My AuDHD Desk
I have a hard time with time management. Someone in a Facebook group asked about working from home as a software engineer recently, and I thought I’d share what I said to them here since it might help others.
I didn’t work in software but did work for a tech company. From my manager, I found it helpful when deadlines and expectations were clearly written out and I always had a list of things to play in the background while I worked (like tv shows or playlists on Youtube that were 6 hours long). I was very clear about what my needs for efficient check-ins and deadlines were so I got feedback about how I did quickly while it was still in my mind before I was too into a new project and knew when things were due. I also appreciated it when a project had a Wiki that explained the tasks and what they were expecting, rubrics are great!
I didn't find managing my time too hard, but I did set up all the projects I was working on in Toggl (www.toggl.com) so I could start the timer and see how long I was on a task. It helped with my ability to guess how long something would take in the future, and I could see where I spent my time and if I felt I was taking too long on anything (i.e. getting hyper-focused on irrelevant things). I also set up Sortd (www.sortd.com) for my Gmail account (there are others if you don't use Gmail that are similar, I can look them up for you if needed, let me know) to help me remember to follow up on things. I have Trello boards (www.trello.com) now that I use for this instead. If gamification works really well for you, you might try Habitica (www.habitica.com). I use a Rocketbook for notes (https://getrocketbook.com/products/rocketbook-core in the Executive size with dot grid) so that I can scan them in and erase them quickly and cut down on my paper chaos. The downside to this is that it's gel ink on plastic paper so it takes a bit to dry. I found these (https://amzn.to/3dJCNS7) work better but I'd do mainly the black/dark blue/dark purple/dark green color as some of the colors are too light to scan. I might buy the individual pens in those colors instead of the multipack in the future. The other colors are nice for brainstorming though!
At the time I wasn't diagnosed, so some things I would add now specifically for my AuDHD are a timer like this one: https://amzn.to/3QYiRtl or this one: https://amzn.to/3A8vdIr and fidgets within reach. I use this one: https://amzn.to/3CgwOyw and a resistance band like this one: https://amzn.to/3QzQq5d for when I'm needing to get energy out. You can also attach the resistance bands around the legs of a regular four-leg chair, or a deflated bike tube, to create leg kicking resistance for fidgeting, I prefer arm fidgets and leg bouncing. I am about to purchase this: https://amzn.to/3pvwVyH to turn my office chair into a wiggle stool, but this is an excellent wiggle stool if you want to fully change out your chair: https://amzn.to/3Ciq82R My long-term goal is to switch out my chair and resistance band for this: https://amzn.to/3dDiUMG
I forgot to mention in my original post that a sit/stand desk is also great for people on the spectrum or with ADHD. I like this one a lot (https://amzn.to/3PBSlEI), but it is a manual one. You can find ones that have drawers, are automated, or just sit on top of a regular desk.
Feel free to reach out if you have questions, I’d love to chat about my setup and what might work for you!
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