Does anybody have recommendations for time management software for ADHD/autism/executive dysfunction?
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@sasutina13 And if you had your way, what would the software do that would make it useful to you?
@hosford42 I think I would have a journal plus todo list, in-app reminder with email option, optional instead of global nag function, a calendar/diary... That is all I can think of at the moment.
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@hosford42 there are ways to journal digitally, but that's the thing more suited for your issue that i can muster. Hope you find something.
@autisticplushy What do you do with your journaling that makes it helpful to you? I'm having trouble imagining the use for it, which means I'm missing something.
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@hosford42 I am presently putting most everything in a libreoffice doc to make it searchable, etc., and to give me the means of transferring to a better utility in the future.
I was using Tiki but it broke badly and won´t restore from it´s own backups.
I got in the habit of journaling from previous jobs where a detailed written report of the day´s activities was required.
@sasutina13 Sorry, I meant, what are you actually putting in the journal. Just dated entries? Or is there structure?
Like, for me, something that keeps popping into my head is, it would be awesome if I had a "goal stack". Like, here's my main goal. This is a subtotal of the main goal. And this is a subgoal of the subgoal. When I'm done with this subgoal, I cross it off and go back up one level to figure out my next steps.
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@hosford42 I think I would have a journal plus todo list, in-app reminder with email option, optional instead of global nag function, a calendar/diary... That is all I can think of at the moment.
@sasutina13 I like it! This helps me match what my problems are with possible solutions, so I really appreciate it!
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@autisticplushy What do you do with your journaling that makes it helpful to you? I'm having trouble imagining the use for it, which means I'm missing something.
@hosford42 i dont do it personally, because i think i have a good enough memory and time management myself. But a lot of ND friends use it and it kinda works for them at some level. Maybe as a gamified version in an app, or writing in a "boring" notebook. And seems like it solves the issues of tracking anything relevant in your life (sleep, mood, etc) or any tasks or goals you have.
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@sasutina13 Sorry, I meant, what are you actually putting in the journal. Just dated entries? Or is there structure?
Like, for me, something that keeps popping into my head is, it would be awesome if I had a "goal stack". Like, here's my main goal. This is a subtotal of the main goal. And this is a subgoal of the subgoal. When I'm done with this subgoal, I cross it off and go back up one level to figure out my next steps.
@hosford42 No real structure to it. It is more of a narrative with bullet lists of tasks and goals and such. Not much nesting of things, though. Tags don´t quite work in this format. I do review it frequently.
When I complete something I make a note on the day it is done.
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@sasutina13 Sorry, I meant, what are you actually putting in the journal. Just dated entries? Or is there structure?
Like, for me, something that keeps popping into my head is, it would be awesome if I had a "goal stack". Like, here's my main goal. This is a subtotal of the main goal. And this is a subgoal of the subgoal. When I'm done with this subgoal, I cross it off and go back up one level to figure out my next steps.
@hosford42 I have a structured checklist form that I used for a job that I intend to adapt to just living and such... Just have to figure out what I need to put on it.
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Does anybody have recommendations for time management software for ADHD/autism/executive dysfunction?
Not the staying-on-task stuff like pomodoro. I struggle specifically with time blindness and task initiation:
1. I forget where I am in the process, what I'm doing, what needs to be done, when it needs to be done by, what's a priority, what happened yesterday, how long I've been working, what freaking day of the week it is, etc. (Also, can't estimate project duration to save my life.)
2. I struggle awfully with getting started in the first place. Any little disruption and my brain says I'm starting over again. My biggest problem seems to be that I have some much interesting stuff I'm working on, and it pains me to interrupt that flow to work on something comparatively dull but more urgent. A big part of that is because, odds are I will forget where I'm at with the cool stuff I was doing, or even forget to come back to it altogether.
@hosford42 on the point of getting started, i went through a bit of a journey on that if you want to take a look and see if anything seems to apply to your situation https://brookmiles.ca/2017/01/01/learning-something-every-day-of-2016-december/
That spreadsheet also takes care of the "what have i done and when".
On general task planning and tracking... I use text files as my baseline. Never have to review/install/configure/update software, portable and cross platform. Write a list of things and put an X next to them when they are done, add anything that comes to mind to the list.
The spreadsheet and todo list are always open on my screen, so I'll see them frequently by accident if nothing else.
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@hosford42 on the point of getting started, i went through a bit of a journey on that if you want to take a look and see if anything seems to apply to your situation https://brookmiles.ca/2017/01/01/learning-something-every-day-of-2016-december/
That spreadsheet also takes care of the "what have i done and when".
On general task planning and tracking... I use text files as my baseline. Never have to review/install/configure/update software, portable and cross platform. Write a list of things and put an X next to them when they are done, add anything that comes to mind to the list.
The spreadsheet and todo list are always open on my screen, so I'll see them frequently by accident if nothing else.
@hosford42 I will add that, when I started 10 years ago, I was thinking "why do i procrastinate so much?" and not "maybe I have ADHD, and also i'm exhausted".
In hindsight a big part of the problem was also just general fatigue from trying to work a full time job and also use all of my free time "being productive" instead of "getting rest". There's only so much you can do to manage yourself out of needing proper rest and regular physical activity.
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@hosford42 I will add that, when I started 10 years ago, I was thinking "why do i procrastinate so much?" and not "maybe I have ADHD, and also i'm exhausted".
In hindsight a big part of the problem was also just general fatigue from trying to work a full time job and also use all of my free time "being productive" instead of "getting rest". There's only so much you can do to manage yourself out of needing proper rest and regular physical activity.
@brook thanks for this! And yeah, that last bit definitely applies to me, only I don't do it on purpose. I can't stand to twiddle my thumbs or sit idly. It bores me to death. My brain demands that I do cognitive heavy lifting or I am miserable. Even when I watch shows or play games, it's always stuff that makes me think. That's been a real struggle this last year with brain fog, fatigue, and extra poor sleep from undiagnosed diabetes. (So glad I know the cause now!)
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Does anybody have recommendations for time management software for ADHD/autism/executive dysfunction?
Not the staying-on-task stuff like pomodoro. I struggle specifically with time blindness and task initiation:
1. I forget where I am in the process, what I'm doing, what needs to be done, when it needs to be done by, what's a priority, what happened yesterday, how long I've been working, what freaking day of the week it is, etc. (Also, can't estimate project duration to save my life.)
2. I struggle awfully with getting started in the first place. Any little disruption and my brain says I'm starting over again. My biggest problem seems to be that I have some much interesting stuff I'm working on, and it pains me to interrupt that flow to work on something comparatively dull but more urgent. A big part of that is because, odds are I will forget where I'm at with the cool stuff I was doing, or even forget to come back to it altogether.
@hosford42 time estimates - i started using a time tracking tool that, *importantly*, fits in my workflow - I'm a heavy terminal user so it's a command line tool with easy start and stop commands (that I've aliased to make even easier). time tracking never worked for me previously but finding something that slots well into what I'm already doing helped a LOT. I also wrote a reminder to do my time tracking into my terminal startup message!
and now i feel much more confident with estimates because I can look back and say "oh, that took ten hours, I think this is similar scope and therefore size"
I know this mostly sounds very basic but it really was eye opening to me how finding the right modality for that kind of tool made me actually use it.
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@hosford42 time estimates - i started using a time tracking tool that, *importantly*, fits in my workflow - I'm a heavy terminal user so it's a command line tool with easy start and stop commands (that I've aliased to make even easier). time tracking never worked for me previously but finding something that slots well into what I'm already doing helped a LOT. I also wrote a reminder to do my time tracking into my terminal startup message!
and now i feel much more confident with estimates because I can look back and say "oh, that took ten hours, I think this is similar scope and therefore size"
I know this mostly sounds very basic but it really was eye opening to me how finding the right modality for that kind of tool made me actually use it.
@inherentlee
@hosford42
Sounds interesting. What time tracking tool is that? Maybe it fits with my needs or shows me at least what to look for. -
What I'm looking for, here, is basically a cognitive prosthesis for executive functioning, specifically the stuff that involves *following* the plan, as opposed to forming one in the first place. Context switching, goal tracking, step-by-step organization, motivation... That kind of stuff.
@hosford42
I use [Obsidian](https://obsidian.md) for my note-taking and general brain off-loading. It's a app that handles Markdown files and therefore avoids heavy vendor lock-in. It supports daily notes and there is a plugin called "Tasks" that helps to organize TODO-lists.Biggest downside: I needed to find a workflow for me. Currently, I collect todos in either the daily note or a central file. The daily note has a special section to show me today's remaining open tasks.
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@hosford42 on the point of getting started, i went through a bit of a journey on that if you want to take a look and see if anything seems to apply to your situation https://brookmiles.ca/2017/01/01/learning-something-every-day-of-2016-december/
That spreadsheet also takes care of the "what have i done and when".
On general task planning and tracking... I use text files as my baseline. Never have to review/install/configure/update software, portable and cross platform. Write a list of things and put an X next to them when they are done, add anything that comes to mind to the list.
The spreadsheet and todo list are always open on my screen, so I'll see them frequently by accident if nothing else.
@brook
Thanks for sharing your experience!> A weakness in my plan was that I had specifically chosen ad-hoc subject matter that required me to stop and think about my next step. On at least one day, I failed because I simply could not decide on something to do that day
That's been me every day. So many things I want to do, so little time! And then get stuck deciding. What helped me was making a list of things I'm interested in, prioritize that list and cut the things I can live without for now. Then I rotated those things on a weekly basis. When I stick to one thing for too long, it starts to feel like a chore, so I go back and forth to switch it up.
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@inherentlee
@hosford42
Sounds interesting. What time tracking tool is that? Maybe it fits with my needs or shows me at least what to look for.@kronn @hosford42 its called timetrace but there's other similar ones out there i think
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@hosford42
I use [Obsidian](https://obsidian.md) for my note-taking and general brain off-loading. It's a app that handles Markdown files and therefore avoids heavy vendor lock-in. It supports daily notes and there is a plugin called "Tasks" that helps to organize TODO-lists.Biggest downside: I needed to find a workflow for me. Currently, I collect todos in either the daily note or a central file. The daily note has a special section to show me today's remaining open tasks.
@kronn I installed that a while back with the intention of checking it out, but never got around to it. Probably because I already use PyCharm for programming, and it has nice support for markdown too. Maybe I'll give it another go with Obsidian
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@amelie I used todoist for a bit, but then it spontaneously dropped out of my head. I need a to-do item that reminds me to use the to-do list. lol
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@amelie I used todoist for a bit, but then it spontaneously dropped out of my head. I need a to-do item that reminds me to use the to-do list. lol
@hosford42 @amelie
If you have chalk markers, I've had a little luck reminding myself to check my lists by leaving instructions on the mirror. -
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