#074: In this episode, I show you how I manage my time as someone with ADHD. More specifically, you can expect 5 tips on how to get more out of your time. Well, we all have the same 24 hours available. The question now is, how can we use these 24 hours effectively? And even more importantly, how can we manage our time so that we are happy and healthy and do the important things, while also meeting urgent obligations? I can't give you a definitive answer, but I can show you 5 tips from my life that have helped me on my ADHD journey to get more out of my time. Enjoy listening!
ADHD POWER LINKS
Sources
Timestamps
(00:00:01) Time Management and ADHD
(00:10:49) Task Batching and Time Blocking Power
(00:20:42) Power of Structure, Discipline
(00:28:03) The Power of Saying No
#074: In this episode, I show you how I manage my time as someone with ADHD. More specifically, you can expect 5 tips on how to get more out of your time. Well, we all have the same 24 hours available. The question now is, how can we use these 24 hours effectively? And even more importantly, how can we manage our time so that we are happy and healthy and do the important things, while also meeting urgent obligations? I can't give you a definitive answer, but I can show you 5 tips from my life that have helped me on my ADHD journey to get more out of my time. Enjoy listening!
ADHD POWER LINKS
Sources
Timestamps
(00:00:01) Time Management and ADHD
(00:10:49) Task Batching and Time Blocking Power
(00:20:42) Power of Structure, Discipline
(00:28:03) The Power of Saying No
The most successful ADHDers in the world see ADHD as a superpower. This podcast, adhd Power, is my attempt to document the many failures and lessons I've learned on my journey of living a high performance life with ADHD. My hope is that you use these lessons to increase your productivity and maybe someday soon, turn your ADHD into a valuable asset in your life. Please share and enjoy. So, hey, adhd high performers, in this episode, I will show you how I manage my time as someone with ADHD. More specifically, you can expect 5 tips on how to get more out of your time. So, as you know, we all have the same 24 hours available. The question now is how can we use these 24 hours effectively and, more importantly, how can we manage our time so that we are happy and healthy, that we do the important things and, at the same time, meet urgent obligations? Now I can't give you a definitive answer to those questions, but I can show you 5 tips from my life that have helped me on my journey on my ADHD journey to get more out of my time. So let's jump right into it. The first tip I would like to share with you is use deeper accessions and avoid multitasking. In times of constant availability, it can be hard to fully engage in one thing. It's rare that we can immerse ourselves completely in a task without getting distracted. Especially with ADHD, this results in half-hearted work, what simply means not quality work, because we could actually do the task better. We constantly let ourselves be distracted and therefore don't reach a concentrated and focused state where we can unfold our full potential. Now, in this context, it's also interesting to mention that our attention span is continuously decreasing due to social media and the like. Now, before I just mentioned the buzzword half-hearted work, what exactly is half-hearted work? To drive this point home, I would like to share with you 3 examples. The first one is you are on the phone with your best friend and checking your email inbox, so you're having a conversation and at the same time, you're checking your email inbox. The second example is you are in the study phase, preparing for an exam at university, and at the same time, you're randomly swiping through Instagram feed. Or another example is you try out a new study method, but after a few hours you find a more attractive one and use that a little. With both study methods, you only make small progress and you are already looking for new methods, so you're constantly switching the focus from one thing to another. Now, in the end, you probably took longer to complete a task and possibly deliver work below your actual quality.
Speaker 1:If you follow this approach of those 3 examples like constantly multitasking, with half-hearted work or multitasking, you're not just nearly as productive as you could be. There is also evidence that when you switch between tasks, your focus remains stuck on the previous task. Half-hearted work or multitasking is also the reason why you get more work done when you have, in two days, for example, holidays or vacation, why Normally you're maybe doing multitasking. You're getting a little bit distracted, but now you know oh, in two days I can go and I have holidays, so I have a clear deadline. Now you're fully focused and concentrated. You're way more focused than in the weeks before, where we constantly distract it. That's, by the way, also the power of having a deadline in place that can really make a big difference when it comes to working in an unstructured manner with a lot of multitasking. To all of a sudden be highly focused and do with all your energy one thing at a time. That's the power of it, and I would say many of us with ADHD, we thrive under pressure. We like this feeling of having a deadline in place or this urgency.
Speaker 1:Basically, now coming back to this point here regarding multitasking, distractions, etc. What is really important here is to create a distraction-free space where we can work concentrated, so that you not only can work concentrated when you have a deadline in place, but also, in general, that you basically can do focused work. Now, for this purpose, use the approach of deep work sessions, basically times when you put your phone on airplane mode and fully engage in one thing Monotasking basically, instead of multitasking. And, by the way, you will see, you will save a lot of time following this approach because the individual moments of distraction no longer add up. So, glancing at your phone every 20 minutes might seem like a little lost time, but when summed up, it looks like a bit different. It looks definitely a bit different. Yeah, if we and that's the power of it If we think we get distracted maybe a few times throughout the day and we think that's only like 10, 15 minutes. But if you make a calculation of it, all of a sudden it's maybe 60 minutes or two hours and that's quite impressing. So, by the way, also if you currently think you don't have too much time for certain things.
Speaker 1:Simply do a quick assessment or, in general, an assessment how exactly you spend your time on a given day and if you see, oh, I spent hours on my phone here you have four hours back basically to do other stuff. And in regards to phone usage and ADHD, I really like this quote of Dr Daniel Aiman. He's an ADHD expert and the author of the book Healing ADD and he said something like in an Instagram reel I would get off your phone, gadgets addict you and they steal dopamine. Add, basically, is a dopamine deficit disorder, and I guess that really emphasizes the point of finding a sustainable way how to use your phone and also make sure that it don't impairs your ability to focus.
Speaker 1:Now, from what we just covered, I guess the major takeaway is really try to avoid multitasking. Instead of that, do more deep work, so mono tasking. And I can tell you in regards to multitasking, it might feel productive to first answer emails, then to do something in a Word document and then make a business call. But remember this fundamental point about productivity is so, so crucial. Multitasking is not conducive to being productive. Therefore, deep work is such a powerful thing to do One thing at a time for 90 minutes, for two hours, three hours, four hours, five hours.
Speaker 1:It depends at what level you are currently are doing one thing at a time, and I can tell you, especially if you are a working professional or entrepreneur, if you're starting your day, if you have this privilege to do, let's say, 90 minutes or maybe two hours, three hours, etc. Of work without distractions, you can move projects forward. That's incredible how much progress you can make, for example, using this approach of morning deep work sessions five, six hours in the morning. Like that I billed my coaching program. I created the modules, created the texts, wrote the scripts yeah, all those really really difficult tasks that need a lot of dedicated focus. I basically created in morning deep work sessions, no distractions at all, only doing one thing at a time, and a nice side effect is, interestingly also, you are strengthening your concentration muscle and that's also, I would say, backed by science. If you are doing one thing at a time, most likely you can improve your focus over an extended period of time If you're doing that on a consistent basis, basically monotasking.
Speaker 1:Now I mentioned the work deep work session. If you want to read up a little bit more about this topic of deep work, what exactly it is, and also, on the other hand, what is shallow work maybe? And there's a great book called deep work of professor called Newport great read, especially for ADHD, I would say how to have a live a productive life and do more meaningful deep work. Basically, yeah, I really enjoyed reading this book. So that was the first tip use deep work sessions and avoid multitasking. The second tip I would like to share with you is time blocking bundled related tasks or a single task into a time block and block out that time slot then in your calendar, for example. So basically, the tip is use time blocking. Now this tip builds on the previous one and shows you more precise how to integrate deep work sessions into your daily life.
Speaker 1:So, like many other ADHD years, I faced a challenge of spending more time on a task because I let myself be distracted by various things. Give you an example when I started studying, I sometimes couldn't concentrate properly because I didn't eliminate various distractions. For example, I had my phone next to me and of course, that was a huge distraction. But once I understood, oh, I need to find a more sustainable way how to use my phone and, of course, make sure that during a deep work sessions, I put my phone somewhere where I simply can't see it. That helps me then more to do the focused work, basically, and not get distracted. And a very helpful way I was able to effectively solve this problem is by blocking time slots. So not only putting my phone away, also working with blocking time in which I worked only on one task and eliminated all distractions. So, like I give you an example, I would review a lecture of a university course. Then I would simply make sure, oh, in my calendar I have a 90 minutes block and in that 90 minutes block I only do reviewing the lecture. I take notes, etc. Creating my summary, creating Anki cards, etc. For example. That's something and I make sure, before I start this deep work session, that I basically eliminate all distractions and that I have everything on my desk ready that I need, like maybe a glass of water, water next to me, my pencils, my iPad, etc. On the other hand, next to deep work sessions, blocking time slots for certain tasks what's also quite interesting I bundled similar tasks and complete them in one time block. So I give you an example and, by the way, that is called task batching.
Speaker 1:Now what you can do in task batching, basically, or with task batching is you have maybe paying bills, tidying up the desk and administrative work to do so basically shallow work, process work. What you simply can do now put that into one single time block of maybe 90 minutes or 60 minutes. That supports you again in doing more or less one thing at a time. Of course, you're there a little bit multitasking to a certain degree maybe, but still you have one time block where you're doing related tasks at the same in the same time block. Give you another example to drive this point home. Imagine you live on the countryside, like outside of the city, and you need to go to the city to do maybe three things. Now what you're basically doing, you are not going three times to the city and three times going home. You are going one time to the city. You basically do everything you need to do there and then you go home. And that's again the power of task batching. And you can apply that to different areas of your lives, always where you think, oh, those tasks, these tasks are related to each other.
Speaker 1:Now, your time is valuable and you should use it wisely if you want to get the most out of it. So, for example, you can block out the approximate time for a task or project into your calendar, basically, in your calendar. You put your phone in another room. As I mentioned before, if you are doing something like that, like a time block, where you want to do focus work or, in general, task batching, put your phone away and, interestingly, oh, there is evidence that by creating such barriers like put your phone in another room, the likelihood of reaching for your phone can be significantly reduced. By the way, that is also the first step of behavior change from James Clear, from atomic habits. Make the habit as invisible as possible, the bad habit and the good habit as obvious as possible. Now you can also log out of all social media accounts on your computer and close your email program.
Speaker 1:If you are, for example, doing a specific time block or task batching depends a little bit of what you're doing and through these blocks you also avoid, by the way, pointless multitasking because you know exactly what you have to do and what not to do during this time. You are more intentional with your time. Yeah, and that's a really important point being more intentional with your time, you are actively thinking. If you are creating a time block schedule what I want to achieve on a given day, and not only that can be interesting in regards to your work related things or tasks can also be interesting for your leisure time. That you plan out your leisure time and therefore increases, or increased the likelihood that you stick to it, yeah, and prevent, for example, burnout, avoid burnout.
Speaker 1:Now, of course, the point here is always it depends a little bit if you are using a deep work session or shallow work sessions. Shallow work sessions are basically their multitasking can happen. If you are maybe answering emails, you need to open another program to answer these emails because you need to get a piece of information. But the overall thing is basically and that's, I guess, important to understand like you have time blocks for certain tasks. If you are doing one thing at a time or a shallow work session where you do multiple things at a time, doesn't matter so much. What is really important is that you block out your time, yeah, or it's still. It's important.
Speaker 1:But what I'm saying is you block out your time and you are intentional with your time. That you have an understanding. Oh, that's what I want to do here. Here I'm doing one thing yeah, deep work session and on the other hand oh, maybe I have a shallow work session here I can do a little bit more multitasking because I have multiple things batched into one time block so you are more intentional with your time. That's what I often hear, also of my clients. It help help them tremendously to simply start using a calendar on a daily basis. That gives them understanding what exactly I want to achieve On a daily basis and it helps, at the same time, to save a lot of time, because if you simply have a proper structure in place, you're less acting haphazardly, so without without thinking what exactly I should be doing, and at the same time, you're less overwhelmed. And if you're less overwhelmed, you're more productive and, of course, saving time you also have. By the way, it also saves times, not only because what I just mentioned, also because of the setup costs you're basically avoiding or reducing.
Speaker 1:So when the task is clearly defined, only needs to be prepared once. What exactly do I mean by that? So I mentioned before the example of going to city. Going to the city is basically the setup costs that are associated with this task. So you need to extra go to the city to do everything and if you do that everything at once obviously only have once the setup costs. Give you another example if I'm recording a podcast, then I only have to set up once my equipment and not multiple times, because I do basically everything in one session. Like now I have my recording sessions, I set up my equipment, recording it and then I'm done, I will edit it. Everything is basically done in one time.
Speaker 1:Now, if I know I want to tidy up my desk and clean, clean my my apartment, pay the bills, then I prepare the cleaning stuff and all the bills basically. That's the similar approach. Basically like you are preparing everything upfront, you have your setup costs in place, you are reducing them by preparing everything, then you execute everything and you're done. But if you are doing that multiple times let's say you start cleaning, then you stop and then you put it again in your Somewhere where we can hide it, where you are putting your cleaning stuff and then again you need to take it out that are multiple times your setup costs basically. But if you're doing it once in one time block, you finish everything way more efficient than what I experienced in my life and the likelihood that you will complete your projects is also higher because you have already prepared everything. That's a quite a nice side benefit, I would say.
Speaker 1:Now in conclusion, for me, completely eliminating distractions is the only way to reach a focused and concentrated state. I avoid fragmented work, where I then only do half-hearted work and ultimately only accomplish half of what I actually wanted to do. Not everything, not the overall goal I don't achieve. So, long story short, we covered a lot of things. The major thing here is simply time blocking helps you, or may help you, to be more intentional with your time. At least it helped me on my journey. To be more intentional because you actively decide oh, that's tomorrow what I will do on this day, on this day, like, for example, I have a morning routine, then I start my first deep work session, then I have a shallow work session to answer some emails, etc. And at the same time, you can, of course, use task batching to do related tasks. You can also call that shallow work to a certain degree.
Speaker 1:Now I have a quick question in regards to this tip. What do you think? How much more free time would you have if you eliminated all the distractions? Alright, maybe that's a question to reflect upon it. That was the second tip. Now let's move on to the third one Real quick ADHD high performers. You may know that we don't run any ads to grow this podcast, so the only ask that I have for you is that you help me spread the word to help more working professionals and entrepreneurs with ADHD overcome procrastination, be more productive, have their life in order and use their superpower to make the world a better place. And the only way we do that is if you could rate, review and share this podcast. So the single thing that I ask you to do is just leave a review that takes you 10 seconds or one time with your thumb. That would mean a lot to me and, more importantly, it may change someone else's world.
Speaker 1:Third tip is time is under your control and you define your priorities. Another tip is to realize that you have complete control over your time, an approach that has significantly changed my relationship with time as someone with ADHD, because if we internalize this approach, we can no longer say that we don't have time for something. We actively decide to prioritize one thing over another. To say that we don't have time for something implies that it is simply not our priority. I give you an example from the past.
Speaker 1:A few years ago, I thought about oh, I could again actually start playing the drums. Because when I was young 14, 15 years old, 13 years old I was playing at drums. I really enjoyed it and I thought, oh, why not to try that again? But after a few months I still didn't do it, but not because I didn't have the time, simply because it was not my priority. My podcast, my first podcast in that time, catch the Synth, was way more important for me because I wanted to publish a weekly episode and therefore I set my priorities basically different. But the point here is I made an active decision. Now, whatever you are doing right now is the best use of your time because you have decided so. Yeah, if you decided to now listen to this episode, it's an active decision to spend your time like this Listening to this podcast episode and, by the way, I highly appreciate it. Thank you so much that you decided to spend the time with me today. Point here is realize that you have complete control over your time. You actively decide how you use it. So if we want to achieve something, we should make this project our priority and not make cheap excuses for not doing so. And here I would like to share a thought with you that recently reminded me why structural, why order and discipline are so important for me as someone with ADHD, and that is exactly also related to this. The time is under my control Now.
Speaker 1:I just mentioned three buzzwords and I would like to break them down for you Structure, order and discipline, or basically my thoughts about it. The first thing is structure why structure so important and also why I think deadlines lead to freedom and save a lot of time. I came across a quote from Navy SEAL Choco willing, really cool guy, like his podcast, and he said something like discipline equals freedom. So basically what he believes or that's what I think he believes that being disciplined, sticking to a routine and doing things regularly actually gives us more freedom. It's like having a neat plan for our daily tasks which help us finish them quicker and better. When we do this, we end up with more free time and less worry, giving us the freedom to enjoy life and do the things we love. So basically what he's saying is, through a proper, through discipline, through structure, through order in life, that equals freedom.
Speaker 1:And that is a little bit, I would say, different what most people think, or many people think, about discipline and structure, etc. They feel like it's you're like the slave of your calendar. For example, if you have a calendar in place and it's like like something external is telling you I should do this XYZ thing especially with ADHD, many of us we don't like like an authority telling us that's what you should do. But, on the other hand, what I experience is that the discipline and structure in my life actually gives me the freedom to do the things I love. Because if I think, if I have a proper structure in place now, what simply means I have an idea on a given day what exactly I want to do, I'm more intentional with my time and I'm actively making time for the things that matter. So I have this freedom to decide oh, that's what I want to do on a daily basis. Basically, it's an active decision and that gives me this freedom. So if you want to spend 14 hours per day working because I have this freedom, I do it. Yeah, and I actively decided to do it and it gives me this freedom. But, on the other hand, if I decide like, oh, our lunchtime would like to go out for a nice walk again, I can plan it in my calendar and it gives me freedom. So if you think like I never find time, you say yourself I never find time to do a nice break and go for a walk outside during lunchtime, plan it in your calendar and it will increase a likelihood that you will stick to it, because now you have an implementation intention in place, which is basically a fancy word for having a plan in place.
Speaker 1:So that was in regards to discipline, structure and also something to add here, maybe in regards to structure, is it also helps with decision fatigue. You have to make fewer decisions if you have a proper time block, schedule or structure in place that you know what to do. Yeah, because, as you know, if you wake up and if you're already confronted with 1000 decisions you need to make. It's pretty hard, yeah, or at least, or it already reduces your decision energy you have throughout the day, and that is also part of the reason why I do my daily planning all race the night before, because the next day I simply can wake up, follow my morning routine and immediately execute the most important tasks, and I don't need to figure out what I should be doing, because most of the time, by the way, also, if we need first to figure out everything, that can also be quite overwhelming, like if you have a ton of work in front of us and but having an intention when we do certain things or what we want to do, that can already reduce this feeling of all well, because all well and procrastination, I realize, is often the consequence of not knowing what you're actually should be doing. So, on clarity, what is the exact thing I should do now? What is the smallest possible step, for example? That's in regards to structure I always already also mentioned deadlines, which is also again Referencing to the point of time is under your control because you can set deadline by yourself.
Speaker 1:You have control of it and, as you know, a little bit of time pressure, which really can help complete tasks or approach a little bit. Having a time pressure in place. Many of us with ADHD we love it. Yeah, we can really thrive with pressure and complete our tasks more efficient. And an interesting Law I came across few years ago is Parkinson's law, which simply states work Expense to ask to fill the time available for its completion. Simply put, the more time, the longer it takes to finish a task. Therefore, if you shorten your deadlines, you can become more productive and, additionally, if you come, if you combine that with social accountability, like sharing that with your boss that you would like to finish Certain project in one week that puts this overall strategy of Parkinson's law or shortening your deadlines on steroids. I would say so.
Speaker 1:Ultimately, the point I wanted to make here in regards to time is under your control, having discipline in place and having structure in place, etc. This gives you, ultimately, the freedom in your life to spend the time on the things you, or basically doing the things in your life you actually want and Realize that time is under your full control. You have full control over your time and you define your priorities. So, basically, don't use the time as an excuse not to do something. If you are not doing something is because you set your Priorities that way. You said yes to something and no to another thing. It's like if you are going out during the week, yeah, etc. In the evening you go to drink alcohol, whatever you're doing, you're saying yes to this activity and at the same time, you are saying no to a lot of other activities or other things like your sleep schedule, your healthy lifestyle, etc. It's always a trade-off, I would say, and once I realized that was a huge game changer for me. So tip here, that was tip number three Time is under your control and you define your priorities.
Speaker 1:Let's move on to the next tip regarding time management Learn to say no. And this is, I guess, a really crucial one for many of us with ADHD, because we struggle a little bit with people pleasing, setting the right priorities and saying yes to many things. Now this tip learn to say no. This tip builds on the previous one and is meant to help you if you still have difficulty setting your priorities and using your time the way you actually want. Now the question how can you specifically get better at saying no, especially when you constantly have a lot to do and never have time for Yourself? I guess, especially then, this question is really important, and I would in general say, as I said, particular people with ADHD, who are always busy and overwhelmed.
Speaker 1:For, especially for us, figuring out ways how we can say no is really impactful. Now, for these people, it almost seems like they can't say no to new opportunities, like many of us with ADHD. Yeah, we always say yes to things, whether it's people coming to us because they want something or need our help, or just something that looks attractive and we would like to do so. We need to learn to say no to prioritizing things that are really important to us and give these things the time they deserve. There are different ways to say no, by the way, and that's what I want to share with you now.
Speaker 1:Now, a good approach, I think, is to internalize Mentally that say no is totally okay and that no is actually a good word, and oftentimes, yes is a bad one. And, of course, saying no it can be hard, it's not easy, can be really hard sometimes, also for me Because you say no to certain opportunities or it feels like you are missing out on a great opportunity, as if it was your only chance to seize this opportunity. Now, for rare things. This may be true, but it's certainly not normal. Would say yeah, that this only, it's only a once in a Life opportunity. So every time you say yes to an opportunity, you are implicitly saying no to another one. That's a man. That's what I mentioned before.
Speaker 1:We have a limited lifespan, limited attention, limited energy and you can't dedicate yourself to everything and Oftentimes doing fewer things, what simply means not working less. Basically, doing Working on less goals gives you clarity. Yeah, helps you with focus, because on a daily basis. You know exactly what you should be doing, like in my case, I run a coaching business. I know exactly what I should be doing on a daily basis, but I could also do start house and other businesses, but that is what would distract my mind and then I'm less productive and I'm not making so much progress as I actually want on the main thing. That's like if you have two entrepreneurs, for example, one entrepreneur has one business while the other entrepreneur has ten businesses. For outside people that sounds like pretty exciting. Oh, ten businesses cool. But how this entrepreneur with ten businesses can compete with this one entrepreneur Running one business? It's a different thing, because the one entrepreneur doing one thing can dedicate 14 16 hours per day doing Working on his business. Why the other only can dedicate maybe two to three hours per day? It's a big difference and therefore, again, focus is so crucial, not only when it comes to business, but also as working professionals. Having a clear focus, I would say so so crucial for many of us, or at least that's what's what is what helped me on my journey now, what we can do here.
Speaker 1:You can reframe the whole thing Every time you make a decision about how you use your time. Think in terms of opportunity costs. If you're saying to something yes, you're implicitly saying no to another thing. That's kind of interesting, because if you decide to Spend your evening watching television, you're saying to this activity but you're saying no to reading, for example, a book that you always wanted. It's always. There are always some opportunity costs.
Speaker 1:We are saying yes to one thing and no to another thing. How? The question is, how can we say no to one thing? Of course, if we get asked for something Like we have ADHD, we got asked for something. That can be quite challenging to say no to a request like hey man, could you do XYZ? And then we are maybe in that moment quite oh, I don't know what to say. And then we say yes and then we think afterwards oh, why did I say again yes to this thing? I shouldn't say yes because now I have so much to do and actually I have other project that should work on, etc.
Speaker 1:Now, of course, there's a friendly and not so friendly option how to answer those requests. You could say no straight into the someone's face yeah, that's an option or you could make the whole thing a little bit friendlier. I like the second option, per personally, you are more thankful, respectful and offer an alternative and help. So you make it a positive interaction if you say no. So think of one step ahead. By the way, like I give you an example how you can frame that a little bit more positive you simply think of one step ahead, which, by the way, can be very helpful also in email conversations quick side note, but the point is, in a conversation, it can be really helpful to think a little bit one step ahead, and that's also in life in general with helpful. So, for example, if you could ask for hey, could you do me a small favor To support me on this project? Now, what you?
Speaker 1:If you know that you don't have currently a lot of capacity free, you simply Tell yourself or tell this person hey, thank you so much for asking me, but currently, unfortunately, I have a lot of my place. But and now comes the point of think one step ahead you can offer, let's say, a value to them. You could simply say, hey, but I know somebody who's currently has not so much on their plate, that is did. That is Michael, for example, and maybe you can ask him to support you in this one. So you're making your up, you still offering support or help in the end, and this can make the overall Conversation in a little bit more. Let's say yeah, convenient for us, and it's not so un comfortable to say no. So you are reframed this, you are framed this conversation more positively. Yeah, I would say think one step ahead. What I just mentioned. This is also a great life tip in general. Now, how you can implement that I just mentioned you, how you can share that, for example.
Speaker 1:But what I personally like to do is when I get asked for something like could you do XY, said, I take a deep breath or at least that's what I try and have a look at my calendar and Really actively take out my calendar and look, oh, do I have actually Currently available capacities for the thing? And that's really important. I call that the calendar checker. I mentioned that in past episodes. You watch a calendar and you tell that person hey, please give me 60 seconds or two minutes. I need to check my calendar, my priorities. You have a look at it and if you realize, oh, there's too much on my plate, you give a clear, informed Answer. And that is no, in the best case. What can maybe help you as well. That is the calendar check on how you can say no.
Speaker 1:So point here is to learn to say no and communicate, if relevant in the situation, in a friendly, respectful and forward thinking way is, I guess, a really great thing to do, which makes this Overall experience of saying no more easily. When it comes to saying no in regards to Conversations or to other people, answer them, you get the chest here. Of course, we can cover also how to say no in regards to your life goals. To have a clear focus. You can check out some past episodes, but we will not over complicate it. This is basically a quick a way to do it Check your calendar and then come up with an informed decision. In the most cases, in most cases, you answer with no, and that was the fourth tip learn to say no. Really, really important for many of us with ADHD to not do too many things, to have a clear focus in order to become successful in life.
Speaker 1:Last tip use a two-minute rule a great time management tip from my point of view. Now, in the book getting things done of David Allen, david Allen set up a simple and very useful rule and it's called a two-minute rule and it works like this quite simple if a task Takes less than two minutes to complete, then do it immediately. If it's going to take longer than a, write it down, for example, in your to-do list. So instead of specifically writing the task in your to-do list, do it immediately if it takes less than two minutes. By the way, the book getting things done by David Allen, from which I have this rule, I highly recommend if you want to become more productive as someone with ADHD. Obviously it's not a ADHD book Directly, but obviously there are many useful tactics that helped me on my journey and also helped Clients of mine to improve their productivity as well. Maybe they can. Those tactics he shared there can also help you on your journey. Some people, by the way, describe it as essential reading to increase one's productivity, I would say.
Speaker 1:Now, coming back to the two-minute rule, I have been applying this rule for some time now in my daily life, for example, when I see a dirty plate in the kitchen, when my desk is messy, or when it curse to me that I should pay an outstanding bill which these days, thanks to e-banking, takes less than two minutes. Now, in the past it occasionally happened to me and still does occasionally today, that I would tell myself I can do that later. Yeah, I can you know that maybe I can do that later, but since I've been using this rule, life has been much more pleasant because these little tasks no longer Unnecessarily accumulate and the brain isn't full of all the things that still need to be done. Now, even if I don't always manage to apply the two-minute rule, every time I do apply it. Life is noticeable more pleasant. That was the two-minute rule here.
Speaker 1:A quick bonus tip to this two-minute rule was really what I experienced is really important to mention. Two-minute rule only applies outside of your deep work sessions. So if you are doing a deep work session and you have like a small, less than two-minute task basically Don't do it right away Then I recommend write it down into your Distraction log. What simply means a blank piece of paper, right, what you have. Next you write it short down and then later on you can come back to it. Point is, inside your deep work session You're doing one thing at a time, you are focused on the task and everything outside of your deep work session. There, of course, you can apply the two-minute rule. Yeah, it's like if you apply, for example, the Pomodoro technique. You work 25 minutes and in those 25 minutes, no, no. Two-minute rule, basically, and that was the tip use the two-minute rule.
Speaker 1:All right, guys, now we covered quite a lot of content. Let's do a quick summary, a rundown of today's podcast episode. The first tip I share with you is use deep work sessions and avoid multitasking to improve your time management. Second, we covered time blocking. The question was now we covered deep work sessions, how we can implement those deep work sessions. Great tactic is to use time blocking. There you can bundle related tasks or a single task into a time block and blog out Time slots, basically for those particular things. Deep work you have a single task in one time block. Shallow work you do more task bundling or task batching.
Speaker 1:Tip three time is under your control and you define your priorities. So if you say yes to something, you say no to another thing. You're actively deciding how you spend your time. That's the major takeaway here. Tip four learn to say no. You can use this tool like called a calendar checker check your calendar if you got asked for something and then come up with an informed decision, and in most cases the answer should be no, but always question that apply to your situations, of course. That's kind of obvious, and the last tip is use a two-minute rule. Everything that takes less than two minutes, do it immediately and, of course, implement it outside of your deep work sessions. All right, guys, then I would say ADHD high performers. Thank you so much for listening to this podcast episode and see you in the next one. Bye.