I recently attended a workshop at the public library on the topic of creating new habits, achieving goals and generally getting things done. It was not nearly as annoying as I feared. The presenter was very relatable as a fellow ADDer who understands the difficulty of managing daily tasks and balancing big projects with day-to-day chores.
I am cautiously optimistic that her guidance will help me dominate my days instead of letting them slink past while I wonder where the time went. The first piece of advice I'm enacting is to think small. I always felt comforted by the 3-5 to-do lists I'd make in a day. The truth is, the lists never got done. Only a team of superpeople could conquer my ambitious lists in a single day and a mere mortal like me just felt defeated by the optimism of the morning compared to the reality of the evening.
My to-do list is now never longer than two items.
item 1- personal goal
item 2- professional goal
Once I complete the goal, I get a new one. I hope to complete around five goals a day but it may take a week just for one. If I know I'm supposed to be chipping away at one goal, I am less likely to get derailed and start something new. Once I start... I must finish! Once I finish... I get to do something else! What a novel idea to finish what I start.
This plan flies in the face of the "shoot for the moon, if you fall short... you land on a star." philosophy. Aside from that quote being cosmically whack, always making unrealistic goals and falling below your expectations of yourself DOES NOT FEEL GOOD. Sometimes, if the goal is the moon, I can become utterly daunted by the task ahead and not even put on my space suit! Sometimes even, "Do your best!" is intimidating.
Instead of thinking big, I am going to think small. Instead of doing my best or shooting for the stars, I will "Do something" and then, high on achievement, I will do another something. Maybe I'll have a snack, pat myself on the back and DO ANOTHER SOMETHING! Woooeee what a day!
I look forward to flopping into bed at the end of the day, reflecting on the goals I completed instead of resigning to the end of a day where I disappointed myself.
- the above picture of my vanity is evidence that thinking small is helpful for me. I normally would have promised myself that I would clean the whole bedroom. That task involves laundry, bunny fur removal, litterbox changing, dusting and de-cluttering and is generally considered a complete drag. I broke that monster into little bits and started with my vanity. The vanity is usually covered with bunched up stockings, assorted belts and a massive knot of necklace chains. Look at it now! It finally deserves to be called a vanity instead of, say, a feminine crapstack. It so appealingly orderly that it makes me want to clean the litterbox so that the place can smell as good as it looks!
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