Raise your hand if you want more free time this year.
It’s unanimous, we all want more free time to do the activities we enjoy — and give ourselves enough time to unwind and relax in between all the tasks we need to accomplish each day, but how do we create more free time when it seems our days are already completely full?
Being neurodiverse can translate into some challenges with areas such as time management, organization, effective planning skills, and frequent distractions. However, by trying a few, simple techniques, you might just learn to manage your time more efficiently and create more balance between what you need to do and what you want to do.
Create Order
How much time do you spend looking for car keys, pens, socks, your backpack, wallet, planner, or anything else that you need to get your day moving along? The repeated frustration of chasing and locating misplaced items can waste precious time, and it adds up at the end of each day. To reduce the anxiety of racing around, and hunting for stuff, you might need to initially spend a little more time organizing your home and workspace.
- Try starting with an organizational strategy of simply designating a sensible place for items such as keys, eyeglasses, important documents, work items, tools, and anything else you need to access and use regularly.
- Find places that are logical and easy to remember such as placing keys on a rack near the door where you enter and exit, eyeglasses stored safely in their case where you take them off and need to put them back on, or cooking utensils conveniently in a canister in the kitchen.
- Think about visiting a home organization or discount store, and investing in some plastic bins, trays, or containers to separate and sort various items. By labeling them to indicate what is inside, you can identify the contents without having to look through or open them. With little time and effort, you will be able to locate what you need.
- In addition, if you practice returning each item to the same place as part of your everyday routine, it will likely cut down on searching for your stuff at inopportune moments, like when you are trying to get to work or appointments on time.
Plan ahead and keep a schedule
Remember, by keeping and adhering to a schedule, you can monitor how you manage your hours, and if you find yourself taking too much time for certain tasks, try to streamline your processes. For example, many of us find ourselves standing in front of the refrigerator each night, unsure of what to eat for dinner, wasting both time and energy. However, by planning daily meals ahead of time, we can reduce this stressful dilemma.
- At the beginning of each week, create a shopping list, go to the market, and then use your weekly meal plan as your guide. If you would like some excellent tools to work with, consider trying the Real-Life Executive Functioning Meal Plan and the Neurodivergent-Friendly Cookbook, you will gain access to planning guides and easy-to-follow, enjoyable recipes that can save you time, energy, and even money.
- In addition to adding meal planning skills, perhaps try eliminating any unnecessary tasks from your calendar. By automating your monthly bill payments, you can save precious time writing checks or allocating funds for each individual due date. Also, this might reduce your anxiety about missing a due date or payment and potentially damaging your credit report.
Eliminate distractions
By self-monitoring how much time you are spending on social media, phone apps, surfing the internet, or any other media sources, you can set appropriate limits so that you aren’t delaying other important tasks that need to be completed. Nearly everyone bends to the temptation to check emails, texts, and websites at times, but if not kept in check, your focus and attention can be lost with each interruption, which can prolong task completion and perhaps even your workday.
- You can create media-free times and zones and commit to completing a certain number of tasks before allowing yourself to take a short break. By using a list to check off tasks while removing your phone and, if possible, your internet access to media from the work zone, you might make more progress than you thought possible.
- Perhaps try the Pomodoro Technique and work for 20-25 minutes before allowing yourself a short 5-10 minute break where you log into the computer or check your phone. Not only can this technique reduce overall distractions, it can enhance your concentration when you are focused on completing a task.
Prioritize your well-being
You have social, physical, and emotional needs that need to be regularly addressed. Each one is important for your best functioning, performance, and quality of life. If ignored, unmet needs can lead to feeling uninspired and ‘burnt out.’ You are in charge of identifying specifically what you might need, at a given time, and then deciding how the need can best be met.
- At times, you might need more physical activity and can schedule time for running, biking or however else you enjoy exercising, while other times you might need quiet activities to decompress like reading, watching a movie, meditating, or doing yoga. Try tuning into what your body and mind require daily by creating a sensory diet to better anticipate your needs.
- Also, remember that by ensuring a proper sleep routine and schedule, you might have more energy and focus during your day – which can allow you to get more done in less time.
Set Goals
Okay, this is the fun part. Try to create a list of all the enjoyable activities you want to do and then prioritize which ones might bring you the most satisfaction. Perhaps you have always wanted to hike a certain trail or bike to specific destinations. You might want to do research on how to plan for such trips, and then write them out step-by-step, so you can easily follow each toward your goal.
- Perhaps you are interested in taking a class, learning a new hobby, or pursuing a new skill set for your job. By creating a manageable timeline and breaking down the parts of each task, you can start working the new activity into your weekly schedule or monthly plan.
- Understand how to create SMART goals, so you can plan a timeline and specific steps toward your results.
By organizing, prioritizing, limiting distractions, focusing on your personal well-being, and goal setting, you will likely be able to manage your time better and have more free time to spend on what you enjoy this year. If you want to learn more about your personal executive functioning skills, please check out the Life Skills Advocate blog. We’re here to help you along on your journey!
Further Reading
- 10 Ways to Get More Free Time Every Week, Part I
- 7 fail-proof hacks to have more free time no one told you by Jeni Reitsin
- Smart Goals A How-To Guide
- The Pomodoro Technique
- The Neurodivergent-Friendly Cookbook by Chris Hanson and Amy Sippl