ADHD and Schedules

“Eww, schedules.”

Have you ever had a sudden rush of motivation to be the most organized person on the planet, schedule every minute of your day, buy every stationary equipments for “productivity”, then you end up getting overwhelmed and thrown back into square one doing work a few hours before its deadline?

Extra points if you do this almost every month of your life.

Everyone, at some point, fails to keep a consistent routine, but in ADHD, there are a lot more challenges we have to face. On top of that, we actually need routine to improve our daily lives!

Our brains are always going here and there. Because of that, we need to lessen the decision-making load throughout the day, so we could focus on the more important stuff to think about rather than getting stuck on searching for the frying pan for 2 hours to make breakfast, get distracted and end up forgetting to eat for the whole day.

“But schedules and routines are a prison to me. They will decrease my creativity!”

Believe me, pal. I thought so too at first. But this means that we’ve been using or looking at them the wrong way. Schedules are a powerful tool for us to manage our symptoms, including but not limited to:

• Helps with time-blindness to remind us of appointment, important events, deadlines, etc.

• Lessen the feeling of being overwhelmed by all the tasks we need to do.

• Creates flexibility.

• Helps us balance between responsibilities and hobbies.

• But let’s be real here, “balance” is hard even for neurotypical people.

• What I’m saying is, by knowing how much time it takes to do the important stuff first, you can make your free time the best it possibly could.

• And you’re free from getting a burnout!

• Come on, don’t you think looking at the colourful blocks in your calendar excites you? Anyone? Just me? Okay then-

Click on the picture below to watch a series about it (and don’t forget to come back to this post!)

But if you’re like the majority of us who keep abandoning our schedules after using it for a week, then Emie is here to show you some boring but incredibly useful tips and tricks she learned! (After 4 years of trial and error and still going on)

Small Steps

I’m sure you’ve heard of this phrase more than 100 times already *cough*especially if you’ve been in this site for a long time*cough*, but in this case, small steps the most essential thing you need to keep in mind to build a steady routine.

There’s a good chance that you got overwhelmed by the schedule because there’s too much on your plate

Or

You’re not overwhelmed, but you still can’t keep up with it.

The best trick I’ve done to deal with this is to stick to completing one thing on my to-do list every day for at least 6-8 weeks. In other words, work on one habit first, until then, you can add one more to your plate.

(I heard about this trick from an ADHD coach, but I lost the video. Let me know if you found it!)

I understand that we get excited to grab every activity we can do in a day, but when the rush/hyperfocus dies down… well, you know.

That brings us to the next one!

Big Rocks Goes First

Check out this video to understand it better.

Deciding our priorities when we schedule is super important!

This means planning a clear goal and keeping it in mind as we schedule things, like: a career you wish to pursue, a personal goal in life, your environment, wellbeing, mood, health, mental health, your household’s routine, etc.

(Don’t forget to put eating and drinking too)

For example, I can’t decide between writing and drawing, but I don’t have the energy to do them both every day.

But I know that my personal goal is to finish writing a book for myself, therefore I need to write a little every day to accomplish that.

It’s Not Linear, Like, At All

Knowing about ourselves and what works best for us is crucial for making our own schedule. It’s almost like solving a puzzle! That’s where the trial and error of doing this shines. We learn from mistakes. There’s no need to be ashamed of. I genuinely believe that you can do it and improve the quality of your daily life.

Special thanks to @ShaunX for providing me with insights!

Other helpful sources:

• Why the Bullet Journal is the Best Planner for ADHD Brains

• How to Create a Bullet Journal Plus My Top 10 Tips

• ADHD Friendly Way to Plan Your Day -- Owaves Review! (iOS) (Android alternative: Sectograph)

• ADHD and Motivation

• How to Fight Your Procrastination Anxiety (and Win!)

• How to Get Projects Done, On Time, Without Your Life Falling Apart in the Process

• How to Create a New Habit: Note From Future Self

• How to Rebuild Your Routines When Everything Changes

Prompt Questions (optional)

1. Recall exercise: write down the things you found helpful in this post in your own words!
2. What kind of scheduling tips and tricks personally helped you?
3. Share to us about your journey in following schedules so far!

Message @EmikoKokoro if you feel like I need to add or remove something, thanks!

Emie || "If I can stop one heart from breaking, I shall not live in vain."