Most often when people hear about ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), they think of children or adolescents. That’s likely because overall awareness of ADHD diagnoses and intervention strategies in schools have increased significantly in the last few decades. Children with ADHD often have difficulty in school and social settings, and positive developments have led to helping those kids succeed academically more than ever before. 

As physicians, educators, and researchers dedicate more attention to understanding the disorder; great strides have been made in approaches to academic interventions, medication management, behavior plans, and much more. 

ADHD is not only diagnosed in children. According to the American Academy of Family Physicians National Research Network, four percent of U.S. adults have ADHD. Many of these adults may have gone undiagnosed as children, leading to a worsening of symptoms over time. This can create significant difficulties with personal and professional relationships, productivity, and self-esteem. 

When children with ADHD reach adulthood, they need to continue maintaining coping strategies and methods for dealing with its challenges in adulthood. For adults, these difficulties may manifest as late work assignments, difficulty with productive time management, forgotten to-do lists, an extremely disorganized or messy home or office, and a tendency to have difficulty finishing tasks at home and at work.  In the workplace, an adult with ADHD may be perceived by co-workers as forgetful, disorganized, disinterested, and unproductive.  

Success strategies that work for one adult, may not work as well for another. Everyone is different and it may involve some trial-and-error. These tactics will evolve naturally as an individual moves through various stages in life. Much like the difficulties children and adolescents may face, adults with ADHD need to work in overcoming struggles interfering with home life, professional achievement, and much more. 

While it may improve somewhat in adulthood for many, ADHD symptoms generally are always part of the “fabric” of a person. The good news--the natural process of “maturing” often provides a boost for successfully dealing with the inevitable ups and downs that come with ADHD.  

That said, just as children need structured support in tackling ADHD challenges, adults too need support from family and professional colleagues, as well (if they choose to share the information). Among those personalized approaches, all of us at Time Timer recommend creating time management strategies designed to make life at home and work go as smoothly as possible! Time management techniques provide some of the best tools for reducing the stress and anxiety that often come into play for adults with ADHD. 

Are you an adult with ADHD? Take control with these time management tips! 

1. Tackle work in “chunks” 

An adult with ADHD may arrive in the office each morning and become quickly overwhelmed with the number of tasks they seem to have assigned to them. As is highly common in those with ADHD, procrastination is likely to follow, which can cascade into a host of bigger problems and job difficulties. The same is true for accomplishing decluttering or other household chores. Perfectionism may also play into this – another common trait in those with ADHD.  

Instead, adults with ADHD should begin their workday in a quiet setting free of distraction, if possible, to review their day and make a realistic list of things to accomplish. From that list, extract the priority items and get started from there. An especially effective tactic here is assigning a specific amount of time for each task – make it realistic and something you can accomplish! Choosing Time Timer, the original visual timer, can make a huge impact in your efforts. 

This way, viewing the workday as one long “stretch” of eight hours can be broken into just a few structured “chunks” of time where very specific items are to be accomplished. Using Time Blasts, a more flexible version of the Pomodoro Technique, time management tool proves helpful to many people with ADHD. When adults with ADHD complete a very specific set of tasks, a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction are sure to follow! Lastly, never be ashamed to ask for help or delegate when needed. 

2. Use a physical planner 

When combined with using Time Timer throughout your day; a physical planner is another great way for adults with ADHD to manage their time, responsibilities, and goals. Many adults find it helpful to use both a physical and web-based calendar, yet a paper planner may prove particularly effective as many with ADHD find various visual cues to be helpful. 

Some planners are designed to be particularly helpful for adults with ADHD. One example is the Define My Day™ Planner and Journal. Its primary focus is helping adults avoid distractions in their lives and create detailed plans and tasks for each day – perfect for adults living with ADHD. 

3. Do not multitask! 

While many people excel in multitasking, it can create huge roadblocks for adults with ADHD. Don’t multitask - stay focused on one thing at a time. Distraction issues may lead to lots of unfinished projects and an increase in low self-esteem. Instead of attempting to complete eight tasks with 50 percent success, focus on completing one task at 100 percent. 

When you are ready to tackle your own time management difficulties, do what works for you and secure the tools you need to help you feel successful and accomplished! Time Timer offers a range of amazing visual timers perfect for both children and adults living with ADHD. With the right support and planning, it is possible for adults with ADHD to live a focused, calm, and accomplishment-filled life! 

Routines to Set Children with ADHD up for Success at Home  

 
 
If you’re a parent of a child with ADHD, you know how difficult simple areas of the day can often be. Getting out of the house for school on time? Chaotic. Having your child sit down after school to finish their homework? A battle. Getting through the bedtime routine? Exhausting. 

You are not alone. One of the key components of ADHD is that symptoms occur in more than one setting - such as both home AND school - so it makes sense that multiple parts of the day become difficult. 

Children with ADHD have both inattentiveness and hyperactivity/impulsiveness that affects their ability to pay attention, remember items or steps in a sequence, stay organized during tasks, sit still, wait their turn, and carry out verbal instructions. This is not their fault - there are both genetic and neurological factors at play. 

One of the best ways to help children with ADHD across the board is to establish and follow consistent and predictable routines at home. Routines can be defined as a series of steps that happen in a particular order, in the same way, and at the same general time from day to day. Routines provide predictability, which helps your child know what to expect, what is expected of them, and how that experience is going to look. All of these things help the day run smoother! 

Though many parents already follow routines at home, there are four key components of routines that work particularly well for children with ADHD. They are: 

1. Movement - Children with ADHD need to move. Their bodies often require a higher threshold for sensory input (particularly proprioceptive and vestibular input, fancy terms for body awareness and body movement), and so movement that is sensory-based helps provide their body with that “just-right” amount that is needed to stay regulated. Rhythmic, linear movements, such as jumping jacks, and “heavy work” activities, such as push-ups, are the best kinds of movement. 

2. A decluttered space - This decreases the likelihood of distraction, as many children with ADHD are distracted by things that they see in their vicinity. Choosing a set place that is tidy to complete specific routines, such as completing homework, can help your child stay on task. 

3. Using timers - Visual timers, such as the Time Timer, allows your child to SEE time. This helps the concept of time become concrete. Timers can be used to transition to a routine (such as 10 minutes until bedtime) or to allot time that a routine will take place (such as 25 minutes to complete homework). 

4. Using checklists - Checklists are another way your child is able to better internalize their steps or responsibilities of a routine. Children with ADHD often have difficulty following directions that have multiple steps or tend to get lost or distracted in between steps, so writing them down and checking them off as they go can be very helpful. If your child can’t read yet, you can use pictures instead of words. Checklists also help YOU, the parent, from having to repeat yourself a million and one times. 
 

Keeping these four components in mind, let’s go over some sample routine ideas for three key parts of your child’s day. 
 

Sample Morning Routine 

• Wake up - Set a timer for the amount of time until you need to be leaving the house. 
• Wash up in the bathroom (Use toilet, brush teeth, wash face, etc) - Post a checklist in the bathroom to help your child remember what they need to do. 
• Get dressed - Choose the outfit the night before and lay out the clothing to keep mornings running smoothly. 
• Eat breakfast 
• Brush teeth 
• Gather belongings - Keep belongings in the same spot nearby the door so your child knows where they are. Post a list with words or pictures of the items your child needs to leave the house (shoes, jacket, backpack, lunch box, etc) 

Sample After-School Routine 

• Enter home 
• Unpack belongings - Have a clear, set place where your child places their shoes, backpack, and jacket. Use hooks, labels, and checklists to help them remember. 
• Eat snack 
• Outdoor play or 15 minutes of indoor movement - Jumping jacks, freeze dance, Go Noodle youtube video, etc 
• Complete homework - Have a predetermined tidy space, set a visual timer for how long they are expected to work 
• Preferred play activity - This helps them have something to work towards when completing homework 

Sample Bedtime Routine 

• Set a timer for how many minutes until bedtime 
• 10 minutes of movement - Consider whether your child does better with high activity movement before bed or something calmer like following along to a yoga video 
• Change into pajamas 
• Brush teeth 
• Read books 
• Lights out 

There you have it! As you can see, simple routines are best. It does not have to be complicated, but keeping these parts of your child’s day consistent and predictable can truly be a game-changer. The Time Timer is a great tool to use within these three routines and more. Click HERE for my affiliate link. 

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Jessica Rapp Irwin, OTR/L, is a pediatric occupational therapist, childhood routine expert, and lover of all things child development. She founded Rooted in Routine, an online parent coaching platform, to help parents learn simple, easy to implement routines for optimal child development starting at age one. She is passionate about educating parents on NORMAL, HEALTHY development, which is often simpler than we think. Jessica’s approach is largely rooted in going back to the basics to help you establish solid, age-appropriate routines for your child for things like eating, play, and sleep. She believes this is the most important foundation you can provide for your child - and she wants to help you do just that! Learn more about Jessica at https://www.rootedinroutine.com/about and follow her on Instagram at @rootedinroutine.