3 ADHD Productivity Tips
ADHD and other brain based conditions impact productivity. It’s the quest to “get stuff done.” You start and are interrupted by other people, social media or the thoughts in your head. With so much going on in your head, it’s difficult to focus. With each distraction, it takes an average of 15 minutes to regain complete focus. It can be hard to get started on a task or to go back to a task the next day. All of these aspects of executive function interfere with productivity. Here’s help to address distractions and productivity.
Task batching
Task batching is multiplying the same task or do the same task repeatedly in a sequence. It’s when you bake 4 banana breads instead of 2, write 12 blog posts correlating to your themed blog calendar, or make 4 calls back to back. The reason task batching helps is you have gotten past getting started and now you are in the flow of getting a task done. You minimize distractions with staying focused on one task or series of tasks. A few of my favorite task batching ideas are to answer email 3 times a day, block times of the day to respond to phone calls, or do your marketing on the same morning each week. Task batch with any action by doing these together at the same, established time.
Chunk your task
Do you have items like this on your list: do taxes, send newsletter, or write a book? Each of these tasks is a multiple step project requiring many small tasks for completion. Splitting these tasks into smaller chunks, or even micro-chunks, can help you get stuff done. Start by capturing your task on a list. Write the next step for the task and a completion date. Write this as a series of steps and check these off as you accomplish each. Another option is Trello, an online task management tool, to break down a project to make it more manageable. A mindmap can help too. Breaking a task into smaller, manageable, chunks helps you accomplish more.
Write it down when interrupted or the at the end of the day
You are about to finish up your day and you are in the middle of your work. Write down where you are and what you are doing. Writing this down helps you start back up where you left off and gives you a frame of reference for your work. If you are in the middle of your work and you are interrupted by a phone call or colleague, use a post it note to write down where you are. It’s not surprising that these notes not only save time, and also keep you at a high pace of action.
These 3 options are small ways to be more productive. Here’s a daily tool for productivity!
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Great set of productivity strategies geared especially for those with ADHD! While I know the concept, I’ve never heard of the phrase, “task batching” before. Nice one. And as you said, so very effective. In essence, the concept of task batching is similar to organizing…putting “like with like.”
I literally have to write everything down. I’m not sure if it is the constant stimulation of the digital environment or aging, but if I don’t capture the thought in the moment, it’s gone. I love the idea of documenting where you are in a task when you get interrupted. This could literally save hours over the course of a week!
Writing stuff down is a simple way to be more productive.
@Linda – I love that “task batching” is so similar to organizing.