Productivity Hacks (yes, I actually typed that loathsome phrase)

But hey-ho, I'm in one of those optimistic moods where I think a system can cure my ADHD

Just before I begin - anyone else in the UK really struggling to get their ADHD meds? I’m neither for or against meds, but for me, they’re invaluable and this stress every month is pretty….

…frustrating, annoying, horrific, delete the swear words!

And that feeds into today’s post, because, anyone else been a bit… overwhelmed lately?

A bit chasing-your-tail-while-juggling-and-spinning-plates?

I know it’s not just me.

Oh wait, is it just me? Am I the only one flailing & failing at life??

Anyway, there isn’t time to delve into my imposter syndrome. My therapist can enjoy that conversation tomorrow.

For you, lovely reader, I’m going to delve into why my little goldfish brain thinks an app/ system / hack will be able to wave a magic wand over my entire character and, abracadabra, transform me into a super productive, high-achieving machine.

I’ve spent my life thinking that if I just get a bit more organised, a bit more focused, work a bit harder or learn one more skill, I’d be amazing.

‘She has so much potential’, said my teachers.

My internal narrative echoes the sentiment, but with a rueful shake of the head, as if I could’ve been a contender, but instead, wasted it all.

Yet the world is full of people & products promising to fix me, and however much my internal narrator thinks I’m a lost cause, goldfish brain isn’t paying attention.

So, here are the things that are working for my productivity at the moment. I make no promise that they’ll work for you & I also don’t guarantee they’ll be working for me by the time I post the next newsletter, but regardless, here we go (with no affiliations, just my own opinions).

Llama Life (A To-Do List Desktop App)

Good -

Very basic, easy to set up and visually, lovely. Gives little sound pings to keep you on track and the screen flashes when you should’ve finished a task & moved on to the next.

Bad -

One week free trial then a recurring monthly payment my ADHD brain will never remember to cancel.

How it Works -

You write out your To-Do list, assign a time for each task, colour code it or add some cute cartoon graphics, then hit go when you start the task.

A little alarm pings every 10 minutes or so to remind you to stay focus on the task, and you can select background sounds (beaches, rain, white noise etc.) to play while you do your tasks.

Also, you can preset your To-Do lists in advance.

In my weekend optimism, I created a Morning Routine To-Do list, including things like meditate & wake up with enough time to journal & shower. I haven’t managed to open my morning routine list, but I have created a Work Tasks To-Do for all recurring weekly tasks, and that seems to be helpful.

With time blindness and a freelance job that doesn’t require me to do tasks at set times, I find it useful because the tasks aren’t assigned to set days or times, but it calculates the total amount of hours it’ll take to finish the list each day.

ToDoist (A Project Management To-Do App)

Good -

Allows multiple people to work on ‘projects’, and tasks can be assigned to different people (good for families? I’m using this one for the house renovation project with the boyfriend).

Syncs with different calendars.

Bad -

Looks like an ugly version of a mediocre middle manager’s attempt at AGILE project management.

I’ve no idea how much it costs (I think free, but maybe the boyfriend is actually paying for it).

How it works -

You start a project, invite other people, then decide how to organise tasks.

You have to kinda build the system you want to use yourself, which doesn’t work very well for my brain. But I spent all weekend looking for alternatives to manage our home renovation, and couldn’t find anything better. There are some templates you can use, but these seemed to overcomplicate things further for me.

You can prioritise tasks, colour-code them, assign people to them and set deadlines. Comments, photos and updates can be added to the items on the ‘To-Do List’, so for more complicated lives, this has more functionality than Llama.

I need somewhere to organise all the house-related stuff but this isn’t particularly intuitive. I know it’s only going to be as useful as the information I add so I’m forcing myself to keep at it for at least two weeks, and then I’ll come back to you.

Products -

Loop Earbuds -

Great for noisy events, or just keeping calm in the supermarket, Loop earbuds drown out background noise, while allowing you to still follow conversations. I’ve been using these on an off for a while now, and find them useful when I remember where I’ve put them. The problem with small things like this, is that I can lose them for weeks at a time.

HelloFresh -

My mental load was getting super heavy, so I resorted to ordering HelloFresh. It’s fine. Not enough vegetables for my liking, but does simplify one of the household tasks I’m responsible for, so on the whole, worth the money. I think the link I’ve attached has a hefty discount for the first few boxes, so worth giving it a try then cancelling when it goes to full price.

Clever Fox Daily Planner -

Love this, and really enjoy filling out the vision board, goals and focuses every few months. It helps me stay on track and refocus. BUT, I ordered the wrong one last time and the ‘weekly’ planner doesn’t have enough space for all my ramblings. Reminder to self - go & order the daily planner and you’ll feel less disorganised.

I like that it’s not dated, so if you forget to use it for a week, it doesn’t get wasted. On the flipside, if I forget for one week, there’s no pressure to go back and start again the following week, so I can go a while without using it.

That’s it, that’s all I’ve got. My plate is full, I’m juggling tasks & still haven’t found a way to manage it all, other than try to be kinder to myself, accept that I’m ridiculously busy, and it’s OK to get a bit flustered when life is all over the place.

Anyone got any advice? Anything that would help. I beg you, let me know!

Angie