Time management and my many chores

[Greatshield17]

I need help getting my many chores done with the limited amount of time that I have; I have a lot of things I need to get done and I struggle to find time to do them. I asked this question before on another Autistic forum site, and I was advised use something like popsicle sticks to write my chores on so I could keep track on them; I tried this with small pieces of cardboard, but I ended up simply struggling to keep track of the cardboard and ultimately giving-up losing many of them.

I am faring better now than I was back then, but I’m still struggling and just have so much to do, does anyone have any more advice?

 

[Neonatal RRT]

Executive functioning,...for many of us, this is not a natural thing. It takes an active, motivated mind and often a list. I do this every day at work,...a list of patients to see,...their schedules,...and a timeline. Keep in mind, I am getting calls, making changes on the fly, going to infant deliveries, running labs,...a lot of distractions. Yes, I do get frustrated with all of the distractions,...constantly being pulled away without notice,...but then, back to my list. I do this because I must and failure is not an option.

On my days off,...Lord,...I just want to rest. However, there are days when I need to buckle down and get things done in a timely manner,...the list and timeline helps. Set yourself some goals,...get task 1-3 done before lunch,...get 4-6 done before dinner.

 

[tree]

@Greatshield17
"I have a lot of things I need to get done..."

What things?

Which of them have due dates?

 

[Greatshield17]

@Greatshield17
"I have a lot of things I need to get done..."

What things?

Which of them have due dates?

I’ll list them in a bit.

 

[Greatshield17]

@Greatshield17
"I have a lot of things I need to get done..."

What things?

Which of them have due dates?

Alright, the chores I can list right now are:

1. Clean the Bathroom.
2. Vacuum my bedroom and hallway.
3. Take a look at my washer-dryer to see if I can get it fixed.
4. Harvest some potatoes from the pots that I brought indoors (and replant some of them that I already did harvest once they’ve fully-sprouted)
5. Print-out Claritas Pamphlets and mail them to Catholic parishes here in Canada.
6. Replace the black ink in my printer as it’s getting low.
7. Work on a gig picture for my other Fiverr gig so that I can get that up, and hope and pray that someone sees my other gig that I got up today, even though I’d have to add that into my list of things to do, at least I’m getting paid for it and finally have some kind of employment; but I’m digressing here.
8. Look for local jobs in my town (I’ve made some progress on that today)
9. Look for online jobs on LinkedIn even though I’d prefer the in-the-flesh jobs above.
10. Make Christmas Cards to give to my neighbours in an effort to get to know them, (though I’m thinking of waiting until the Feast of St. Thorlak to actually deliver them) and hope to bump into them in the meantime and get to know them; especially the girl next door, as I want to try and see if we’re compatible, her cat at least likes me.
11. Work on my An Appeal to Heaven comic series as I wait for the artist I’ve hired to get back to me with the first episode.
12. Do whatever I can online to promote my group and Autism Awareness and Autism Acceptance in the meantime.

 

[Au Naturel]

Write it on a whiteboard. The only thing you have to do is remember to visit the whiteboard after each chore is completed to check it off and read the next. To the extent possible, do all your chores as if you were an employee who had many tasks to accomplish within a tight schedule. Then "pay" yourself at the end of the "workday" with fun.

Don't do a chore, go off to play on the PC, do another chore, get distracted by the tv, etc. You will forget to check the board. Or you will dilly-dally on your play and not have enough time left to do the chores. Too much temptation to stretch the fun time out and switching from play to work and back are disruptions.

If you have chores that must be done at particular times set an alarm. Smartphones are great for this.

That looks more like a wish list than a chore list.

 

[Fino]

Half of those, I would just not do. But I just not do a lot of things.

 

[Hypnalis]

Identify and think very hard about what you're doing instead of your chores.

If you're dealing with indecision (difficulties planning and prioritizing) by doing nothing or an alternative easy/comfortable activity, lists won't help all that much (better, but may not be good enough).

A test you can apply: do you have a "high startup threshold" for uninteresting activities, but work efficiently on them when you do get going?

 

[SusanLR]

Too many chores, too little time.
My days are the same.
Main goals are cleaning house and keeping appointments.

Keeping up with housework becomes more difficult when health problems slow you down.
By the time I get what must be done in the house, it is time to go back and start over again.
The basics like dusting, cleaning the bathroom, the kitchen, washing, changing the bed linens, vacuuming and mopping the rooms with tile floors are must do's.
Try to fit in things that have been on the back burner for ages as I can, but is nearly impossible.

Walking and pain problems now get in the way and the appointments for doctor's visits.
This type of situation, really isn't much I can see to improve productivity on.
I stay up all night just to get my "fun" time in on the computer or watch TV.

So, yeah, I hear ya!

 

[PinkPhilodendron]

Alright, the chores I can list right now are.....

So.
First - categorize. There are things in your list that Take around an hour, up to a day and some even a few weeks or months or are a regular thing like no. 1/2/9/12

Second - decide how to manage each category - I would do 3 bigger single chores a week, 1 small single chore every day, and regular stuff on fixed days for a fixed minimum (not too much) time.
But make sure you fit some time for relaxing in there as a chore or you will exhaust.

Third - Prioritize - you can put your list in a table and then decide whith which things to start.

 

[Neonatal RRT]

I cannot over emphasize the importance of a timeline. It tends to reduce the procrastination variable.

As an instructor, I am aware of this with my students. If I say, "This report is due next month." Nothing gets done until perhaps the last week or day. If I say, "This report is due next week." I might get a few more groans, but it gets done. If I say, "For the next 45 minutes, write a paper on this topic." It gets done.

Same concept applies to whatever tasks or projects you have going on. If you say to yourself, "I am going to clean the house tomorrow." The next day, you get up, eat breakfast, get caught up on an episode of your favorite Netflix series, take a shower, get dressed, log onto the computer,...you know the routine. Next thing you know, its lunch time, more distractions,...and then you remember that you wanted to clean the house. You run the vacuum around the floors, pick up a few things,...but never really get things done. Versus,...company is coming over for dinner at 6pm. Then, you have a timeline. The house will likely be cleaner than it has been in months,...and you'll have dinner ready, as well.

 

[Aneka]

I need help getting my many chores done with the limited amount of time that I have; I have a lot of things I need to get done and I struggle to find time to do them. I asked this question before on another Autistic forum site, and I was advised use something like popsicle sticks to write my chores on so I could keep track on them; I tried this with small pieces of cardboard, but I ended up simply struggling to keep track of the cardboard and ultimately giving-up losing many of them.

I am faring better now than I was back then, but I’m still struggling and just have so much to do, does anyone have any more advice?

Set alarm clocks for appointments an household chores on specific days (I always clean on Saturdays). No excuses!
Doing all my household chores in the morning helps me a lot. It's a little bit like working out and can be energizing.
You also need a day off from both work and other chores.

 

[Suzette]

#1,2, are domestic tasks. Thogether they will probably take one hour and you can probably get by doing #1&2 just once per week. Pick a day at the end of the week to do these so that your new week starts fresh and clean. Do these chores the same day every week. You will soon get used to "Friday is clean up day". You might even look forward to it!

#7, 11 and 12 are ongoing and open ended tasks. Schedule these to do in 1/2
hour blocks every day. Always work on open ended tasks a little every day. That way you can't pepetually ignore the tasks and giving yourself a set amount of time to work in each one means that the chore is much smaller and easier to handle.

#8 &9 are priorities you should do every day. Re-lable these into one task "job hunting" to simplify the chore. To ensure that you do it tie the chore in with something you want to do. For example, "I need to job hunt. So I will spend one hour before lunch doing that.
These are unpleasant tasks so you want to be sure you are only attempting to do what you can reasonably handle. Make your goal here a something you can actually accomplish so that you are less likely to procrastinate about it. Don't set youself goals like "I will job hunt all day" because you WILL fail and the chore becomes so unplesant to will avoid it.

#6, 3 &#4 These are "one off" tasks - just do them as your #1 priority. It will take just a few minutes and you will be done. Instant sucess!

The main take away is to identify those things you can do quickly and easily so that you can strike them off your list.

Next figure out what needs to be done everyday but make sure to schedule those tasks a limited amount of time to do them so that the chore seems reasonable in scope and not a HUGE headache. "Look for a job for one hour" is a much more reasonable, and easily accomplished goal, than "find a job".

Other tasks that are one off tasks but more complex like "print and mail brochures" can be scheduled in reasonably accomplished blocks too.
For example "Wednesday, print brochures at 3 p.m." "Thursday 10 a.m. Address envelopes and stuff with brochures. Noon take them to the post office"

I find a big paper calendar very helpful. Write out every chore and task you will do for each day. Cross off each item as you finish. Be pedantic about using your calendar to remind yourself of your priorities.

Sometimes people find a smaller list that they can keep in their pocket more helpful. You can consult that list many times a day.

It does take practice using a calender or task list, but once you get used to it, it becomes easier.

 

[Judge]

Nine tenths of time management has to do with perseverance and prioritization.

That once you determine the sequence of your tasks, you can more methodically knock them down one by one, starting always with the most difficult tasks first and foremost. And with a will to stick to it until the job is done.

A critical consideration of insurance processing...something I used to formally teach to others in the underwriting department.

 

[Gerontius]

@Greatshield17, if it helps, I remember a good friend of mine had a whiteboard in his dorm room which had in large letters the directive REMEMBER TO POOP EVERYDAY. Guess getting crap done didn't apply to him at certain moments.

Now for your list.

Alright, the chores I can list right now are:

1. Clean the Bathroom. Do this one ASAP. At least one room will be clean.
2. Vacuum my bedroom and hallway. This takes like ten minutes but do this AFTER you dig potatoes as you'll get potato soil all over the place.
3. Take a look at my washer-dryer to see if I can get it fixed. Betcha it's something simple. Google the model & make along with the problems and see what comes up. Either MacGyver/jury-rig something or get the parts on the way. If you have decent tools you can fix most things yourself; if you don't have good tools go get some.
4. Harvest some potatoes from the pots that I brought indoors (and replant some of them that I already did harvest once they’ve fully-sprouted) This should not take too terribly long; it's digging around in the flowerpots and getting taters.
5. Print-out Claritas Pamphlets and mail them to Catholic parishes here in Canada. OK this one should take a long time. I'd almost suggest writing these parishes some letters before doing pamphlets, and asking them what they'd think about it. You may run into some Catholic parishes which think mental health is some modernist crap. Nonsense. Churches in college towns will be a good bet. Write to college chaplains--This will take a long time though so clean your bathroom & dig potatoes first.
6. Replace the black ink in my printer as it’s getting low. Do this eventually. Sell your printer & get a Brother laser printer; it'll be cheaper & quicker. Also, keeping a typewriter around has saved me so much printer trouble--and it's easier on sensory overload to have a paper instead of a screen for your "monitor." They make electric typewriters too--Smith Corona made some fine electrics in the '90s-2010s.
7. Work on a gig picture for my other Fiverr gig so that I can get that up, and hope and pray that someone sees my other gig that I got up today, even though I’d have to add that into my list of things to do, at least I’m getting paid for it and finally have some kind of employment; but I’m digressing here.
8. Look for local jobs in my town (I’ve made some progress on that today) Good.
9. Look for online jobs on LinkedIn even though I’d prefer the in-the-flesh jobs above. Also good.
10. Make Christmas Cards to give to my neighbours in an effort to get to know them, (though I’m thinking of waiting until the Feast of St. Thorlak to actually deliver them) and hope to bump into them in the meantime and get to know them; especially the girl next door, as I want to try and see if we’re compatible, her cat at least likes me. Don't wave around the autism card. Neighbors can be jerks, and if they are, they may be a problem down the road--sometimes deliberately. Christmas cards come on Christmas. If they aren't Catholic they don't know who in the hell St Thorlak is. Or maybe who in the heaven he is because as a general guideline saints do not go to hell.
11. Work on my An Appeal to Heaven comic series as I wait for the artist I’ve hired to get back to me with the first episode. I thought jobs came before hiring an artist but this is still pretty cool.
12. Do whatever I can online to promote my group and Autism Awareness and Autism Acceptance in the meantime. Do whatever you can to promote your own well-being before you try to save the world. You've got a lot going for you but this activism is a type of charity work. Like all charity it takes a certain amount of resources. Give from your surplus--not from your sufficiency.

 

[Gerontius]

You will do fine--I'd be more talkative lately but am in the middle of finals lately. Looking to be done on the 17th, thankfully.

 

[Greatshield17]

@Greatshield17, if it helps, I remember a good friend of mine had a whiteboard in his dorm room which had in large letters the directive REMEMBER TO POOP EVERYDAY. Guess getting crap done didn't apply to him at certain moments.

Now for your list.

Thanks, in regards to the comic series if you like, I can share the scripts with you, just DM me.

 

[Greatshield17]

By the way, in regards to giving Christmas Cards to my neighbours, in regards to the girl next door, should I include my email address or even phone number or would that be too much?

 

[Gerontius]

I wouldn't put your telephone number on Christmas-cards; these are your neighbors aren't they?

 

[Greatshield17]

I wouldn't put your telephone number on Christmas-cards; these are your neighbors aren't they?

I mean just for the girl next door.