Time blocking didn't work for me. I never know how long things are going to take, and if I don't get something done within the time assigned to it it doesn't get done at all, but I feel guilty that I didn't do it so I can't move on to the next thing. Like, I have to do x task from 10 until 11, but it takes until 11:30, so the task I had from 11 to 12 doesn't get done, and if that's a really important task that will cause me big problems. Or I have to do x task from 10 until 11 but I can't bring myself to start the task, and then it's 11, but I still have to do task x, but I had something else scheduled for 11. So I feel frozen. Or I'll want to do something else but that's assigned to a different time block, but I can't think of anything else, so instead I do nothing. It's a disaster lol
Same here. I now try to plan my tasks not by a scheduled time, but by time span. Eg. task x could take 1 hour. But if it took longer, I just correct the estimated time for the next session, if it is a repeating task. Otherwise I duplicate my task and work on the next day for another hour on it. The second thing I do, is to give some tags to my tasks by type e.g. creative, online, banking, call, write... or by place to work on it e.g. woodshop, car, outside... Then I sort it by this tags, so I can bundle for example different calls into one "calling block". Or I can do tasks which require to be done in the woodshop in that time span when I'm in the woodshop. It sounds simple, but it helps a lot to not feeling owerwhelmed or frozen by different tasks or time slots. No matter how long it will take, it's just a "topic block" instead of a "time block". My tool for writing down and sorting tasks is notion. But of course I have to take care of not feeling overwhelmed by the tool itself. 😂
Yeah I have the same issue. So frustrating. Not sure what the solution is, still working with it myself. And then tools like Trello/Notion/Etc are out of the question bc of the overwhelming and distracting complexity.
I am progressing with accomplishing things with: - pomodoro - notepad with tasks - having watches - splitting activities, like kitchen for eating, workplace is for work obviously
Was looking for the link to Cal Newport Time blocking blog and or his utub channel where he explains the time blocking system thank you great video newly diagnosed with ADD
@@youradhdgirl yes - that would be great idea! I was looking for it as well - was trying to replay the video to capture the name to google. Thank you @carolyallen9016 for sharing this!
The failure of the numbering scheme is AMAZING I know I have seen ALOT OF productivity vids ( both for NT's and ND's) but this is something that I TOTALLY forgot about and you ACTUALLY gave me a GOOD reason to start timeblocking tysmmmm And I am planning to binge Cal Newport's vids and read the books when I have more time
Love your channel, you're going to blow up soon. 😊 Thank you for the ADHD strategies, the getting unstuck video for mental and physical paralysis was extremely helpful for me ❤
Thank you for this very interesting video. :) I was also trying different time management systems over the years and I actually understood the time-blocking concept this way. If you think about it, our childhood, when we were in school, was the most productive time of our lives. We were doing so much work in different subjects and activities because of the structured session based schedule we followed. We had classes in specific subjects, followed by extracurricular activities like sports or tuition sessions(where we knew when it starts and more importantly when it ends), and then homework. In fact, we had no choice but to follow this schedule. As we transition into adulthood, we often lose that sense of structure and order that we had in our childhood and there is no one to take attendence, or push you to things. Our "todos" are merely a choice not a must anymore. While most people can still prioritize tasks and manage their time effectively and push them to complete tasks, it is a very difficult task for those with ADHD to this on their own. I think that time-blocking is a way of reconnecting with the structured session based lifestyle we had as children. By dividing our days into specific blocks of sessions for different tasks and activities, and trying to enforce it little bit like when we were in the school ,we can regain that sense of order and get the capacity we had in our most productive times. May be that's why it works.
That’s a great explanation thank you! I do think of it as a way to implement discipline in my life, and that’s the only way that has worked so far 😅 Thanks again for the support ☺️
Great video! You make me want to use Trello again, BUT I'm sticking to what has been working for me. I can say that I will give time blocking another chance because of your video. Thanks!
Thank you for explaining this, including the notes that things will get off the track time to time, and then we can fix our expectations for the next time. You explained in a way where I feel understood, and made me have hope I can organise a little bit.
That capture system is actually very similar to what software developers use to track "issues" (programming-related tasks). Trello is mostly a watered-down version of popular tools made for this exact purpose. The reason it works in general is because you get to offload the contents of your working memory into the tracker, including any links between them, larger milestones or random ideas spawned in your brain. Completing tasks in those systems usually involves checking off boxes or "closing" (marking as completed) issues, which triggers the release of dopamine. You can create as many tasks as needed and separate them into smaller subtasks so that your brain always gets its dopamine fast enough to not get bored - if progress feels too slow, you create smaller issues or do a quick memory dump and return to it later. Also, I guess you can use it in a way that completely ignores the dimension of time and purely focuses on priorities and progress. The biggest issue is that it might feel like over-organizing or the backlog could be overwhelming. Have to find the right balance, then it should work.
OMG, I totally get it! I am undiagnosed but pretty sure I have ADHD. I have too much going on in my head and it's like everything is fighting for my attention. Start on one thing then something else pops up. My wife says I am a squirrel, jumping from one thing to the next. I am looking for some system to create some calmness at the end of the day. You nailed it when you said your days used to be chaos. I GET IT! Thank you for sharing.
We do the similar thing as task management in agile software development tasks at work. Maybe I am associating it with work therefore it appears worse than it is for me. But I really tried this method several times but never really worked for me 😪
What was the tool on a computer that costed quite a lot of money, which you really enjoyed but ended up spending so much time tweaking it around? Just curious ;)
I color code my blocks for the different tasks I have. I reserve an hour but sometimes wait until 30 mins before my block is done to cram. I hack my hdhd like this.
Coucou, J’ai quelques années de moins que toi et j’ai été diagnostiquée assez jeune, ça a été découvert quand j’ai passé des tests pour sauter une classe.Assez bizarrement je n’ai jamais eu de problèmes jusqu’au moment où je suis partie vivre seule pour entrer en études supérieures et qu’il fallait que je gère tout par moi-même. Je me retrouve énormément dans ce que tu dis, merci beaucoup pour ces astuces et aussi pour témoigner de ton expérience parce que c’est rassurant de se dire qu’il y a d’autres personnes qui ont les mêmes difficultés dans leur vie. Est-ce que tu aurais des conseils sur l’aspect social/relationnel ? C’est un sujet sur lequel j’ai pas mal d’angoisses, j’ai eu plusieurs relations qui se sont mal terminées et parfois je vois un lien avec ça et les symptômes que j’ai. Merci encore pour tes vidéos :)
Merci Marie pour ce gentil commentaire! Je suis ravie que tu te retrouves dans ce que je dis. Ca me fait vraiment chaud au coeur d'entendre que mes vidéos raisonnent beaucoup avec certains d'entre vous. Pour ma part, j'avais déjà des problèmes avant l'université, mais le fait de me retrouver toute seule dans une nouvelle ville a énormément aggravé ces problèmes, donc je comprends bien ce schéma! J'aimerais beaucoup parler des relations en effet. C'est un sujet si important pour les personnes atteintes de TDAH. Peut-être un peu douloureux pour moi, d'où le fait que je n'ai pas encore fait de vidéos dessus surement. En tout cas, je garde ça en tête pour mes prochaines vidéos. J'espère que ma vulnérabilité sur ce sujet là pourra t'aider aussi! A très vite sur ma chaine ☺️
Time blocking didn't work for me. I never know how long things are going to take, and if I don't get something done within the time assigned to it it doesn't get done at all, but I feel guilty that I didn't do it so I can't move on to the next thing. Like, I have to do x task from 10 until 11, but it takes until 11:30, so the task I had from 11 to 12 doesn't get done, and if that's a really important task that will cause me big problems. Or I have to do x task from 10 until 11 but I can't bring myself to start the task, and then it's 11, but I still have to do task x, but I had something else scheduled for 11. So I feel frozen. Or I'll want to do something else but that's assigned to a different time block, but I can't think of anything else, so instead I do nothing. It's a disaster lol
I feel you, sometimes It happens to me aswell.
Same here. I now try to plan my tasks not by a scheduled time, but by time span. Eg. task x could take 1 hour. But if it took longer, I just correct the estimated time for the next session, if it is a repeating task. Otherwise I duplicate my task and work on the next day for another hour on it.
The second thing I do, is to give some tags to my tasks by type e.g. creative, online, banking, call, write... or by place to work on it e.g. woodshop, car, outside... Then I sort it by this tags, so I can bundle for example different calls into one "calling block". Or I can do tasks which require to be done in the woodshop in that time span when I'm in the woodshop.
It sounds simple, but it helps a lot to not feeling owerwhelmed or frozen by different tasks or time slots. No matter how long it will take, it's just a "topic block" instead of a "time block".
My tool for writing down and sorting tasks is notion. But of course I have to take care of not feeling overwhelmed by the tool itself. 😂
Yeah I have the same issue. So frustrating. Not sure what the solution is, still working with it myself. And then tools like Trello/Notion/Etc are out of the question bc of the overwhelming and distracting complexity.
I am progressing with accomplishing things with:
- pomodoro
- notepad with tasks
- having watches
- splitting activities, like kitchen for eating, workplace is for work obviously
Was looking for the link to Cal Newport Time blocking blog and or his utub channel where he explains the time blocking system thank you great video newly diagnosed with ADD
I should add this to the description you’re right ! Glad the video could help 😄
@@youradhdgirl yes - that would be great idea! I was looking for it as well - was trying to replay the video to capture the name to google. Thank you @carolyallen9016 for sharing this!
The failure of the numbering scheme is AMAZING
I know I have seen ALOT OF productivity vids ( both for NT's and ND's) but this is something that I TOTALLY forgot about and you ACTUALLY gave me a GOOD reason to start timeblocking tysmmmm
And I am planning to binge Cal Newport's vids and read the books when I have more time
Love to hear that!! Thanks Fatima for the comment , and you won't regret reading Cal's books! 😄
Mmm
Me having ADHD be like I can focus again for like a week, and then two months no focus
Tha'ts probably the deadline dread vs. i have still time so ill procasti-work on useless things that are way more interesting
Just found your video and listened to it during my morning walk. How have things been going with this system, one year later?
Love your channel, you're going to blow up soon. 😊 Thank you for the ADHD strategies, the getting unstuck video for mental and physical paralysis was extremely helpful for me ❤
I'm going to go check for that video.
Thank you for this very interesting video. :)
I was also trying different time management systems over the years and I actually understood the time-blocking concept this way.
If you think about it, our childhood, when we were in school, was the most productive time of our lives. We were doing so much work in different subjects and activities because of the structured session based schedule we followed. We had classes in specific subjects, followed by extracurricular activities like sports or tuition sessions(where we knew when it starts and more importantly when it ends), and then homework. In fact, we had no choice but to follow this schedule.
As we transition into adulthood, we often lose that sense of structure and order that we had in our childhood and there is no one to take attendence, or push you to things. Our "todos" are merely a choice not a must anymore. While most people can still prioritize tasks and manage their time effectively and push them to complete tasks, it is a very difficult task for those with ADHD to this on their own.
I think that time-blocking is a way of reconnecting with the structured session based lifestyle we had as children. By dividing our days into specific blocks of sessions for different tasks and activities, and trying to enforce it little bit like when we were in the school ,we can regain that sense of order and get the capacity we had in our most productive times.
May be that's why it works.
That’s a great explanation thank you! I do think of it as a way to implement discipline in my life, and that’s the only way that has worked so far 😅
Thanks again for the support ☺️
Great video! You make me want to use Trello again, BUT I'm sticking to what has been working for me. I can say that I will give time blocking another chance because of your video. Thanks!
Thank you for explaining this, including the notes that things will get off the track time to time, and then we can fix our expectations for the next time.
You explained in a way where I feel understood, and made me have hope I can organise a little bit.
That capture system is actually very similar to what software developers use to track "issues" (programming-related tasks). Trello is mostly a watered-down version of popular tools made for this exact purpose. The reason it works in general is because you get to offload the contents of your working memory into the tracker, including any links between them, larger milestones or random ideas spawned in your brain.
Completing tasks in those systems usually involves checking off boxes or "closing" (marking as completed) issues, which triggers the release of dopamine. You can create as many tasks as needed and separate them into smaller subtasks so that your brain always gets its dopamine fast enough to not get bored - if progress feels too slow, you create smaller issues or do a quick memory dump and return to it later.
Also, I guess you can use it in a way that completely ignores the dimension of time and purely focuses on priorities and progress. The biggest issue is that it might feel like over-organizing or the backlog could be overwhelming. Have to find the right balance, then it should work.
I would love it if you made a video on how you created your capture system!
OMG, I totally get it! I am undiagnosed but pretty sure I have ADHD. I have too much going on in my head and it's like everything is fighting for my attention. Start on one thing then something else pops up. My wife says I am a squirrel, jumping from one thing to the next. I am looking for some system to create some calmness at the end of the day. You nailed it when you said your days used to be chaos. I GET IT!
Thank you for sharing.
Thanks so much for this really helpful video!!
You are so welcome!
We do the similar thing as task management in agile software development tasks at work. Maybe I am associating it with work therefore it appears worse than it is for me. But I really tried this method several times but never really worked for me 😪
God bless you. Helpful thanks
Greeting from middle east
How is it going with your time-blocking?
What was the tool on a computer that costed quite a lot of money, which you really enjoyed but ended up spending so much time tweaking it around? Just curious ;)
haha it was Sunsama ! i did love their app and I'm still using sometimes but I've come to rely on handwriting my thoughts and therefore my days
I color code my blocks for the different tasks I have. I reserve an hour but sometimes wait until 30 mins before my block is done to cram. I hack my hdhd like this.
Coucou,
J’ai quelques années de moins que toi et j’ai été diagnostiquée assez jeune, ça a été découvert quand j’ai passé des tests pour sauter une classe.Assez bizarrement je n’ai jamais eu de problèmes jusqu’au moment où je suis partie vivre seule pour entrer en études supérieures et qu’il fallait que je gère tout par moi-même.
Je me retrouve énormément dans ce que tu dis, merci beaucoup pour ces astuces et aussi pour témoigner de ton expérience parce que c’est rassurant de se dire qu’il y a d’autres personnes qui ont les mêmes difficultés dans leur vie.
Est-ce que tu aurais des conseils sur l’aspect social/relationnel ? C’est un sujet sur lequel j’ai pas mal d’angoisses, j’ai eu plusieurs relations qui se sont mal terminées et parfois je vois un lien avec ça et les symptômes que j’ai.
Merci encore pour tes vidéos :)
Merci Marie pour ce gentil commentaire! Je suis ravie que tu te retrouves dans ce que je dis. Ca me fait vraiment chaud au coeur d'entendre que mes vidéos raisonnent beaucoup avec certains d'entre vous. Pour ma part, j'avais déjà des problèmes avant l'université, mais le fait de me retrouver toute seule dans une nouvelle ville a énormément aggravé ces problèmes, donc je comprends bien ce schéma!
J'aimerais beaucoup parler des relations en effet. C'est un sujet si important pour les personnes atteintes de TDAH. Peut-être un peu douloureux pour moi, d'où le fait que je n'ai pas encore fait de vidéos dessus surement. En tout cas, je garde ça en tête pour mes prochaines vidéos. J'espère que ma vulnérabilité sur ce sujet là pourra t'aider aussi!
A très vite sur ma chaine ☺️
Thank you! Which notebook are you using?