Overview – What ADD Planner Can Help You Do

Here are some of the things that ADD Planner helps you do that other planners don't:

"For me the ADD Planner is absolutely the best planning tool I have found. I have used Outlook for years and Franklin Covey planner too, and yet nothing seems to be as functional, practical, and useful as the ADD Planner. The Project portion is the key ... so long as I have my project planner, I am able to stay on task, with the reminders, of course!" - B.R., Chicago

Get places on time (and remember anniversaries) Divide large tasks into manageable pieces Manage your focus as well as your time Switch tasks intelligently so you stay productive Break out of inappropriate hyperfocus Reuse and share ADD Planner files

Here is how ADD Planner does it:

Get places on time

Let's face it - when you have ADD, getting places on time is a challenge because life is full of distractions! And Time is so inconsistent: one minute there's plenty of it and the next minute – late again! (As the old song says: "Who knows where the time goes?")

To counter this, ADD Planner has built-in industrial strength reminder capability, so you'll be less likely to space out appointments or forget to leave when you're supposed to.

Industrial strength reminder capability means:

• Multiple reminders – you can set as many reminders as you need, as far in advance as you need them – so you'll remember birthdays and anniversaries and deadlines in time to do something about them!

  Here is an example of reminders you might set when you have a dentist appointment:

           

      

• Spoken reminders – you can record your own reminders or have the computer use speech synthesis to say the reminder text.

  Here is an example of a wake-up reminder from the computer. (Click the speaker icon to hear a computer-synthesized voice):

• Giant reminders – you can create full screen reminders in vivid colors that are too big to ignore.

Here is an example of the "before" screen:

And here is the screen after the giant reminder:


• Musical reminders – you can launch music from a reminder, for an audible cue when it's time to do something.

Divide large tasks into manageable pieces

Many people with ADD are right-brained, which means we tend to see "the forest" (whole projects) rather than "the trees" (individual tasks). We like seeing how parts relate to the whole. We also tend to put forest-sized tasks on our task lists, which can make it hard to know where to start.

In contrast, left-brained people tend to see "the trees" (tasks) first rather than "the forest." And being linear and logical, they find it easy to arrange tasks in a prioritized sequence – which is a classic definition of "planning."

Most planning systems recommend putting tasks into prioritized lists. The problem is that a flat list does not let you see how tasks relate to each other. ADD Planner uses a tree structure in its Project View which helps you see how projects can be broken down into branches made up of smaller tasks. This structure lets you see individual tasks and all the projects in the "forest" at the same time.

Manage your focus as well as your time

Standard time management systems tell you to prioritize your tasks, and then start on your A-1 task and do nothing but your A-1 task until it's done, and then do your A-2 task, and nothing but your A-2 task, until it's done, and so on.

This is good advice for linear thinkers who maintain a consistent level of focus throughout the day.

For people with ADD, that advice is nearly impossible to follow. For us, focus management may work better than time management for maximizing productivity. Focus management starts with being aware of your level of focus during the day. (And yes, you need some kind of external reminder to do this.) And then, as much as you can, schedule or do tasks based on your focus. In a nutshell, plan to work on mentally hard tasks when your focus is good, and do easy tasks during your 3 PM slump.

ADD Planner includes a "mindfulness reminder" (the On-Track Reminder) to help you become aware of your focus. Once you're aware of your focus, you can begin to manage it.

Note: "Mindfulness meditation" is a technique being used successfully to help people deal with OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder), chronic pain, and stress. UCLA is currently (Fall 2005) conducting a study on using mindfulness meditation for ADD. Our understanding is that mindfulness meditation simply asks people to become aware of their focus; it is not the same as the focus management described here. We will bring you more information on mindfulness meditation for ADD as it becomes available.

Switch tasks intelligently so you stay productive

If you have ADD, you will switch between tasks during the day whether you intend to or not. (Actually in today's fast-paced world, most people have to multi-task just to keep up.)

The secret to increasing productivity for people with ADD isn't to avoid task switching - it's to switch tasks intelligently. This means being aware of your focus (and what you're capable of focusing on), knowing what other tasks are available to switch to, and being ready to switch back to a higher priority task when you have the focus for it. When your focus is low, do something that picks up your energy or gives your brain a rest or gives it some variety.

The ADD Planner Project View lets you see all the tasks involved in all your projects. The On-Track (mindfulness) reminder helps you monitor both your current activity and your focus.

Break out of inappropriate hyperfocus

The problem is when you get sucked into the black hole of inappropriate hyperfocus (e.g., you're surfing the net at 2 AM when you have an 8 AM meeting) because it can be really hard to break out of hyperfocus. Fortunately, there is a technique used in NLP (NeuroLinguistic Programming) called a "pattern interrupt" which is basically to interrupt what you're doing so you can decide if that's what you really want to be doing.

With ADD Planner you can make your own pattern interrupt by linking a file, program, image, music, etc to a reminder. ADD Planner can automatically launch the giant reminder (or status report or whatever) at the set time; you can also launch the linked file manually when you click OK on the reminder, as shown here. (We know of one ADD Planner user who, when it's time for bed, has ADD Planner give him a 15 minute, 10 minute, and 5 minute warning before it automatically launches a utility program that shuts down his computer.)

Reuse and share ADD Planner files

All the software planning programs that we know of have an underlying monolithic design which is fundamentally different than ADD Planner. All of a person's data is in one file, and it is not intended to be shared.

In contrast, ADD Planner has a modular design. There are several advantages to this approach:

• You can have separate ADD Planner (.apf) files for different aspects of your life. For example, you might have all your work projects in a file called Work.apf, and keep your home stuff in Home.apf.
• You can save individual projects as reusable "template tasks." (This is especially helpful for checklists.) A template task can be used with any .apf file, not just the .apf file where it was saved.

• When you add a task to ADD Planner, you can include information about the task in the Notes field. This means you can outline a strategy or procedure in the Project View, save it as a template task, and then have built-in instructions when you use it next.
• You can email ADD Planner .apf files and template tasks to other ADD Planner users. This is great for working with an ADD coach when both the coach and client have ADD Planner – the client can email his/her ADD Planner file(s) to the coach who can look at it during the coaching session. And the coach can add strategy template tasks to the client's file and email it back.

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