“Unless commitment is made, there are only promises and hopes; but no plans.”
~Peter Drucker
Planning as a means of making a commitment, especially for those with ADHD, is key to execution and completion.
Yet, you may say: “Planning stifles my creativity.” or “The only way I can get something done is if I do it at the last minute; that is just the way I work.”
If this is you, ask yourself the following questions:
- Is my way of operating working well enough for me?
- Is there a cost, like stress, that I do not like?
- Am I able to make and follow through on commitments that are important to me, that are in sync with my values?
- Am I reaching my goals?
Do you want to do it differently?
What Is Important?
The good new is that there is not one right way to plan, other than the way that works for you! However, there is one critical component, which is determining what is important to you.
If being healthy, for example, is important to you, first decide what it means to be healthy. If exercising is part of being healthy for you, then you need to plan to do this. If you are not exercising when you say it is important to you,
- maybe it is important, but you have other priorities right now. That is ok.
- you are not doing the planning to incorporate these activities into your life.
- it is not really important to you.
Planning allows us to focus our time and energy on matters that are, as Steven Covey notes, important and not urgent. Lack of planning can force us to spend more time doing last minute tasks that are important and urgent. Of course, sometimes we can’t avoid these because we can not plan for everything.
However, we can certainly avoid doing what is urgent and not important, as well as what is not urgent and not important, by being more proactive. Yes, that means planning…
ADDed Perspectives Bottom line
What is really important to you that you are not doing? Are you ready to make a commitment and take the first step today? You don’t have to start by committing to a marathon. Just the first step…
And, if I can help you, feel free to contact me for a complimentary Strategy Session.