I think that all of us waste a certain amount of time each day. For those of us with ADHD, it’s probably more than the average person.
We all have the same 24 hours in a day. And most of us feel as though that isn’t enough. I bet if we could wave a magic wand and give ourselves more, we’d still feel the same way.
I can’t give you more hours in the day, but I can show you a few ways to steal some of that precious time back and make it more productive.
We’re supposed to be masters of multi-tasking. Well lets put some of that talent to good use.
If you’re on the phone and it’s just a casual conversation – or worse yet, you’re on hold – here are some things you can do while you’re waiting:
Fold clothes.
Wash dishes or load the dishwasher.
Dust or Swiffer the floors.
Clean out your purse, a drawer or a sink.
In short, any kind of mindless task can be done while you’re talking to someone on the phone.
Here are some more ideas:
Always bring productive things to do if you know that you’re going to be spending some time waiting. That could be in the doctor’s office, in line at the bank’s drive through, or while you’re waiting for your kid’s softball game to start.
You can use that time to write out a few bills, read an article you’ve been meaning to get to, or answer an email or two.
If you spend time in the evening watching TV, put the commercial time to use. You can throw in a load of clothes or put them in the dryer. You can fold a few loads as you watch your program. You might even get some help. 🙂
You can even find time for exercise.
Park at the far end of the lot when you go shopping.
Take 5 or 10 minutes when you wake up each morning to do some yoga. Your body could use the stretch and you’ll feel better.
Check out exercise videos. There are a lot that are 10-15 minutes in length. You can buy a DVD, look online, or even On Demand if you have Comcast. You know you have 15 free minutes somewhere in the day.
The trick to stealing time is to look for those times during the day when you are either wasting time or have time to spare and then adding in a task or two. Most of the time the kinds of things that work are those that don’t require a lot of brain power, like folding towels.
You’d be amazed at how much extra time you can find. And won’t it feel good to relax knowing how much you got done that day?