Difficulty with time management is common for an adult with ADHD. You may lose track of your time, miss deadlines, or underestimate on how much time is needed for a task. Some adults with ADHD may spend too much time on one specific task – also known as hyper focusing, that nothing else gets done. The difficulties can you leave you feeling, frustrated, and useless, however here are some steps to help you manage your time better.
Step 1 – Develop an attainable goal for each day – Whether it is a task that you need to finish at work, a school assignment or things around your house, wake up and think about which goal you want to, can and achieve.
Step 2 – Now that you have set your goals, look at the hours in the day that you can spend to completing that goal. If you believe that the goal is in fact achievable, schedule your day so that goal receives 100% of your time. Do not waste time or procrastinating on doing other the unimportant tasks that could be accomplished on another day.
Step 3 – Use the time when you are most productive to achieve this goal. If you are a morning person, use the morning time for that goal. Try not to start your day by checking your email or going to facebook. On the other hand, if you are a night owl, leave your important tasks for later hours of the day or night
Step 4- Be aware of where you are at the different points of the day. If you feel overwhelmed and you are not going to be able to achieve your goal; recalibrate yourself so you can be more refreshed when you go back to the important task so that you won’t let the whole entire day go by without finishing what you started.
Step 5- At the end of the day look at how close you came to accomplishing what you wanted to do. Make sure that you end your day at a decent time, so you can get a good night’s sleep. One of the best ways to stay productive is to allow your body to recoup from the day’s stresses.