3 Mistakes To Avoid When Practicing A New Routine
How To Make Your Routines Stick!
One of the biggest complaints I hear about routines is they don’t last. The routine works for a little awhile and then all of the sudden, it’s disappeared.
What happened?
You may be doing one or all three of these mistakes!
Relying On Your Memory - Working memory is one of the challenges with ADHD, even with the best intentions, you may get distracted and forget to do a step in the routine. One of the best ways to not have to rely on your memory is to document the steps of your routine on paper in some kind of a checklist.
Underestimating Time - When we don’t know how long it takes to complete a routine, we’re working off false data. We are guessing and the guesses are usually off by several minutes. To be more accurate with your time, you need to track how long it “really” takes you to complete the routine. Practice and track the time for a few days, to get the '“real” time and then adjust your schedule accordingly.
Not Allowing For Distractions - Even with a checklist and an accurate sense of time for your routine, distractions are still going to happen. When they are not accounted for, the routine can easily get pushed aside. One of the best things you can do when timing out your routine is to add buffer time. Buffer time allows for the unexpected to happen, because it will happen.
Many people will measure the success of a routine by how consistent they are in doing it. Consistency is important but it’s not the only measure and by far not the most important one. I encourage you to pay attention to how it feels when you do the routine. If it’s improving your day and lessening your stress level, then the routine is working.
Thank you for your time and attention!
-Nikki
