Before we discuss technology, let’s start by encouraging you to utilize or buy an old-fashioned egg-timer. An egg-timer will be your best friend when it comes to time management. If you happen to own a smart watch, you have a timer setting and you can use that as well.
Why an egg-timer?
Why not? If you are challenged by not being able to sense time, then an egg-timer (when set) will keep your tasks timed. By doing this you can accomplish more in a day and…….have a better chance of staying on schedule.
What’s a Time-Timer?
You can get fancy and purchase a time-timer if you prefer to see how much time you have left. Some people find this helpful so that they know how much time they have to wrap things up. Whether it be a homework assignment, a project, or a task, seeing is believing. What you can’t imagine is right in front of you. A time timer app is also available on some smart watches.
You can buy this Time Timer on our website: https://organizeu4life.com/time-management-products/time-timer/
Calendar Apps that Work
This gets a little tricky because each of us are different and like specific features. I like the DUE app on my iPhone. It literally keeps me in check.
Every time I must remember a time-related task I put it on my DUE. What I like is how is has an audible sound and won’t stop reminding me. You get to set how often DUE will bother you. Yes, we can all ignore the sound of an audible reminder, but this is where developing new habits comes in.
Change your old habit of ignoring the alarm to responding to the alarm after hearing it the first time. If you keep changing your habit in a positive way, it will eventually work for you. You need to be consistent in your effort to change the habit. This does require you being mindful.
If you don’t have an iPhone you should look online and compare calendar apps that provide bells and whistles. Most of my clients do best hearing a reminder. Choose one that has the features that best suits your needs. Please let me know what you think works best for you. Info@OrganizeU4Life.com.
The ADHD Watch a/k/a the Watchminder
I wish I had the rights to sell the Watchminder3 on my website. I recommend this watch so often I could be rich from all the commissions I would make. All kidding aside, this watch is not only good for someone with ADHD, but it happens to be plastic so often my clients on the spectrum mention that they don’t feel the same sensitivity that they do with other watches.
Why the Watchminder 3? This watch is preset to remind you to do the most fundamental tasks one has to do day-to-day, and it vibrates. Having something on you is just that much better than relying on your cell phone and it doesn’t give you an opportunity to be distracted from a smart watch.
Although setting this watch means reading and understanding the instructions (it’s not for the faint of heart), once you have conquered that part the rest is easy and well worth the effort.
In addition, the Watchminder3 lets you program reminders for new habits as well as it lets you set other personal reminders. They often offer a promotion. The watch runs from $59.99 to $69.99. It comes in many colors, and you can swap out the watch band for another since the watch is a standard watch. You can get this fabulous tool at www.watchminder.com.
Define My Day
Perfectly titled for the ADHD’er. Too often hours get lost, and you feel like you can’t recall what you did all day. Losing time hurts and it’s painful to feel like you have no control over what you can accomplish during the day.
Why I like Define My Day is because this appeals to the person who likes to keep track in writing. It’s not just the writing, it’s the beauty of how they have laid out the pages.
To quote the manufacturers of Define My Day, “Small Steps Big Results”. I couldn’t agree more. Less is more for the ADHd’er. Try not to overschedule yourself. If you want to create those new habits I spoke of, start by giving yourself three tasks to accomplish. You can even add making your bed as one of the tasks. At the end of the day review what you have accomplished. If you were able to achieve your goals, then hooray and pat yourself on your back.
What?? You are not impressed that you were able to accomplish three things in one day? That’s not enough for you? Oh, so you want to beat yourself up because you couldn’t do what your friend did in a day? Well, ask yourself, are you them? No, you’re not. We are each different. Neuroatypical, Neurotypical. We all can and can’t do certain things. There are days that Neurotypical people procrastinate and don’t get to their schedule either. Stop beating yourself up and be realistic. Less is more.
Now let’s talk about my concept of scheduling time. I don’t believe in scheduling entire days when you start. Try to schedule a segment of a day, like the morning. See how that goes for a week or two and then graduate to the early afternoon. Then you can tackle the latter part of the day and eventually your evening time.
Another fabulous hack is the historical scheduling. WRITE down when you do things. By looking back and keeping track of when you do things it will one, help remind you that you can and did get that task done and two, it will help you in the future figure out the best time for you to get things done.
Okay, somehow, I managed to stray from the topic of Define My Day. Inside this spiral book are month’s goals, my ideal day, milestones, daily disciplines, to-do list and drumroll please, my all-time favorite PRIORITIES!
Under priorities there are only THREE, count them THREE tasks that you are expected to do and up to THREE priorities in a day. Define My Day is brilliant and a great little helper for the ADHD’er. You guessed it; you can buy this wonderful tool on my website. https://organizeu4life.com/time-management-products/define-my-day-planner-and-journal/
By the way, you should really consider sending me your email on my contact page. https://organizeu4life.com/contact/ I have a great marketing team and they do contests often and offer some of the very products that I mention here as prizes.
What’s New?
A sucker for technology (just ask my adult kids), I just bought the Remarkable2. I haven’t received it yet, but if this baby works well, I can say goodbye to all my random sticky notes. Having all my notes in one place (yes you can categorize them all on the Remarkable2) is appealing to me. It reminds me of my ‘notes’ on my cell phone and MAC desktop. Having all my notes in one place is far easier than trying to find what I wrote in a random notebook that happened to be sitting on my desk.
Oh, so you think Professional Organizers don’t have their issues with organization. Well, you are wrong. The big difference is we find a way to organize ourselves, which is why I am looking forward to using the Remarkable2. It has its setbacks. Any time you buy technology that has its own proprietary software it isn’t necessarily user friendly with existing popular software. However, when I think about my handwritten notes all over my desk and walls, I recognize that those don’t exactly sync with Word or any other popular note taking software either.
Just like many other people, I like having my notes exposed so that I can find them when I need them. Well, if you are like me, what ends up happening is that your space looks like it’s been taken over by colorful post-it notes and bulletin boards, and see-through blotters with notes under the blotter. I am being honest. This is how my office looks and I am tired of it.
The other good part about having organizing skills is knowing when to purge. After I am done inputting into the computer what I need to access in the future I then file it in my favorite filing place, the garbage can. (However, there is always something new to remember and so those colorful post-it notes are still around, they just have different information on them.)
If you don’t have the ability to schedule putting important information into a calendar, or in your contacts, or on an excel spreadsheet, the Remarkable2 might be the perfect hack for you. Look for my upcoming reviews in the next week or two.
Time to say goodbye to this:
and hello to this:
Not to mention that I love trees, and this is my way of doing my part to save those beautiful trees in our world!
Sticking to my less is more policy, I know that I have already given you too much in one blog. Look for more exciting hacks that will help you function at your personal best.
By the way, you can always purchase some of my guidelines on how to Organize Your Room or Study Skills. Take advantage of my ridiculously low prices! https://organizeu4life.com/how-to-ebooks/
-Take it from the Deb-Meister