omg i wish i signed up for citrus con!! every post i hear about it makes me regret not attending. (ive been meaning to comment on ur previous post as well, esp to tell you how cute the piss lemon venom snake icon is lol)
and trying to figure out task management and executive functioning is like. gah. i tend to rotate through strategies and change them up every so often, just to keep things fresh. and bc my brain will adapt to the new routine = it'll just start ignoring it lol T-T
random productivity/cleaning things that help me/have helped me in the past:
setting short timers (ex. 5-15 min) to do tasks
similarly, setting a short timer (5-15 min) for me to wrap up whatever im working on and transition over to another task
to do apps. im currently using todoist. ticktick is also good.
don't over schedule yourself. pick 3 priorities for the day
i do weekly reviews, where every sunday i review my upcoming calendar and pick 3 goals/priorities for the week. i like to pick super simple/easy goals. ex. ill have a goal for "get through my upcoming neurologist appointment." then i also review last week's goals/priorities and see whether i met them. if i met none of them, then i need to forgive myself and set easier goals. ive also tried daily, monthly, quarterly, and yearly reviews and tbh weeks fit me the best. they're not too frequent but they're also a manageable chunk of time, without becoming too large (ie i end up forgetting about whatever my goals/priorities were)
splitting up to do lists into "bare minimum"/"survival" tasks vs "bonus" tasks. ex. i need to brush my teeth everyday. i don't need to do my laundry every three days on the dot, so it's a bonus task. i call them bonus tasks bc they're, well, bonus tasks. itd be nice if i could get them done, but im not gonna be upset if im not able to get to them
related to the previous, but know which tasks you can procrastinate and which ones you can't. prioritize the ones you can't put off, and give yourself grace for anything you need to delay
make things more accessible for your space & your needs. ex. i have two trash cans in my room, so i always have a trash can within reach = trash doesn't accumulate. or, i removed the lid to my hamper bc i hated having to physically lift it up and much preferred being able to toss in my clothes from across the room
change your view of cleaning. it's not a one-and-done task, it's like... eating. you don't eat food and then in a couple of hours go "oh my god im hungry again wtf is wrong with me this is never ending." cleaning is like that. things will get dirty again. cleaning is just a maintenance task, to keep up with relative cleanliness of your surroundings, in the same way you regularly brush your teeth to avoid cavities, or regularly bathe in some capacity to keep your body clean
in that same vein, i don't do perfection with my cleaning. i miss a couple of pieces of clothing when doing a load of laundry? no biggie ill put them in next time. i missed vacuuming up a few specks of cat litter? no biggie ill vacuum them up next time.
i schedule cleaning tasks. so on tuesdays and saturdays i like to do laundry. if i miss doing it one tuesday, no biggie, ill do laundry on saturday. on fridays i vacuum/sweep and on saturdays i take out the trash. if i miss vacuuming/sweeping, no biggie, ill get it next week, and i can still take the trash out without needing to do the vacuuming/sweeping first (i.e. trying not to get mentally stuck in arbitrary rules)
body doubling!! it's when you have someone, either physically or mentally, be with you while you complete tasks. this can be like a friend or a neighbor coming over and hanging out while you clean. or it can be a friend in a discord call, just chilling together in the call as y'all both focus on your own tasks. or even having a friend message and check in on u in a certain amount of time, to make sure you've completed a task.
gah that list ended up really long orz i was always that bitch who procrastinated on everything in school and had to use the anxiety of very imminent deadlines in order to get anything done. and now that im no longer in school... well, i throw a lot of strategies at the wall to see what sticks!! lol.
also gonna list a couple of related books: how to keep house while drowning by kc davis is a very short (150 page) book that also goes into more cleaning-specific strategies, but i think it can be applied to other tasks as well.
atomic habits by james clear talks about, well, habits, with similar ideas about chaining things together and making good habits more accessible & more likely you'll do them (and less so of the bad habits). it did feel a bit like the typical motivational book, of "you can do absolutely anything you do your mind to, if you just use willpower (a finite resource)" but some neurodivergents liked it. i think it's good for motivation on little improvements.
unf*ck your habitat by rachel hoffman. it's been awhile since i read it, but what i remember is basically pomodoro-esque technique (20 min cleaning, 10 min break) with cleaning tips. like vinegar in a spray bottle and how to do drain volcanoes.
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omg i wish i signed up for citrus con!! every post i hear about it makes me regret not attending. (ive been meaning to comment on ur previous post as well, esp to tell you how cute the
pisslemon venom snake icon is lol)and trying to figure out task management and executive functioning is like. gah. i tend to rotate through strategies and change them up every so often, just to keep things fresh. and bc my brain will adapt to the new routine = it'll just start ignoring it lol T-T
random productivity/cleaning things that help me/have helped me in the past:
setting short timers (ex. 5-15 min) to do tasks
similarly, setting a short timer (5-15 min) for me to wrap up whatever im working on and transition over to another task
to do apps. im currently using todoist. ticktick is also good.
don't over schedule yourself. pick 3 priorities for the day
i do weekly reviews, where every sunday i review my upcoming calendar and pick 3 goals/priorities for the week. i like to pick super simple/easy goals. ex. ill have a goal for "get through my upcoming neurologist appointment." then i also review last week's goals/priorities and see whether i met them. if i met none of them, then i need to forgive myself and set easier goals. ive also tried daily, monthly, quarterly, and yearly reviews and tbh weeks fit me the best. they're not too frequent but they're also a manageable chunk of time, without becoming too large (ie i end up forgetting about whatever my goals/priorities were)
splitting up to do lists into "bare minimum"/"survival" tasks vs "bonus" tasks. ex. i need to brush my teeth everyday. i don't need to do my laundry every three days on the dot, so it's a bonus task. i call them bonus tasks bc they're, well, bonus tasks. itd be nice if i could get them done, but im not gonna be upset if im not able to get to them
related to the previous, but know which tasks you can procrastinate and which ones you can't. prioritize the ones you can't put off, and give yourself grace for anything you need to delay
make things more accessible for your space & your needs. ex. i have two trash cans in my room, so i always have a trash can within reach = trash doesn't accumulate. or, i removed the lid to my hamper bc i hated having to physically lift it up and much preferred being able to toss in my clothes from across the room
change your view of cleaning. it's not a one-and-done task, it's like... eating. you don't eat food and then in a couple of hours go "oh my god im hungry again wtf is wrong with me this is never ending." cleaning is like that. things will get dirty again. cleaning is just a maintenance task, to keep up with relative cleanliness of your surroundings, in the same way you regularly brush your teeth to avoid cavities, or regularly bathe in some capacity to keep your body clean
in that same vein, i don't do perfection with my cleaning. i miss a couple of pieces of clothing when doing a load of laundry? no biggie ill put them in next time. i missed vacuuming up a few specks of cat litter? no biggie ill vacuum them up next time.
i schedule cleaning tasks. so on tuesdays and saturdays i like to do laundry. if i miss doing it one tuesday, no biggie, ill do laundry on saturday. on fridays i vacuum/sweep and on saturdays i take out the trash. if i miss vacuuming/sweeping, no biggie, ill get it next week, and i can still take the trash out without needing to do the vacuuming/sweeping first (i.e. trying not to get mentally stuck in arbitrary rules)
body doubling!! it's when you have someone, either physically or mentally, be with you while you complete tasks. this can be like a friend or a neighbor coming over and hanging out while you clean. or it can be a friend in a discord call, just chilling together in the call as y'all both focus on your own tasks. or even having a friend message and check in on u in a certain amount of time, to make sure you've completed a task.
gah that list ended up really long orz i was always that bitch who procrastinated on everything in school and had to use the anxiety of very imminent deadlines in order to get anything done. and now that im no longer in school... well, i throw a lot of strategies at the wall to see what sticks!! lol.
also gonna list a couple of related books: how to keep house while drowning by kc davis is a very short (150 page) book that also goes into more cleaning-specific strategies, but i think it can be applied to other tasks as well.
atomic habits by james clear talks about, well, habits, with similar ideas about chaining things together and making good habits more accessible & more likely you'll do them (and less so of the bad habits). it did feel a bit like the typical motivational book, of "you can do absolutely anything you do your mind to, if you just use willpower (a finite resource)" but some neurodivergents liked it. i think it's good for motivation on little improvements.
unf*ck your habitat by rachel hoffman. it's been awhile since i read it, but what i remember is basically pomodoro-esque technique (20 min cleaning, 10 min break) with cleaning tips. like vinegar in a spray bottle and how to do drain volcanoes.