Command centers are one of the more ADHD-friendly methods that no one talks about outside of the Pinterest-sphere. I aim to change that. Let’s talk about what these are, what they need, and how to use these to help you run your everyday life, be it in the home or at work.
As always, you can go here to watch me talk about it, or listen below or on your favorite podcast platform.
OK, so what is a command center?
A command center is a grouping of tools, often real-life instead of virtual, that you put in one place to help you keep track of important things. Because I spend a lot of time in the parenting-sphere online, I often see these set up to help keep track of whole families, but one can also be made to keep one person on track.
Spend some time looking for ideas online, and you’ll see some really cool ones ranging from super complicated to super simple, but honestly you only need a few things to make a successful command center:
- A calendar
- A place for to-do lists or ad hoc tasks
- A place for important papers
- If applicable, a place for important things you use every day, like your keys or pens
The point is to have everything you need in one space that you frequent regularly, so that you don’t miss important information, and so you can add important information on the fly.
How this works when you have ADHD
So here’s the thing: some people are probably looking at these things and thinking that there’s no way they’ll use it regularly. Especially when some of these include hooks for jackets or backpacks, and you know damn well you’re not always going to feel like putting things away. This is ok, and perfectly normal. Sometimes, it helps just to have a place to put things when you do feel like it, but if it stresses you out, don’t worry about that part. You really want to focus more on the things listed above.
Truth is, if you make sure your command center is setup in a place that you spend a lot of time in, chances are you will use it. This is probably the most important part, because you know our brains are very “out of sight, out of mind.”
Your calendar will make sure that you keep track of important dates, and that you have a place to add new information as it comes. To Do Lists and/or option lists or ad hoc task lists will give you a place to come back to when you need to review necessary tasks, or move things around throughout the day. Important papers won’t get lost, and neither will pens or keys if you include a place to put things you use regularly. True to its name, a command center will help you feel more in command of what you’ve got going on.
The other important thing here is that, if you have ADHD, your command center needs to be supplemented with something else, preferably something that you can bring with you, like your phone. After all, this isn’t going to be very helpful if you have to leave the house, right? So you want to make sure that anything you enter into your command center is shared with your second option, and vice versa.
There are family management apps like Maple and FamilyWall (which I use) that’ll satisfy all of your needs on all fronts, and I’ve found that a command center and Google calendar work very well together.
How I use a command center every day
My command center is very simple, and I’m fairly certain that a Pinterest fanatic would poke my eyes out for how un-aesthetic it is, but it does the job.
I don’t use the command center for family, because FamilyWall does my work for me on that front, but I needed something for work, and it’s been working wonderfully. Here’s what I have in my setup:
A quotes and schedule board for motivation, and to keep track of how my days are supposed to be laid out. I follow Lauren Yee’s Adult School Method, so I have these schedules in a way that can be easily switched out if in need be in 6 weeks.
A dry-erase calendar, mostly to keep track of my days where I’m supposed to be “out of office.” If I don’t have that directly in front of my face, I’ll try to sit down to work and then get mad that I’m not getting things done on my day off.
My task option board. Here is where I kind of pivot a bit. Rather than simply having a “to do” list, I decided instead to divide my board by category, and then to add optional tasks as I think of them throughout the week. That way, I can simply pick from what I already have hanging there when it’s time for me to focus on that particular category.
For example, during my Admin Time, if I’m not sure what needs to be done, I’ll check underneath the “ops” category to see what tasks I left as options for myself. Doing this makes sure that I focus on what I’m doing at the moment, but that those smaller tasks do get done eventually.
And if you’re noticing that I don’t have a place for important papers, you’d be correct. I don’t really have many papers passing my desk, so I didn’t really bother hanging anything up. I do have a basket for them should that ever change though.
