If you have ADHD, and you’re anything like me, you’re chronically late, you hate being told what to do, and you can be a little (alright a LOT) obsessive. All this can make life tough, and sometimes it feels down right impossible to get things back on track. I’m sure you’ve heard this before, but from one ADHDer to another, here’s how to make routines actually work for you.
Include Stuff You Actually Like
Don’t just schedule out your meals and work projects. Make sure to include a little time for your inner child! If you can keep that inner child happy for part of the day, it’s going to be a lot easier to sit them down when you have to work later. It doesn’t have to be anything huge or exciting, but make sure to reward yourself for the things you’ve done! This can look like a sweet treat at the end of the day, reading your favorite book for a few minutes, or spending some time on your passions.
Try to Stick to It (but Keep it Flexible!)
I know this sounds contradictory, but it works! Let me explain. If I say I’m going to do school work from 2 to 4 pm every Monday, then I should stick to doing that! But did I say what school work? No! This week could be focused on one class, where next week is focused applying for an internship!
Schedule EVERYTHING
Even if you think you have a great memory, a reminder can never hurt! I schedule everything from the gym to date nights in my google calendar, and it’s helped me keep my life together on more than one occasion. And having a color coordinated google calendar helps me see all the things I’m doing, so I can congratulate myself for all the hard work I’ve put in!
Keep the Caffeine Coming
This may sound counterintuitive, but caffeine can really help people with ADHD. I’m sure you know this already, but people with ADHD often have a chemical imbalance that produces less happy chemicals (like dopamine or serotonin) than the average person. By supplementing with caffeine, you’re actually self regulating! Making sure that you spread out your caffeine intake can really help. I’m definitely not recommending 5 cups of coffee all at the same time, but two or three throughout the day can really help!
Eat!
Don’t skip meals! Making food routines can help you too. People with disabilities can be adversely affected by hunger! My blood pressure tanks when I don’t eat, so it’s not something that I can miss. But I often forget! So schedule your meal times, and if you know you’re going to be short on time, schedule some meal prep in there too! mela planning has really helped me make sure that I’m eating real food, rather than an amalgamation of snacks.
Schedule Your Maintenance
Now when I say maintenance I don’t mean your car. Schedule that too, but for this I’m more focused on you. Schedule your doctor’s appointments, therapy sessions, haircuts and more! if there’s anything you know you need to schedule, schedule a time to make that schedule! I have tons of reminders on my phone about calling the doctor’s office and other things like that.
Prioritize!
As someone with ADHD, I have a really hard time with this. A lot of the time, everything seems equally important! Fortunately, there are usually more and less important things. Take the time to rank your task from most to least important, and schedule time for each of them respectively. There’s no need to devote the same amount of time to your homework as you devote for your final project.
Keep it Fancy
And finally, keep it fancy! Make sure that you’re doing things you’re excited about and that are new to you. A big part of keeping myself engaged is by giving myself things to look forward to. I’m much more likely to devote time and energy to things that I have an interest in and haven’t had the opportunity to try before. By taking steps to make adventure in my life, I keep myself engaged!
If you take only one thing away from this article, let it be to schedule your adventures. Make sure that you’re making time for the things that you love and that make your life worth living.
Adventure more and trailblaze on!
—Kaya
Trailblazing Unleashed 
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