ADHD adults need structure to focus. Time chunks build structure in unstructured lives. Maya is struggling with time chunks. I’m not surprised. As a teacher, she has structure imposed upon much of her day. This can be hard. We need to adjust the time chunk tool to fit Maya’s needs. Hang in there Maya! One tough week doesn’t equal failure! – dr
To my brain, time is a spiraling vortex that sucks me into rabbit holes then spits me out. As I resurface to reality, I find myself shaking my head in a daze realizing hours have gone by. With the lack of awareness of time, incomplete tasks are constantly plaguing my mind and ruling my world. When I climb out of the rabbit hole with tasks undone, I end up moving tasks to late at night or later in the week and find I’m constantly playing catch up. In previous modules of the Success Club, I’ve attempted to tame my tasks list and prioritize my priorities.
Before Dana figured out how to use time chunks in her own life, she explained that her calendar looked like someone had thrown up on it — then, thinking better of her crass words, she compared her calendar to a Pollack painting. Both images resonated with me and a tear fell down my face — a tribe connected by chaotic calendars, lost time, and undone tasks. There is nothing that tears at my heart as much as the lost time with family because of the hours I’ve lost to time vortexes and rabbit holes.
The critical pieces of my major activities, other priorities, and neglected tasks rest on the table in front of me. I’ve written these all on Post-It notes and placed them into chunks on a grid I’ve made for a weekly calendar. My thought here is that I can move the chunks around a bit and offer myself a bit of flexibility in my very structured calendar.
Dana suggests breaking down your days into two half day blocks, and I think that’s great for workdays with flexibility. Because of the nature of teaching, I found it necessary to separate my day into three major chunks: morning (before school, planning time), afternoon, and evening. As Dana shared that large blocks of time with general chunks provide ADHD friendly time-chunks, I realized the nature of my job doesn’t allow for that kind of flexibility because of how my day is broken up.
Perhaps the most difficult work of the Success Club is ahead of me. I acknowledge that the brain I’ve been given is not one that conforms to the rigidity of my schedule, the details of documentation, and the need for consistency. In my heart, I also know I was born to teach, I love to learn, I strive to innovate, and I teach with passion.
The Success Club continues to give me the tools to move forward, maintain a growth mindset, and find my best self. All I need to do is continue to find ways to make the tools work for me. I may not be cruising forward right now, but I am trudging forward — small steps in the right direction as I continue to try and figure out how to live successfully with ADHD.
Tired of struggling with ADHD? You’re in the right place. ADHD Success is loaded with free, practical tips to help you get organized, manage your time, and live more easily with Adult ADHD. Like what you read? Sign up for the newsletter now! No Spam. I promise!
0 Comments