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The Best Planners That Work for my ADHD Brain | How to ADHD | YouTubeToText
YouTube Transcript: The Best Planners That Work for my ADHD Brain
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Summary
Core Theme
Journals and planners are powerful tools for self-discovery, organization, and personal growth, especially for individuals with ADHD, by helping them manage focus, prioritize tasks, and validate their own experiences and needs.
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Hello Brains!
I'm really excited today to talk about...
...a topic that is near and dear to my heart.
Journals and planners!
♪ [intro music] ♪
So this episode is sponsored by the Hero's Journal.
One of the creators of the Hero's Journal I met with...
...and told me the story of why he got into designing planners.
Which was...
...when he was in college, he was struggling really hard.
Terrible grades, felt like he wasn't a good student.
And somebody suggested using a journal or planner.
And he started doing it.
And it helped him change the narrative of how he felt about himself as a student.
So it made him really interested in designing a planner that would work for his brain.
So I thought it would be a cool idea to do an entire episode...
...about the usefulness of journals and planners.
And finding one that's right for you.
Personally, I go back to the Leuchtturm.
I'll link to all of this stuff in the description.
And I don't like it when things bleed through.
So I got Bullet Journal-specific pens.
And I - I can't draw.
So I got stencils.
I actually have stickers too. But I decided not to use the stickers.
Because I realized, if I get used to using the stickers...
...and then they run out, my system will fall apart.
The stencils I can just keep in my bullet journal...
...so I can consistently do whatever layouts I'm gonna do.
I have a couple of rules.
For any journal or planner that I set up.
I can do all the elaborate things when I'm setting it up...
...when I'm hyperfocused on it, and I'm excited to do it.
It can't be something that I need to do in terms of everyday maintenance.
Maybe once a month, if I can set up a bunch of stuff.
Then I don't have to think about it for a month: cool!
But like, if I had to mess with it every day, there's no way!
So I think the planner or the journal that you go with...
...depends on what you need it to do.
Sometimes in the excitement of the pretty, and new, and novel...
...we forget what we actually need it to do.
And we end up trying to serve the purpose of the journal...
...instead of having it serve us.
So before I even started making this...
...I asked myself: "What do I need it to do?"
And I knew I need it to help me stay focused...
...on the things that are important to me to stay focused on.
Right now, that's my personal stuff.
If I don't have something reminding me to take care of myself personally...
...then work start to creep into everything.
"Well, I'll just start work a little earlier. "I'll work a little later."
"I'll do some work on the weekend, like, it's no big deal."
Its my quest.
This is something I took from the Hero's Journal.
This idea that we have an overall quest that we are on.
And my quest right now...
...my quest is to build my own boat.
To create a sense of safety for myself.
I almost drowned as a child.
And I have this trauma around it.
When things are really chaotic and overwhelming for me...
...I feel like I'm drowning. I feel like I'm in an ocean.
And I'll cling to whatever life-raft.
Outside of anything, I need to create a full life for myself.
And learn how to feel safe. Without anybody else making me safe.
If that makes sense.
That's my overall quest.
What the Hero's Journal does, that I really like...
...is that you have a daily quest.
Like, what's going to help me toward that overall quest?
This helps me prioritize.
So today I'm taking a story-telling class.
I'm learning how to story-tell for connection and confidence.
I also personally like...
...my brain does this thing.
Where I wake up in the morning...
...and I have insights.
Or I'll meditate and things will pop into my brain.
That's brilliant, I hadn't thought of that!
So I have a "morning insights" box.
I also have a "more insights" box.
'Cause right now I'm processing a lot.
Sometimes therapy-things just kind of come up through the day.
And then I give myself two lines.
Two lines that are like...
...the things I can do that are, like, personal to-do's.
And then these hexagons are like to represent the different parts of me.
With my trauma therapy, I'm doing some inner child work.
So I have an inner five year old.
She's the one that almost drowned.
And I have an inner twelve year old.
And she's the one that had to change schools.
And her whole life turned upside-down.
After her mom got into an accident with a drunk driver.
Every day, I check in with those two. And see how they're doing.
I check in with me. And see how I'm doing.
And I check in with Chloe. And see how she's doing.
Sometimes I get so busy and hyperfocused on work...
...that I'm like: "Oh right, I have a dog!"
She probably needs to go to the dog-park. She might be bored.
And then I have one more block for somebody else.
Like, how is somebody else in my life doing today?
And that's a way of me strengthening my friendships.
That's all I've got so far.
Except for at the end...
...I've got a monthly thing.
So if I know there's something coming up at the end of the month...
...I might know that it's happening.
But if it's hasn't made it on my calendar yet...
It hasn't landed into the "now" category.
Everything is like "now" or "not-now" for us.
This way I can throw it into the "not-now" category.
But, like, it's still there.
So when I get to April, I can look at April and be like "Oh, right!"
"That's happening in April."
And I'm not completely surprised by it.
Journaling feels really validating for me.
Because it's - it's like putting yourself on paper.
It's making yourself real.
It's making who you are real.
It's making your priorities feel real.
And in a tactile kind of way.
Yeah, I can type what's important to me into a computer.
But I might not remember where I put it.
Or it might get buried in a bunch of other things.
But if I've taken the time to sit and write something...
...there's a magic to it.
And there actually is some science behind the idea.
That if we write it down by hand, we actually remember it better.
I have a hard time remembering things that happened to me.
And being able to look back and see that this version of me...
...that existed today is real.
And had her own hopes and dreams. And feelings and stuff.
And being able to look back at that is really cool too.
Personally, I tend to get lost a lot of the time...
...into what other's expectations for me are.
And this is a way of validating my own expectations for myself.
My own values, my own style. Just, like, who I am as a person.
Out in life I can be, like, I can conform and mask.
And be what people want me to be.
But in my journal, I'm just me.
And nobody has to see it.
Except I guess you guys. Sort of.
I don't have to show you all of it!
Funny thing, I put a call on Twitter...
...asking people for their journals.
That actually work for them.
And most of what I got was: "They don't!"
Journaling is flat-out really hard for ADHDers.
I mean, doing anything consistently is pretty hard for Brains.
Especially if it involves structure and repetition.
Taking care of ourselves.
But it's really good.
Because, again, this isn't what our brains naturally do.
Naturally, our brains respond to what's urgent and in the moment.
And a journal helps us think about not just now but the future too.
It helps us see our progress.
Sometimes there's cognitive distortions that we can get in our head.
Where it's like: "Oh, everything is really bad right now."
And it feels like everything's been bad for the last two years.
And it's going to be bad forever.
Being able to go though a journal...
...and see: "Oh, no, actually, three days ago I had a really good day!"
It's not always like that.
So I'll give you an example.
One of my morning insights.
This morning, I woke up.
I wrote: say where your boundaries are, not where you'd like them to be.
'Cause that was something I learned in a book about boundaries.
We don't really have a choice about where our boundaries are.
We just have a choice of whether or not to communicate them.
Whether or not to push past them.
And if we do push past them for a really long time...
...that's when we start to develop resentment or burn out or whatever.
So that's a reminder.
There's something really sweet a bout this.
Just the holding space of I'm making a block for me.
I'm making a block for fish. Which is my five year old.
I'm making a block for Chloe.
It sounds weird, but sometimes it feels like I've tried to disappear.
I try to make myself smaller.
I try to not be too much of an inconvenience to other people.
Or my feelings are inconvenient so I'm trying not to have them.
This is me saying: "Hey, there's space for your feelings!"
"You are allowed to have those!"
Honestly, I feel like that's half of it.
Half of it is helping me remember this stuff.
And half of it is giving myself permission.
Let's see what the community says what they do.
So I said "Hello Brains, tomorrow I'm shooting an episode...
...about the importance of having a planner that works for you.
If you're comfortable sharing pics of yours...
...I'd love to show some planners that actually work for people with ADHD!"
And like most of them were like "They don't."
I use a happy planner now.
It seems busy to others but the stickers and bright colors keep me interested.
I rely heavily on it.
That's really pretty.
Currently I'm still using my version of a bullet journal.
And I'm starting to use Trello to keep in sync with my partner.
Love the Reminder app!
Using a whiteboard. Dry wipe pen on kitchen cupboards.
Where mugs live. Useful for family, household task planning.
That is. Oh! I thought that was a giant whiteboard.
No. That's everything besides whiteboard.
I will say this. Pretty consistently, what I hear from my community.
They take a planner that exists and then they adapt it to work for them.
♪♪
The creators of the Hero's Journal shared some of their layouts with us.
People get really creative with how they color those.
There's a couple of other things I want to share form the Hero's Journal.
Which honestly, in my opinion...
...if you're gonna go with something that's pre-built is near-perfect...
It incorporates a lot of the things that I find really valuable.
In something that's meant for people with ADHD.
One is prioritizing.
Another one is actually having room for your schedule.
So you can keep track of time.
having your quest that's supportive towards your overall quest.
So that we don't lose sight of what's important.
When we're thinking about what's important that day.
I like that there's some gratitude.
Like "Today I'm grateful for..."
Allies and threats...,
...things that are going to help me today.
Or have helped me today.
And then threats...
...things that might get in my way of doing the thing.
I really cannot say enough positive things about it.
I absolutely love this journal.
The only reason that it's not what I'm using currently...
...is because I need something that is a little less productivity...
...and a little more, like, therapy-oriented.
For what I need right now.
But as just a standard journal, I love this thing.
If you'd like to try it out...
...or buy the Hero's Journal for yourself or a friend...
...click on the link in the description below and use code howtoadhd.
Either way, whether you use a Hero's Journal or a bullet journal...
...or you make your own.
Having prompts that will help you think about the things that you need to think about...
...to help you just have a better life, honestly.
Live a life in line with your values.
If you want to check out Hero's Journal, that's in the description below.
There's also a link that's very special for us.
Anybody who wants the Hero's Journal but it's a little out of their price range...
...can actually download the entire Hero's Journal.
So you can use that in coordination with your bullet journal.
Or you can use it as is.
Check it out.
Let me know what your journal looks like in the description below.
And thank you so much to my Brain Advocates and all my Patreon Brains.
For supporting this channel.
So that we can only partner with brands that we really love.
I'll see you next video. Bye Brains!
♪♪
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