...to ask for your best tips on being productive/ organised?

[HermioneWeasIey]

I've just started an MSc, and I work and am a single parent. I have technically got enough time to do it all, but I need to be super organised and productive and not procrastinate.

However, this goes against all my natural instincts I have ADHD which means I struggle with focusing and organisation etc. I am medicated luckily, but yeah. It's an issue.

I've just started studying in the evenings from my kitchen table, instead of on the sofa, and I can't believe how much I can focus easier, and I'm less likely to pick up my phone etc.

I'm going to look at the Organised Mum Method tonight, and start making weekly timetables for everything eg batch cooking, what I'm going to clean, what module I'm going to study and whether I'm reading/ watching a lecture etc.

This is actually loads better for my MH as I get really overwhelmed when things start to build up and I don't feel in control of stuff. Hopefully it will make me more likely to stick to schedule.

Has anybody else got any routines/ things they do to stay organised and on top of stuff and/ or helps them focus or actually do the things that need doing?

I know most other people don't have ADHD, but I'm sure what works for NT people should still work for me (and other readers). Thanks!

In sounds simple but lists of tasks, daily, weekly and monthly. I just find it adds structure and it’s systematic and means you don’t forget anything.

I've thought of a good one to kick off the proceedings

Don't know if I'm 5 years late to the party on this, but I can't recommend the app Evernote highly enough, even for those who aren't studying.

You can basically save documents, photos, emails, webpages, screenshots etc. into different folders.

The best thing about it, I've found, is that it searches through your photos and can identify words from letters eg from the school, or even handwritten notes. So if your child comes home with a letter about Christmas or something now, and you (inevitably in my case) lose it, you can search 'Christmas' nearer the time and it'll bring up everything that contains that word. You can also set reminders for photos a few days before or whatever.

I'm obsessed with it, and it's invaluable for studying - but I think it's great for life admin and probably work if your job entails that sort of thing.

In sounds simple but lists of tasks, daily, weekly and monthly. I just find it adds structure and it’s systematic and means you don’t forget anything.

Sorry, cross posted. Yes, that sounds really useful. There's something satisfying about ticking an item off your to do list, isn't there?

You know, when you save, it’s best to pay yourself first, this way the money come out as if it were a bill.
The same with the rest, you ‘pay’ yourself first. Sunday afternoons/evenings are for me. I rest, have a bath, watch a movie, read a book, phone family/friends. It’s my recharge time. The rest of the time, I plan, TOMM method, although I quite like Flylady too.
If Ifeel balanced and in control, the rest is as well.

Pick the three most important things that you need to do each day and do them first before anything else. That way, the most important stuff gets done.

It's fine to do a massive brain dump of a to-do list but it's not going to get done all on the same day. Allocate tasks a few at a time to a day of the week. If it is a massive brain dump it's likely that the stuff on there is not urgent. I like the Flylady routines.

An actual pen and paper planner, that you sit down on Sunday evenings and use to plan the week: what's happening when, what you need to do, meal plans, shopping, bills, study, work, kids, whatever. I use a modified bullet journal system, but you could look at something like a Happy Planner or a Passion Planner or there are a ton of others. Lots of people use stickers and pretty pens and washi but you absolutely don't need to. Functional planning can be far more effective.

A Bullet Journal. It helps so much. And the system was designed by a man with ADHD to help him sort his life out!

For me it’s about not having too many possessions. I start to feel chained to them, they create work eg laundry, tidying up. I did the KonMari method and am a lot more minimal now, so tidying the house is quicker and less painful.

Keep a calendar/notebook and use it effectively. Dont put things down, put them away. Dont put it off til tomorrow if it can be done today. A place for everything and everything in its place. 1 in 1 out. (when u buy new crap, throw away some old crap)

Ooh yes bullet journal and eat the ugly frog first (start with the worst/hardest job on your list). Didnt realise how mnay sayings i lived by.

I've just handed in my dissertation, and have worked full time throughout. Its not just about being organised but making your life a bit easier as well.
Supermarket home deliveries were a godsend, and saved ages. School dinners also meant no making packed lunches every night, and invest in a slow cooker. Supper almost done when you get home.
My biggest tip though is not to leave assignments to the last minute. As soon as it is set get on and make a start, leaving it to the last minute is very stressful.

Yes. Make your own deadlines that mean you are way ahead of the game.

I can't do with lists at all. I find I waste a lot of time making and remaking lists.

I went on a course once given by a guru who advocated the "just do it" and "one touch" approaches, were basically you just get on and do what needs doing there and then. I was very sceptical, but gave it a try and find it works for me.

For things that happen daily, such as emails coming in, mailshots, letters received, etc., you aim to deal with them straight away. You have to train yourself to be realistic, shred/delete anything that isn't important and deal with important things there and then, such as paying a bill, replying to an email. Just deal with it, file and forget it.

Far more efficient that having bulging in-trays that you have to keep wading through to find things that become urgent days/weeks later.

If there’s something you’ve been putting off for a while, force yourself to spend 5 minutes on it. Everyone can manage 5 minutes of something, and as it tends to be the getting started that’s the hard part, you normally find you just keep going with it. Works every time for me.

Big whiteboard. Write down all the normal weekly tasks and leave space for any other as hoc tasks. Tick off as you go.

On the whiteboard meal plan for the week.
Batch cooking is also a great idea. Nothing makes me happier than cooking a massive batch of food (other than having something healthy and quick to just heat up for tea on week evenings )

I keep to do lists, have an electronic calendar which links personal/work,have an electronic family calendar where we can all see who is doing what, have a routine for laundry and cleaning, make meal plans for most nights of the next week (usually leave 1 for takeout) etc. I get ahead wherever I can e.g. put the washing in overnight to finish early the next morning so I can hang it up or dry it before I leave for work, make 2 shepherds pieds or whatever and freeze one so there is an "easy" meal. Good luck with the studying.

I've not done a Masters while working and being a parent, but I did do one whilst completely disorganised with ADD (i don't do hyper!). I made myself stay in the library for all of the time that I possibly could; I made it a 9-5 job in itself, I was in the library or university or a quiet place for as many hours as I could spare. That meant that when I got home my time was my own.

I now bullet journal, this would have been so helpful at the time...

Not sitting on Mumsnet :)

Good luck! I'm doing an MSc too and its so hard with DC.
Uni have been really helpful and have allowed me to suspend my dissertation till next summer as I haven't been able to do it (hyperemisis)....thats my first suggestion really, communicate lots with uni if things get on top of you, they will usually have extenuating circumstances policies.

2nd tip - bullet journal!! I also put sticky tabs on mine to find important pages easily.

3rd tip - frozen already chopped veg is really good. I also do omlettes/frittata a lot.

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