Today, Squish, my cat, had a vet visit. This got me to thinking about time management and how I have adapted my life to be on time for almost everything. The good news is, it’s not that hard. It does take practice though. Let’s go through the steps.
First and most important, when setting up an appointment, I always open the calendar on my phone. I put all appointments on my work phone calendar immediately and then add weekend or evening events to my personal calendar as well. Why my work calendar? Well, for me, that’s the one that I check most frequently. With ADHD, visibility is important. Whatever calendar you reference the most, that is where ALL appointments go. If your most visible calendar is a paper calendar, also add appointments to a digital calendar to gain the benefit of an alarm.
Next step, make sure that the event has a sufficient alarm. This includes type and time. Since Squish’s appointment was at 10:30 am on a Sunday, a 2-hour notice was more than enough. At 8:30 am, I won’t have left to do any impulse tasks or set up for anything big yet. Two hours would also be more than enough time to get ready and drive to the veterinary office even if I completely forgot about the appointment until the alarm went off.
If my appointment had been later in the day, my first notification would have been scheduled for the day before to remind me to set up my day in a way that wouldn’t interfere with the event. I would then have reset the alarm to notify me around 2 hours before the appointment.
When the 2-hour alarm went off, I reset the alarm to go off in approximately 1 hour. I got up and got myself ready. I prepared Squish’s carrier, which didn’t take much as it stays out (this is better for your cat, but that’s another post). Nothing went wrong and I was ready earlier than expected, so I took the risk and opened Facebook. Knowing that I had another alarm that would go off when it was time for final preparations (purse, shoes, cat, & loading) made this an acceptable level risk.
When the next alarm went off, I finished prepping myself, loaded the cat in his carrier and put the carrier into the car. I drove to the appointment and arrived almost 30 minutes early. I was lucky and they were able to take him early. We were out by the time my appointment was scheduled to start.
Arriving early was not an accident. One thing I have learned is that if you prepare for things to go wrong, less tends to go wrong. Murphy is fickle that way. I planned 30 minutes into my preparations for anything to go wrong. Traffic. Difficulty with the cat. Spilled food or tea. Almost anything could happen, and I’d still have had time.
I know a lot of people don’t like to arrive early because they view it as a waste to sit around waiting. Well, if I’m sitting in the waiting room I can play on my phone or with the cat. How is that any different from if I was sitting at home on a Sunday? Better to arrive early and not risk having to reschedule. If you are worried about being bored, throw a book in your car or bag, between that and your phone, you’ll always have entertainment with you.
So, what’s the trick? First, I give myself time and I set alarms. I NEVER assume I will remember or not lose track of time. Second, the alarms that I set had definitive concepts set to them. The first alarm was to prepare myself and everything I could in advance and the second was to finish and leave the house. As long as you know what each alarm is a reminder of, you can have as many or as few as you need.
Bonus tip, when you are getting ready for an appointment, NEVER check your social media or texts “really quick” without making sure that there is an alarm or timer to pull you out of it with enough time to still do everything else that you need to. Distraction is dangerous.
Many people with ADHD struggle with time blindness. Using calendars and setting alarms can help us to stay on track and avoid being late. As for knowing how long it will really take to get ready, that will have to be another article. This one is long enough.
Go forth and do great things!
