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APRIL IS FOR TOOLS

By: Lannette Guerra   |   April 14, 2022

April is not for fools; it's for tools and transformation. This month is an excellent month to assess the previous quarter and check in with ourselves on the five aspects of well-being: physical, emotional, social, spiritual, and intellectual.

 

During this quarterly checkup and introspection, you can see if the plans you set for yourself in late December and January are carrying forward. As a person with ADD, it’s essential to have these checkups and review timelines, schedules, goals, and calendars. This brings me to this month's article about the tools I've found to be helpful to fake my way through life with executive function and not dysfunction.

 

I think back to college and laugh; what a hot mess that was. Stumbling in late to class with many bags and books attached to me. Procrastinating deadlines to the absolute last minute.

 

Once, a  professor of mine gave us one month to work on our final project to prepare all the drawings and models. Everyone came to class and worked diligently on their projects. Meanwhile, I worked internally inside my head. One week before the final presentation, I stayed up for 48 hours and cranked out my drawings, models, and presentation outline. The work got done on time, but I  arrived at physical exhaustion after much procrastination. It was a cycle and pattern that my professors picked up on by my second year.

 

That next year, there was an argument between a professor and a student about not having anything to show after three weeks of work. Meanwhile, my desk was empty too. The professor then walked up to me, smiled, and said, “oh, would you look at that, you too. It’s fine; I know how you work.” At the time, I remember thinking, “how do I work? What is that supposed to mean?”

 

Fast forward to the present. Even though people with ADHD/ADD thrive under pressure, we don’t get a pass for procrastination in adulthood. We have to meet deadlines and produce the work expected of us on time. If not, we lose trust, clients, and even self-confidence.

 

So we have to develop tools to keep us on track. Even people who don’t lack executive dysfunction procrastinate. So imagine those that have it; it’s ten times worse. As the queen of procrastination (currently procrastinating PPP forgiveness from early 2021), I know what has worked in the past and what doesn’t. So I’ll share what I have found helpful in hopes that some of my strategies are helpful to you.

 

Be organized

Don’t rely on memory, ever! You will not remember that date, that name, that restaurant. You need to record that info somewhere.

Here are some ideas that work for me:

• Use virtual calendars and add notes
• Use alarms on your phone
• Use Alexa or Google Dot
• Use a physical journal to dump info into quickly and in the moment. Don’t use sticky notes or single sheets of paper. Using only one notebook ensures you do not lose notes, and you are less likely to forget where you put that information (just try not to lose that notebook).
• Use the Notes app on your phone.
• Use Contacts on the phone. When you meet someone, ask for that address, phone, and email on the spot. Take a picture of the business card and place it as a contact picture.
• Use a printed calendar on your desk or wall to visually see the weeks ahead. This will help you visualize project timelines, goals, and deadlines.
• I use this Day Designer, which I’ve been rebuying for five years. It’s been a lifesaver functioning as my notebook, journal, and calendar.

Scheduling

First and foremost, I must stress that a person with ADHD has to maintain a schedule at all costs. Even a schedule of your own creation. You may feel disorganized, fog-brained, and sometimes a little lost if you don't. That’s why during the pandemic, many people with ADHD who lost the sense of “business as usual” felt lost themselves.

 

As I’ve grown older, this carefree spirit has found that scheduling is not her enemy but her friend. Scheduling time for all areas of life has finally provided me with less stress and anxiety. I’m still spontaneous and adventurous. However, the plans with friends, family, and work are finally being set in stone on the calendar. No longer are the days of “one day.” I finally figured out that I’m not superwoman and cannot do everything at once. I can achieve what I want in life as long as I set time aside for my goals. I recently placed my five to ten-year goals on a spreadsheet and started using “asana” to brain dump all the to-do’s attached to deadlines. I created three categories for my todos.

• Do this today (priority items)
• Do this tomorrow (items that have deadlines)
• This might never happen but sounds fun (your idea bucket)

Time Blocking

By now (assuming you are at least in your 30s), you have developed your sleep schedule. Are you an early bird or a night owl? Depending on this, you can maximize the times of day that you are most productive and leave the more mindless tasks for the less productive hours.

 

Developing a time block schedule can help as well. For a person with ADHD, I have found that it’s not necessarily about when you do things, but that you are actually checking things off of your list. Letting go of getting something done at precisely 9 am helps you get stuff done at 9 am. You can achieve more once you take away the linchpin of failure. A sample time block schedule could look something like this.

 

Feed the Soul (focus on physical and spiritual health)

Deep Work (your most important work first )

Complete easier tasks

Family Time

Prep for the next day

The ritual of Bed

Sleep

 

I don’t have exact times for the goals on this table. As long as I’ve met each one, I have crushed my day.

 

I realize the system above might not be for everyone. However, it’s how I survived 38 years without knowing I had ADHD. It’s how I masked it. I also realize that my profession gives me the needed dopamine to feed my creative soul, and it also gives me the technical tools to function as an adult.

 

Most importantly, you can project according to priorities linearly and not linger too long in “the fog.” Sometimes, transformation tools are the same tools you’ve had your entire life. You just have to get creative with them and make them work for you.

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