Adult professional with ADHD/executive function issues: Looking for a time management system. A literal system that helps set smaller to larger goals and habits in a clearly structured manner. Also, and very importantly it has an obviously quantifiable way to measure progress.
I've spent a lot of time/money on coaches and therapists and just can't find someone to provide me with an approach.
At this point I'd take a kindergarten level approach as long as it was something to get me on the right track.
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BlueRN
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I just found this thread, after reading your post. Maybe there's some information in here you find useful. I also struggle with these "systems". I know, logically how they are designed to help, but I still haven't been able to apply them in my my own world. So frustrating.
The link didn't transfer so you may have to copy and paste.
Hello Blue - I've struggled with this, too, and I don't have the perfect answer. But my suggestion is to use a project management tool, which will allow you to enter different "projects" (or areas of life) and then create time-sensitive sub-tasks - which can even be dependent on each other for start/completion. I've tried several different ones and am not totally in love yet, but Todoist.com has been my favorite. Trello was visually simple and easy to grasp, but not quite "enough" for me. Clickup.com is likely the best and most complete, but there's a quite a learning curve. Give Todoist a try and see what you think. It's a good place to start, and you'll at least then know what features you're looking for or don't want to mess with.
I'll just cut to the chase based on my reading and coaching and therapy and my own experience.
Basically, start anywhere. There is no system that perfectly fits anyone. None.
Just grab any system, and start it .. doesn't work ... pause ... think ... change it ... keep reading ... steal tips from various systems .... Just grab a tip that appeals to you to start on it.
If you go to the site of the group that runs this website ... chadd.org ... and go to the search bar and type in "time management" you come upon a bunch of articles ... Just pick a few ideas and start them .... Also pay attention to the stories of real people that appear in these articles ...
Example: I basically started with keeping a planner ... and then I read a few books on time management. Some of these books are tedious and too complicated ... but actually just skimming a bunch of books is fine. The good tips will jump out at you.
To show you the importance of just starting somewhere ... with something ... I tried a weekly planner ... worked for a bit ... but found the structure of weekly planners to be soul-killing. Each day looked monotonously the same ... I had a visceral negative reaction ... So I tried a daily planner ... which was ok ... but i'd forget to check the dang thing. I now use a monthly calendar—and love it!
You don't mention if you're being treated for the ADHD with meds. I spent over a decade trying organization and project management tools and reading time management book to try to find a way to manage my business and make more than token progress on my projects. Within 2 weeks of starting medication, I've organized my projects for the next month and am making significant progress. All those systems that failed for so long are accessible to me (with some tweaks, meds don't solve everything). But, I am astounded at how quickly things turned around and how clearly and easily it was to see a vision for how to plan and organize and proceed.
Can you do it without meds? Maybe, I don't know, there are plenty of people I've met along the way that are. I'll probably try it myself one day once the stakes are lower. But if you're underwater and not taking meds, at least consider it to give yourself space to set up something that works for you without your brain actively torpedoing everything you try...
All that said, I definitely have found ClickUp to be the best option for me. One thing I like a lot is the ability to estimate a task before I start and then track the time it takes to actually do it. I have a huge problem with time blindness which affects my work so I am hopeful that over time I'll get a good set of data on how long things actually take. I tried Trello and Asana and some others and I didn't really get engaged with them like ClickUp. I like that I can hide the data that I don't want and clean up the screen some.
ClickUp gives you enough space you could put work and life in there. It's got an app so you can access from phone, web, or desktop. It's free unless you want some of the more in depth reporting. I don't know what else I'd want.
There is a learning curve as was mentioned, but it's not insurmountable. Everything is there and easily accessible, you just have to take some time to play around with it, try some things, and be ready to change what doesn't work. There are some really good in depth videos on youtube too that can help too, you could get comfortably in a half day or day if you decided to. Hope that helps, good luck! Let us know what you eventually land on.
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