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I have ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder). It is something I have lived and dealt with all my life. It has worked to my advantage in many areas of my life and been totally destructive in other parts.

The older I got the worse it seemed to become. It become unbearable after I had kids. Unmanageable is a better word. I decided to finally get some help and asked for medicine to help get my focus back on track. After trying a few meds with bad results I finally found a very low dose of adderall did the trick.

I promise I am going somewhere with this story…..

When I was a child my mom refused to put me on any medication for the ADHD (a choice I am very glad my mom made). So with no meds the Dr.’s gave my mom other ways to help me channel the energy. The #1 tip they game my mom was to teach me to make lists. Lists were my saving grace. They run my entire life and I truly believe I could not function without them.

The key to making lists work for an ADHD brain is to make sure the lists are always written and kept in the same place. DO NOT make a million different lists on sticky notes. This will NEVER work. You need a notebook or calendar that stays in the same EXACT place at all times. Otherwise your ADHD will take over and you will forget you wrote the list and then what makes it even worse you won’t be able to find it. Yep, it’s true.

I have a three ring binder that stays in my kitchen with important dates, phone numbers and information. Then I have my desk calendar that tells me what I am doing each day. I make my checklists and to-do lists in my calendar so I have my go to in the same place.

Here are some of my favorite FREE PRINTABLE checklists:

How Long To Keep Financial Records Checklist from http://getbuttonedup.com