ADD/ADHD: Strategies for Living with (and harnessing) the Chaos
Have you ever wondered if medications are the only option for ADHD?
Have you ever wondered if there are any coping mechanisms the actually work for ADHD?
In this blog, we will cover multiple strategies for helping people with ADD/ADHD cope with the chaos and stress they often experience due to their ADD/ADHD.
Social media
We are starting with the most difficult (and probably most effective) one!
DO NOT do any scrolling on social media before or during cognitively intense tasks, even on short breaks.
If you need to take a 5 minute break, do something that is not very mentally stimulating or distracting. This will make re-focusing on a task much easier.
Examples of cognitively intense tasks:
Learning something new, especially if you are not particularly interested in what you are learning
Difficult problem solving
Creating new material or content
Social media is designed to be very addictive and provide instant gratification over and over again. Any task you do after scrolling through social media is going to feel uninteresting and therefore difficult to focus on. Scrolling through social media basically trains your brain to be even more ADHD.
There are several apps available that will block social media on your phone during certain times of the day. Given the addictive nature of social media, I highly recommend using an app instead of just will power if you are someone who finds themselves scrolling through social media throughout the day without even deciding to do so.
Time blocking
This mainly consists of separating the part of your day that you would like to be productive into sections. Some people find this so helpful that they actually time block certain types of free time as well.
Example:
8:30 am to 9:30- respond to emails
9:30-9:45- take a 15 minutes break
9:45-11:00 work on a certain task or project
11:00-12:00 work on another project or task
12:00-1:15: take a lunch break
Time blocking works by recognizing how long you can actually focus on certain types of tasks. Easier or more interesting tasks usually can have longer time blocks. More boring or difficult tasks may need shorter time blocks, but may require 2-3 time blocks in a day instead of just one.
As a rule of thumb, put your more difficult tasks earlier. While this does not work for everyone, it really does help most people battle feeling stressed all day because they are avoiding certain tasks. See “Eat the Frog” for a longer discussion on this idea.
Key point
To successfully time block, you need to realize most people can not do more than a few hours of cognitively intense work (problem solving, learning something new, in depth critical thinking tasks, etc.) for more than a few hours a day. Put these tasks at the beginning of the day and the less cognitively intense (the “busy work”) tasks toward the end of the day.
Creating fake deadlines
This involves sectioning out the work that needs to get done over a certain amount of time (whether that be a week, or even up to a couple months).
You create a plan where you lay out when you will do each task and how long you will spend on each task.
Examples:
I will finish this email in 5 minutes
I will start and complete Assignment A on Monday and Tuesday, Assignment B on Wednesday and Thursday, and Assignment C on Friday.
I will start and complete Assignment A during week one, Assignment B during week 2 and 3, and Assignment C during week 4.
I will stop working at 6 pm today, whether I have completed all my work or not. If I have not completed my work, I will wake up earlier tomorrow morning to complete the unfinished work, and complete tomorrow’s work by 6 pm also.
I will not do any work on Saturdays and/or Sundays. Anything that needs to get done, will need to be completed by Friday evening at 6pm.
This creates deadlines that you know you will have to meet as the time after the deadline will be spent doing a different task.
It also allows your free to time actually feel like free time, because you are “not allowed” to do work during certain times.
“Eat the Frog”
This is a very simple strategy with a very silly name. It comes from a saying: “If it's your job to eat a frog, it's best to do it first thing in the morning”. The concept is as follows: do the most difficult or important task first
While this seems incredibly simple and obvious, it is actually the opposite of what most people do naturally. Unfortunately, putting off the most difficult task makes every task you do before it seem almost or just as difficult as this task. When you finish the most difficult task first, it usually provides a little momentum and sets the tone for the day. It also makes the following tasks seem easier and more attainable.
This strategy is particularly helpful for people who
Feel like they are always working but not getting the things done
Struggles with procrastination
Have trouble deciding what to work on at any given time
Feels overwhelmed by their to-do list
One thing at a time
This requires will power and re-focusing, but works well if you have things you need to get done.
Write a list of the tasks you need to complete
Put the tasks in the order which you want to complete them
Start with the first task, do not start any other task until that task is completed. Do the same thing with the second task, and the third, etc.
If you think of something else you need to get done, do not start the new task, but do write it down on the list so that you know you will not forget it.
This is not just writing a to-do list. Ordering your tasks and writing down any new task (instead of just immediately starting the new task) can help you actually complete your most high-priority tasks.
Cleanliness/
Organization
Having a messy/cluttered environment is very distracting, especially for people with ADHD.
Work to keep whatever space or room you want to be productive in have minimal clutter, mess or even knick knacks.
The cleaner (and even emptier) it feels, the better. This is especially true for whatever is in your direct line of sight while you are trying to be productive.
If this means you start your work day by cleaning up your workspace for 2-10 minutes every morning, do it.
This may mean you have a room or space in a room that is dedicated to work/productivity. If this is not possible, you may benefit from going to a library or quiet coffee shop to work.
A note on ADHD Medications
There are several medications available that help many people with ADHD. These include the classic stimulants like Adderall, Vyvanse and Ritalin as well as other less-traditional medications like Wellbutrin and Strattera. Many people benefit from these medications while others find that they do not “feel like themselves” when they take them. The purpose of this blog is not to convince you to take or not take medications. Just like anything else, medications are tools that help some people and not others. Regardless of your decisions concerning medications, learning which strategies work best for you can greatly reduce the chaos and stress that ADD/ADHD can create and can even help harness some of the creativity and rapid thought processes that come with ADD/ADHD.
Endnotes
None of these strategies are “easy”.
They all require willpower and determination. They do, however, get easier with time.
Some strategies work better than others depending on the person.
If you are really struggling, my biggest recommendation is to reduce or cut out any type of scrolling through videos/posts on social media. This type of scrolling trains your brain to expect instant gratification and to move from one task/thought process to another every 15-30 seconds. It basically trains your brain to be even more ADHD. If you are spending an hour (or more) a day engaged in this activity, you are spending hours every week worsening your ADHD.
Lastly:
If would like to make an appointment at Paloma Primary care, feel free to call us at (512) 772-2929 or make an appointment online right here on our website. While we often prescribe some of the non-traditional medications for ADD/ADHD like Wellbutrin and Strattera, we DO NOT prescribe Adderall, Vyvanse, or Ritalin. For patients in need of Adderall, Vyvanse, or Ritalin, we are happy to provide recommendations or a referral to a psychiatric provider in the area.
