July 19, 2011

29 Quick Tips To Chew Upon for Adult ADHDers

A few useful tips for adults with ADHD to chew on today:
  1. Take time to meet with friends or a small group of adults. Don’t let yourself become isolated.
  2. Exercise regularly. Find a partner, if possible, so you won’t forget to do it!
  3. Find a quiet spot for yourself at home. Use it to relax, meditate & re-focus.
  4. Use “pattern planning” to organize your days. Plan the same activities for same time each week.
  5. Do not over-schedule your time. Learn time management skills & be realistic.
  6. Make a list of ideas & “to do” items to free your mind for concentrating.
  7. Review the items on your list, prioritize them, & cross of all you have accomplished.
  8. Close your door, if possible, when you don’t want to be disturbed.
  9. Build “flex time” into your schedule to allow for the unexpected.
  10. Set up a study area away from distractions & set specific homework times.
  11. Build in “break times” during long homework assignments. Use a timer.
  12. Do weekly bag dumping after your work or school week. Dig deep & get out all that old “stuff”.
  13. Devise a calendar of long-term assignments and projects to be carried in your notebook.
  14. Get daily exercise. Walk or bike. Exercise helps to keep you & your brain focused & energized.
  15. Learn how to be healthy. Eating good food helps to keep you focused, active & in a good mood.
  16. Make time for frequent review & tossing of old papers. Set small goals of a few papers each time.
  17. Mark what you read with a highlighter or flag important areas with small, colorful “post-it”s.
  18. Tackle time-consuming & detailed projects in stages. Develop a plan before you begin.
  19. Use your high productivity hour for your most important project & most difficult homework.
  20. Get educated about AD/HD. The more you learn, the more you can work WITH it & not against it.
  21. Keep a family calendar at home or online using a shared electronic calendar (e.g. Google Calendar).
  22. Design systems & guidelines for the family that is mindful of each person’s needs.
  23. Avoid morning chaos by getting everything “ready to go” for work & school the previous night.
  24. Become well educated on co-morbid / co-existing conditions.
  25. Plan regular friend & family outings. There are many activities that are low cost or free.
  26. Take a “team” approach to problem solving.
  27. Work together to get organized. Chunk down tasks into small steps for those with AD/HD.
  28. Set a scheduled family time every few months for tossing unused items, old clothes & old newspapers.
  29. Work toward a better understanding of friends & family members with AD/HD. There are gifts in each of us.
Cheers,

Mungo

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this, perhaps you'd like to subscribe to the RSS feed.

You can also follow my tweets at Twitter.com/MungosADHD

Join the MungosADHD Facebook page too!

19 comments:

  1. 18 ChannelsJuly 19, 2011 at 12:10 PM

    Amen bro, #24 is my favorite. The rest of the list is so proactive that it makes me hate you a little (at least right now, when the methylphenidate is wearing off).

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousJuly 20, 2011 at 3:55 AM

    Stay well rested too with proper, regular sleep pattern. That could be #30.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. PatApril 23, 2012 at 1:18 PM

      I'll second that one. It REALLY helps to go to bed and get up at the same time every night, even on weekends. You might lay in bed for an hour, but just read or something. The habit will form eventually!

      Delete
  3. lorna vanderhaegheJuly 25, 2011 at 1:34 AM

    Controlling the behavior can be difficult for ADHD adults.

    ReplyDelete
  4. GenevieveJuly 27, 2011 at 2:36 PM

    This is a great list! I think I do all of these in my own ADD management. #1 is honestly one of the hardest for me, but I know I need to do it (it helps with my comorbid depression).

    ReplyDelete
  5. M GirlAugust 25, 2011 at 11:01 PM

    This is a really great list. I've jotted a few down to start doing. I've recently started eating very healthy and I've noticed a difference in my mood, my energy and getting a little better concentration. It's an important one to be doing.

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousAugust 28, 2011 at 11:05 AM

    hey These tips are very helpful I'm starting post secondary school September and will gladly like to follow all these steps and stick to them.Even though I find it difficult to stick to after awhile.

    ReplyDelete
  7. ADHD symptomsAugust 29, 2011 at 1:15 PM

    HA! Great list! I need to slap #18 in front of me on a daily basis.

    ReplyDelete
  8. AnonymousOctober 2, 2011 at 6:13 AM

    hey... I'm starting on Concerta now and it works great on focus when I want to do something... the thing is, my interest can only be there for a tiny amount of time. So it's not only attention that I have a problem with. So if I don't feel like doing something, even with the med, I can't do it!! Even if I think I want to. But I'm writing an article, that's my home-based job and I need to do it. But for some reason, I just can't. Can anyone here relate to that? What would you suggest?

    ReplyDelete
  9. Gina PeraOctober 16, 2011 at 10:39 PM

    This is a great list for everyone!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Gina PeraJanuary 12, 2012 at 12:45 PM

    Great summary, Mungo. Very helpful!

    ReplyDelete
  11. mjhighroadFebruary 5, 2012 at 6:01 PM

    My son has been diagnosed with ADHD. I'm sure a list such as yours will be very helpful to him in due course. I'm just not sure how to go about getting him going on it at this time. Maybe what I need to do is pick one or two items and work with him on those. Wish me luck.

    ReplyDelete
  12. DawnApril 11, 2012 at 6:35 PM

    This is such great advice! It is tough to be an adult with ADHD but following little tips like these definitely help control my ADHD. I found other helpful tips for controlling my ADHD at http://onlineceucredit.com/edu/social-work-ceus-lb. When we can learn to work along with our ADHD, it doesn't seem like it is that overwhelming.

    ReplyDelete
  13. BenMay 15, 2012 at 3:44 PM

    Morning and night meditation = CRUCIAL for adults with ADHD (really any adults...). Awesome tips Mungo!


    -B

    ReplyDelete
  14. AaronJuly 11, 2012 at 10:46 AM

    This list is great! "#5 Do not over-schedule your time. Learn time management skills & be realistic." is one of the hardest skills to learn but it will also make a huge difference in your life. Allowing yourself enough time to do things the right way will boost your confidence, success and productivity

    ReplyDelete
  15. adhdAugust 8, 2012 at 10:05 AM

    Great tips, some tips i already used for my problems, the other tips i didn't know.

    ReplyDelete
  16. hanginginFebruary 4, 2013 at 12:07 AM

    Thank you for these tips I really liked tip #2. I actually noticed that if I I am around friends that exercise regularly then I will feel obligated to exercise as well. One thing I have modified from this is I talked about ways I can exercise like placing a pull up bar in a area I walk by a lot.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Terry RobinsAugust 7, 2013 at 7:01 AM

    Even though I don't share the same condition as yours, I can see that I will benefit a lot from this long list :) Thanks for sharing this, by the way. I couldn't agree more with your first point, nobody should isolate himself from others. Doing so prevents them from becoming a well-rounded being.

    ReplyDelete
  18. askolnickFebruary 19, 2014 at 9:04 AM

    This may be the best list of AD/HD helpful tips. I'm glad I tripped over your site.

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Popular Posts