Adults who struggle with ADHD and executive functioning challenges often fail to focus on the right thing at the right time at work. Try these strategies to achieve more.
Get Ready to Work
At the beginning of your day, take about five minutes to clear off your work area (if you didn’t do this at the end of the previous day). Clear any distractions from your work area.
Spend 5 to 10 minutes to update your calendar/task management tools, review your appointments/meetings for the day, and then prioritize the 2 to 4 most important tasks you need to get accomplished. This process helps you to be more focused on your most important tasks, so be realistic about what you can get done based on all your other responsibilities.
Put your work “to do” in folders or an in-box on the left side of your work area and put a “work completed” folder or out-box on the right side. Work from left to right: just seeing your work move from “to do” to “done” can motivate you to keep going when the going gets tough.
Plan on Distractions
We all have distractions: “fires to put out” or unexpected last-minute meetings. Plan on these things happening and don’t let them get you off-track. When something comes up, quickly jot down where you are on your important tasks, and then once you handle the situation, go back to completing your priorities.
Establish Time to Do Your Priority Tasks
It can be helpful to establish a realistic beginning time and an ending time to complete specific priority tasks. If you don’t have a beginning time, you could put-off these tasks all day. Similarly, if you don’t have an ending time in mind, it is easier to get distracted and you could find yourself taking all day to do these things. If you need help with this, consider my suggestions on block-scheduling.
Use a Timer to Stay on Task
During the time you’ve established to complete important tasks, try using an interval timer set to beep or buzz every 10 to 15 minutes. When the timer beeps, look at your list or stack of work and ask yourself, “Am I still on task, or do I need to get back to it?”
Structure Your Time for Success
Once you get started, try this routine to build and maintain your motivation.
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Spend 15 to 20 minutes doing everything you can complete quickly. As these items are completed, check them off your list and put them in your “work completed” folder. This produces chemicals in your brain that are important for motivation and focus. This process gets you ready to focus on more difficult tasks you don’t want to do.
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Spend the next 35 to 40 minutes completing difficult work that requires your best attention (or work you don’t really want to do). Now that your brain is ready for these tasks, turn off all electronics and stay away from all distractions. If you are “on-a-roll” completing these tasks, it’s okay to go over this 30 minute limit.
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Take a 5 to 10 minute break. Get up and move around, drink some water, and/or have a quick snack.
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Repeat these steps as many times as necessary to complete all your tasks.
These amounts of time are not “set in stone.” If they don’t work for you, feel free to adjust them to fit your specific needs. The main point is to maintain this structure. When you are distracted, tired, bored, overwhelmed, or just don’t want to do certain work, your brain needs this type of structure to get going.
This structured routine originally developed at Harvard Business School, has helped struggling and overwhelmed adults get more work done.
Evaluate Your Progress
Take time to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of your plans and strategies. If your plans aren’t working, “problem-solve” in order to identify and create new ones based on your strengths and abilities. Remember to celebrate your successes in order to energize your effort and expectations!
Need Help Applying these Concepts?
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(C) 2010-2019, MONTE W. DAVENPORT, PH.D.
