Sonja:
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Hi, good morning.
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It's Sonja again.
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Coming at you from my command
center of chaos, as usual.
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Today we're diving into something that
makes most of us break out a cold sweat.
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It's called time management.
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So, I can hear almost everyone
groaning through the speakers.
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Let me paint you a picture of my
life before I figure this out.
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Picture me running around the house
like a headless chicken, one shoe
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on, frantically searching for my
keys, while my kids are yelling
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that they're going to be late again.
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Does that sound familiar?
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Well, here's the thing about us, A
DHD people, we have a, let's call
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it a unique relationship with time.
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It's like time is this slippery fish
that we just can't seem to get a grip on.
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One minute we're hyper-focused
on a task, and the next thing you
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know, three hours have passed and
we've missed two appointments.
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Which happened quite a lot in my work
because I was diving into all kinds
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of nice analysis and things like that.
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And of course, I was not aware
that that meeting that was going to
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happen in 10 minutes had now passed.
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So, it's a problem.
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But there is some good news.
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We can learn to wrangle this time base.
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And I'm going to share some of
my favorite tricks with you.
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First up is clocks.
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And I've done it for years now
and it's really changed my life
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even though it's such an easy one.
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I used to have maybe
one clock in the house.
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And now I've got clocks everywhere.
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In the bathroom, in my kitchen, in
my office, even one in my shower.
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And here's the kicker.
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I set them all five minutes ahead.
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And, I know, it's, you're thinking, but
I'll just know they're five minutes fast.
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And that's true, you do.
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But trust me, it works.
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Even when you know, it creates
this sense of urgency that can
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just be enough to get you moving.
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Your brain gets tricked, so to say.
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Next, let's talk about timeboxing.
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I mean, this is like an interval
training, but then for your brain.
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So you set a timer for a specific
amount of time, let's say.
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And then you focus on just
one task for that time.
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You know when you start, you know
when you finish, and when the
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timer goes off, you take a break.
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It's like telling your brain, okay,
you only have to focus for this
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long, and then you get a reward.
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And let me tell you, it's
been a game changer for me.
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I get so much more done than
before I used to do that.
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Oh, and here's a fun one as well.
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I'll call it the when then approach.
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It goes like this.
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When I finish this report,
then I can check social media.
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It's like creating a little reward
for yourself throughout the day.
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And let's be honest, our ADHD
brains love a good reward system.
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I mean, it's what we thrive for.
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Now, I know what you're thinking.
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Ah, this all sounds great, but
how do I actually stick to it?
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Well That's where the power
of agreements come in.
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Instead of thinking of your tasks as a
to do list, think of them as agreements
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that you've made with yourself.
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It sounds silly but, and it's
a subtle shift, but it can
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really make a big difference.
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It's like you're making a small contract
with yourself on what you're going to do.
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I'm not saying this is easy.
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I really wouldn't.
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And there are still days when time
slips through my fingers like sand.
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But these strategies have helped
me from constantly running late and
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always feeling overwhelmed to actually
having some control over my day.
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And remember, we're not trying to
fit into some neurotypical box here.
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We're trying to find ways to work with
our unique brains and not against them.
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So be patient with yourself and
celebrate the small victories and
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keep experimenting until you find
that thing that works for you.
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So, next week we're going to be
diving into how to tackle those
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big scary projects that our ADHD
brains love to procrastinate on.
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So trust me, you won't want to miss this.
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Until then, embrace your
beautiful time challenged self.
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I mean, you're not broken,
you just need the right tools.
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This is Sonja signing off.
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Keep the fire burning, ladies.
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Bye!