5 Time Management Skills for ADHD Adults at Work

5 Time Management Skills for ADHD Adults at Work

Time management skills can be tough to build if you’re an adult with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). By now in life, you’ve probably figured out that you and the clock are just not great together. Preparing for things is hard. Arriving on time is difficult. With ADHD, you likely find yourself scrambling to meet deadlines – or sometimes miss them entirely. As a kid, your assignments were never handed in when they were due and now that you’re an adult, you’re still working on your time management skills daily.

It’s not your fault. Your weak executive functions are behind your time management challenges. But what are they, and why is it so hard to build time awareness and skills?

According to WebMD, Executive function is a set of mental skills that help you get things done. These skills are controlled by an area of the brain called the frontal lobe. Executive function helps you: Manage time. Pay attention. Switch focus. Plan and organize.

So, if executive functions help us see what we need to do and when, they help us see past, present and future as we consider decisions. They also help us to lay out a path to get from here to where we need to go. They say things like, “If I save this receipt now, I won’t be scrambling to look for it in six months when it’s time to do my taxes” and “My boss expects this project to be completed on Friday, so I’d better get started.”

In people with ADHD, executive functions are dysregulated. There’s no clear path forward to the future; there’s only the present. And when you’re stuck in the present, it’s impossible to see the risks and rewards that today’s actions will have on tomorrow.

If you’re struggling to manage your time effectively at work, here are some simple, actionable tips that can help.

5 Workplace Time Management Tips for Adults with ADHD

Make Time More Visible

Time blindness is a huge time management skills gap for people with ADHD. Sometimes it means that we feel like we’ve been working forever and only ten minutes have passed; other times, it means that we feel like only ten minutes have passed and we’ve actually somehow misplaced the last four hours.

The solution? Make time (read: the clock) more visible. Many people find that using an analog clock rather than a digital one works better since it makes it easier to physically see the minutes passing.

Prioritize Your Tasks

It’s important to accept that although frustrating, your brain is always doing its best work for you. Since it’s your most ‘expensive’ organ (your brain is responsible for 20% of your calorie use), when given a choice, the ADHD brain will always take the path of least resistance. Sure, that super-important task that’s been sitting on your desk for the past week is due in 48 hours, but replying to that not-so-important email is much easier right now. And 48 hours is more than enough time…right?

Wrong! That’s just your time blindness lying to you again. Time blindness is when you significantly underestimate the time you need to complete an important task. It also allowed you to get distracted with your inbox, too.

Before you begin each day, build this important time management skill – PRIORITIZE! For the next week, start each day by listing out the day’s priorities. Once you brainstorm your task list, go back and reflect on each one then consider its importance. This is the process of discernment that ADHD Adults tend to gloss over or skip. THIS is what helps you slow down and consider the outcomes and consequences of not completing important tasks.

When you practice discernment between things on your list daily, you are learning the important time management skill of prioritizing. Once you get there, it’s important to stick to your list! It may not be easy, but try it for a week. It will be worth it – and the more often you practice, the more likely you’re building time management skills along the way. You’re practicing the top five time management skills and directing your executive functioning through managing time, paying attention, switching focus, planning, and organizing every day.

Break Big Tasks Down Into Smaller Pieces

We’ve all heard the old Chinese proverb “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Apply that wisdom to your tasks at work!

Practice breaking big tasks and projects down into smaller pieces – i.e., taking that first single step – you’re freeing your overtaxed brain from worrying about the huge undertaking in front of you and focusing only on what needs to be done right now.

Make sure that you’re building in time to take breaks and regularly rewarding yourself for completing sections. This will help you build the momentum you need to achieve your goal without burning out. And the more often you practice breaking projects and tasks down into smaller ones, the easier and more routine these time management skills will become.

Work in Batches

Transitions are tough and people with ADHD often have trouble transitioning from one task to the next. So it’s important to minimize the number of transitions you need to make in a workday. This includes finding work bouts where interruptions are also limited.

That’s why it’s important to know your high-concentration times of day. When you know your ‘optimal focus time’ and build your day around it, you can structure your work effectively. You can accomplish this by working in batches. Instead of getting up ten times a day to go to the copy machine, gather everything that you need to copy and do it all at once – in one batch. This helps you stay focused on what you’re doing and minimize transitions. So instead of stopping what you’re doing each time a new email comes in, turn off the notifications and designate a set time to check your inbox daily.

Reducing the number of times you transition will help you practice positive time management skills. As you experience your own success, you increase the odds that you’ll remain on task and become a more time-efficient employee.

Support Regular Check-Ins with Managers and Colleagues

Neurotypical people tend to check in more often with their manager. This helps create a good sense of how things are going and how to course-correct when things start to get off track. Neurodivergent people? Not so much.

It’s important to regularly check in with your manager and colleagues to make sure you stay up to date on deadlines, priorities, etc. It’s also a great way to communicate your needs and build stronger professional relationships.

This doesn’t mean that you need handholding or that you’re a lesser employee. In fact, by keeping the channels of communication open, it makes you look like someone who truly cares about your job and your position with the company!

In Conclusion

Stop Wasting Time and Start Leveraging It, Instead!

We all have our own unique preferences for managing time and utilizing space. That’s why I’ve created the Time & Space Style Inventory™ (TSSI). Click here to take this simple online assessment and learn how to stop wasting time and stay organized at home and work!

Would you like to build your time management skills with credentialed ADHD coaching? We can work on better ways to not just live, but thrive in your life. I’d love to help! It all begins with scheduling a FREE Discovery Call. Add yourself to my calendar now!