ADHD and the FierceFamily

My friend J turned me on to Getting Things Done . Though I’ve tried (and failed) every organizational system known to humans, the evangelical nature with which J spoke made me try one more time. My use of David Allen’s organizational system out-lasted all of the other organizational systems combined. I don’t do it faithfully anymore - but if I were to get myself re-organized, I would return to his system. Even though I don’t do the whole shebang, I have incorporated many of the principals for good. Much of it is common sense, but it’s common sense that is lacking in other organizational systems. For example, things like Franklin Planner, and Palm and Axim and whatnot, all want you to use priority codes (e.g., A1, B3, etc.) for your to do list. Allen says, throw all that out the window. You can glance at a long list and know what the priorities are - don’t waste your time ranking and re-ranking your stuff.

He recommends that you organize your stuff in a way that matches you psychologically. For example, when you are in a place where you could check some things off your list, it is far easier to make several phone calls in a row than to make one phone call, return one e-mail, and write one memo.

You do have to wade through some hyperbolic language and tolerate the very business frame of mind. Not being much of a business person myself, and not aspiring to become a business person, this is annoying. Nonetheless, if you can get around that, I think the system is simple, practical, and maintainable enough for a person with ADHD that it’s worth the effort. So, I recommend this book to adults with ADHD pretty often.

The book also comes in audio form - the Amazon reviewer thought the reading was stiff but serviceable. I haven’t heard it, but no one I’ve recommended has complained about that. (Of course, it’s possible, or even probable, that the folks I’ve recommended the book to haven’t complained because they’ve never actually followed through…)

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