Today I wanna talk about brainweird existence, neurodivergencies, and executive function. This post is written in hopes of providing somebody out there with that 'woah I might actually be able to handle life a bit better' feeling.
TL;DR: Rapid fire Brain dump your to-do's without worrying about organizing them > prioritize them utilizing the Eisenhower Matrix > plan your day with that knowledge in mind using the 1-3-5 method. Links at the bottom!
My ✨Brainweird Credentials✨:
- Autistic + ADHD
- Schizospec
- DID + CPTSD
- Some flavor of OCD
- And a constant avoidance of anything that feels too overwhelming, overstimulating, + Anything that interrupts the routine I've built in my head, known to no one, not even myself most days.
What I Struggle With IRT Life/Getting Shit Done:
- My brand of executive dysfunction is some combination of:
- compulsively working out exactly how to do something and the steps to do so and how to make the most of it, for hours before actually starting the task
- Task Switching is a nightmare, and unreliable at best even after I've decided to do something. Too often, this leads to freezing up and doing nothing all day and then having to go to bed.
- Shame and Guilt spirals happen with each passing hour that I "fail" to Get Shit Done.
My to-be-tested approach to coping with this and actually Getting Shit Done is:
1. Brain Dump, first thing, before fully starting the day
- This Looks Like: A rapidfire list of everything I need to get done, as fast as I can remember it all, in no particular order. Don't agonize over whether it's a need-to-do or a want-to-do; Just get it down braindump style on paper.
- The items in this braindump can be anything from huge to miniature tasks, and with any duedates (meaning, just braindump, don't worry about if it needs to be done TO-DAY TM)
2. Go through, Prioritize the contents of your Brain Dump
- There are many ways to do this, I'm going to utilize the "Eisenhower Matrix" - With a couple tweaks
- DO – urgent and important tasks
- SCHEDULE – important but not urgent tasks
- BACKBURNER (AKA Deligate) – urgent but not important tasks
- ARCHIVE (AKA Don't do): tasks that are neither urgent nor important - These tasks can be noted down for later referencing in case they become more relevant down the road
3. From that prioritized list, choose what to do Today Specifically - via the 1-3-5 Method
- Note: When deciding what's big vs. medium or small, try to consider what it would take to get it done; energy/money/time/etc
- Choose 1 big task (ideally from the "DO" category outlined above)
- Choose 3 medium tasks (ideally from either the "DO" category, or the "Backburner" category)
- Choose 5 small tasks (Can be from any category -- Though all of these can, it's up to you!)
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Note: You can change those numbers to better suit your ability level. I would recommend keeping the ratio -- For example, I will personally begin with 1 big task, 2 medium tasks, and 3 small tasks, as someone with chronic pain who's Brainweird
4. Do the things, starting with the biggest task first
Don't beat yourself up over stuff that doesn't get done, just make a note and add it to the brain dump tomorrow.
Bonus Notes:
- Try and loosely predict your upcoming week and plan out a day for fun. For task-prioritization on these fun days, I personally would yeet the eisenhower matrix out the window and focus on the 1-3-5 method. The goal of which is to prevent freezing up due to task-switching struggles because you have a plan
- There's also a "Play" (fun) model, which is very similar to the Eisenhower matrix, only the aim is to prioritize the fun things you do based off of how much true enjoyment you'll get from them + how challenging/resource heavy it is to do them. You could then follow the process laid out here, with fun things. Here's the link to that if you're interested.
Here's the links to the information I combed through while writing this post, if you'd like more info on anything mentioned here:
Thank you for reading, and I hope this was helpful to anyone who may read it. 💖
--ink&