living room chairs. When you finally stand up and stretch, you realize just how many different signals and how much information you weren't getting from your body. The creaks, pops, and discomforts are ways your body tells you its time to pay attention and give it some of the movement it needs. When you are working in a sedentary manner and your brain is occupied, you are...
As you near the end of the planner year, it's the right time to reflect on two questions: What is working for me now? What needs work in the coming year? Take a moment to reflect on the skills you worked on over the year. Executive functioning skills included exercises on: list making (to-do and done lists), chunking information, habit bundling, anticipating anxiety, planning out a year, color coding, self-care, prioritization, structuring your day. Think back on the skills, exercises, and organization in the planner that worked for you – maybe there’s a trick you picked up on that worked really well for your brain, your life, your household. It’s amazing what our brains can do, and frankly, how silly...
Take a minute to see if there is anything you've missed or need to review from the Skill Building Activities we've introduced over this year: Set Yourself Up for Success: Quick Start Get Organized: Stop Relying on Working Memory Get Organized: Help Them Help You Get Organized: Brain Dumping Method Get Organized: See the Future Decompress the Stress: Check-out vs Re-charge Decompress the Stress: Re-charge Practice Body Balance: Fuel Your Brain Brain Hack: How to Start Something New Body Balance: Sleep Inventory Decompress the Stress: Redefine Self-care Brain Hack: Habit Bundling Brain Hack: Motivation Magic Get Organized: Color Coding is Brain Candy Decompress the Stress: Anticipate Anxiety Brain Hack: The Trick to Stopping a 'Bad' Habit Brain Hack: Build Endurance Brain Hack: Read It Right Progress Check: What is Working? Brain Hack: Just Sit Still Get Organized: See the...