Today, we will explore task prioritization.

First lets define task priortiziation.

Task prioritization is a way of organizing tasks based on their importance and urgency. The goal is to improve time management and productivity by focusing on completing tasks that need immediate attention.

Why is this hard for adhders?

Executive functioning differences can impact planning, organization, and prioritization required to meet neurotypcial expectiations.
Attention differences make it hard to stick with the one task you might prioritize
The Interest based nervous system of adhders causes prioritization to look different then that of others part of this is “ now not now thinking”
Task paralysis can get in the way of figuring out how to prioritze.

We will explore these issues in this module.

Everyone has a different way of prioritizing tasks. Your brain operates uniquely and will likely prioritize things that are emotionally charged, exciting, fun, interesting, urgent, or within your immediate purview as the things that get your attention. Therefore, these might be the ways you prioritize!

It is important to recognize that in certain environments, the way you prioritize and pay attention is valuable. In the past, your way of seeing may have been perfectly suited for certain tasks. One theory, the hunter-farmer theory, posits that ADHD was crucial to survival.

It was a period when the capacity to immediately react and adapt to tasks was indeed a formidable strength.

Let's watch this video as a reminder of the ideas we need to remember.

Understanding 'Now and Not Now' Thinking

For people with ADHD, the way they see time and decide what to do is often different. This is called "now and not now" thinking. Maybe you can relate to this too!

There are two categories: tasks that need to be done right away ("now") and everything else that can wait or doesn't feel urgent ("not now").

This approach to managing time and prioritizing tasks focuses on completing tasks that are immediately important and visible in the present moment. This may result from "time blindness," where only things that are seen in the current environment are addressed. Future tasks may not receive as much attention, as they are considered "not now" and are not prioritized, potentially leading to neglect and crises.

Do you recognize “now not now” in you?

This "now and not now" mindset can be a tremendous asset in several modern job sectors and past scenarios.

Can you think of ways in which this kind of thinking would be beneficial in modern-day life?

Can you think of jobs where this thinking would be helpful?

Jobs like emergency room doctors or paramedics, stockbrokers, and other jobs that run on adrenaline can often be good for individuals with ADHD.

Any position where you might need to respond rapidly or prioritize based on what is directly in front of you can be one where this kind of thinking can be highly prized.

Thus, the "now and not now" thinking style has historically been and continues to be a beneficial trait in many spheres of life.

Now, not thinking can get in the way of prioritizing tasks in a busy world that is not built for your neurotype.

Prioritizing tasks today often involves weighing factors according to different criteria. To use the hunter-farmer analogy, a hunter would not perform well as a farmer. Patience, sequencing, deliberation, weighing options, and making decisions may not be your strong points. Individuals who struggle with adhering to set routines and procedures are often like hunters stuck in the roles of farmers.

Attention differences

ADHD can cause distractions from the environment, which can derail task prioritization and focus. This could be a residual effect of our hunter-gatherer past when attention to the environment was critical for survival.

To combat this, it is essential to make the environment free from distractions when focusing on a task. Otherwise, completing tasks will be difficult. There are many ways to achieve this, such as removing technology, using "do not disturb" signs, and utilizing focus modes when writing. The Pomodoro technique is also a helpful suggestion.

The Interest Based Nervous System

Do you remember William Dodson's Interest-Based Nervous System? We introduced this idea in Unit 11 - The Strengths Unit.

Dodson discussed how ADHD brains are motivated to do things based on the following characteristics of the Interest-Based Nervous System:

🎯 Novelty: Difficulty engaging with tasks that lack newness
⏳ Urgency: Need for immediate action to maintain interest
🏆 Challenge: Seeking tasks that offer a sense of competition
💖 Interest: A personal connection or fascination with the task

In contrast, the Importance-Based Nervous System is based on prioritization of tasks by importance, weighing potential consequences including time proximity, and is different from the approach of most individuals with ADHD.

If necessary, you can use this insight to help you understand how to prioritize tasks in a more neurotypical way. This is an example of self-awareness.

USE SELF COMPASSION

Ideally, you should not have to work against your brain and neurotype. It is important not to use the tools we discuss as weapons against yourself in an attempt to fit into neurotypical molds.

Recognize that managing your stress signals and understanding your emotional responses are not indications of failure or inadequacy.

Remember self-compassion, self-accommodation, self-care, self-advocacy, and self-awareness.

You don’t need to be “fixed”. However, you might need to stregnthen some of your skills, or use self awareness to help yourself with priortizing to live a life in line with your values.

Review previous units and videos on self-care and task planning to refresh and reinforce the skills you have acquired.

The ongoing process of learning and re-learning can serve as a foundation for growth and more trust in your self.

Task Paralysis

Task paralysis can happen when you become overwhlemed by too many demands and difficulty figuring out how to prioritize them.

Recognize that feeling overwhelmed often signals an overload of responsibilities and the imposition of unrealistic self-expectations.

It's important to understand that there isn't a tool that can fix overwhelm.

This feeling of overwhelm stems from living in a world that imposes unrealistic expectations on people, particularly on women and especially on neurodiverse women. It indicates that you are being taxed beyond your limits. You are not broken; your body is simply responding the way it is supposed to. It is shutting down because you are overwhelmed beyond your capacity. When your brain and body are in danger of shutting down, what do you think you should do?

Remember the lessons learned from the units on stress, emotions, and self-accommodations. While managing your executive functions is vital, it's equally important to reject pressures to conform to the so-called 'gold standard.'

As you venture into task management and planning, remember to treat yourself with compassion. Recognize that it's perfectly okay to have moments of struggle, and that working on these issues can be very challenging.

Navigating Task Paralysis: Three Ways to Help Yourself

When you are in task paralysis your brain has gotten the message that you are in DANGER, You have to give yourself the message that you are safe.

Diaphragmatic Breathing

During times of overwhelm, the brain can become flooded with stress signals, leading to a freeze response. Diaphragmatic breathing is a useful tool to help regulate the nervous system and calm the mind during these moments. By engaging the diaphragm, this technique encourages deep, rhythmic breaths, which can improve oxygen delivery to the brain and reduce feelings of stress and anxiety.

This will send the message that you ARE SAFE.

Quick Guide to Diaphragmatic Breathing

Position: Find a comfortable place where you can sit or lie down.
Hand Placement: Put one hand on your chest and the other on your abdomen.
Inhale: Breathe in slowly through your nose and expand your abdomen.
Pause: Hold your breath for 2-3 seconds.
Exhale: Breathe out gradually through your mouth and contract your abdomen.
Repeat: Keep doing this for 3-5 minutes while focusing on your breath and abdominal movement.
Practice Regularly: Try to do this every day to enjoy benefits like reduced stress and improved oxygen delivery.

Tips:

Imagine a balloon inflating and deflating in your abdomen to help you focus.
If needed, seek professional guidance or use apps/videos.

Remember, the goal is to breathe deeply from your diaphragm, not shallowly from your chest.

Exercise to get yourself out of stuck mode

Activation of the Sympathetic Nervous System During a freeze response, the body's sympathetic nervous system is activated, preparing for fight or flight. Exercise helps utilize this activation constructively, allowing the body to dissipate stress hormones.
Engagement of the Parasympathetic Nervous System Post-exercise, the parasympathetic system, or "rest and digest" system, helps the body return to a calm, balanced state, aiding in recovery from a freeze state.
Release of Endorphins Exercise triggers the release of endorphins, natural mood lifters that can alleviate feelings of being stuck or frozen by inducing positive sensations in the body.
Diversion and Grounding Physical activity serves as a diversion, shifting focus from stressors to the task at hand and facilitating grounding techniques that help individuals reconnect with the present moment, aiding in breaking a freeze response.
Enhancing Brain Functionality Regular exercise improves brain functionality, particularly in areas governing executive functions, aiding in task navigation and potentially breaking the freeze response cycle by reducing anxiety and depression symptoms.
Breath and Rhythm The rhythmic and focused breathing involved in exercise can be soothing, potentially activating the parasympathetic system and promoting relaxation and recovery.
Body Awareness Exercise fosters body awareness, helping individuals reconnect with physical sensations and break the dissociative aspect of a freeze response.

GROUNDING

Grounding techniques are designed to help individuals connect with the present moment by focusing on their physical surroundings or sensations.

One action item you could try is the 5-4-3-2-1 grounding technique, which involves focusing on the senses to bring awareness to the present moment. Here's how it works:

Name 5 things you can see in her surroundings.
Name 4 things you can feel or touch (e.g., the chair she's sitting on, her feet on the ground).
Name 3 things you can hear (e.g., the sound of the wind, people talking in the background).
Name 2 things you can smell (e.g., the scent of coffee, fresh air).
Name 1 thing you can taste (e.g., the taste of a mint or gum).

There are many strategies you can find to try grounding. You can try this a few times and chick in with how you feel.

Now, let's move on to some ideas to help you prioritize

The best rule to always remember when we are talking about your executive funcitoning is you need to externalize your thoughts. Here is a video by Russell Barkley explaining why.

https://www.tiktok.com/@ladyksfreshlocalshrimp/video/7222018984571489582?lang=en&q=hunter farmer adhd&t=1693859108214

In this next sections we will briefly review our 3 step system for task and calendar management. However you manage your to do list does not matter. You can plan ahead for the week, or if you forget do it the day of. But planning is important. So is having a list of tasks or your number one task that you want to do for the day. The idea of the dump list is probably the most improtant. It’s great to keep one and have it handy and visible to you.

Externalize your list of things to do because your working memory can hold it.

Review

Suggestions for a 3-Step System:

A) Dump List:

Start by sitting down and creating an ongoing list of all your responsibilities for the week.
Include work, childcare, and daily routines such as eating breakfast, taking a shower, and cooking dinner.
Write down all your tasks and projects, including anything pending with deadlines.
Note due dates next to tasks and projects, as well as things to do like making appointments and paying bills.
Examine the list and if feeling overwhelmed, specify tasks such as "do dishes" instead of "clean kitchen".
Break big tasks into smaller steps and big projects into manageable baby steps. Seek clarification if confused.

b) Weekly Plan

Start by pulling out your weekly calendar.
Review your 'Dump List' and insert all upcoming week's responsibilities into the calendar.
Schedule a daily 15-30 minute personal time block.
Insert all appointments into the calendar.
Schedule tasks or projects with deadlines on their due dates.
Dedicate 30 minutes on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday for weekly planning.
Set aside 10 minutes daily, either in the morning or evening, for daily planning and review.

Note: It's important to overestimate task durations. If a task should take 10 minutes, plan for 20 or 30 minutes.

Tasks: Choose one task from the Dump List daily. Prioritize tasks based on their values, deadlines, or importance.

c) Daily Plan

Take 10 minutes every evening or morning to review your daily plan.

Ask yourself the following questions:

What is my main goal for today?
Which task is crucial and must be completed today?
Am I over-scheduled?
Am I forgetting anything?
Can I use a strategy to combat procrastination?
Are there any lingering tasks I need to complete?
What is today's schedule like?
Do I need to rearrange any tasks?

To further prioritize tasks, you can also use the Eisenhower Matrix.

DEMO

Eisenhower Matrix (1)Solve it Grid

Understanding and Utilizing the Eisenhower Matrix

One often taught strategy to deal help neurotypicals prioritize is The Eisenhower Matrix.

This strategy can help ADHD individuals prioritize tasks by categorizing them into four groups based on urgency and importance. Less important and urgent tasks can be delegated or given less time.

Here is a brief description of each quadrant:

Quadrant 1 (Urgent and Important): Tasks that are both urgent and important. These are the critical activities that you need to deal with personally and immediately. However, spending too much time in this quadrant can lead to stress and burnout.
Quadrant 2 (Important but Not Urgent): Tasks that are important but not urgent. These are the activities that help you achieve your personal and professional long-term goals. Individuals with ADHD should aim to spend more time in this quadrant to have better control over their time and to work towards their goals proactively.
Quadrant 3 (Urgent but Not Important): Tasks that are urgent but not important. These are the activities that you can either ask yourself if you can accommodate yourself in some way to do or delegate to someone else. If not managed properly, these tasks can take away the time that you could otherwise be spending on important tasks.
Quadrant 4 (Neither Urgent nor Important): Tasks that are neither urgent nor important. These are the activities that you may be able to eliminate as they don't contribute to your goals or have any significant impact.

Determining What's Important and Urgent: How Do You Know?

To effectively use the Eisenhower Matrix, it's essential to understand how to categorize tasks based on their importance and urgency. Here are some guidelines:

Important Tasks: These are tasks that contribute directly to achieving your long-term goals and values. They could be personal or professional goals and often have a significant impact on your life and future.
Urgent Tasks: These are tasks that require immediate attention. They are often associated with meeting deadlines, responding to emergencies, or fulfilling last-minute requests. These tasks often have immediate consequences if not completed.

Incorporating Tasks into Your Calendar

You can use this if it helps to help you prioritize or to just think about priorities

Tasks with Deadlines: Ensure that tasks with deadlines are clearly marked in your calendar, with sufficient time allocated to complete them.
Tasks with Consequences: Identify tasks that will have significant consequences if not completed and allocate time to complete these tasks before they become urgent.
Tasks You Care About: Make sure to allocate time for tasks that you care about and that contribute to your long-term goals and values.

Using the Eisenhower Matrix Effectively

To use the Eisenhower Matrix effectively, i should aim to spend more time in Quadrant 2, which contains tasks that are important but not urgent. This allows for proactive planning and working towards goals without the pressure of urgency. It helps in reducing the time spent in Quadrant 1, which contains urgent and important tasks, thereby reducing stress and burnout.

How to Prioritize Better So You Aren't Stressed: More Tips

1. Display Your Top Three Values

Keep a visual reminder of your core values in various spaces around your home. This could encompass aspects such as:

Safety: Ensuring a secure and stable environment for yourself and your loved ones.
Financial Stability: Focusing on maintaining your job and meeting your financial responsibilities.
Family Focus: Allocating time and energy to nurture your relationship with your children.
Creativity: Carving out space to engage in creative endeavors that ignite your passion and interest.

Using these values as a compass can guide your weekly goal-setting and decision-making processes. When you are prioritizing, use your values as part of the compass.

2. Establish Self-Awareness Goals

Continue to work on awareness of your stress patterns as well as procrastination. Are you avoiding tasks that you should prioritize because you don’t have information? Are you forgetting to plan? Are you failing to prioritize things like self-care which will later contribute to stress and have a domino effect?

3. Self-Advocacy: Seek Help

Don't hesitate to ask for help when confusion arises. Consulting with your boss, partner, or a trusted friend can offer you a different perspective on prioritizing tasks. Remember, you're navigating a world built on norms, and their insights can be a valuable resource.

4. Utilize Your Planning System

Consistently use your planning system to manage your tasks and meet your deadlines. Integrating this system into your routine can gradually enhance your planning and task management skills.

5. Embrace the 'Brain Dump' Technique

Keep practicing the 'brain dump' technique where you jot down all the tasks and ideas cluttering your mind onto paper. This technique helps in organizing thoughts and prioritizing tasks more effectively. Remember, the key to success is taking slow, steady, and small steps to incorporate this habit into your routine.

If an official planning system like we outlined does NOT work for you be more flexible. ‘Try these ideas on a daily basis. Keep a dump list that you look at each day and scan your list for urgent dates and priorities and also try to focus on things that would fall into quadrant 2.

Can you think of more flexible ways to tweak your planning system to help yourself with issues of prioritization that feel good to you?

Worksheet and Task List Group activity

Instructions

Look at this list of tasks
Categorize each task into the appropriate quadrant of either the Eisenhower Matrix
Discuss as a group how tasks can be re-categorized or approached differently to spend more time in the desirable quadrants (Quadrant 2 of the Eisenhower Matrix and the GREEN quadrant of the Solve-It Grid).
When you look at tasks and think about what we’ve learned what are some of the obstacles to getting tasks done?
How can you use our model to help you with thinking about your tasks and prioritizing them?

Task List

Buy groceries for the week (Due 9/14).
Catch up on favorite show.
Pick up school uniforms that your child needs for school, which starts on 9/13.
Schedule a haircut appointment.
Get dog's rabies shot due on 9/30.
Pay the electricity bill (Due 9/16).
Take a 15-minute walk daily for self-care.
Set a playdate for the kids (Scheduled for 9/21).
Vacuum the living room every other day.
Water the indoor plants.
Start answering emails every day because it's been 3 weeks.
Sort and recycle the junk mail.
Fill the car with gas.
Organize the entire house according to Marie Kondo's book.
Read for 20 minutes before bed as a relaxation routine.
Try to make a healthy dinner every night from scratch.
Set aside 10 minutes for morning meditation.
Wash the dishes every night.
Make a doctor's appointment for the annual check-up.
Spend 45 minutes playing a game with the kids daily to be a good mom.
Take out the trash every night.
Write a to-do list and look at the calendar for the next day every evening.
Spend 10 minutes daily tidying up the kitchen.
Make the beds every morning.
Set aside time weekly to learn something new or pursue a hobby.
Plan a simple weekend family activity.
Start running 5 miles a day because I haven't exercised in a long time.
Do the teenagers' laundry.

Final Section

Worksheet Activity

Eisenhower Matrix Worksheet Activity 🌈

Today, we will categorize tasks based on their urgency and importance using the Eisenhower Matrix.

IInstructions:

Below, you will find a list of 20 tasks. Your job is to categorize them into the Eisenhower Matrix based on their urgency and importance.
Remember to consider the nature of each task and how it aligns with your personal and professional goals.
Feel free to use your personal experiences and preferences to guide your decisions.
Discuss as a group how the quadrants may or may not have relevance for helping you shift the way you prioritize to adjust to some of the expectations placed on you.
Does it have any relevance?
How can you use the idea of the dump list and the interest-based nervous system to help you refocus daily or weekly on what your priorities are so you are less stressed?

The Eisenhower Matrix:

Quadrant Descriptions:

Quadrant 1 (Urgent and Important): Tasks that require immediate attention and contribute to your long-term goals and values. Tip: Try to manage these tasks effectively to avoid stress and burnout. 🔥
Quadrant 2 (Important but Not Urgent): Tasks that are important but don't require immediate attention. These tasks help you achieve your long-term goals. Tip: Aim to spend more time here to proactively work towards your goals without the pressure of urgency. 🌱
Quadrant 3 (Urgent but Not Important): Tasks that require immediate attention but don't significantly contribute to your long-term goals. Tip: Consider delegating or managing these tasks or accommodating yourself to free up time for more important activities. ⏳
Quadrant 4 (Neither Urgent nor Important): Tasks that neither contribute to your goals nor require immediate attention. Tip: Try to minimize time spent here to focus on more productive activities. ❌

Written Text Module 26 Task Prioritization