Funnily enough I only found one thread on this whole board with Prioritizing in the title and the account was suspended.

So here is the deal. Yes, I know about lists and I know how to break tasks down (at least in theory if not in practise) the problem is how do you decide how to distribute your effort when you are trying to dig yourself out from YEARS of being behind on obligations (like taxes) thanks to ADHD?

I have come up with some factors as ways to evaluate which tasks are most important (bear in mind I have to consider stuff from a business standpoint too, as I am self-employed -- and struggling with it). These seem complicated though -- does anyone know of anything simpler -- or of comprehensive work in this area, particularly from the point of view of business.

Here is my list of characteristics that can be used to evaluate what to first. Still not sure how to use them

- Who is waiting on me to get this done and why?

- is this task a cog in a series of parallel tasks (some that can or are being done by others) or is it a bottleneck or does it open doors of opportunity for myself or others?

- Immediate financial return with probability factored in

- Longer term financial return with probability factored in

- Alignment with strategic goals

- Impact on perception and reputation (of my business in the eyes of others) – both of timing and of action

- Psychological impact on me -- how much will it motivate me to complete or move on to other things

- Is it a breakthrough challenge? Does it represent a psychological stumbling block that needs to be overcome?

- Is it an ongoing opportunity or possible only in a window of time; when is the best time considered purely in terms of desired outcomes from that action (rather than constraints)

- enjoyment; do I want to do it

I guess what I am looking for is help in prioritizing these factors. This is a list of characteristics that could be used to establish priority -- but I can't see the wood from the trees ...

Ah, wow. Was very happy to see this title.
I need something simpler right now.

Often I wonder if my add is just more debilitating than others' is?

Went out and bought four ADHD books today but if other people have insights please share. Everything that I list above is useful for me to bear in mind as I prioritize but I think clarity about the process of prioritizing (especially as it relates to ADDers) is what is lacking, and hopefully that is a lot simpler than the factors that need to be considered.

As for more or less debilitating ... except in the cases of families and loved ones and the networks of support and dysfunction they create, I think that the fact that our problems are our own leaves us somewhat justified in feeling that ours are worse than those of others. Especially when there don't seem to be solutions available and everyone else seems to be coping better than I am. Since that perspective could be valid for each one of us at least some of the time the question is paradoxically both uniquely significant and superfluous at the same time.

That being said, I hope that you do find solutions ... perhaps you have talked about your problems more specifically elsewhere so that people can make suggestions.

Nature

I like David Allen's (http://www.davidco.com/) approach to organisation. It's a different way of looking at prioritisation - tasks are organised by context, rather than order of importance. It's very much based around the rincipal of keeping things simple in order to maintain your "system" (the theory being that the longer it takes you to do something, eg file something away, the less likely you'll be to do it)

It works for me. :)

Consider this another vote for David Allen's "Getting Things Done" method. My favorite web site on the subject, and productivity in general, is 43Folders (http://www.43folders.com/about/).

If it's within your budget, I also highly recommend using a Mac instead of a Windows box. I'm probably twice as productive as I used to be when doing computing stuff, now that I don't have to worry about programs crashing all the time.

Consider this another vote for David Allen's "Getting Things Done" method. My favorite web site on the subject, and productivity in general, is 43Folders (http://www.43folders.com/about/).

If it's within your budget, I also highly recommend using a Mac instead of a Windows box. I'm probably twice as productive as I used to be when doing computing stuff, now that I don't have to worry about programs crashing all the time. It's funny because I grew up on apple computers (had an Apple II right up) but gave up on them about eight years ago. My parents still use them, so from time to time I do too and if you ask me, Apple has totally ditched its intuitive way of doing things in its newer OS's. I remember the first time I sat infront of a mac (the original mac) figuring everything out was dead easy -- like second nature. Now I can't figure out how to open a file on a CD.

To each their own.

I am reading David Allen's book - Getting Things Done

and Zander's The art of possiblity

The first tells me how to deal with my things and thoughts-the second-how to reframe my life and tell my own story instead of letting life tell my story for me-I love the synergistic flow these seemingly unrelated books have!

RADD