Planning. Did you just do a little internal groan? I know, I know. It’s ADHD Voldemort- the evil thing that shan’t be named because so many ADHD brains have such a painful history with the practice.
It’s the thing you’ve been told for years is what you need to do. You probably have a box in the back of your closet of old dusty planners, with exactly 1 1/2 weeks filled out. Or maybe you’ve gotten on planning kicks before and they kept you on the ball but they also kept you miserable and tormented because you felt hemmed in and reprimanded by it all.
I hear ya. Planning gets a bad rap for good reason. It’s not very ADHD-friendly. But… and here’s the big but- it’s also one of the most ADHD-friendly things you can do for your brain. How can both things be true?
Well. The act of planning? That’s hard. Really hard for ADHD brains. But having a plan? Well, that, my friends, is ADHD gold. Not because a plan means you will do everything in the way you planned. Not because the plan is there to torture you about all you didn’t do. But because planning externalizes your executive functioning system and makes your life work for your brain. And that, right there, is exactly what we’re after- making your life work for your brain.
How? You ask. Well, a lot of reasons. But let’s start with the top 10:
The Top 10 Reasons why Planning may be exactly what your ADHD Brain Needs
1. Using a planner saves executive functioning energy
This is by far the biggest reason to use a planner with ADHD. When you have ADHD, you have a limited supply of executive functioning energy so you want to make sure you don’t waste a drop. Every time you stop a task, then think about what the next thing is you are going to do, plan that next task and start it- you have used up 4 different stores of that precious executive functioning energy. When you plan ahead of time, however, you batch that executive functioning heavy task at the beginning. This saves your valuable resources and leaves you with more executive functioning energy to spend throughout your day- when you really need it- like focusing on that big project you have due tomorrow.
2. Planners ease anxiety
Anxiety and ADHD are some of the world’s oldest frenemies. They love to hate each other and hate to love each other. Because while anxiety can keep ADHD on track, it can also keep it sidelined when the tasks, to-dos, appointments, and projects loom so large everything else- anything else- becomes more appealing.
But what’s the antidote to anxiety? Action.
Planning gives your brain exactly that- a plan of action to tackle all the things. Will you get it all done? Probably not. Will it all go according to plan? Oh heck no! But, because you’re planning, you can reassess, reconfigure and reprioritize whenever you need to.
3. Planners make space for the other stuff
If there is any one phrase that ADHD brains live by it’s “out of sight out of mind” because when something disappears from sight (or awareness) it ceases to exist. So what do brilliant ADHD brains do to make up for this? Why, try to keep it all in mind at all times, of course! But when the milk you need to pick up on the way home, is squashed into your brain with your mother’s birthday party, the annual review due next Friday, and your son’s permission slip—- there's not much room for anything else.
Getting all of those details onto paper and establishing a plan to tackle them? That frees up space for everything else- like how to ask your boss for that raise, the deliriously happy sound of your son laughing at breakfast this morning, or what your fantasy football picks are going to be this year.
4. Planners ease intention transforming into action
It’s the details that so often throw off a plan or a day: the forgotten gym clothes, the missing lunch, the too-short travel time, etc. These are the details that keep you from what you set out to do. But, when you plan your day ahead of time, you have an external workspace to figure those things out. Are you going to the gym tomorrow morning, showering, and heading to work right from there? It’s going to help to pack a bag of work clothes, and toiletries as well as layout your clothes for the gym tonight. Have a meeting 30 minutes away? You’ll need to leave at least half an hour ahead of time. Planners give you the space and the cue to think through and prepare for all those details.
5. Planning helps you manage time even when you’re not planning
ADHD brains don’t have the “Time Lexicon” that most neurotypical brains have. This means they don’t have a running encyclopedia of known amounts of time for tasks- partly because even if an ADHD brain was going to try to figure out how long something took- halfway through the task it would be on to the next. And it’s pretty hard to show up on time when you don’t know how long all the things you have to do to get there take.
Planning builds up those time lexical stores by creating 100s of little time experiments. When you first start planning, you may look at your tasks and say “I have no idea how long that will take” but then you guess. And you’ll probably be wrong. That’s ok- because now you know and the next time you’re going to come closer. And the more you play the game of the time scientist—- the easier it’s going to be to estimate your time.
6. Planning helps you sleep.
You probably already know by now that sleep is one of the most fundamental aspects of ADHD care. Sleep fills up that executive functioning gas tank and keeps you on task and in control during your day. But despite the power of sleep for ADHD brains, it doesn’t happen by itself (in fact, humans are the only mammals that resist the urge to sleep!). Not only do we need to get ourselves into bed but we need to slow down, chill out, and just generally turn off our brains so they get to switch over to dreamland.
Planning not only helps you see when you need to get to sleep in order to feel your best in the morning, but it helps you plan that wind-down time to help that sleep actually happen when you close your eyes.
7. Planning helps you say no.
If your 10 appointments, 5 meetings, and 16 weekly tasks only live in your head, then when your Great Aunt Mildred calls to have you water her prize-winning Begonias next week- you may think- Sure! What’s one more thing? I always figure it out. But if you’re following the 3-step system for ADHD-friendly planning, you’ll know you only have 2 microscopic time windows and so that 3rd watering? Well, that one has to be done by your cousin Jim.
Planning gives you daily insight into how much time you have (and I know- sometimes that’s exactly why people resist planning). But when you know how much time you have, and you know how long things take (see #5) you get really clear on what you can… and can’t do.
8. Planning lets you get to the good stuff.
Even if you’re one of the supremely lucky ones who love their work- it can’t be your only love. We’re all complex, multifaceted people, and each facet of ourselves and our passions- need to be shined. Planning lets you do just that. When you plan your work, you’re more able to get it done, leaving room for the other parts of you. And when do you plan the other stuff? Guess what? The work gets done faster too!
9. Planning helps you create balance (and prepare for when you’re not)
I look like a 3-year-old starting a coloring project, using 5 different colored erasable pens when I plan my day: purple for me, pink for clients, blue for writing, green for family, and orange for my relationship. This way, when I look at my week, I know if I am planning to spend my time in a way that feels balanced and even. Some days and weeks are a lovely rainbow. Other weeks are a whole lot of pink or blue. That’s okay- seeing the balance-or lack thereof - helps me prepare myself (and my family) and tells me where I need to balance out next week.
10. Planning creates a sense of ease and control
Holding it all in your head or putting fires out as they come running at you makes it hard to feel in control. But when you map it out from the beginning— adding, subtracting, and editing all along the way- it takes flooding and overwhelm and transforms it to superhero level “I’ve got this.” Because in our heads, plans are just an opportunity for unrealized intentions and anxiety. But on paper? Well, that creates action!
So go ahead. Dig out that old planner from the pile, dust it off, and try out my 3-step system for ADHD-friendly planning. It may just be the transformation your life needed to better fit your brain!
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