time management, organization suggestions
here's what i know so far. chadd has a great pamphlet on time management:
www.help4adhd.org/documents/WWK11.pdf
any other great resources?
also, i am attempting to master the use of my Palm Treo 700W with an add-on program called "Pocket Informant;" a personal organizer. it's great, but offers so much detail and options that it can be intimidating. does anyone have similar experiences or suggestions?
thanks,
ben
I don't use anything digital for organization. I find it overwhelming and full of options I don't really need.
Instead, I have a big monthly planner with blank boxes for each day. The planner is such that, when you open it, you can see the entire month at once. I write everything in it... in pencil. I write jobs, meetings, social events, friends' birthdays, important days for loved ones (i.e. a friend's first day at a new job so I can remember to ask how it went). When I am casually invited somewhere that does not require an RSVP, or when there is an event I may want to attend on a certain date, I write it down in parentheses, signifying it's an option, but that I have not committed to attending. I carry the planner everywhere with me. The cover is soft and flexible so it's not intrusive. Sometimes I'll open it up and kind of "study" it so I know what's coming up in the week(s) ahead. I also write down how much money I make each week (I do a lot of independently contracted work) and how much certain events I attend cost. When tax season comes, I use this as my official "log" for deductions/expenses so I don't have to try to keep track of receipts.
People see my planner and think I'm so organized and focused... they have no idea what I've been through ;)
Time Management:
I use a sprial 4 X 6 Notepad for a calendar a week or two out, from the back of hte pad. I cut teh pagge corners to find TODAY. I take notes from the fron, sequentially, from front to back.
The bottom page of the calendar is for TO DO. The top page is for * Atta Boy recognition.
I have some projects I have been delaying, that take set-up time, If I never set up till too late, I never get anything done. So I am starting a new page, in the projects before the calnedar, that need some set-up time.
I can delay paying bills, then it becomes a project to hand deliver the bills on time.
Ther is a forum, Time Management, taht is not often used, but has some good resource material on it.
I need to do more on my Time Management.
Here are some threads I found under ADHD Adult:
http://www.adhdnews.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=5748&K W=Time+Management
http://www.adhdnews.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=3146&K W=Time+Management
I too avoid the electronic organizers, although some people love them. I just lose everything, so I find a wall calendar to be best. I also make sure to copy things into a planner I keep in my purse so if I have to schedule something I have it there- then it's just a matter of transfering it to the wall calendar (a habit I had to develop).
I also go through a lot of notepads making to- do lists which I then tape to the wall next to the calendar. Only the kids's school stuff goes on the fridge.
On my sideboard in the dining room I have a sort of in/out box system for papers. I use the cheap plastic stacking paper trays. Top one for papers that need my attention in the immediate future (say the next week or so) and the bottom for papers I need to keep for some reason or another but that don't really need my attention. I try to clean out both trays every weekend.
[QUOTE=jaderock54]On my sideboard in the dining room I have a sort of in/out box system for papers. I use the cheap plastic stacking paper trays. Top one for papers that need my attention in the immediate future (say the next week or so) and the bottom for papers I need to keep for some reason or another but that don't really need my attention. I try to clean out both trays every weekend.
[/QUOTE]I like the idea of having in/out trays at home. I like the idea of cleaning out both trays every weekend even more :)
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