Daily Life Management for Teens and Adults with ADHD
A key element to taking charge of ADHD is to develop good daily life management skills. These skills help you to charge of your daily life, make productive use of your time, learn how to break down and accomplish the larger goals in your life, and develop daily habits that will promote well-being and reduce ADHD symptoms.
Ideally, we begin to develop these skills as a teenager so that our transition to independent living goes more smoothly. These skills include learning how to manage your time, how to prioritize and remember your tasks each day, as well as healthy daily habits such as getting adequate sleep, regular exercise and good daily nutrition. Your goal as a person with ADHD is to do everything you can to improve your brain’s functioning — and sleep, nutrition and exercise can help balance your brain chemistry so that your mood and your focus can improve.
Developing all of these daily live management skills is a tall order, so don’t try to tackle them all at once. Instead, identify one area in your daily life that needs to change and work to change that habit before moving on to another life management skill.
For some, a top priority might be better money management. For another, it might be getting adequate sleep on a regular basis. For yet another person, their most immediate challenge may be to de-clutter and organize their living environment.
When deciding what to take on first, your goals are to:
- Reduce stress
- Increase structure
Stress leads to an increase in ADHD symptoms
You might notice that during a particularly stressful time that you are more forgetful and disorganized. A key element in learning to manage and reduce ADHD symptoms is to identify sources of stress and to problem-solve to find ways to reduce those stressors
Structure leads to a decrease in ADHD symptoms
Structure can come in many forms. Regular daily habits can help to increase the structure of your day. Using time management software can provide a great deal of structure in your daily life at minimal cost. Reminder systems, ADD coaches, and professional organizers can all help increase the structure in your daily life that can help you better manage your goals and tasks from day to day.
Where to get started in taking charge of your daily life?
- Make an inventory of repeating patterns in your daily life that lead to stress and problem-solve to reduce them. It can help to work with a family member, friend, ADD coach or ADD counselor to engage in constructive problem-solving.
- Try Skoach software — this software is web-based, so you can access it from any internet connection — including your cell phone. Developed by Kathleen Nadeau, Skoach stands for “schedule + coach.” Skoach can help you build daily habits, including a daily planning session and sends reminders for all of your tasks.
- Work with an ADD Coach — who can help you set goals and priorities and help you stay on track to meet them.
- Work with a professional organizer — who can quickly help you de-clutter and reorganize your living and working space so that you can function more efficiently.
- ADD-friendly Ways to Organize Your Life — Read Kathleen Nadeau’s book, specifically written to help those with ADHD become better organized and feel more in control of their time and their space.
Managing ADHD and good daily life management go hand in hand. You may need more help in the beginning as you work to change daily habits. Once they become “habitual”, Skoach software provides a highly affordable support to help you stay on track in managing your daily life.