By Hugo Elliot
Simple daily tasks such as picking up the kids from soccer or finishing a work assignment on time can become complicated easily for adults with ADHD. Hyperactivity, losing track of time, trouble staying focused, interrupting others, procrastinating — these are just a few of the ADHD symptoms known for derailing everyday life. Hadar Swersky says that with a little planning and some simple adjustments, you can begin overcoming the challenges caused by adult ADHD today.
- Punctuality is often an issue for adults with ADHD, whether it is picking up your kids from a playdate, getting to a doctor’s appointment, or staying on schedule at the office. You may have problem with your sense of time — ten minutes can feel like twenty or vice versa, or you tend to lose time doing tasks such as looking for clothes in your closet.
You can create lots of reminders. With programmable organizers and phones, you can set alarms that will prompt you to be on track. A low-budget timer is another option for short tasks, such as choosing an outfit.
- Background noise such as TV or radio at home, work, or even in a restaurant can be very distracting for adults with ADHD, as they cannot seem to tune it out.
It is better to sit facing away from the TV, if possible. Ask for the radio or TV to be turned off if no one is paying attention to it.
- Many adults with ADHD have trouble sleeping and might find it hard to respond to internal messages that signal it’s time to calm down and get ready for bed. In fact, you may even get a second wind just around bedtime.
Make better sleep habits — including going to bed and waking up at the same time daily — part of your adult ADHD treatment.
- Studies have shown that adults with ADHD have much higher rates of traffic accidents and violations than other adults.
While solving several daily problems necessitate just a simple change in routine, this is one where Hadar recommends medication to help keep you safe on the road. It is also essential to be aware of the different rules and laws that may affect your daily drive.
- Is your desk buried under lots of papers with essential documents lost in the stacks? Not only is managing paper uninteresting, but determining whether to file or toss it takes a specific level of concentration that an adult with ADHD may lack.
Pay attention on your strengths and hand over tasks you are not good at or do not like. Several people with adult ADHD are very successful entrepreneurs as they have an intuition about what their strengths are and they pay people to do the other tasks.
- At work, you cannot remember at what time the meeting was scheduled as the paper you wrote it on is lost. This is quite common among individuals with ADHD.
Hadar Swersky says that a little organizational help can go a long way toward managing adult ADHD. There are several high-tech digital personal assistants on the market to help you stay organized, but adults with ADHD may do better with a very simple index card system.
