ADHD Prep-list

Based on my own experience, I have realized that buying notebooks and creating task lists don't usually work with ADHD. However, there are certain lists you can create that could potentially reduce your stress and anxiety that is derived from ADHD.

Hi, I'm Saina and you're reading Sainaslife.

The Graveyard of Unused Planners

The number of unused notebooks that I have bought for planning is getting out of hand. I know that many of you who have ADHD also have a collection of notebooks, planners, and calendars. You might have used them for a week, but now they're lying dormant inside your drawers and you don't even remember them. So, I think we're reaching a point of shared understanding that notebooks or making lists just don’t cut it for us ADHD folks. However, there are some lists that can make life a lot easier for us.

When “I Still Have Time” Turns Into Panic

I know that many of you have experienced this feeling of impending doom right before going on a trip or even something as simple as a doctor's appointment. I personally love to go to waterparks once every month or so, and usually the day before or a few hours before the scheduled time, I am relaxed and consequently not thinking about packing the stuff I need for the pool. Then an hour before the due time, I get this huge panic out of nowhere. I think I read somewhere that it is called "Anticipatory Anxiety" and it happens when you are close to a deadline and you haven't done the necessary tasks that you needed to do before that. So naturally, you'd panic the hell out and your brain freezes, you can't properly think and remember the items that you were supposed to take, and most likely you will forget something when you get there.

The Pool Prep-List That Actually Helped My ADHD

I have experienced this crap so many times that now the dread is looming over me whenever I have a plan. So I thought to myself, I gotta figure something out to avoid projecting this massive stress on my body. So in my free time, when I didn't have any plans or appointments, I sat down and made a list on my notes app called "The pool's prep-list". I added all the stuff that is needed to take with me every time I visit a pool and voila, it wasn't difficult at all. Then a month later, I decided to go to the public pool and this time when the hour before the due time arrived and I panicked as always and my brain went on standby mode, I pulled out my pool prep-list and just prepared everything based on the list like a robot. When I arrived at the pool, nothing was missing and that's how I avoided extra stress and guilt-tripping myself because I forgot something.

Lists Don’t Always Work for ADHD… But These Ones Do

So the moral of the story is that making a list might not always work the way us ADHD people want it to, like writing the tasks and trying to do them one by one and be consistent, but it might work in situations like this to reduce the stress in a time of need.

I also urge you to make your own list about everything. I know it might sound stupid and childish, but trust me, it will lift a huge load off your shoulders. I have made ADHD prep-lists for going to the dentist, going to a birthday, visiting a friend, travel list of course, and many more. I even have a cold-country travel list and a warm-country travel list. Whenever I'm going on a trip, I start prepping two days before based on my list and check the ones that I have packed and you can't believe how much it will help with the stress.

I hope this little advice-sharing post will help you in your ADHD life. If you try this method and it works, I would be thrilled to know about it.

As always, see you all in the next post.

With love,

Saina.