Re-finding my to do list.

My older son just turned 4, so I've been a mom for four years. In that time I've had fluctuations in work and at-home-with-kid(s) time, but work time has been really client-focused.  That's pretty great if you have ADHD. I've like the focused part a lot- working with clients and not worrying too much about anything else. Keeping my systems for work as dead simple as possible, because when there isn't much time for long-term projects, there isn't much need for long-term to do lists. Now, as I have more time with work, and my kids own little lives get more complex, I get to reinvent my systems and rituals and routines for looking at the stuff. I'm looking forward to it.Things have changed. I use less paper, and do more online. I prioritize more based on the preciousness of my time. But I still need to hunker down, look at what I want to do and get myself focused.

For what it's worth, I've been trying out the online to do list program Remember the Milk, and so far, it's working just fine. I hesitate to yelp with glee because I don't want anyone to think that the "perfect" shiny new system will make all this planning stuff suddenly miraculously easy for an adult with ADHD – even though it occassionally happens.

I realized how ridiculously much I like helping people to figure out how to make silly stuff like to do lists work better when  I was talking about the very same thing with Tara over at ADD Support Talk Radio recently.  If you have ADHD (or don't) remember my mantra: to do lists, and calendars, and all that stuff, are TOOLS that are supposed to make your life EASIER. They are not macho weights to be lifted or merit badges. And yet, they take time, trial and error, and tweaking.