I have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, commonly referred to as ADHD, which is characterized by problems of hyperactivity, impulsivity, and/or inattention. It manifests itself in me as forgetfulness, disorganization, but also creativity, spontaneity and flexibility when there’s a change of plan. As a young leader, I looked at my ADHD as a debilitating factor—a curse that I was afflicted with. I wished that I could be more like other leaders who always seemed to have their stuff together. You know the ones I mean: color-coded file systems, printouts in protective plastic sheets, empty email inboxes each day, everything has a spot in their house, and they never misplace anything. I have since come to the realization that my ADHD wasn’t a curse. It is my SUPERPOWER. I needed to embrace what made me different as a leader. When I could let go of feeling bad about the things I was not good at, I could move towards creating systems to help me achieve high performance.

ADHD folks live in the here and now. We need to be prompted to think about what is coming up next. It’s not uncommon for us to be surprised, miss a meeting or show up unprepared. It’s important for us to develop a system to illuminate those important tasks and events that are out of our view.

Here's a method of prioritization that I’ve adopted along the way that helped improve my organizational effectiveness as a leader. Using this system allows me to put my best first foot forward and shine the light on my strengths instead of finding myself dropping the ball on an important task.

I named it the RGB System of Scheduling.

I install a whiteboard in every office I have. I list all of my tasks on the board and review it each morning. The whiteboard is an important tool for aiding object permanence strategy for those of us with ADHD. For many ADHD folks, if the milk is behind something in the fridge, there is no milk. 

Anything I must do today, I put down first thing in the morning in RED marker.  They could be daily tasks such as responding to a very important email or items that are mission critical. If you don’t attend to them, there will be an immediate problem and will do damage to your reputation or the organization’s ability to function. It could be compliance items or ordering deadlines; whatever the mission critical step that you  MUST DO TODAY to keep your team moving along as a high-performance machine.  

I use a GREEN marker for things that need to be accomplished this week. They might be simple discrete tasks, but they can also involve projects that are more complex with lots of moving pieces. These may require steps be taken in a certain order to move an initiative forward. Since they have multi-step processes, some GREEN items may have RED pieces that help move them along.

For example:

A green item list might be:

Submitting budget by end of the week.

But connected with that might be on Monday's list in RED…

Meet with Department Heads to communicate budget cuts needed by mid-day on Wednesday.

BLACK marker is used for two types of items:

1. Long Term Tasks that may be anywhere from two weeks to six months out on the horizon that are my responsibility but are not urgent that I don’t want to lose sight of. By looking at them daily, eventually I chip away at them by identifying pieces that can be moved to GREEN or RED on days when those lists are short, or I feel especially in the zone for action. I usually write my 2 weeks to 30 days items in CAPITALS and anything beyond 30 days in lower case letters. This simple delineation helps me visually see where I should be paying greater attention—what’s coming just around the corner.

For example:

TURN IN PERFORMANCE EVALUATIONS BY END OF MONTH.

Meet with HR in the coming months to discuss opportunities for professional growth. 

2. Black is also for my parking lot of ideas. Ideas that come to me become part of my Eureka moments that might need chewing on. These are inspirations that might help the organization’s momentum in its vision. By keeping non-urgent items up on the board, I find myself working them into conversations when I run into key partners. Other times, I add a prompting email or call around them onto my RED list which keeps the initiative alive and helps me to respond to questions about its progress. With a nudge here and there, the team becomes ready for this idea to have GREEN status. This is where folks with ADHD add a lot to team ideation that impacts the big picture or broadens connections.

For example:

How can we improve our Marketing Strategy to get more bums in seats for playoff games?

This RED, Green, Black system (RGB) is important because it helps us develop a routine and a pattern that we can attend to. For the ADHD person, it’s important to put these things up on a board because what’s out of sight IS out of mind for us.

There should be constant movement of black lower case to black upper case, from black upper case to green, and broken down from green to red items. The secret sauce comes when I accomplish tasks: I love to cross items off the list. That visual or kinesthetic experience gives me a feeling of accomplishment and a mini celebration. It makes me feel good about myself—the dopamine effect in real life. The emotion of pride doses us naturally and energizes us, which in turn, helps me to keep going. We can literally see our progress as items change color and the list changes shape.

Beware folks: if it’s the end of the day and the RED list hasn’t been fully marked off, then guess what: It’s not the end of my day! A system without accountability is ineffective. You have to make it work by working it. Reviewing the list daily, moving items and crossing them off by getting after it will generate success and reduce embarrassment and frustration.

This simple but effective strategy helps leaders who sometimes feel overwhelmed and don’t know where to start prioritize their tasks. By starting to look 30 days, 2 weeks, or even just one week out, team members with ADHD will not just become more organized leaders, but also more strategic in the initiatives and priorities they are tackling day to day.

P.S. If you are interested in learning more about how to thrive with ADHD, I recommend the book, Driven to Distraction by Hallowell and Ratey.