Planning Ahead Tips for NDs and NTs
Welcome to Living With An Invisible Learning Challenge, where we will discuss and discover the challenges and tribes of those living with NLD, nonverbal Learning Disability and other learning challenges such as autism, A DHD, dyslexia, dysgraphia, and any other invisible learning differences that one may live, may one may live with, and.
I like to interview individuals as well who live with various learning challenges. So if you know anybody, please point me their way, or if you are that individual, I would love to interview you on various topics. So please let me know. And I welcome you to this podcast.
This podcast or episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. I have had eight years. I'm going a half years actually of therapy, so I know it can change your life if you not only let it, but work on the personal goals that you set with your therapist without a healthy mind, being truly happy and a peace of mind one piece at a time is hard. The good news is therapy works, but what is therapy exactly? It's whatever you want it to be. Maybe you're not feeling motivated right now and would like to, some tools to help, or maybe you're feeling insecure in relationships or at work, not dealing well with stress. Whatever you need, it's time to stop being ashamed of normal human struggles and start feeling better because you deserve to be happy.
And now you don't have to worry about finding an in person therapist near you to help. BetterHelp is customized online therapy that It offers video, phone, or even live chat sessions with your therapist. So you don't have to see anyone on camera if you don't want to. It's much more affordable than in person therapy and can start, you can start communicating with your therapist in in under 48 hours. Join the millions of people who are seeing what online therapy is really about. It's always a good time to invest in yourself because you are your greatest asset and special offer to living with a miserable learning challenge. Listeners, you get 10 percent off your first month of professional therapy at betterhelp. com/ living with Invisible Learning Challenge That's BetterHelp, H E L P dot com slash Living with Invisible Learning Challenge. Thanks again to BetterHelp for sponsoring this podcast. And Patreon is also sponsoring this podcast, which is A way for you to, offer different resources for your listeners, for your podcast. So I have on there transcriptions of the episodes and audio.
So if you would like to, purchase those. The audio without ads is 5 with the transcription. It's 10, so I'll put the Patreon link for that and Spotify also sponsors the podcast. So if you want to become a supporter, please, just donate 1 a month. That's very helpful. I don't use the money myself. I don't really want to make money off this podcast. I use the money for, donated to The NVLD project, or if I do use it myself, I actually use it to pay off the website that I created for this podcast. So it goes back into the podcast either way, so I hope you guys enjoy this episode that is going to be on minimizing distractions. Oh, and there's also podcast swag.
So if you want to look into that, that is on red bubble and I'll provide a link for that as well. Thank you. All right. Happy new year, everybody. I am going to record, the first episode of 2025 and I hope that you guys are having a good start to the new year. So for neurodivergent individuals, planning ahead can be challenging due to difficulties with time perception, executive functioning, and sensory processing, often requiring strategies like breaking down tasks into smaller chunks, using visual aids, setting reminders, and incorporating flexibility into their schedule to effectively manage their time and achieve goals.
The key points about neurodivergent planning. From AI challenge challenges with time perception, neurodivergent people may, might struggle to accurately estimate how long tasks will take leading to difficulties in planning ahead effectively. Executive functioning difficulties issues with initiating tasks, staying focused and transitioning between activities can make planning and following through challenging, sensory overload, overwhelming, Sensory input can disrupt focus and make it difficult to concentrate on planning tasks.
Strategies for near divergent planning. Visual aids, utilize calendars, color coded systems, bleh, sorry, got tongue tied, and visual reminders to keep track of tasks and deadlines. Task breakdown, Divide large tasks into smaller, manageable steps to feel less overwhelming. Time blocking. Allocate specific time slots for different tasks in a schedule to maintain focus and avoid distractions.
Regular check ins. Regularly review plans and adjust as needed to stay on track. Prioritization. Identify the most important tasks and focus on completing them first. Technology tools. Utilize apps and digital calendars with reminders and notifications to stay organized. Flexible planning. Account for unexpected changes and build in buffer time to accommodate fluctuations in focus.
Accommodations. Communicate needs to colleagues or supervisors to receive necessary support in planning and task management. Common neurodivergent conditions impact planning. ADHD, difficulty with time management, impulsivity, and easily getting distracted can make planning complex. Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Challenges with understanding social cues and rigid thinking patterns may affect planning abilities. Dyslexia. Difficulty with reading and writing can complicate the process of created, creating detailed plans. So that was just kind of something I put into chat GPT. I ask what challenges different neurodiversity, diagnoses or conditions would have with planning ahead. And that's what, it spat out. I agree with most of it. I think it gave an accurate assessment of, the challenges. It didn't really touch on NLD, which is okay. Cause that's not a very common one, but I think for me, usually my challenges with planning ahead are, trying to think through, like, for example, yesterday I was meal planning for.
Then coming week to see what I want to buy for groceries. And so I was trying to think, okay, what food do I want to make? What things do I already have in my house? What do I need to buy? What don't I need? How much, how expensive would it be? How, how would it be for me to carry back from the store?
Cause I don't have a car right now. All those little tiny details. details and pieces to the, meal planning puzzle, you could say. And I was like, well, let me see if my friend who has a car who lives five minutes away from me can help me because she might need to go grocery shopping too for something.
So she, she and I went together that way. I didn't have to carry everything back with me, which was easier. I guess that was quite a few bags. So the first article is titled four essential categories to use when planning your week by Scott Lamb and Issue 180 a worrying stat about Scientific papers 28 foods you should be eating and reducing your personal signal to noise ratio Quote, time management, like balancing your checking account and writing a good thank you note is one of those central life skills that should be all rights be taught in schools alongside reading and math. Instead, we're all left to experiment ourselves and learn from the experience of others.
Last year productivity coach Carl Pullum shared his weekly planning Matrix a simple way to think about what you need and want and parentheses to get accomplished each week and every day Which includes space for both work and life. To set it up, think through these four areas. Core work, the essentials you need to tackle each week.
Projects, key long term projects that need progress. Personal priorities that need your attention. Your radar, future tasks and ideas you need to keep an eye on. The trick is being very realistic with yourself about what's core work. Work your literal job and what projects absolutely need your attention that week Here's an example by pulling himself.
So in core work he has right blog post right learning note right podcast script right newsletter, right coaching feedback record YouTube videos record podcast and project slash issues ultimate productivity workshop day four and personal areas of focus restart 2023 exercise program. This case would be 2025 or 2024.
Get sleep sorted out by midnight and Wash Robby and refill with desill, probably his car, um, and then radar find appropriate dates and times for ultimate Partitivity workshop in April find a half marathon in April. Hmm. He likes to run.
Okay So that was that chart. I'll put a picture of it with the post on the website finding a Restructure that allows you to reshape your week is Work worth doing the weekly matrix has been hugely helpful to me, but I'm curious what works for you so I think that's a good way to kind of break down your day and to be able to or week and to be able to organize it into core work project slash issues personal areas of focus and radar I think that would work well for me as well.
And I think it would work for Work Well for anybody even if they're not neurodivergent, so I think that is a good resource the second article is Titled why are people with ADHD bad at planning ahead people quote people with ADHD Often struggle with planning ahead due to their a unique Relationship with time where the future feels abstract and immediate rewards Presidents of our long term goals this tendency system from different You This is endopamine functioning, making the ADHD brain reward seeking and focused on the present moment.
Activities like planning and delayed gratification lack the immediate payoff required to hold their attention, leading to procrastination and a last minute scramble fueled by stress. Additionally, challenges and concentrating on detailed tasks and estimating time. Contribute to a cycle of poor planning.
However, acknowledging this difficulty allows for strategies to minimize its impact, such as simplifying demands and finding symptoms that align with their strengths. Close quote.
So I think that's also a good article because it gives you specifically for ADHD, why it's challenging. And I think it can be applied to other things as well in terms of, The challenges that you might have because of autism or dyslexia or nonverbal learning disability, NLD. And, I think for me, my relationship with time is that, I'm pretty good now at thinking okay, this is what I want to get done today, but I'm not always good at knowing how much time each task is going to take me to do.
Because sometimes it takes me longer to do than I think it's going to because of. Technology challenges, or getting interrupted, or whatever. So, sometimes that takes me longer to get through my work day, depending on what, happens outside of my to do list. The third article is from LinkedIn, 7 tips to do list.
for improving time management. Quote, what we have to learn, we learn by doing, said Aristotle. Create, one, create routines for the tasks that have been, have to be done every day or every week to set up diary systems to pull activities that need to be done in with reminders. Use alerts on your phone or computer at different time points and not just at the end point.
That's too late to steer back to the goals. Ask for help or get some support from a work coach to help set up. Set these up with you. Be clear about what actions impact others. Take time each morning to create the day's plan. Do vital tasks first. 4. Consider the allocation of time that gives the best return to investment.
Consider which tasks, if not done, will threaten the future. your work survival in quotes. Five, decide what is within your control and what is being controlled by others. Six, check the to do list and identify the four D's. Do it, defer it, delegate it, delete it. That's a good one. Seven, Identify your time wasters, for example, ineffective meetings, unrealistic work plans, trying to do everything yourself, poor communication, not using diaries effectively, inappropriate attention to detail, a cluttered desk, virtual or real, don't waste time making pretty lists of lists unless it is to reduce your stress and give you pleasure.
That was funny. The author was Amanda Kirby, CEO of To Do It Solutions, a tech for good company that delivers consulting and guidance, training, and web based screening tools that have helped tens to hundreds of people, sorry, thousands of people. We strive to deliver person centered solutions relating to neurodiversity and well being.
I'm chair of ADHD Foundation and very proud well privileged to be, I am a mixed bag of experiences and skills that have 25 plus years of working in the field of neurodiversity. I am a medical doctor, professional professor, and have a PhD in the field of neurodiversity, parent and grandparent to neurodivergent wonderful kids, and I am neurodivergent myself.
That's me. I share. Theo Smith and I wrote the UK awarding winning book, Neurodiversity at Work, Drive, Innovation, Performance, and Productivity with a Neurodiverse Workforce. My 10th book came out called Neurodiversity and Education, March of 2023. I also got the award. Boated of the 20 thinkers by HR magazine for 2022 close quote.
So that I think definitely has some good, steps to take. And the last article, the ultimate guide to neurodivergent planning and time management. You asked me how I plan my own life and how I think you should plan yours. Here's how I might. Make it work by Zahn Villains quote when you're neurodivergent You cannot count on yourself to remember everything.
You need cues from your environment And that means you need a daily routine. You need to do your daily tasks around at the same time in About the same order every day. If you have kids this is even more important because kids need order and must know what to expect. The schedule also helps you use your time more effectively because you don't waste time trying to remember what you need to do.
You don't waste time to fit everything. You don't waste time in a fit of anxiety knowing you need to do something, but no, not knowing what, excuse me. You know exactly how much time you have done. You have to devote to a task so you don't have to feel guilty about your schedule down slash hobby slash sleep slash bed time. Close quote.
So I hope this episode was helpful to you in terms of, giving you some thoughts about planning ahead and how that relates to neurodiversity and the challenges you can have with being neurodivergent, or maybe you're neurotypical and you have challenges planning ahead too. I would say that the wrap up would be that this is going to, be helpful to share with friends and family and I will always include the links for the articles and I will give you, sorry, drawing a blank on what I was going to say, the, chart that was mentioned earlier with core work project issues. Personal areas of focus and radar. All right. Enjoy your new year and happy Friday I hope that episode was well worth it for you to listen to and that you were able to take something away from it Even if you don't have a learning challenge or if you do, I hope it was extra worthwhile for you so that you are able to learn something and maybe journal and jot down some few takeaways so that the next time you experience that challenge yourself. You're able to learn how to breathe through it more easily or maybe not have a meltdown or a tantrum or be able to take away more learning from it and not make the same mistake twice, you know, and, be able to also help somebody else go through that experience. If you have a friend who has a learning difference and you are neurotypical. So I hope you will be able to have those some experiences in your life now that you have listened to this episode.
Links for articles:
