ADHD and SMART goals - do they work?
Let’s take a minute to first define SMART goals.
S - Specific
M - Measurable
A - Achievable
R - Relevant
T - Timely
I’m going to say, yes. It does work. However, we first have to understand what about ADHD prevents us from understanding how to use SMART goals effectively.
ADHD is a spectrum like any other however the problem with over-commitment is very common in most of us. We want to do everything or we genuinely believe we can because of our time blindness. So even if we have smart goals, we blindly think it absolutely is possible. It’s also possible that you get overwhelmed by the seemingly mountain of tasks you might have.
We first have to learn what actually is doable and to train ourselves on it.
It works differently for everyone, but I usually recommend sitting down and writing a list of all the things. Everything. Then organize the things based on most important to least important. You can do this in different ways too. It can be in means of urgency too.
For example:
Clean dishes
Chop/prep veggies
Pay bills
Water plants
Vacuum
Clean floors, walls, shower
Now let’s organize it based on importance:
Pay bills
Chop/prep veggies
Water plants
Clean dishes
Vacuum
Clean floors, walls, shower
Now how I organize might be different from you, that’s OK. We are allowed to have different priorities. For now, this is what I felt was important. However, there’s a problem with the above list. Can you tell what?
I put too many steps into one step. This is recipe for overwhelm with ADHD. Let’s redo that:
Pay bills
Chop veggies
Prep veggies
Water plants
Clean dishes
Vacuum
Clean floors
Clean walls
Clean shower
Now it’s just each individual task (not to mention that cleaning the shower is many steps - just wait). I would further organize the cleaning to floors then shower.
That’s an overwhelming list, isn’t it? Now I want you to accept that you won’t finish it all. It’s many tasks. Pick the tasks that must be done today and be OK with it if some aren’t done today, but you’d give yourself a high five if you did. For me must be done today:
Pay bills
Chop veggies
Prep veggies
Water plants
Clean dishes
I can manage those in one day absolutely. Of course I want to get the rest done too, but I also don’t want to exhaust myself or burn out. I need some self-care time too in the day. And even if I don’t finish ALL the dishes I will forgive myself (check out last weeks blog). However, I will still set a deadline for the rest. Vacuuming does need to get done multiple times a week. Walls honestly can wait once a month or every few months as needed. The shower ideally should be done once every one to two weeks, but it’s not the end of the world if it isn’t done exactly on time either. Qualifying the importance of the task is part of the task. Will my world end if it doesn’t get done? Paying the bills is one of those “my world might end if not done” tasks. But not cleaning the walls. I will set a hard deadline for when it needs doing and do it as I have energy anytime before that day.
That was just the first step, but you can see now how we used the SMART goals to break things down while considering our ADHD. There are more steps and tricks that can help you adhere to SMART goals, but I’ll end here for today. If you think you might need help getting to this stage, feel free to shoot me an email at info@redsugarcoaching.com and we can look at how to help you get where you need.
