First on Your To-Do List...

"For those of us with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADD/ADHD), a little worry can quickly escalate to full-blown anxiety. When stress levels rise, we procrastinate, which only exacerbates ADD/ADHD symptoms. We become more forgetful, disorganized, and distracted." (Reduce Anxiety Naturally: Six tips for treating anxiety without medication, ADDitude Magazine)

I'm learning not to let things build up to the point of feeling overwhelmed because my brain can easily go off line if I do.  Then I'm no good to anyone.  One thing that has helped me get a handle on life is having a to-do list.  Here are some tips (some of which I learned the hard way):

• Keep all your tasks in one location.  (You may be tempted to jot down notes on scraps of paper, but fight the urge.  I use a Franklin-Covey planner, for my personal tasks and Outlook at work.)
• Break large/complex projects into bite-sized tasks.
• Consult your list throughout the day (Just because you wrote it down at 9 am doesn't mean you'll remember at 3 pm.  Don't "set it and forget it".)
• Be conservative with estimating how much you can accomplish each day. (It's disheartening to have 20 things listed and only 5 checked off.)
• There's nothing more satisfying than checking off or crossing out an item on your list.  Be proud of your accomplishment!

For more information about using to-do lists effectively, check out Tackling To-Do Lists with ADHD: Combat adult ADHD by using this time-management system to turn your stagnant to-do list into a daily action plan (ADDitude Magazine).