ADHD planner recommendations?

[jetzmama]

Any ADHD mommas in the hive who can vouch for a printed planner that has worked well? Not for the ADHD kiddos - they have theirs!  I'm just trying to figure out a better system for me than 'flying by the seat of my pants!' 😂 

Edited January 13, 2019 by jetzmama

[PeterPan]

You can keep track of paper? And you remember to use it? Is this for your scheduling or for tasks lists for projects? There are some really good books (That Crumpled Paper was My Homework, etc.) that hit organization issues with ADHD. For anything I write down, I use spiral composition notebooks. I write an insane, excessive amount, because that's the only way I remember things, to write it. I have 3 composition books on my desk right now (daily notes, cooking, and my notebook from an autism convention) and ZERO scraps of paper at all. 

For anything beyond that, I use tech. I am on an iphone with imacs, so I use the mac calendar and then port it to the Calendars5 app on my phone. I LIVE by the calendar on my phone, and I use timers and alarms extensively.

For routines, I make Flylady style lists (in that daily composition book obviously) and then enter them into my calendar program to have the alarms. So like one of my goals this new year is to mop my kitchen floor once a month. I need to put it on the calendar with the recurring alarms. 

I don't know if *I* need an Apple Watch, but I'd like one for ds. Many moms and professionals use apple watches now to keep their heads on straight. Of course many also use paper planners. I'm with so many now because of my ds' therapies, and it just varies. The school workers especially tend to do paper planners, and I think it's because it separates things and is just in their work pile, always there. 

If you're meaning this paper planner to run your whole life, it needs to fit in your purse. So then you need to buy a purse to fit the planner. I took a long time to find a purse that fits what I need. It's the Vera Bradley Iconic Mailbag. https://www.verabradley.com/us/product/Iconic-Mailbag/Water-Bouquet/22169-22169L83?Ntt=VB-PDP-SEARCH--PDP-VB  It will hold your planner and has a pocket for your phone.

The other trick in getting the tech to work for me was a BIG PHONE. I can see my whole week with big squares and everything is color coded.

[Heathermomster]

I use Google Calendar and a basic calendar.

Edited January 13, 2019 by Heathermomster

[jetzmama]

Peter Pan - Wow! That's exactly what I needed to think through! Definitely no scraps of paper! I use Google calendar extensively - on my big phone for exactly the reasons you stated! No tech meant I don't want to have to figure out EverNote or similar plans. I'm just more old school. I hadn't thought about the planner needing to fit my purse, which it must, of course. Great tip!  I've used a 3 ring binder in the past, but loose paper, too many dividers, and sticky pads that fall out just make it messy after awhile.  With kids jobs, sports schedules, and a new part time job with 'make your own hours' I just need to revamp. Thanks for the great suggestions! 

[PeterPan]

Do you use Pinterest? I'm with you on not being interested in Evernote, but Pinterest has gotten practical since they enabled alphabetical order on the folders. There's also a site (that I haven't used) for pinning non-picture driven text type research. But I don't even remember what that was because I don't research quite enough to need that. Mostly I get by with Pinterest. 

[73349]

I cannot use a paper planner successfully for any length of time. I'd encourage you to play with Google Sheets, Trello or ToDoist, all of which are pretty intuitive.

I use a big whomping family wall calendar, a Google Sheet for school, and ToDoist for everything else.

[Wheres Toto]

I have a Classic size Happy Planner.  Big enough that I can write lists and read my schedule, small enough to fit in my purse (Kavu rope bag).  It folds back so I leave it open to the current date on my desk at work or next to my chair at home.  

I like bullet journals and traveler's notebooks, etc. but I NEED to have something that is right there opened up to the current date.  That way every time I glance at it I can see what I need to do.

I do use Google calendars as well but the alarms didn't help me any.  If I wasn't able to do something the minute the alarm went off, it got lost in the shuffle.

I also send myself emails with reminders if I can't write in my planner right away.  Then when I look at my email at home, I can write things where they need to be.

[Pen]

I got a smartphone last year after our rural area got cell service. I tested a number of apps after that.  My top choice that emerged winner for calendar is:

Summit app

because it combines time specific appointments and To Do items (without time when they have to be done) in one place.  And it is Very Easy to Use. IMO.  

 

[PeterPan]

10 hours ago, nwahomeschoolmom said:

I keep my grocery list on an index card on the open page. 

Ok, now rock your world. You can get an Alexa fire tv cube, put it in the kitchen with a little tv (running wifi, whatever), and now you can TALK to it and tell your grocery list! And you can have alexa on your phone (as long as you have fingerprint or whatever engaged, which on my phone is BROKEN, grrr) and now your lists that you say to it will be on your phone! 

 

1 hour ago, Pen said:

Summit app

I'm gonna have to go look it up ! I'm back! http://summitdayplanner.com  The app in iTunes is called Summit Daily Planner. It looks very nice as a to do list. I need to explore more, because I'm pretty dependent on my BIG CALENDAR for the week on my phone and the color coding, lol. But for to do lists, it looks really nice!!! Are you paying for a subscription?

Edited January 17, 2019 by PeterPan

[Pen]

4 hours ago, PeterPan said:

Ok, now rock your world. You can get an Alexa fire tv cube, put it in the kitchen with a little tv (running wifi, whatever), and now you can TALK to it and tell your grocery list! And you can have alexa on your phone (as long as you have fingerprint or whatever engaged, which on my phone is BROKEN, grrr) and now your lists that you say to it will be on your phone! 

 

I'm gonna have to go look it up ! I'm back! http://summitdayplanner.com  The app in iTunes is called Summit Daily Planner. It looks very nice as a to do list. I need to explore more, because I'm pretty dependent on my BIG CALENDAR for the week on my phone and the color coding, lol. But for to do lists, it looks really nice!!! Are you paying for a subscription?

 

No, I just tested out the free basic versions for various things.  Might upgrade it though.  It’s more than a To Do list as it has calendar part.

 

There’s not major color, but types of things can have a color dot to code them. Like blue for inbox, orange for chores, red for medical, say.  Or a color per family member.  

The color dots are a bit small for my over 50 eyesight. 🔎

[Pen]

Lack of a Week view does seem a problem. I just sent a note to them asking if there is a week view, or if not suggesting it for improvements. Right now they are working on natural speech inputs.  It will accept syncs from iCalendar and Google, but maybe only in paid versions. 

[Pen]

I also have a very large paper wall calendar for month and week view of upcoming