Effective Time Management Strategies For People With ADHD

People with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) often struggle with time blindness. Time blindness is a condition where you lose perception of time and it’s very common in people with ADHD.

In Fact this time blindness makes it very challenging for people with ADHD to manage their time. ADHD and time management are like the same poles of magnet that repel each other. This is because an ADHD brain works very differently and losing track of time is very natural in ADHD.

But who said you have to live with bad time management skills? Even though with ADHD your perception of time may be flawed, you can still learn some effective time management strategies. And I am here to help you with just that.

In this blog we will discuss some effective time management strategies and will share time management tips for people with ADHD to make your life easy.

Let’s look at some time management tips for people with ADHD…

Time Management Tips For People With ADHD

Time management requires a lot of planning and focus. Now these two things cannot be easily achieved by people with ADHD but with some tips and tricks you can effectively manage your time as well as your ADHD.

Want to know how? Try these time management tips and see for yourself…

1.Break your tasks into smaller bits

The perception of time is often flawed in people with ADHD and when invested in a long task, losing track of time is obvious. If you have ADHD and want to finish things on time, try breaking your tasks into smaller chunks. It helps in keeping your attention intact and helps you move from one tiny task to another quickly.

2.Know your attention span and plan accordingly

This is very important for people with ADHD, if you don’t want to lose track of time and want to effectively manage your time. Know your attention span, for how long can you pay attention? 20 minutes? 30- 40 minutes? Once you know your attention span, plan your activities in such a way that it only requires you to pay attention to your chosen minutes, then take a break of 5-10 minutes and resume work.

3.Build routines

It may sound vague but having morning and nighttime routines can help you manage your time well. Time your morning routine, know how much time you take to brush, clean up, eat breakfast and take your meds. When you do these tasks regularly, you’ll get habitual to the routine and you will know exactly how much time you spend doing these activities. You can build a routine for anything and everything you wish.

4.Have a set place for everything

Inattentiveness and forgetfulness is common in people with ADHD and it makes it very difficult for them to manage their time well because they forget where they kept their belongings and important things. Therefore having a pre-decided place for every important thing (keys, meds, files, wallet, laptop, etc) will help you find it easily and you’ll never be late for a meeting.

Also read: 10 Best Time Management Apps Of 2022

5.Choose the right work space

People with ADHD are easily distracted and that’s a blunder for time management. So if you want to manage your time well you need to stay away from distractions. Therefore, choose a space to work that causes the least amount of distractions.

6.Have some buffer

No matter how well planned your schedule looks, there are high chances you will mess up with managing your time. It’s not your fault, that’s what ADHD does to you, so keep some buffer for every task you sign up for. It’ll give you enough time to recover the lost time.

7.Put alarms/notes and Clocks in every room

This is a very helpful tip for time management for people with ADHD. Since, losing track of time is very common, install alarms and clocks in each room. Once that’s done, put some notes that are easily visible that ask you to keep a watch on the time. These things will not let you easily forget about the time you have spent in a peculiar room.

8.Put things on timers or reminders

People with ADHD often forget about other necessary things to do and get stuck doing just one thing. This can waste a lot of your time, hence putting timers/reminders in things like T.V. so that it switches off on its own after running for a set amount of time and you can be reminded of going to bed on time.

9.Ask friends to regularly check in on you

This one is tried, tested and approved! When you have to complete large, time consuming tasks and your ADHD brain decides to go on a vacation, you can ask your friends to keep a check on you. You can ask them to enquire about your progress every 2 or so hours. This will help you stay put and pay attention to your work without losing track of time.

That’s All Folks!

These are some of the most effective time management tips for people with ADHD. I hope these time management tips help you deal with your daily struggle of being late or early or completely forgetting about things.

Time management for people with ADHD is challenging but not when you follow these time management strategies. Do give them a try and let us know if they help you manage your time or not, especially if you have ADHD.

Do share these time management tips for people with ADHD with your friend, family and especially with your ADHD buddies. I’m sure these time management strategies are going to make your lives easy.

Thanks for reading.

Take care and stay safe.