October is National ADHD Awareness Month.

To “celebrate” this month, I am sharing 4 very important habits for living your best life with ADHD

in 4 blog posts throughout the month.

We think that in order to be more productive we need a new app, digital tool or planner.  The role of habits is often overlooked as a way to get more stuff done. Habits are powerful productivity tools because these bridge the gap to getting started, creating a work flow or finishing up your tasks and projects. Check out these habit productive people use to get stuff done.

 

Write dates and tasks in a planner

Productive people use their planners with skill.  They write all the tasks and dates in their planners to be sure they are accountable for their work. By making it a habit to write stuff down, they are able to work on deep work without having to remember all the details.

 

Work as a team

Team work makes the dream work. Together everyone achieves more. Working as a team, productive people do what they do best and delegate the rest. They are accountable to each other in accomplishing assignments because everyone relies on each other.

 

Get organized just good enough

Productive people organize papers, digital files, and emails just good enough to get your work accomplished.  Being overly organized with complicated systems or not organized enough with distractions can stall you out and prevent getting started. Productive people start a work session with a warm up of getting materials together to get stuff done.

 

Break tasks and projects into manageable chunks

It is overwhelming to see so many tasks and projects ahead, especially if there is a lot do for one project. Productive people break tasks and projects into manageable chunks. They act on one task or step at a time to keep moving forward with work.

 

Set up time blocks for email and administrative tasks

Email becomes a distraction as much as social media.  Administrative tasks are boring and can be neglected.  Productive people set a time block for these tasks throughout the day and week.  They check email just often enough and work from the Two Minute Rule (If the task takes less than two minutes, do it.) Setting up time blocks keeps you from getting distracted and allocates time for what might be missed.

 

Prioritize every list

Lists grow and grow. Productive people know that every list requires prioritizing. That is they choose the three Most Important Tasks each week. They limit the number to three tasks that align with their Quarterly Objectives. Some projects on the list  also move to the “Parking Lot,” waiting for a better time to begin or determine importance. Productive people know that not everything can be done at the same time.

 

Use one of these tips productive people use this week. See how much more productive you can be!