About two months ago, I let me insurance lapse.
I have been on state funded insurance for awhile but when I moved to a new county, apparently your case gets closed and you have to reapply.
I knew this but I put off the reapplication process until eventually I was without insurance. I didn’t worry about this until my medication ran out. As I’ve shared with you before, I have a mental illness that requires medication, three in fact.
The medication I need the most, in my opinion is the one for my Attention Deficit-Hyper Activity Disorder (ADHD). It’s a pretty severe case of ADHD and medication has been a wonderful thing. Nothing shows me that fact more than when I’ve been off of it for two months.
I can feel a HUGE difference in my productivity, my mindset and my clarity. Without it, I feel distracted, disorganized and lazy.
The reason I’m sharing this story with you is because I am calling on you to help me out here. I am working very hard to be a successful blogger, freelance writer, grad student, mother and human but I find myself letting projects & deadlines slip by me.
I am looking for the best tools you have found for succeeding in life.
It can be time management tools (YES! Please, lots of those), calendars, organizational tools, budgeting tools. ANYTHING you know of that works well.
I’m asking for two reasons:
- I need it.
- I want to develop a large bank of resources for another project I’m working on (to be announced at a later date).
So share with me, please. What are some great tips, tools and resources you have?
Please share this with others, I’d LOVE to hear from all different types of people (not just bloggers or moms or crazy wacky ADHD types!)
I’ll be sure to share my list in a post very soon. In the meantime, my paperwork has been received by my caseworker and I’m hoping to have my insurance reinstated soon. Then I can get back on my medication and begin to feel like me again.
I also blog at A Five Star Life. I write about anything that comes to mind but try to focus on finding the good in daily life.
I don’t use anything super fancy. To keep track of my writing assignments I use the default “agenda” app on my iPhone. It imports the dates and times automatically into my calendar which sends alerts whenever I need it to.
One of the best things I recently found was from a blog called Blogging with Amy. She wrote an article about how she stays focused with her work. Here’s the link. http://bloggingwithamy.com/make-a-blogging-schedule/
I’ve loved using her method. It keeps this sometimes ADD person on track
Her blog is great to follow for time saving apps and blog tips too.
Carrie – Careful Cents recently posted..File Your Own Taxes or Hire a Professional?
Carrie – Careful Cents(Quote)
Thanks Carrie,
I’m going to pour through her site. I’ve followed her for ages on Twitter but haven’t been to her site in quite awhile. Thanks for the reminder.
Jessica The DebtPrincess(Quote)
Twitter:
on February 10, 2012 at 10:07 pm
I think for me the biggest thing is simply having accountability. If I know I need help with something, I’ll tell my husband or friend or whomever, and they follow up with me to remind me of my goals.
Kacie recently posted..Update from Courtney #9 almost 2 years into getting out of debt
Kacie(Quote)
An accountability partner is huge!! I need to find myself one of those. But then I’d probably put off telling her :/
Jessica The DebtPrincess(Quote)
One of the simplest things you can do is make a bold bright reminder list and stick it on a wall you see often (maybe in front of your bed). Using positive self-talk also helps getting your mind prepared. Saying things like “I will…” instead of “today I won’t forget” will get the positive energy going in your subconscious.
Sandy @ YesIAmCheap(Quote)
Yes I think you are right. I may have to forgo my decorating style to do this with a large bulletin board. I really wish I had a dedicated office space.
Jessica The DebtPrincess(Quote)
One bite at a time. I work on the principle of incrementalism (not sure if it’s a principle, I just made it up). As long as you do a little bit towards a stated goal, but do it consistently, results will eventually come your way. Find a way to track your progress, whether it’s on a spreadsheet, or a journal, or this blog itself. Self-accountability is key to success.
101 Centavos recently posted..Travel Like a Boy Scout
101 Centavos(Quote)
I need to use this principal myself. Within the education field we call it Task Analysis. Breaking the larger task down into smaller parts.
Jessica The DebtPrincess(Quote)
Twitter:
on February 11, 2012 at 9:10 am
Prioritization. In blogging for example: prioritize which tasks are most important and do them first! Ex. 1. Writing 2. Reading and commenting 3. Widgets and site layout
Prioritization can be used for any other aspect of life too. Writing it down in list form is the best way to stick to it.
Matt recently posted..
Matt(Quote)
I had a therapist once who advised me to make lists of To Do Today, To Do Tomorrow and F*ck It. I need to make the prioritization like that to all parts of blogging, freelancing and school stuff.
Jessica The DebtPrincess(Quote)
My suggestions are very low tech–a daily or weekly to do list and a calendar to mark down important jobs/events, etc.
Melissa@PersonalFinanceJourney(Quote)
That I do have. It works, for a good portion of my life. I think I need to find something that sends me reminders through out the day on top of my paper calendar/planner.
Jessica The DebtPrincess(Quote)
I set constant reminders on my phone with multiple reminders that beep at me. It’s the only way some days to remember what I need to be doing.
Mel recently posted..In sickness and in health
Mel(Quote)
My old Samsung Blackjack had multiple reminders and I LOVED it. I used them all the time. This BB that I have doesn’t have that option. I’m going to need to look into app world and see if there’s one to download. If you have an app, bbm me the link please Mel.
Jessica The DebtPrincess(Quote)
Budgeting is my weakness.
Mint.com; CreditKarma.com and Stickk.com are my saviors.
Bernadette
http://www.b3hd.blogspot.com
Bernadette @ B3HD(Quote)
I’m checking out Stickk.com. Thanks for the suggestion.
Jessica The DebtPrincess(Quote)
This is going to show what a luddite I am, but I really use post-its to my advantage. I write notes to myself and place them in appropriate locations around my house. I’m also a fan of doing things as soon as I have the chance; if I do something when it’s on top of my mind, I do a better job of handling it. Procrastination not only delays me, but reduces my efficiency and effectiveness.
Elizabeth @ Broke Professionals recently posted..The Fork In My Husband’s Career Path
Elizabeth @ Broke Professionals(Quote)
I busted out my post-it notes this morning thanks to your reply. I think I need them sticking around in places to remind me to do things rather than walking by and ignoring it.
Jessica The DebtPrincess(Quote)
Twitter:
on February 13, 2012 at 9:12 am
I also recommend using some type of calendar to mark deadlines, appointments, etc. Use only one calendar for everything so you’re not having to remember which calendar is for work, which is for school, which is for personal reasons. I use different color highlighters to mark different deadlines and appointments which helps those really important things stand out.
Some other things that I do: I have a to-do list of things I need to accomplish every day, week, month and as needed. When I’m working, I have that list in front of me. I break down my staff writing, blog writing and other projects into 2-3 per day so I don’t get overwhelmed. Which ones I do each day are dependent entirely on when they’re due. I have also started getting better at acknowledging what is reasonable to get done in a day and what’s not.
I think it might help you to set a specific block of time per day to work. Do it at the same time every day, like you would a regular office job. Eliminate distractions like Twitter and FB.
You know what? This is a really long comment. Email me if you want and I’ll detail for you everything that I do to stay organized and focused.
Jana @ Daily Money Shot recently posted..I was tagged and I liked it
Jana @ Daily Money Shot(Quote)
Jana, thank you for this reply, long or not I liked it. I do have a paper calendar with multiple color highlighters and that is working for the big things but the little ones, like remember to comment on blog posts for one of my jobs, keeps getting by me. It’s such easy money that I hate forgettitng it.
I like the idea of a list of things I need to accomplish every day and every week. I may need to make a master schedule for my day and really stick to it. Like 1-3 is freelance writing time, ONLY.
Good tips, thanks.
Jessica The DebtPrincess(Quote)
I love my Evernote. I also find the Chrome browser, with all of its various extensions extremely useful.
Another thing is to have a process in place. Know what tasks you are going to do and when.
Glen Craig recently posted..Alternatives to Foreclosure
Glen Craig(Quote)
I actually have a sticky note on my desktop that says “Check out Evernote.” I think I need to do it.
Jessica The DebtPrincess(Quote)