We all know that, as adults, some planning may be involved. Whether it’s planning on how to get to work, or planning our budget, or scheduling meetings, or making sure that work is submitted on time, there is some planning involved. It is part of being an adult, at times. Many would expect it. However, when you have ADHD/ADD, planning/time management/anything involving planning can be a pretty huge challenge. It’s really not something that comes easily for us.
It’s not that we don’t want to be able to plan. Many of us may want to. It’s something that I would like to do. The fact is that our ADHD/ADD brain is just unable to do these kind of things. It’s not really able to plan for the future.
Planning a trip to the grocery store, or school/daycare drop offs, or making sure you get to work on time can be challenge. I’ll admit, thought, that some may a bit more of a challenge than others, but can still be a bit of a challenge.
Remember: ADHD/ADD affects us all differently and what might be a challenge for me might not be for someone else with ADHD/ADD, and vice versa. However, this still doesn’t mean we don’t have difficulty with planning and anything involving planning. Just a reminder.
There are so many ways out there to help people plan and organize things and such, like agendas and to-do lists, for instance. All are good and even ADHDers/ADDers can use them. However, we have to remember that since our minds work differently, we should probably use them a bit differently.
For instance, I am a visual person. So, if I can have something that I can see as a reminder, that really helps. I may use some sticky notes at work to remind me to call someone back later, or things that I have to do during the day. Although I do have to make sure that I discard all sticky notes that I don’t need anymore.
I have used the calendar on my phone for important dates, such as appointments and such. It does help me remember. I’ll admit though that sometimes I don’t really need it. Somethings I just have an easy time to remember, but other times I do need it written down somewhere. Preferably somewhere I will be able to see it when needed and won’t lose. Such as on my iPhone. I don’t often lose or misplace my phone. So, that tool, that calendar can be useful.
I also use an actual paper calendar. I’ll admit I use that one a lot more. I’ve written everything down on it. I like having things written down on paper. I’ve written down when my kids begin school, when we get paid, ped days/days off, and pretty much everything. As I mentioned, I am a visual person. So, this definitely comes in handy.
So, I might not be good at planning everything or the best with time management, but I do have tools to help me plan somethings and remember important dates. I do still have some work to do, but it’s slowly getting there. It’s perhaps a little better now than it was, as I do now have some useful tools that really do help me. Although they might not help everyone, they do help me and there are other tools out there for every ADHDer/ADDer who needs help with planning and such.
Here are some more resources for you.
www.additudemag.com/how-to-plan-ahead-when-you-have-adhd-understanding-time/
adhdjustlikeme.wordpress.com/2016/3/30/adhd-planners-and-organizers/
Thanks for reading!!
Picture credit: Pixabay
