Monday, November 18th, 2019
Welcome to the leADDership brief
A weekly newsletter for creative and innovative people, like you, with ADHD who want timely, helpful, and interesting resources
for leading and living well with ADHD.
Happy Monday Friends! Thanks for letting me drop into your inbox every week with my thoughts and musings about what it means to live, lead, and thrive as adults with our neuro-a-typical, out-of-the-box, brains with ADHD.
It’s that time of year when everything that’s great about our brain wiring and the way we view and experience the world is stretched and challenged. The holiday to-do list of office parties, family party and gift exchanges, cookie exchanges, baking and cooking for the family, holiday cards, gift shopping, and more is long.
AND these things just get added to our already overwhelming and never ending to-do list. It can take all of the joy and fun out of the holidays for us, leaving us feeling tired and defeated before the new year gets here.
In this week’s edition of the leADDership brief I’m bringing you the best time saving hacks in apps and services to help you get through the holidays with your brain and attitude intact.
I want to look and feel like this photo above on January 1, 2020. Smiling, rested, and ready to kick of 2020 with energy, focus, and a sense of accomplishment.
Not like this photo on the right. Like I’m in hot water just waiting for the pot to boil over :-) Which how I’ve usually started the new year.
There are hundreds of time saving apps and services out there, I’d love to here what you use and how they help you.
Here are the seven time saving apps I’m relying on this year to help me thrive this holiday season.
TeuxDeux
From the designers of the app: “If you like making to-do lists, you will love TeuxDeux. The idea was to build a bare-bones, but visually compelling and highly usable to-do app: Use the browser-based TeuxDeux at work/home and then take your to-dos on the road with the iPhone app.”
I’ve been using this app for a couple of months now and love it. As you can see in the screenshot from my phone I’ve created “NOW” and “NOT NOW” lists that are one going. This really helps me to stay on focus and on task with the big rocks and not get distracted by the interesting but not critical smaller rocks.
You can see there is also a holiday list for November-January.
One of the things I love about this app is that it has a recurring to-do option. Many of my clients forget to take medication and/or supplements (I am among them) putting “take meds” on the recurring option means it shows up as a reminder every day.
During the holiday season there are a myriad of things that I need to do and forget about so I add them to the recurring for now until I complete the task and then
A second great feature is that it’s easy and intuitive and you can move your tasks up and down on your screen with your finger.
If you’re like me, you hate waiting in line, driving to the nearest USPS, UPS, or FedEx store for your Amazon Prime returns, and the stress and anxiety of getting your holiday cards in the mail “on time,” you might want to try Shyp’s mobile dashboard or app. For $5 pick-up charge plus shipping fees, they will pickup as many items as you like, packaged or unpackaged, and they always ship at the best rate.
A client of mine swears by this app and I am going to give it a try. She tells me it has saved her time and money. Money because just the thought of getting to the UPS store to return an item was anxiety producing and she often missed return deadlines which cost her money and time, as she no longer has to schedule in a trip to the post office or UPS drop off.
This is a lifesaver for busy and overwhelmed people. It’s easy and intuitive and best of all you can browse specialty items available at the stores you use most. I am gluten-free and the ease with which I can browse for GF items is a huge time saver, you just click on the little plus sign and it’s added to your cart. You can browse coupons and sales as well as create a weekly delivery list. For a nominal fee InstaCart will do the shopping for you and deliver it to your door the same day. Score!
A bonus feature is that it saves on impulse purchases, a huge benefit for ADHD’ers!
This is an excellent shopping list manager app! It lets you keep tabs on your budget, gift giving lists, gift ideas, and your recipients. The app helps ensure that everyone on your list receives their gift and you can easily track your expenditures.
Sun Basket
Why use a meal delivery service? Let me count the ways for you!
With everything that’s on your calendar, why not let a chef create and plan a few meals for you during the month?
They save time
They’re convenient
They are customizable—Vegan? They have delicious chef created entrees to choose from
They help with portion control—super helpful during the holiday season
They eliminate the stress of deciding what to cook
They minimize grocery shopping
They introduce you to new foods and ingredients
There are a lot of excellent meal delivery services out there but I’m highlighting Sun Basket because I think they offer the widest variety of menu and delivery options. Their app is super intuitive and you can stop and start as often as you need to. I’ve used Sun Basket to send meals to new parents, as housewarming gifts, and for those recovering from illness.
My family has used this for Christmas and birthdays for the past several years and it has been a super convenient way to create gift lists that your family can easily access. Adding gift ideas to your registry is as simple as a drag and drop from your computer, tablet, or phone, or you can scan the barcodes of items in store that upload to your registry. I have yet to find a retail outlet that doesn’t interface with the app. My Registry allows you to purchase gifts by clicking on the link to the store and you can opt to keep your purchase secret and track your expenditures as well.
Okay, not exactly a holiday time saving hack but if reading is on the list of things to do for a book club, school, work, or pleasure, Audible allows you to listen as you go. It also allows you to toggle back and forth between reading on your tablet and listening to the book depending on your circumstances. I’m currently in two book clubs, leading a books study, have books to read for my coaching practice, and books I read just for my own pleasure or knowledge AND I am in my car about as much as I am in my home office these days, being able to the listen to any one of these books while I am traveling makes the trip more enjoyable as well as reduces my anxiety around getting all my reading done. I’ll also be listening to my books as I decorate the tree and get the house ready for the holidays. So, maybe it is a holiday time saver :-)
I’d love to know what apps and services you use! Please comment or email me your recommendations and why you love them.
What Else Do You Need To Know?
Coach Pam