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With all this talk about ADHD and priorities are you wondering how to use a priority list to stay focused so you can accomplish your important goals?
If you haven’t a clue what an ADHD priority list even is, take a look at my last blog post Confessions of an ADHD Coach: My Priorities Sabotaged My Business Success.
Think of your priority list as the compass that keeps you pointed toward your most important things. When you have this guide, living successfully with ADHD becomes easier.
Makes sense, right?
Most ADHD adults bash their way through life with no thought to what’s important. Or, if they write down their priorities, they ignore the list or put it somewhere clever never to be seen again.
If you want to stop living at the whim of your ADHD you need to take your priorities seriously.
Yet, how do you actually use the list? Each day as you’re bombarded with tasks, requests and distractions how can your list help you stay the course?
How to Use an ADHD Priority List to Filter Incoming Tasks:
• When new requests, ideas and tasks flood at you, use the list to do a quick mental check of where they fall in your priorities. If a task isn’t a high priority item then schedule it for a later time. That doesn’t mean you never do it, it just means it doesn’t get done before the higher priority items. (Yes, you need to get good at scheduling your tasks.)
• For your priority list to work you MUST look at it often. I suggest you set a reminder to look through your list first thing each morning. BEFORE you open the email. BEFORE you start putting out fires and responding to the priorities of other people.
• Set a reminder to review your list of priorities once a week to make sure they still ring true. This planning session doesn’t have to be long and tedious. Make it ADHD-friendly. A quick cruise through your goals and priorities doesn’t have to take long but it is essential to making sure your priorities remain in line with your goals.
• Make sure those important ADHD self-care habits that give your brain the fuel and ability to focus are high on your list. Ignoring them is easy and risky. You must take care of your brain for it to take care of you.
• Accept that using your priority list won’t be easy, especially if you’re just learning to manage your ADHD. You will forget to look at the list. You will continue to misplace it. You will get distracted. But the more you work at strengthening your priority list muscle the easier it will get.
It may seem like a lot to remember, but if you want to get your ADHD out of the way so you can reach your full potential you have to learn how to use your priority list.
Dana Rayburn is an ADHD Coach in Oregon, but don’t worry… She works by telephone helping ADHD adults all over the world live more effortlessly and successfully with ADHD.
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