Home responsibilities and leisure pursuits need to be coordinated to ensure there is a balance and that we get everything done. The strategies and routines you have put in place to manage the symptoms of your ADHD may have become second nature to you over time. If what you have put in place over many years is working for you and decreasing or eliminating some of your ADHD symptoms keep it up. It may however, be timely to review the things happening in your life so that you can continue to manage things successfully.
There will be many things competing for your attention and you need to keep control of your life. If your symptoms lead to impulsive and hyperactive behaviour, if you find yourself procrastinating over decisions and your organisation skills deteriorate then it may be a good idea to review your routine, schedules and organisational strategies. Let’s look at some of the things that may be competing for your time and possible solutions for management-
Household
- What are the daily tasks you need to attend to and complete
- What is your morning routine and are you responsible to helping others with this
- Do you need to get children to activities or help them with homework
- What chores need to be done, do you need to go shopping, pay bills, cook meals, clean the house
Leisure
- Do you have a personal activity that you engage in at home or with others during the week
- Do you have family events to attend or do you have children who need to attend activities
Your list of things may be more or less busy than the one above. In attempting to manage these things you need to think about what has worked for you in the past in regard to routines and schedules. Do you think they will work again or do you need to establish some new routines to help your change in circumstances?
Prioritise your list of things to do, put them on a planner for the week and then organise a daily schedule to manage these things one at a time. It may help you further if then create a morning, afternoon and evening schedule to avoid becoming overwhelmed by the number or enormity of the tasks.
