Let’s be honest. ADHD productivity tools can be a hit or miss. When they’re good, you’re on fire, productive, and efficient. Yet when the novelty wears off, unproductivity quickly settles in. And, as a member of the ADHD club, I’ve struggled with this exact scenario. However, this past year I’ve created a system that finally works. And, now I have an arsenal of ADHD productivity tools at my disposal. Although, ADHD slipups happen despite my best efforts. I have found that these tools allow me to bounce back and create order from chaos.
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ADHD Productivity Tools That Rock #1: Guided Journaling
Guided journaling has been a lifesaver for me. It’s allowed me to realize and pursue various goals in my daily life. The guided journal of choice for me is the Daily Greatness Journal. It’s part journal and part planner with a quarterly setup. This journal is a beneficial tool that helps with creating a life of intention and purpose.
Its central theme focuses on personal development and self-growth. You’re encouraged to determine your why and create a personal mission statement. These prompts will guide you into creating your Greatness Blueprint.
This represents your dreams, goals, and aspirations, and over a 90-day period, you’ll break these goals down into actionable steps. Each week you build the habits and complete the actions that guide you to completing your goals. And you’ll start and end your day reflecting on who you need to be and how to improve to make your goals a reality.
Additionally, the weekly reviews allow you to analyze your progress and observe areas that need improvement and what you’re doing right. Finally, after completing the 90-day time period, you can see your progress and move forward to repeating the process for the next goal.
Of all my ADHD productivity tools, this is the only one that I come back to and keep consistently. I may skip a few days, but I always find my way back to it. It’s helped me stay on track and accomplish goals and projects.
And it’s also helped a ton with my bipolar. see You Can’t See My Bipolar And ADHD The Truth Is It’s Hurting Me It’s not a cheap journal and costs $50-60 on average, making it an investment. But, the Daily Greatness Journal is truly one of my favorite tools, and I can’t recommend it enough.
ADHD Productivity Tools That Rock #2: Digital Planners
After years of living in denial, I’ve finally realized paper planners are not for me. I can’t tell you how much money I’ve invested into them to find them stuffed in a closet somewhere unused. Hence why I transitioned to digital planners. Not only are they cost-effective ( range from $15-$30 on Etsy) they’re also more rewarding. At least for me.
I enjoy using my iPad and pencil for digital planning. After a year and a half of doing so, the novelty hasn’t worn off. Again, I do miss and skip a day or two and struggle with consistency. However, I rely on my planner to keep me in line with all that I have going on in my life.
Additionally, it includes meal planning, budgeting, routine building, project planning, goal setting, and other bonus pages. Which I’ve found beneficial since everything is contained all in one place, making life easier. And, I’m happy to keep this as one of my useful ADHD productivity tools.
ADHD Productivity Tools That Rock #3: iCal Digital Calendar
In many ways, my digital calendar is an extension of my digital planner. I use my digital planner to collect tasks, appointments, develop routines, and essentially brainstorm and prepare for what needs to be done. And my digital calendar allows me to set a time for appointments, projects, errands, and tasks.
This means I have a visual representation of where my time is going each day. Another benefit is color-coding these things, so I know what is occurring with a quick glance. Appointments have a set color, work projects a set color, errands a set color, etc. see How I Use Time Blocking to Manage My ADHD
Structuring my time this way makes me accountable for what I commit to and teaches me about time management. I’m not as late to appointments because my calendar alerts me when it’s time to leave.
Furthermore, grouping similar tasks together improve my focus and concentration. Not having to shift gears to unrelated tasks prevents me from running late due to time blindness. Furthermore, I get to organize tasks according to priorities and batch similar tasks together. Which improves my focus since I’m not switching from one unrelated task to another.
Of all my ADHD productivity tools, I appreciate that it provides a visual representation of my time and where it’s going. I can quickly see if I’m over-tasking myself and need to scale back. Another benefit is the ability to identify patterns.
The ability to notice unproductive behaviors allows me to swiftly correct them. If I’m struggling with procrastination breaking the project down into manageable tasks might help. Doing this has increased my ability to complete tasks and projects in a timely fashion.
ADHD Productivity Tools #4: Tick Tick To-Do List
In the past, to-do lists did little to make me accomplish or remember tasks. I found I would create a to-do list forget all I wrote down, and never look at it. Additionally, I was unable to organize tasks in a suitable structure.
That was until I found Tick Tick. This digital to-do list lets me create individual lists for different areas of my life and current projects. Within these lists, I add the tasks needed to complete the activity or project. Additional benefits included assigning a priority to each task and creating alerts and reminders.
Prioritizing tasks puts the most important tasks at the top of my list. This way, I can get them down swiftly. Once I’ve prioritized what tasks are the most important, I can create alerts to remind me to start working on projects and keep me on track. Or, I can create alerts to remind me of due dates.
And, I’m noticing that my discipline and follow-through are improving. Incorporating this as a complement to my digital planner and time blocking system has proven beneficial. It prevents tasks from being forgotten and slipping through the cracks.
ADHD Productivity Tools #5: Trello
Trello is another one of my favorite ADHD productivity tools and the second that I utilize consistently. It effortlessly combines time blocking, to-do lists, digital planning, and timelining projects. And I use this specific productivity tool primarily for work since it’s overkill for daily life.
Its key feature is the kanban method which increases an efficient workflow. It’s a great visual tool and shows you how you’re progressing towards completing your project. Which as mentioned earlier, visual tools help me conceptualize my projects, especially for work.
ADHD Productivity Tools That Rock #6: Notes
For the majority of users, the Notes app on iOS is a black hole of no return. Yet, for me, it serves a multitude of purposes. Notes organize my thoughts, holds my writings, and are great for creating vision boards in a pinch.
Another enjoyable feature is the ease of access. I can open my notes and input information that syncs with all my devices. Thus allowing me to access important info from any device, anywhere, anytime.
And for a forgetful person like me, it’s prevented me from worrying about leaving a paper notebook behind. The simplicity the notes app provides makes it a necessary addition to my ADHD productivity tools list.
ADHD Productivity Tools #7: Pomodoro Method
The last tool I want to share is the Pomodoro method. If you’re not familiar, Francesco Cirillo created this technique in the late ’80s implemented an interval-based work system with set focus and rest blocks. At its conception, it was 25 minutes of work with 5 minutes of rest. And, after 4 rounds, you’d get a 15 minute rest period.
I’ve found this helpful for two reasons. The first being preventing me from becoming too sucked into a task or project that I lose track of time. An unhealthy pattern that I discovered was that it was easy for me to forget to eat and take care of myself. This pulls me back to reality and reminds me that I need to relax for a bit.
A second benefit is when I’m working on a complicated task that feels overwhelming, the Pomodoro method allows me to concentrate and focus with frequent breaks. Consequently, it’s easier for me to navigate through tasks and projects that I procrastinate on.
Getting started using the Pomodoro method isn’t expensive, making it more essential. While there’s the option to purchase a timer from the store.
The timer on your phone can accomplish the same purpose for free. Additionally, there are Pomodoro apps you can download via the App store on your computer, creating an added benefit to your desktop.
If It Works It Works
I know that many people, mostly those without ADHD, find the combination of these tools too much. And, honestly, it is. But, these ADHD productivity tools have made me responsible and efficient. I’ve discovered that integrating these tools has improved my ability to get things done. While for many, they’re a good standalone. However, for me, they’re best when combined.
A key fact to remember to increase productivity with ADHD is finding a system that works for YOU. The reason my system is so effective is that I created it for my unique needs.
And only you know what your individual needs are. So, consider how your brain processes information, how you learn, and what helps you remember things. Then you can find the ADHD productivity tools for you.
