Each week, I take a half sheet of paper on which I have pre-printed the days of the week. I use this half-sheet of paper to plan out my week. I look at the previous sheet of paper, note any repeating items, and write those down on the appropriate day. I then go through the calendar on my phone and write down any scheduled activities. Then, I give my week a once over to see where I can schedule time for other projects on which I am working. This is how I know what I am doing when. If I write it down, it gets done.

Today’s blog post has to do with scheduling. Don’t run away yet! This blog makes the case for scheduling everything. It is truly helpful, and if you are not scheduling your to-do list items, this blog post will help explain why you should give it a shot.

I have a section on my weekly planning worksheet that says “Misc.” This is where to-do list items go when I do not have a specific day or time to do them. I might as well label this section, “Things I Am Not Going to Do.” Rarely do I do anything in that section. The bottom line is this: If I don’t schedule it, it’s not going to happen.

If you have ADHD, you might find that you struggle with time management. In fact, there is a very strong likelihood that you will struggle with time management. It is an executive function skill we ADHDers just do not have. We tend to focus on the present much more than the future. Because of this, we get so wrapped up with what we are doing that we forget about what we need to be doing later. In short, we have no internal sense of time. What we need to do, then, is externalize time.

Everybody always shares the same old advice for time management. The three big ones are: Plan on more time than you think you need (approximately 1.5–2 times as much time as you think you need) to do a task, aim to be 15–30 minutes early for everything, and use timers/alarms/planners. You’d think after years of people saying these things that everyone would be so much better at time management, but they are not.

The other day, I attended a dinner party and stayed later than I had intended. This led to me being tired the next day. I have been trying to get more sleep, so not only was I tired, but I was also disappointed in myself for staying out so late. This is a problem, and I’m sure I’m not the only ADHDer who struggles with this.

A common suggestion for productivity assistance for ADHDers is using a timer. This is often suggested for time management purposes, but I see two different ways this could help the productivity of an ADHDer. The first is the aforementioned most common explanation given for suggesting the use a timer, and the other one is a way it has been used in my own life. These two methods use opposite functions of a timer, counting down and counting up.