getting things done - tips from someone with adhd and ocd

GETTING THINGS DONE

Tips from someone with ADHD and OCD

with Jason Lotito

TAKE DRUGS

THANKSQuestions?

Review at joind.in/13205 @jasonlotito

NO, BUT SERIOUSLY

@JASONLOTITO@GMAIL.COM

MY ADHD & OCDPart Zero

FOUND OUT I HAD ADHD & OCD AT 33

A LITTLE ABOUT MY OCD

5

BALANCE5 is a balanced number

This is OCD. 24/7It’s not just making sure your code lines up straight. #lolocd

OCD MEANS I WANT IT DONE “THE RIGHT WAY”

We’ll talk about yak shaving later.

A LITTLE ABOUT MY ADHD

OH SHINY!

WHAT’S IT LIKE WITH OCD AND ADHD?

OCDDo it perfectly.

OCDDo it right.

ADHDYak shaving!

OCDDo it right.

ADHDYak shaving!

OCDInterruptions? We can’t do it

right now. Give up.

OCDDo it right.

ADHDYak shaving!

OCDInterruptions? We can’t do it

right now. Give up.

ADHDGood, let’s do something else.

Reddit!

I KNEW SOMETHING WAS WRONG

AT 33 I DECIDED TO GET TESTED

THERAPY AND MEDICATIONFOR THE

OCD AND ADHD

THERAPY TAUGHT ME A LOT ABOUT MYSELF

Things I already knew, but didn’t understand.

MOST IMPORTANT THING IS YOU NEED TO HAVE SELF-AWARENESS

QUANTIFIED SELFPart One

MOST TEND TOOFFER SOLUTIONS

BEFORE UNDERSTANDING INDIVIDUAL PROBLEMS.

–Donald Knuth

“We should forget about small efficiencies, say about 97% of the time: premature optimization is the

root of all evil. Yet we should not pass up our opportunities in that critical 3%”

THE KEY TO GETTING THINGS DONE IS UNDERSTANDING WHAT PREVENTS YOU FROM

DOING THEM.

TODO LIST

1. Make todo list.

2. Mark off step 1.

3. Do real big project

EVERY USE ONE OF THESE?“Look at that leather and that handmade quality,

that will definitely help me get things done.”

EVER READ THIS?It’s a good system.

NOT GETTING THINGS DONE IS A SYMPTOM,

NOT A PROBLEM.

THE FIRST STEP IS UNDERSTANDING

YOURSELF.

I’M NOT A DOCTOR, AND EVEN IF YOU ARE,

DON’T SELF-DIAGNOSE.Side Note

ANALYZE WHAT YOU DO WHEN YOU DON’T GET

THINGS DONE

RECOMMENDEDEasy to use, inexpensive, works

RESCUETIME

RESCUETIME

• Are you a morning or afternoon person?

RESCUETIME

• Are you a morning or afternoon person?

• How much work are you actually doing?

RESCUETIME

• Are you a morning or afternoon person?

• How much work are you actually doing?

• Interruptions

RESCUETIME

• Are you a morning or afternoon person?

• How much work are you actually doing?

• Interruptions

• Focused on you, not clients/employees

WHAT DID I LEARN FROM RESCUETIME?

WHAT DID I LEARN FROM RESCUETIME?

• I work best in the afternoon.

WHAT DID I LEARN FROM RESCUETIME?

• I work best in the afternoon.

• Emails, chat, and notifications would interrupt frequently

WHAT DID I LEARN FROM RESCUETIME?

• I work best in the afternoon.

• Emails, chat, and notifications would interrupt frequently

• People would interrupt as well

WHAT DID I LEARN FROM RESCUETIME?

• I work best in the afternoon.

• Emails, chat, and notifications would interrupt frequently

• People would interrupt as well

• Meetings

WHAT DID I LEARN FROM RESCUETIME?

• I work best in the afternoon.

• Emails, chat, and notifications would interrupt frequently

• People would interrupt as well

• Meetings

• Interruptions would usually take me up 20 minutes to get back to work

INTERRUPTIONS

INTERRUPTIONS

• Already interrupted, I’d use the time to do other things

INTERRUPTIONS

• Already interrupted, I’d use the time to do other things

• Coffee

INTERRUPTIONS

• Already interrupted, I’d use the time to do other things

• Coffee

• Reddit

INTERRUPTIONS

• Already interrupted, I’d use the time to do other things

• Coffee

• Reddit

• Chat

I’D ALSO SHAVE YAKS

“MULTITASK”

FEAR

I KNOW WHAT I DOWHEN NOT DOING

WHAT I WANT TO DO

BEING AWARE OF WHAT I DO HELPS ME PLAN TO AVOID NOT DOING WHAT I DO

PLANSPart Two

WHAT STOPPED ME• Alerts and Emails

• Meetings

• People

• Yak Shaving

• Multitasking

• FEAR

KNOWING THIS, WE CAN DEVELOP STRATEGIES TO

OVERCOME THEM

ALERTS & EMAILS

ALERTS & EMAILSTurn off notifications

ALERTS & EMAILSTurn off notifications

Emails are not emergencies

MEETINGS

MEETINGSSchedule time when you work best

MEETINGSSchedule time when you work best

Plan other disrupting things around meetings

MEETINGSSchedule time when you work best

Plan other disrupting things around meetingsDo you really need to be there?

MEETINGSSchedule time when you work best

Plan other disrupting things around meetingsDo you really need to be there?

Schedule meetings for half the time

PEOPLE

PEOPLE“One moment”

PEOPLE“One moment”

Require they work for the request

PEOPLE“One moment”

Require they work for the requestSchedule the request for tomorrow

PEOPLE“One moment”

Require they work for the requestSchedule the request for tomorrow

Deflect or Delegate

YAK SHAVING

YAK SHAVINGStop when you realize it

YAK SHAVINGStop when you realize it

Get it done first

MULTITASKING

MULTITASKINGStop when you realize it

MULTITASKINGStop when you realize it

Usually a result of other issues failing

MULTITASKINGStop when you realize it

Usually a result of other issues failingResort to other plans of action

FEAR

FEARDon’t start the big project, do the first step.

FEARDon’t start the big project, do the first step.

Talk to someone else about it.

FEARDon’t start the big project, do the first step.

Talk to someone else about it.Get something working without architecting it.

SPECIFIC PLANS AREN’T IMPORTANTTHESE ARE MY PLANSTHEY WORK FOR ME

Working Done

Working DoneInterruption

Working

Done

Interruption

Not Done

Working

Done

Interruption

Not Done

Working

Done

Interruption

Not Done

Plan

YOU NEED SELF-AWARENESS TO PLAN

HAVING A PLAN MEANS YOU’LL INSTINCTIVELY DO WHAT YOU SHOULD DO

MORE TIPS & TRICKSTHAT WORK FOR METO GET THINGS DONE

Part Three

TRY ONE PLAN AT A TIME

SCHEDULE THINGS IN YOUR CALENDAR

WRITE DOWN NOTES

WRITE DOWN NOTESON PAPER

DELEGATE TO SOMEONE

COMPILE A DONE IT LIST

SCHEDULE RECURRING TASKS

AUTOMATE ANYTHING YOU DO TWICE

TURNS PLANS INTO HABITS

HABITS ARE PLANS THAT YOU FREQUENTLY DO

• When you want to do something, your plan is to schedule time

• Do this enough, and your habit will be to schedule things you want to do

ACCEPT THAT YOU WILL FAIL

SUCCESS IS REALLY JUST OVERCOMING FAILURES

BETWEEN VICTORIES

YOU CAN’T BE SUCCESSFUL WITHOUT ALSO

BEING A FAILURE

SO WHEN YOU FAIL, IT’S REALLY JUST A SIGN THAT YOU ARE ONE

STEP CLOSER TO SUCCESS

I KNOW THIS SOUNDS LIKE MAGIC FAIRY DUST

BUT REMEMBER…

THE KEY IS UNDERSTANDING

YOURSELF

ANALYZE WHAT YOU DO WHEN YOU DON’T GET

THINGS DONE

AND TAKE DRUGS

THANKSQuestions?

Review at joind.in/13205 @jasonlotito