Tame Your Time

No matter how long you look, or how hard you try to wish it to be true, there is no Pause button on life.

Time keeps moving forward, and the more time continues to fly by, the more constraints we seem to want to put on our time, leaving us with less and less of it, which ultimately leads to overwhelm, and eventually burnout.

Between the never-ending work tasks sent to our inbox, household chores that continue to pile up, and family commitments and social engagements that keep us constantly on the run, it's easy to see how we can find ourselves overwhelmed and over-committed—usually unsure how we even got here.

This is especially true for ADHDers. When executive functions don't always come easily or when you want them to, you may find yourself unknowingly overbooking your calendar and running yourself ragged in the process.

And then, once you find yourself amidst the chaos of overwhelm, it can be even more overwhelming to even think about how to fix it. If this sounds familiar, trust me, you are not alone.

But, you are not hopeless or a failure either. There is help and I am here to share it with you.

It might just be as simple as starting with the letter D.

The Five D's

You may remember when we had our friend, Casey Dixon, on Taking Control: The ADHD Podcast to talk about burnout. During that conversation, Casey introduced us to the concept of the Five D's to combat overwhelm and avoid burnout.

Ever since that conversation, I have continued to praise the concept of the Five D's. I teach the Five D's in our GPS Membership Program and many of our members have found a lot of success pushing back those feelings with overwhelm and taking back control over their time.

The F D's is a simple mnemonic to remember five different ways to quiet the overwhelm and bring back the control.

All you need to remember is: Delete, Delay, Diminish, Delegate, and Disappoint.

Now, let's break down what each of these D's represent.

Delete

Delete is exactly what it sounds like. This step encourages you to get things off your to-do list. Is it already done? Check it off. No longer relevant or past the due date? Trash it. Did you find something you're no longer interested in? Forget about it!

Delay

While we often discuss avoidance or procrastination with ADHD as a negative thing, Delay is different; it's procrastination with a purpose. While you may be pushing back the due date on a project, you are intentionally postponing a task until there is more time available to return to it. But, don't forget to assign a new time to revisit the task, or you may end up forgetting about it until it's too late.

Diminish

We talk a lot about breaking down tasks into their smallest parts on The ADHD Podcast, and that's exactly what we're talking about with Diminish. Many times we may avoid starting a task, even if it's really important, because we don't know where to start. Check to see if there are smaller tasks within your avoided task and break it down as small as you can.

Delegate

This is another self-explanatory one. Start by reviewing your tasks and see which ones can be completed by someone else. It can be hard to give up control on everything, but we have to learn to be realistic and realize you are only one person with the same number of hours in every day that everyone gets, and you can't be expected to do it all every day. It's time to share the load.

Disappoint

This fifth D-word is often the hardest for ADHDers to attempt. Many people with ADHD are self-proclaimed people pleasers and the thought of having to tell someone no, or feel like you let them down or disappointed them can literally feel like the worst thing in the world. But, don't forget, when you say no to someone else, you are essentially saying yes to yourself and something else on your list that is important to you—and you are worth disappointing someone else for.

Practice makes 'Good Enough'

When you aren't familiar with using some of the strategies provided with the 5 D's, it can feel really strange and even uncomfortable at first. But, then again, how does that overwhelm feel right now? Uncomfortable? Exhausting? Mentally draining?

That's why these tools are important and they can be a real game-changer by helping you bring your life and your schedule back into balance.

Just be sure to go into the process with plenty of curiosity, zero judgment, and plenty of grace as you navigate something new.

You've got this!

Thank you for your time and attention,

Nikki

Are you looking for more tips and strategies to Take Control of your time with ADHD? We wrote a book all about it!
Check it out: Unapologetically ADHD: A Step-by-Step Framework for Everyday Planning on Your Terms by Nikki Kinzer, PCC and Pete Wright