Strategies for ADHD and Prioritising tasks

Ryan Tindal

Director - Skilled Carer

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ADHD and Prioritising

I encounter conundrums like this every day. How do I help someone understand the implications of their choices on their short-term and their long-term self. How do I open rigid minds up to the potential of seeing the problem from the different angle.

This particular problem required me to come up with another way of explaining the problem of money and its infinite implications on an individual's life.

Scarlett is confronted daily with the impulse and the want to buy things that enhance her life and make her feel good. She wants a new skin for her Fortnite character. She wants a new set of air pods to listen to her favourite music on. She wants a new set of shoes and one of the people at her work got an electric scooter for Christmas that she has always wanted. This is in direct conflict to Scarlett as has been saving up to get a tattoo, the newest iPhone, and a PlayStation 5. Scarlett's identity is attached to these items and how can she choose between all these wants when she sees herself so aligned with what they bring to her life?

ADHD is an imbalance of dopamine and a neurological disorder.

The components of executive functioning that impact school or work are listed:

• working memory and recall (holding facts in mind while manipulating information; accessing facts stored in long-term memory)

• activation, arousal and effort (getting started; paying attention; completing work)

• emotion control (tolerating frustration; thinking before acting or speaking)

• internalizing language (using self-talk to control one’s behavior and direct future actions)

• complex problem solving (taking an issue apart, analyzing the pieces, reconstituting and organizing them into new ideas)

My strategy was to help Scarlett take ownership of her choices and encourage her to learn how to prioritise. She has been headstrong and rigid in wanting a tattoo for six months but her impulse spending has been a barrier to being able to save and make the booking. Whether I agree with this or not is not really a topic for this conversation. However, I have an obligation to educate and be a positive influence so doing this without influencing the outcome is a mental challenge.

I asked her to list the items she wants to purchase in order of most important to least important to her.

1. Tattoo

2. iPhone

3. Airpods

4. Scooter

5. PlayStation 5

Then I asked her to list in order, from most to least, that she will get the most use out of.

1. iPhone

2. Scooter

3. PlayStation 5

4. Airpods

5. Tattoo

Now I asked Scarlett to allocate points to each number that will create a system of priority between wanting something and needing/using something. A maximum of 10 points would mean that you both really want and really need something. 5 points for number 1, 4 points for number 2, 3 points for number 3... You get the idea.

This was the result (total points)

1. iPhone (9)

2. Tattoo (6) tied

3. Scooter (6) tied

4. Airpods (5)

5. Ps5 (4)

Scarlett had been saving towards the tattoo and thinking about the tattoo for six months it was entrenched in her brain and she thought about it every day. It is a part of who she is at this point and it helps to defines her. This type of mindset is common when we go through the process of discovering who we are and for those with disability, our identity formation can last for a long time while our confidence is still growing. As most of us know, we eventually get to a point where we don't care what others think. For me, this identity formation lingered into my mid to late 20s and did my bank account and long-term prosperity enormous harm. Now, I'm in a place that if I'm caught wearing an Anko shirt I won't go red in the face like I may have at high school where status, social hierarchy and identity are front of mind.

Money is finite and impulse spending is devastating to our long-term plans. Budgeting is helpful if you can stick to it and if it's understood. This priority system did not change her thinking on the spot, but it informed her decision making and over time she gradually changed her mind. Take up time and ownership over one's choices is critical for long term sustainable growth and independence.