As always, if you’d rather watch the video about this particular method of ADHD organization, you can do so here. Or you can listen to the episode with the player below:
If you’re here, I’m sure it’s no news to you that I talk to ADHDers quite often who don’t know how to PUT THE PROJECT MANAGEMENT TOOL DOWN AND WALK AWAY.
And it’s not totally our faults that we want to act on every new idea that hits our brains; obviously, we’re in love with novelty and newness, because new things are straight dopamine. And our brains looooooooove dopamine.
But here’s the thing: You’re making things harder for yourself. You gotta stop. Please.
Adding new projects and ideas all the time only leaves you with less energy and time for the things that lend themselves to your big picture. So here’s how I regularly suggest doing things to avoid starting every project under the sun:
Planning Projects with ADHD: Start a brain dump
First thing’s first: planning projects with ADHD is hard; you have to give your brain a place to put these ideas it wants to share. You know how we’re notoriously bad at interrupting when people talk? It’s because we constantly fear that our ideas will disappear before we’ve had time to focus on them. This is the same reason most of us can’t seem to leave a new business idea alone without pouncing on it. So basically, you’ve got to give these thoughts a place to go, so that they’ll leave you alone.
Some people will suggest a brain dump be treated more like a journal before bed, but I suggest it actually become something you carry with you at all times. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy; a pen and paper or your phone’s Note-taking app will do. You can even have more than one if you need. Whatever you choose, it just needs to be readily available for when Brilliance strikes you. Because of the way our brains work, we need our organization to be more visual, and easily-accessible. That way, when it does, you can:
- Write it down and give it you attention, and then
- Toss it to the side and keep doing what you were doing.
In most cases, your brain will allow you to move on, because the idea is down somewhere. You’ll find it doesn’t feel as urgent, and you can continue on the path you were already on.
So remember: ADHD organization processes are different from neurotypical processes, so you have to move forward cautiously. This means that, if your idea is going to be a heavy, intensive project, I generally recommend that you wait two days to a week before you look at that idea any closer, because that shininess, that newness, is going to color your mindset otherwise. When you do come back to look at it, you may stare at the idea in front of you and be like “what the fuck was I thinking?”
Like the time I drunkenly typed up what I thought was a MASTERFUL tweet that would make the whole world laugh, and then I woke up the next morning to this:
But, if you find that you still love the idea, take it to the next step by asking yourself these 3 questions:
- “Does this idea help me get closer to my goals?”
- “Do I have the resources (i.e. time/money/energy) for this idea?”
- “In the future, if I become overwhelmed, am I going to feel like continuing to do this thing?”
If the answer to any of these is “NO,” then that idea goes off to the side for later. And here’s the thing: if it’s something that will make a difference in your business or in your life, its time will come. That time just may not be right now, and that’s OK.
About the goals thing…
This bears a special section, because for me, it was the difference between saving money and buying up three different photography light stands that I didn’t even need. ADHD organization calls for a just as much focus on the big picture as it does on the little details — which is why you need to make sure you write them out. Whenever you have a new project that just really rustles your jimmies, the best thing you can do is ask yourself honestly if/how it’s going to get you to the end result you’re looking for. For example, if you’re hoping to sell more knitted baby rabbits, and suddenly your brain is like “I SHOULD WRITE A BOOK,” remember that your time is precious, and that you can’t get back the minutes you spend.
Is this book going to get you closer to your goals of selling more knitted baby rabbits? Or is it going to take more time from that goal?
Are you going to wind up still having energy enough to continue towards that ultimate goal?
And again, if you’re finding that the answer is no, it’s probably best not to do it. Leave it for when things are slow enough that you have the time. That book will be there when you’re ready. And knowing brains like ours, you might change what you want it to be about, like, 20 times anyway.
All this to say that I get it: It’s HARD not to pounce on what feels like your Next Big Idea. But the fact is, our brains often think of things out of order. ADHD organization is just as much about organizing thoughts and goals as it is about organizing tasks. So y’know…maybe that idea is meant to come up later.
Until then, stay your own course and be find excitement in what’s actually coming up next. I’m sure there’s a lot.
We’re ADHD; there’s ALWAYS a lot.
And hey…I’m 100% available to help you. If you’re ready to start getting things set up in a way that makes sense to you, head here to work with me.
