I’m doing a series of posts on the myths of time management. I have ADHD and have coached adults with ADHD since 2003. I’ve noticed that many of my ADHD coaching clients often believed these time management myths and those mistaken beliefs have frequently made their time management worse.
Time Management Myths #1. You Can Manage Time
No one can. What you can do is manage yourself around time. Time management is basically self management. Billionaires, the homeless and everyone in between are all equal in one respect. We all have 168 hours a week. Minus say 8 hours sleep at day (ideally but many of us with ADHD don’t get that), leaves you with 112 hours a week.
How wisely do you use those hours?
It’s one thing to use the words time management because it’s familiar and everyone knows what you mean. But in your own life, it’s important to understand that time management is basically learning how to manage yourself and how you deal with time and planning.
What you say yes to. What you say no to. How you organize or don’t organize your life. What tools do you use and how often do you use them? Do you customize those tools to fit how you think and behave or just copy what works for your more organized friend? Do you adapt or change your system when it’s no longer working? Or just give up?
How many of those choices do you make consciously and freely? How many of those choice do you make impulsively and based on past conditioning?