Post by roland on Oct 21, 2010 8:58:03 GMT
This thread is a way of organising and keeping together tips and strategies that I've found on other sites (many of them American) and some will be more useful than others.
And now here's the first listing of tips from ADHD Support (This is an American website provided by Shire--a biopharmaceuticals company)
Organizational tips for yourself
Allow time each day to organize your next day. Many waste a great deal of time because they fail to plan. Of course this is good advice for anyone, but for those with ADHD, it's a necessity. Too many attractive distractions await those with ADHD. Unless you have a path to follow, you will certainly get lost.
Everything has a home. To function in a fairly anxiety-free state, you need to have a place for most things. It will help simplify matters if you learn to keep certain items in certain places.
Handle papers no more than twice. Some success experts tell executives to handle papers once. That is, they should decide on each thing immediately and pass it on for appropriate action. That's not bad advice for any of us, though we might need a second chance to decide what to do with something. Many people with ADHD have piles of papers they've looked at again and again and again. By the second time, file it or toss it!
Spend 15 minutes a day decreasing clutter. Make time each day or at least each week to organize your stuff. It would be great if your piles of paper would learn to organize themselves, but that won't happen. The longer you delay, the larger those piles will become.
Tips for the workplace
Find your place. There are aspects of ADHD–creativity, broad thinking, energy–that can make you a very good worker. Other aspects can create problems. You need to find a job that uses your strengths and minimizes your weaknesses.
Communicate your needs to your boss and coworkers. Some people try to hide their ADHD, but there's no need for that. People around you probably know there's something amiss. You can name it ADHD or just talk about difficulties with concentration or hyperactivity. If they knew what “it” was, chances are that their response would improve.
Arrange your workspace as best you can. If you have control over where your desk is, what's on the walls, what music is playing, and so on, make the choices that help you work best.
Develop a system of small tasks and immediate rewards. What's the main project you have to do at work right now? How long do you think it will take you to finish? How much of it do you think you can do today? How much can you do in the next hour? What about the next half hour? Big tasks intimidate a person with ADHD. That's why so many waste time on trivial little tasks. What's the answer? Making your big task into a series of small tasks. You can decide how small the segments need to be, depending on your usual attention span. But it would not be unreasonable to work on a report one page at a time or some other assignment a half hour at a time. When you finish the mini-task, reward yourself in a small way. Get up and take a brief walk. Eat something. Make a phone call. Talk for 2 minutes with a coworker. Don't let the rewards get out of hand though. Limit the time of the reward to about 10% of the time worked. Then plunge back into the next small portion of your main task
While at your desk, keep only what you're working on in front of you. Get everything else out of sight.
Do you catch yourself drifting during conversations? It's OK to ask a person to repeat what he or she has said.
Set a timer to go off in 15 minutes and stay with a task for those 15 minutes. Don't drift off and do something else. Reward yourself when the time is up.
Delegate! If you can afford to hire people to help you out, do it!
When someone's speaking, concentrate on waiting until he or she ends his sentence before you jump in. If you have a question, ask permission before asking it: “Excuse me, may I ask a question?”
Tips for home and family
Be realistic: If you know you can't wipe down every cabinet in your kitchen, for example, choose the ones that need the most attention and focus only on those.
Begin with the task you dread the most. Once done, you'll feel a huge sense of accomplishment and will more likely have the energy and confidence to tackle the other things on your list.
Use the “10-in-10” method to reduce clutter. Get a garbage bag and walk through your house and find 10 things to throw away in 10 minutes. Do this once a week.
Make it a family affair. Give each family member a room or task to be in charge of. To prevent boredom, rotate chores.
Be playful. Write down chores, toss them in a bowl and pick your chore for the day or week. Or draw straws. Think of creative ways to get things done.
www.adhdsupport.com/adhd-organizational-tips-adults.aspx
And now here's the first listing of tips from ADHD Support (This is an American website provided by Shire--a biopharmaceuticals company)
Organizational tips for yourself
Allow time each day to organize your next day. Many waste a great deal of time because they fail to plan. Of course this is good advice for anyone, but for those with ADHD, it's a necessity. Too many attractive distractions await those with ADHD. Unless you have a path to follow, you will certainly get lost.
Everything has a home. To function in a fairly anxiety-free state, you need to have a place for most things. It will help simplify matters if you learn to keep certain items in certain places.
Handle papers no more than twice. Some success experts tell executives to handle papers once. That is, they should decide on each thing immediately and pass it on for appropriate action. That's not bad advice for any of us, though we might need a second chance to decide what to do with something. Many people with ADHD have piles of papers they've looked at again and again and again. By the second time, file it or toss it!
Spend 15 minutes a day decreasing clutter. Make time each day or at least each week to organize your stuff. It would be great if your piles of paper would learn to organize themselves, but that won't happen. The longer you delay, the larger those piles will become.
Tips for the workplace
Find your place. There are aspects of ADHD–creativity, broad thinking, energy–that can make you a very good worker. Other aspects can create problems. You need to find a job that uses your strengths and minimizes your weaknesses.
Communicate your needs to your boss and coworkers. Some people try to hide their ADHD, but there's no need for that. People around you probably know there's something amiss. You can name it ADHD or just talk about difficulties with concentration or hyperactivity. If they knew what “it” was, chances are that their response would improve.
Arrange your workspace as best you can. If you have control over where your desk is, what's on the walls, what music is playing, and so on, make the choices that help you work best.
Develop a system of small tasks and immediate rewards. What's the main project you have to do at work right now? How long do you think it will take you to finish? How much of it do you think you can do today? How much can you do in the next hour? What about the next half hour? Big tasks intimidate a person with ADHD. That's why so many waste time on trivial little tasks. What's the answer? Making your big task into a series of small tasks. You can decide how small the segments need to be, depending on your usual attention span. But it would not be unreasonable to work on a report one page at a time or some other assignment a half hour at a time. When you finish the mini-task, reward yourself in a small way. Get up and take a brief walk. Eat something. Make a phone call. Talk for 2 minutes with a coworker. Don't let the rewards get out of hand though. Limit the time of the reward to about 10% of the time worked. Then plunge back into the next small portion of your main task
While at your desk, keep only what you're working on in front of you. Get everything else out of sight.
Do you catch yourself drifting during conversations? It's OK to ask a person to repeat what he or she has said.
Set a timer to go off in 15 minutes and stay with a task for those 15 minutes. Don't drift off and do something else. Reward yourself when the time is up.
Delegate! If you can afford to hire people to help you out, do it!
When someone's speaking, concentrate on waiting until he or she ends his sentence before you jump in. If you have a question, ask permission before asking it: “Excuse me, may I ask a question?”
Tips for home and family
Be realistic: If you know you can't wipe down every cabinet in your kitchen, for example, choose the ones that need the most attention and focus only on those.
Begin with the task you dread the most. Once done, you'll feel a huge sense of accomplishment and will more likely have the energy and confidence to tackle the other things on your list.
Use the “10-in-10” method to reduce clutter. Get a garbage bag and walk through your house and find 10 things to throw away in 10 minutes. Do this once a week.
Make it a family affair. Give each family member a room or task to be in charge of. To prevent boredom, rotate chores.
Be playful. Write down chores, toss them in a bowl and pick your chore for the day or week. Or draw straws. Think of creative ways to get things done.
www.adhdsupport.com/adhd-organizational-tips-adults.aspx