#I SPENT. AN HOUr ON THIS POST WHILE I WAS SUPPOSED TO BE JOB SEWRCHING. TIME TO GO BACK TO THAT

[recents]

im pretty sure the point of the advice “if you have adhd, get a planner” is actually intended to be “find a way to make planning and organization fun for you.” decorating and using an aesthetic (whatever that means to you) physical paper planner, journal, diary, or agenda etc. of things you need to remember or do is actually a whole hobby enjoyed by ND and NT people and it can be really really fun! think stickers and washi tape and cute post-it notes, pasting in receipts and movie tickets and little photos from dates with friends, different colored inks and highlighters. it’s an inexpensive hobby, too. if you’re not an artsy person, there’s still plenty of ways to make it satisfying, like logging every day you did an activity, or developing a color coding system for tasks or information, or keeping and indexing notes and information about your special interests, or even just slapping stickers or printed pictures of your blorbo all over every other page to give yourself a reason to look at it.

for me, analog planners are actually a necessity and it’s life changing because digital calendars and planner systems don’t work for my brain. it’s joyless for me so i forget to check it and the notifications and reminders pile up unread. but having a physical book (that i get to cover in doodles and stickers) to refer to is completely different for me. if i did not have my notebooks i would not make appointments. i would let my meds go unfilled. i would not remember things like my address or how much money i need to put aside for bills each month. i would not have graduated college, and all of that is even being on my medication. i consider all my notebooks and journals and planners to be disability aids, just as much as my meds, my headphones, and my glasses.

and i really think this could help a lot of people with adhd, not just me! adhd brains remember to do fun things, and making the act of listing and checking and updating and recording the vital things of your daily life and information you need or want to remember in and of itself fun is a great way to slowly get your life together. and i promise that as cringe and boring as it sounds, having your shit together will improve your quality of life. you will feel better about yourself when you’re filling all your meds and paying all your bills on time. when you’re remembering your coworker’s names and your friend’s birthdays because you made a list.

i understand how the “get a planner” advice can sound invalidating because if you’re just trying to magically force yourself to remember to joylessly write down the dates of work meetings and shit in ballpoint pen in some sad beige calendar book, then yeah, that’s no different from “just put it in your outlook calendar!” or whatever the fuck. the organizational systems used by NTs typically don’t work for us. but developing an organizational system that is unique to you and more importantly works for you is so crucial to survival for so many people.

……… this was such a huge, most unintentional infodump that i feel like i should put some resources at the end lol. so here are some super basic links (that have helped me) about analog planners and planning systems!!

how to start bullet journaling

jetpens - how to choose a planner and planning strategies

guide to the hobonichi techo planner

bestself planner

guide to ring bound planners <- this style of planner lets you add, remove, and shuffle pages at any time

mochithings (planner & stationery shop)