Why ADHD Brains Need to Functional Plan

[@adhdoneplans]

Hi all! I am beyond grateful and so surprised that this video become so popular! As this video is almost two years old now, please keep comments kind as I've changed and learned a lot since this video was made. You don't need to be snarky in the comments. Thank you to those who have been so lovely and shared your experiences with ADHD, and I hope to continue to add value for those of us who struggle to plan our chaos! 🫶

[@lizzyp174]

I've found that the only thing that works for me, without feeling like it's an extra task or distracts me, it's simply having ONE notebook where I do everything. Meal plan, brain dump, task lists, etc. Then I cross everything off as I go. Works better than any planner or planning system I've ever tried

[@MG-rw2sk]

Same.

[@tryenglisjee]

Me having up to 5 books for several things like work, paperwork,bussines, and usually ended up losing them and cant do it right.i find them usually after 6 months to a year😅. Maybe i should stick to a jurnal for all purpose from now on

[@miahan8988]

Can confirm, used to have many different notebooks and they just made things more chaotic. I also hate electronic planners, I need to see paper layout :’)

[@gcrompto]

@@miahan8988I really don’t think digital planners work for the adhd brain. I am not a clinician but I know digital planners don’t work for me (and I’ve been in IT my entire career lol)

[@rosea6653]

Same! I use the hobonichi original planner and it has a month view and a daily page..i use it for my daily to do list, budget, meal plan, and even as a wallet because I keep it in a passport holder. It’s small enough that I can take everywhere and keep track of the daily plan. It’s set up like a notebook with open daily pages

[@AuntieAlexandra]

I have ADHD, and I have a lot of trouble focusing on the planner when it’s just written lists, even if there’s colorful highlighter. I use box stickers, icon stickers, and washi to call attention to each task, so I can actually see them. I don’t time block, but sometimes I use time blocking sections to tell myself what order to do tasks, when time is a factor (like getting ready to out). The deco also helps me see tasks and important dates in my weekly view.

[@adhdoneplans]

Alex, that makes sense! I use boxes too and they're SO helpful! I have little icons as well that I like to use. I love being able to see something important right at a glance!! Thank you for watching!

[@mommyingBetchay]

Same with me. I will never look in a list alone or just plain text. Highlighting sections with boxes, having different font styles also help my eyes to focus on a single thing. The sticker motivate me to look at my pages again.

[@aleasia7248]

I use stickers as well! It calls attention to the task for me and then I look at what was written. The list in my planner does absolutely nothing for me. It has to be highlighted in a box or functional stickers. If I want to put decorative stickers I make sure all my functional stickers are there first then add a few decorative stickers so that it is still functional for me.

[@sammiesmith3454]

samesies, stickers are great for me

[@isirlasplace91]

I'm the same way. Seeing only the task list as written words on the page without anything else will make me see only the overall shape after a while. If some lines are highlighted or in coloured pens, then it's a rainbow shape. I'll have a hard time seeing the individual tasks unless something calls my attention to it, like stickers that represent the tasks, or highlighting only the urgent tasks. Using red pens or highlighters helps too. But overall, as a visual person, if there's no visual interest in the composition, I only see a white page with random shapes lol

[@5fingerjack]

Therapist here, translating your thoughts to writing them down by hand. Actually uses different neurons and helps to cement them. Typing is probably better than just thinking your task. Writing by hand sets things down more firmly. If you want the best results say them out loud and also say your name because your brain is very cued into hearing your name. While you're at it, throw something positive in there like "This isn't going to be hard. Katie" or " what good stuff is coming up today. Eric?" I learned this in a training with some trauma type therapists who are leaders in the field so I didn't just make it up and it isn't my anecdotal experience. If you want the reference I can give it to you.

[@crownprincesslaya2]

Yep and this is why I still write some things by hand despite having dysgraphia 🎉

[@EnTeoríaIlustraciones]

Bujo didn't work for me because I need to have my planner already set up, if I have to do it from scratch, it adds an extra step to time management, and that is so frustrating, also the thing that I feel like having to make it pretty, instead of functional... is time wasting. Also, if I don't have any cue of what I have to write down, I get lost, I don't know what to do with it. So those are all the problems I have with bujo

[@sueboon5180]

That's exactly the problem that I have and why I can't get started

[@demonheart13]

Might recommend the hobonichi weeks. It's small and minimally set up already (the dates are there) each page has the dates for the week, and enough room to write down only the important stuff like work, event, and a chore or two. And the left side is dot paper so if you do need extra space you have it but you don't have to do anything to it if you don't need it or get overwhelmed. I use the side page for grocery lists so I don't overspend at the store and placing stickers because if the page doesn't look nice in some way I won't use it. It's the perfect size to write things but not so big that you feel the need to fill it up completely. So you feel like you accomplishing more since your only seeing the essentials.

[@tammygant4216]

@@demonheart13 brilliant!! I instinctively loved the Hobo weeks, but couldn't quite figure out how to actually use it!.

[@MsLuvinLifeDaily]

I make little templates on my computer and print out stickers so I don't fuss. Like every week I do my budgeting. So if I just print it - I can stick in. And I just buy lots of stickers so I don't spend time doodling. So I get the pretty factor my brain craves without having to use my own energy lol.

[@lizzyp174]

Same

[@AnneGoggansQHHT]

Me watching for my son realizing my entire life of having an extremely organized daily planner my whole life was a daily coping strategy. If it’s not in the calendar, it didn’t get done. When it gets written down, my brain can exhale. Plus my husband can’t keep up with my hummingbird thought patterns. I think our brains just move so fast and flutter around on a higher frequency.

[@hannahnfvideos1043]

I’m not finished with your video yet, but this year and the end of 2023 I was functional planning and I got more done than ever. When I was “pretty planning,” I would look at my to-do list and if it didn’t look “aesthetic” or “pretty” I didn’t want to look at it or plan lol and you can obviously guess how that went. I also have ADHD and now that I am just focusing more on keeping things organized and functional, I am less worried about what the spreads look like and more worried about actually getting things done.

[@FromG2eminor]

This was presented with an ADHD mind. Everything you were saying and the way you explained things was so ADHD. I related to every second of this video. I do use disc planners. I love them!! So flexible and simple which i need.

[@adhdoneplans]

Thank you! I always thought I was alone with how I think and process, but it turns out we're everywhere! We just forgot where we placed the flyer for the ADHD meetup 🤣 Thank you so much for watching!!

[@robinr5669]

Right? Going deep into the dognrhing made me laugh :)

[@PaulaWalnuts]

Ahhh yes!! Finally someone who can’t stand all the habit trackers in a planner!! Lol…I get so annoyed when I see them in there!

[@adhdoneplans]

Yes, Paula!! I don't need to track EVERYTHING!!🤣

[@grimsqueaker5333]

If it is important enough to track it should be integrated in the habit somehow. If I don't mark it off asap I'll forget, but I'm also not carrying a planner everywhere.

[@adhdoneplans]

@@grimsqueaker5333 That's a good point, but we have more difficulty committing things to habit than NT folks, so habit trackers don't serve much of a purpose for me. I use a checklist and move it from day to day!

[@jjgems5909]

same i hate all that shit LOL

[@catherineraper]

Hi! Yes I am a functional planner instead of a pretty planner, I did buy some stickers but I hardly use them. I may add some highlighters, but nothing major because if I start doing to much; everything looks to busy and it makes my brain hurt. I love to-do lists instead. 👍🏻

[@lydiasalinas5106]

I need to use brain dumps to get it out of my head and see it on paper. Then, I organize my thoughts by sorting what I wrote on paper. Then I try to set an order for things I want to accomplish. If I think about things too long, it can becomes too draining.

[@xx-ow7nd]

Oh my god you speak sooo much like me (when I’m at my most coherent lol). I taught college courses for grad school and when I couldn’t get my ADHD meds for a month (ofc there was a shortage in a college town during the last month of the semester), almost half the students in my course evals commented about me rambling too much or my thoughts being hard to follow. I quit teaching after graduating this past semester and will not be teaching again bc even during other semesters when I was managing my speech better, it was still too stressful to organize my thoughts and was just an exhausting amount of cognitive labor for me to make a PowerPoint, write notes, practice what I’d say, and patrol my language every day, especially when students asked me questions and I needed to be coherent and concise on the spot etc… but just saying this made me feel valid lol

[@alicia_nicole]

I'm not a teacher in any way but God I understand you. Other folks just don't understand how difficult articulating your thoughts is. It sounds so basic but doing it everyday for work is exhausting and it's just not worth it for me. Why try and be a fish when you're a bird?

[@adhdoneplans]

you are!! I know the "off meds" feeling and it's tough!!! People don't always love this video, but this is just how my brain works! This video is over a year old, so I've learned to tighten my chatter and get better at editing!! thank you for watching !!

[@lsusan]

I’m 73 and while I’ve not been diagnosed with ADHD, I just recently see myself in that way. What really resonated for me in your comment was the rambling and thoughts being hard to follow. And the need for and lack of coherence. You have articulated what I am experiencing. Patrolling your language is a great analogy. Thanks.

[@OnlineTherapistGroup]

Same!!!

[@tammygant4216]

YES!! I only teach once a week, but I need like 2 days to fully recover. I talk (and think) like this ,and I didn't even notice her "rambling" until you mentioned it.....because it's so natural/normal to me. My brain was just along for the ride.

[@YotsubaXP]

this is random, but you talk like me too. The mannerism the speed the tone the pauses occasional stutter. I notice these things compared to others. Speech/talk has always been a way I gauge whether I can get along with others. It reveals their thoughts, their interests, them as people. And I just feel very comforted by this. I can’t explain but thank you

[@azarelo]

Sidenote...i love how you didn't edit out a lot of stuff...made it a way more raw adhd video and weirdly indirectly made me feel more at peace with my adhd

[@gregorde]

You are so scattered and all over the place. I see … a reflection. That’s just how we are. Drives others nuts but for us it’s just natural.

[@adhdoneplans]

ha! I am. And this video is a year old, so I've definitely tightened up my filming and talking now!

[@DesiDivaDish-v4l]

yeah its so annoying ngl maybe i am not adhd afterall xd

[@Kt_log]

​@@adhdoneplansyou tried your best girlie 💪 ik It's difficult to be on camera and talk your heart comfortably . It's just a very nice start . I saw you've improved and is MUCH better even GREAT at this. Thankyou for not deleting this. You know you've achieved something 🎉 keep going girl . 😊

[@poetryjones7946]

Yeah, listening to her voice and trying to follow what she’s saying drives me fkng insane and makes my brain feel like somebody is torturing it with forks. That’s why I gave in and subbed coz she obviously knows what she’s talking about.

[@helenbonanno4804]

I do not have ADHD but I love Kimberly's style. I do like habit trackers, in fact I depend on them for health reasons. I truly don't think you have to have ADHD to appreciate her planning style and use them. Thank you for sharing.....

[@adhdoneplans]

Oh gosh, Helen, thank you so much!!! I am working on the trackers you suggested and I can't WAIT to show them!!!

[@helenbonanno4804]

@@adhdoneplans Aaaawwww, I am so excited to see what you come up with, you are very creative like that. Your unique style of planning, I am sure, has helped so many. I do not have ADHD but I do have several health issues, and your planning style has helped me a great deal. Thank you, I appreciate what you are doing.

[@SkyeSoleil]

I was part of an adhd workshop/group during grad school and this was something I learned that helped me out so much. Just by categorizing tasks by their priority made me so much more productive and most importantly, not feel so overwhelmed. It was suddenly okay that I didn’t get to deep clean my kitchen one week because I had school tasks that were much higher priorities. It also helped me figure out what my priorities were in general.

[@tammygant4216]

I just heard about this maybe two days ago and I think it's gonna be a game changer for me too.

[@andreaf.6572]

I found an appointment sticker I like and use it for all appts. So when I see it- I automatically know it’s an appt

[@adhdoneplans]

Yes, Andrea!! I adore my task sticker boxes! Thank you for coming by and watching!

[@shannonburnett]

As a 48 yr old woman, recently diagnosed with ADHD, post divorce at 45….. this whole video spoke to my soul. Thank you so much for making this video! Thank you for keeping your methods authentic. For the last 5 years of my marriage of 25 years I struggled, it’s nice to see that I am not alone, your personality vibed with me! Thank you.

[@lsaez479]

Digital planning doesn’t help me I need to see it in my face all day with no screen saver or having to zoom in and out . My brain just doesn’t like it.

[@adhdoneplans]

Exactly!!!

[@bl8388]

My brain tells me to forget everything I just read in a digital planner every 5 seconds. I need physical too with colors.

[@neuroticnation144]

Digital planners are fantastic when you’re buying the new app! 😂 Then they’re completely useless. 😢

[@timetotryandtryagain]

Just like regular planners 🤣🤣🤣 I get all hyped at first, then lose motivation with all of them ​@@neuroticnation144

[@timetotryandtryagain]

I made a widget for my home screen on my phone. It's my Google calendar, and shows my upcoming appointments, tasks, work shifts, for a couple of days. It's been a lifesaver!

[@THrEeMuNkEes]

I have used a spiral notebook for 30 years! I recipe plan, scribble, zentangle, grocery list, to do list, appt’s, reminders all-in-one in it. I can bullet which is what I need for my list or organize my grocery list according to aisles in the store and there’s no preplanned sections to work through. Your planner looks great!

[@Meggyp0p]

My nana died at Christmas, and left me a huge collection of scrapbook supplies. Soooo much Creative Memories stuff you would not believe.

[@adhdoneplans]

I am so sorry for your loss. I lost my grandfathers around Christmas a few years ago. Makes the holiday bittersweet. Sending hugs. I hope you can use those wonderful supplies. 🤍

[@maerwynnh]

I found that I didn't even plan if I didn't start at the beginning of the week, or if I put the stickers in the right spot. Now I have more than one planner, and allow myself to use whichever one feels right. But my work and things that NEED to get done are not decorated (until maybe after the fact).

[@adhdoneplans]

I get that! I was always afraid to "mess up" my spread with tasks 🤣

[@catgoeskek]

Here is a suggestion: Ive just purchased a wallet with a small a7 5-ring binder inside with pockets for cards, keys, reciepts and cash. I love the idea of having journals for different things but it never works out and I end up abandoning them. with this layout I can make notes and lists while out without having to remember a seperate notebook. With a binder you can also add, remove and rearrange pages with different sections and also "folders" (a long piece of paper with "doors" just like a paper document folder) If anyone would like one but cant find one, you can buy the ring binder "spines" on their own with screws so you can simply find a wallet that suits you and screw in the binder part.

[@yesterdayonpaper]

Yassss. When we pretty plan we use our creative energy and then we struggle to use our productive energy with it. I looove all the gorgeous planners out there. But I just dropped a Hemlock and oak and a PaperTessDesigns for a bullet journal this month 🙃 I doodle sometimes in my bujo but most of the time I respond really well to the monochrome. Finding a different way to use that creative energy might be key. I want to start junk Journaling and expressive collaging. I will still use multiples I'm sure though haha.

[@adhdoneplans]

Hi girl!! And yes, the creative energy has to go somewhere! my planner just isn't the place for it, at least for me. I have to have homes for all my creativity and homes for productivity!

[@des8616]

I have always struggled with trying to find WHERE I had written things down that were important. Too many sticky notes, or pieces of scrap paper flying around the house. So I finally figured out what works for me: I found VERY pretty notebooks/journals, because they make me WANT to use them, and they are easy to spot in my clutter. AND I have a different one for each area of my life: shopping list, to do list, scouting, gardening, etc...That way I don't have to schlepp my entire life to the grocery store, and don't have to keep flipping through lots of pages to find what I am looking for. HOWEVER, I agree with you, my "layouts" are super simple, hardly decorative at all. Because 1) I am not that artistic, and 2) it would take me forever to decide how to decorate each page. By then I would have forgotten what I needed to write down. But I apparently do need the visual and tactile "reward" of handling something pretty to actually use it and FIND it when needed.

[@adhdoneplans]

I LOVE that idea. I am either TOO creative and I'm afraid to "ruin" my spread with writing or it's completely blank!!!

[@acsaudiodramas]

That is a very functional planning. Thank you! I struggling a lot with pretty planning as an undiagnosed ADHD teen. We had no insta back then, but I did my own version of bullet journaling. I had my cute calendar, an ever growing collection of stickers and glitter pens and I just lost so much time every day to write my lovely to do lists insteat of actually getting things done. I did this from age 15 to age 18 as I finally gave up. I still wrote a few simple to do lists for important stuff, but stopped planning entirely ... until my bestie got her hands on me in my 30s and confronted me about my lack of planning, despite me having ADHD and being a business owner. She taught me ugly planning, which was actually functional - big notes, broad markers - no stickers. Took me decades to understand that I had used planners not actually to remember things, but to motivate myself in the first place with the help of pretty aesthetics.

[@shawna29xx]

I have ADHD and I have a functional pretty planner if that’s a thing 😂 I pre decorate pages when I need a break from a current task. I also use icon stickers to make sure I pay attention to current tasks. I’m a color coder, I don’t list because I will not pay attention to it so icon stickers are a go to for me as well as flag stickers. I took a longggg time finding what would work for me. Also I track everything in my planner. Rings a5 is my jam for now

[@katlero28]

I don’t know if I have ADHD, but my oldest was just recently diagnosed and well… she’s my mini me. I related to everything in this video. Biggest question, what do you do with tasks that you’ve scheduled ahead of time? For instance, I spent a solid month at the beginning of the year going through the weekly section of my common planner and used sticky notes to plan all the recurring household chores that aren’t in the normal flow of a day. Things like wiping down the vent hood on a monthly basis or running the refresh cycle on the washing machine. Those darn household maintenance things but not chores. So now, when that week comes up, I read thru the sticky notes, decide if I’m going to have time for those maintenance chores or not, move them to a different week if I need to, or write them down on a master list for the week/month. But then! The master list was starting to give me anxiety cause I’d sit and re-read the master list over and over again trying to decide what I had time for and what could I slot in, instead of just getting one of the things done. That’s when I decided I needed to go way back to the dailies bujo style and write out my entire day step by step. Example: Wednesday June 12th Wake up Wash face Oil pull Start coffee Brush teeth Check incubator Water Breakfast Vitamins And so on. Something about writing out the order the things need to happen in rather than an ambiguous list of “at some point get these things done” list has snapped something in my brain for the better. It works great for the work day when I’m mostly tethered to my desk, but come the weekend and I was floundering cause so much more of my day is not in front of my list. So I put the reminders app as a widget on my phone and built that same list in my phone which narrowed my entire day of things to do to be a functioning person to an even more narrow “things to do right now in this order”. I’ve been so successful!!! But! Back to my main question of, what do you do with the things that need to happen later in the week or month, but you can’t just keep migrating them daily?

[@gatosandwichera]

I relate to what you wrote. What I do is keep them in a postit note that can be moved around. It’s like you said, I have a master mega list of to dos, and then i write a list for every day the night before, considering how much time and energy i will be having. I have a list for what i aim to do on a week in a postit note, so that if i don’t get around to doing it, i can remove it from that page and paste it on the next. I don’t know if i have adhd either, but my sister and i have been noticing that we probably do.

[@GroooviChick]

Everything you said about paper vs digital planning 👌🏾

[@adhdoneplans]

I just don't connect!

[@gidgetgetscrafty]

I haven't really used the Happy Planner i bought for 2023, so I i just picked up a Tul half letter. I'm planning on keeping it more minimal, but will use some functional stickers.

[@adhdoneplans]

Love it!! I love my half letter from moving from HP classic! Such a convenient size!

[@BrandiMcmillion]

This is so chaotic and i’m only 4 min in.😩😂

[@adhdoneplans]

my life is C H A O S

[@poetryjones7946]

Yep. But I wound up relating to it.

[@abbaschild2499]

Nearly everything you said resonates with me although I have not been diagnosed. Thank you.

[@adhdoneplans]

Wow, thank you so much! I'm so glad you're here!!

[@acsaudiodramas]

Also the Story about you influencing your bf in a positive way was so wholesome ♡

[@TheLynnepooh]

This makes so much sense to me. I’ve been trying to explain why I like the paper planning over digital to my husband because he didn’t understand it

[@ReeseRyanWrites]

I was diagnosed with ADHD just a few years ago. I bullet journaled for years, which I love in concept. But I'm no artist. I spent A LOT of time creating my spreads. I switched to a printed quarterly planner instead. I do love my stickers, though. And I love my colorful pens and markers. But it's so much better for me not worrying about trying to create a pretty, IG-worthy spread.

[@NinaKatharinaWeber]

I recetly switched over to digital planning on an old iPad and I like that you can create a spread you like ONCE and then you can reuse it as a template, adding the new content by hand.

[@ReeseRyanWrites]

@@NinaKatharinaWeber Nice!

[@BeadCraftBabe]

I don’t have ADHD but I like to decorate but it has to be minimal. It gets distracting and overwhelming if it’s too much. Thanks for sharing.

[@alim7688]

Finally someone speaking my language. When I look up inspo and get overwhelmed

[@inkbloodart]

i know what you mean about the "habit tracking " !! i basically invent new layouts in my dot journals every time, i honestly just understood why all the stickers and washi tape don't click with me; i also find them distracting!! i think for me keeping the book as flexible as possible is the only way to get me to use it. i think i have to check out disk binding now too!

[@tammygant4216]

I'm watching this almost two years later and this is resonating so much for me. I had figured out some of these things, but it was so helpful hearing you articulate them. Pretty planning is too stressful and too distracting for me. And the decision fatigue was real! I bought soooo many stickers (and washi and ...well you know the list) hoping...assuming that I would be able to get the hang of it, but now they just sit in my collection. What I have found works is to set up say the page (I do prefer undated so that when I fall off the wagon, I'm not wasting money ) and then add 2-3, a bit of washi and perhaps a splash of color from a brush marker. OR nothing at all. Depends on time. I've also found that popping stickers onto a journal page I finish writing brings me joy whenever I flip back through that journal. Hopefully this method will eventually use up all those things I bought for my failed venture into pretty planning.

[@JayleePlanz]

I have ADHD and this video really helped me. I have a hobonichi and I LOVE it but between wanting to pretty plan and making it functional can be a bit much at times. Like I can pretty plan and forget to plan lol…and since it has daily pages I may forget to journal so I’ll write on sticky notes and then pray I remember to come back to it smh lol. The struggle lol. But thank you for this bc a lot of us needed to see this. I’ll probably talk about this too in my next video on my channel. ❤

[@adhdoneplans]

Jaylee, YES! I'm so with you!! It's such a struggle to find a balance between keeping us ADHD-ers interested in our planners by having pretty spreads and having functional pages!!! Thank you so much for coming by and I'll subscribe to your channel!!

[@SusieG]

I cannot tell you how understood I felt watching this (well, listening to get me through my kitchen tasks) video! From the points you made about how planning for ADHDers is different for neurotypicals to even you just going off on tangents, lol. I felt seen

[@planningandpowerlifting]

I have ADHD too. I use a few stickers in my Jibun Techos, but since I consider them as my main planner, it's mostly functional icon stickers or a box for important things. If I am on vacation, then I get more decorative. I sticker the heck out of my Hobonichi Cousin because that's more of a journal. I don't get distracted by the stickers, but I want to make sure that I have enough room to write.

[@adhdoneplans]

I am completely with you! I have fun stickers and wash in my journal because it's just for me and I don't need to reference the stuff in there. Thank you for watching!

[@auroramarquez4799]

I fold a dotted sheet notebook works for as adhd person. I can box things out, columns, list and organize the page differently on each day as I need to view it.

[@nordicpink]

I enjoy your personality SO much! You have wonderful energy and enthusiasm! It’s infectious and beautiful.

[@taylorturgoose9510]

I really like the style in which you edit your videos, you don’t cut out filler words or distractions so it feels like I’m just on FaceTime I love it, new subscriber 😊

[@ieyona]

Everything definitely has to have a home in my adhd mind. I too also noticed that if I focused on making my planner “pretty” I would avoid writing in it bc I didn’t want to mess it up. Great video!

[@Chaos_and_Creativity]

Families that plan together - stay together 🤠 I think it's adorable your boyfriend got on the planning track! I wish mine would because he and I are both so ADHD and if I don't write it down - I'll forget. I actually love pretty planning because it makes me WANT to plan. But my daily task that I need to do that are important? I definitely use your system because my ADHD brain is all over the place.

[@adhdoneplans]

Oh my gosh, YES, Randi!!! I was thrilled when he told me he used the disc planner! He was also mentioning my company name when people were asking what the notebook was! 🥹 I am open to any suggestions for trackers/inserts/ideas!! If you have something that isn't working for your system, let me know and let's see if we can find a way to make it work!!! 🙂

[@safanaseva91]

I don’t identify with ADHD but your overview of your planner and how you use it was helpful and constructive. The bit about you being a proud gf was also sweet and wonderful that you're helping him put his best foot forward.

[@OnlineTherapistGroup]

I believe we have the exact same brain. I followed every tangent and related on every level.

[@adhdoneplans]

haha! I'm so glad someone enjoys my tangents!! haha!☺️

[@donnadixon8065]

Right! I agree with Ms Victoria Christina that u don't have adhd, u were diagnosed with it. But that doesnt mean u have it. But I just wanted to say I don't have it but yr functional planner is very helpful to me. The pretty stuff takes yr attention & focus away from what u need to do. Thank u. God bless. ❤ and I like how u were so excited abt yr boyfriend using the planner. Lol

[@7Bloodfire]

I had little "Quarterly Top 10" stickynotes, which had 11 lines on them. Those were great! I need to get back to that.

[@julsmorgan78]

I found that I agree with you on the need to move things around in the planner. I couldn’t make the bullet journal effect work until I actually swapped to rings/disks and then just inserted the bullet journal functions into it and suddenly Boom! It worked for me :)

[@adhdoneplans]

That's amazing!! I am the same way--it has to be able to move around for my brain to like it!

[@itssaralauren]

I just got diagnosed with ADHD back in july, almost a year ago, and I have tried what feels like a million kinds of planning systems. I just ordered a new physical planner that I am HOPING will finally be THE *perfect planner* but we will see. Thank you for this video, it was very reassuring about my purchase! I have tried online planning, google and notion, and the way you worded "online planning feels very abstract to me" was just the PERFECT way to describe online planning for me!! I could never put my finger on why it didnt work for me but it is so true!! The online space everything really just "disappears" from your mind the second you aren't looking at a screen, and timer reminders on my phone don't work for me either, they also just disappear into the void or the second I hit "snooze" its gone from my mind. Also not to mention how Notion particularly is SO customizable, to a fault!! I spend more time decorating my Notion page than actually using the planning features 🤣Physical planning really is the only thing that works for me, I just haven't found the *perfect planner* yet, hopefully its the one I just ordered! But long story short it really is just trial and error until you find the perfect system. Thank you for this video it was very validating for me and also helped me put into words my own struggles, thank you! :)

[@FunkyChicken001112]

Hello friend! In all of my years of working, etc., I have finally come to realize: I will never find the perfect planner. For me, one thing works until it doesn't. I thought I simply wasn't "doing it right," but it's simply how my brain works. It is constantly changing. So, I've decided to try not to spend too much money, but get the tools I believe will work for me at that time. I put them away when they stop working for me, then pull them out again when I inevitably circle back around. ☺️ It's a journey. Enjoy your awesomely creative mind. ❤

[@MuffinMomMeals]

i tried not to use stickers and washi, it turns out i did not look forward to opening my planner. i need the colors and happiness.

[@adhdoneplans]

Yes, exactly!! People with ADHD are motivated by interest, not incentives, generally. So us neurodivergents need to have planners that sustains our interest, and that sometimes means pretty stickers and washi! Everyone needs different things! Thank you for watching, Rena!!

[@Nightsong93]

Great video! I don't get distracted once the stickers are on the page but have found that stickers are part of my distraction/procrastination problem. I might sit down to do a weekly spread, and then two hours later I'm looking through all my sticker books for just the perfect one. It is exhausting! This is one of the reasons I miss when Happy Planner was in its prime-the themes were done really well and there were nice decorative touches on every page. It kept the planner from being boring with adding extra work for me :D

[@Stormbrise]

2:37 this is why I do not lay out stickers until the week is finished, and I am recapping the week. Plus having AuDHD, I always worry about the bumps they create that I may get frustrated by a non smooth writing experience. The only thing pretty I do is use a tombow brush pen for some color and call it good for the day or the weekly spread. It is nice to see more neurodiverse content.

[@kimberle2008]

lol. My name is Kim,I love functional planning and I have ADHD. Glad this came into my timeline.

[@adhdoneplans]

yay!

[@hyperspace32]

I have gone back to the classic Bic pen (the fine one with the YELLOW body), after using a variety of gel pens.

[@kinogodt]

Just found your videos and I love them. I also really enjoy the sound of the paper you're using. :)

[@adhdoneplans]

Yay, thank you! I use a Bristol paper--it's what comes with the planner!! Super crisp and weighty!!

[@bitrudder3792]

I turned my husband onto these disc planners when I purchased a beautiful leather softfolio for him from Levenger in his favorite cognac brown color, with copper discs. (Thank you, Levenger, for having Sales). He reserves that for the things that are most meaningful to him. But the next thing I know, he’s at the local office supply store buying TUL notebooks for himself, and then for all the guys at the office! He uses them for work all the time now! He likes working with graph paper best because he can draw designs for products on them.

[@AshleighPlease]

I think I do a hybrid. Mostly functional but I do add a washi border and a few stickers to keep myself interested in opening the planner and coming back to it. If I did no deco, I wouldn’t reach for it. I enjoyed your video thanks for sharing your layout.

[@herself75]

The stickers and the pretty things add the novelty that my adhd needs to actually use the damn thing. There is a balance.

[@PaperParade]

Moleskin notebooks helped me survive college. Every semester (or when I ran out), I would buy myself a new moleskin notebook with a different color on the cover. I might decorate the cover or first page, and then the rest was for *everything* else. My list of schoolwork and appointments was always the page I had the flyleaf in, and overtime I developed a mostly-consistent design for bullet points, etc. to help organize it for my brain. I think it was motivating to have a different color and design every time that made it feel like it marked the turn of a season for me, and not having any rules of what I could and could not use it for meant I didn’t get lost in a shuffle of different papers and books. For whatever reason, this worked perfectly for my weird ADHD brain and though I’m not nearly so busy anymore, I’m thinking I should bring it back 😊

[@seasidecrafter]

Yes! Thank you for function over fancy! I am so about that! And yes, the rabbit hole does exist! I can't get through a movie without looking up the cast, etc. Lol I do love using stickers but definitely after writing. I cannot just figure out where to place stickers and then feel confined to just the little space that sticker represents (if that makes sense). Thanks for sharing!

[@WorldTurndUpsideDown]

I’m glad that there are other people out there with functional planners. I LOVE looking at beautiful planners but it’s just not in the cards for me,

[@arlenegregchin998]

Oh my goodness, you are so funny!!!! You are on point with everything you say!! You are so real and incredibly funny. 😆 😅You’re talking about me with the sticker distractions, too funny. Though I love junk journaling ephemera for decorating my planner pages. Thanks for sharing 😊, Arlene

[@countrysister700]

Somehow focusing on content punctuated by nervous giggling every few seconds will no doubt be the hardest task i have today.

[@wherezthebeef]

🤣

[@bitrudder3792]

Why I love paper planning, and disk, bound, planning in particular: -Paper works when the power and the Internet is out. -paper is healthier to look at screens. -Paper is more private. You realize that nothing that you type or speak into your phone is private, right? -paper planners are a tactile experience of paper, pens, ink, Plastic, leather, cardboard, etc. It can be professional, elegant, glamorous, playful, to suit your mood. - I love discbound especially for the freedom of purging, a whole Lotta verbal vomit pages when I want, and adding in pages that are helpful to me. I’m not keen on rewriting things all the time so it’s nice that I can type some things up, and print them out just how I want. Then I just punch and press and voilà! - Disks make it easy to change the cover if the cover feels too distracting. (The inside of HP planners is generally more pleasing to me than the garish outside.)

[@Blue-y9y4l]

Seeing all the comments on tour scatteredness and here i am feeling its normal and you just make so much sense to me. Im often called random but i feel like others just havent followed the thread of thought in my mind

[@adhdoneplans]

Thank you for your kind comment! This video is nearly two years old; I'm surprised no one has seen anything lately! I've tightened up my chatting a lot.

[@ellabella2603]

I need color. but it has to be around the functional lists. So I set up my lists then add some flowers or stickers. Or my lists are colored pens. Just can't do black and white.

[@adhdoneplans]

The colors add a little pizazz for sure!!

[@chicanica64]

I am recommending this to my patients with ADHD. Thank you.

[@annia3685]

It won't help those ADHDers who are the opposite of this. I need to make my pages pretty or I won't fill them in. I'll write something on a plain page and never look at it again. I just make my pages in advance with washi tape etc and fill in the functional stuff after.

[@adhdoneplans]

What a great point! And thank you, @chicanina64. I am hoping to get a newer video that's clearer up soon!

[@daflufmoss]

i love how alive her speaking is :)

[@mrsdudeandkids]

I can use fun kid stickers for color, but have trouble with so called "functional" stickers. I can not use an undated planner because my handwritten dates make it "not a real planner" 🤣.

[@Chaos_and_Creativity]

They have tons of options for stickers that you can use to re-date or date a plan!

[@bellaladonna]

I have ADHD and I do tasks and I like discs, but i disagree on beautiful spreads. The stickers and "prettiness" is what motivates me to complete a task.

[@Duck-Xu]

Oh my word. It's like listening to me talk about something. I've finally noticed the ADHD rhythm we tend to have

[@adhdoneplans]

Yes!! I didn’t know there was a similarity until I started talking to others with ADHD! 🤍

[@yummy.crayon]

Overdoing stickers make me feel sick and nauseous. I saw my coworkers journal and it was covered with stickers. All i could think about was closing the damn thing!

[@nalahbaer8290]

😂😂

[@adhdoneplans]

Haha!!

[@alys1149]

Same, that's why I use minimalist layouts and avoid using too much unessential color in my layouts. I usually only use colors if I need that thing to pop out at me when I look at it like if I have a bunch of assignments for different classes so I can tell what class it's for automatically by the color and my eyes are drawn to that task. or like only highligting a super important task but in this case for me it has to in the prettiest color ever or it might trigger my demand avoidance.

[@hyperspace32]

Did n't watch the whole video. However, I tend to use the highlighter first and then write on the highlighted part. This is the best way to stop colour bleed from the pen ink to the highlighter.

[@MyDestinyDear]

It’s a similar process for me. Can’t waste time on prettiness or I only focus on the pretty and not the use. I found I can not have a physical planner. Writing in it is actually too much effort for if I’m trying to add something really quick last minute. I usually have to force myself to add something to my list the moment I think about it or I will put it off for later or never do it. That’s why I can’t do notebooks. I find the most effective thing for me is actually the Notion App. I downloaded a premade template and I can add tasks to my to do list or events on my schedule on my phone in one two clicks and then change it later, no erasing no white out and it will always remain pretty enough for me to feed me dopamine. I literally have no excuse not to add something which means it’s harder for me to forget stuff.

[@reality7068]

I'm similar in the sense that I also have to separate my creativity from my functional planner. I like drawing, and I noticed that whenever I draw on my planner, I get distracted by how good/bad the drawing is or if the lines were neatly drawn etc. I still do highlight and draw small stars as indicators of impt events, but I try my best to avoid drawing in there to prevent from getting distracted.

[@sarahlyon157]

I think I'm somewhere in the autism mixed with mild adhd, and I found that I needed a mix of my physical monthly calendar and journal to plan out long term, and a digital app that functions as my daily to-do list. I also use my calendar app's event function to help me keep track of appointments and work hours, since I don't have a 9-5 job.

[@CourtneyLukashok]

I knew I was gonna listen to you cause of the finger tangent you went on. Like "wow, she's just like me."

[@JosephSchneider26]

Hey guys another gentle reminder: While it is important to seek professional advice and a proper clinical diagnosis before making serious medical changes to your life, such as pills or other extensive treatments, this can take time. While you are waiting for getting your diagnosis, it certainly won't do you harm to experiment with strategies to get things done and improve on your time management and well-being. Because you don't need to have ADD or ADHD to do that. Don't let perfectionism lure you into inaction.

[@victoriacristina9610]

Hi guys!!!! Just a gently reminder to you ,that you must not self-diagnoses yourself. Just bc you identified with some symptoms of a health condition it doesn't mean you have that disease. Rather it is mental or physical

[@adhdoneplans]

Thank you for the reminder! It's important to seek proper medical care for a diagnosis! I went through extensive testing and appointments as well as multiple specialists before receiving my diagnosis. Please make sure you're all getting proper care!

[@nicoleweise35]

But also remember that is okay if you cannot afford to go and get a formal diagnosis and if you relate to all or very nearly all struggles (you gotta do your research to see the variety of symptoms its not just inattentiveness and procrastinating) then its okay to assume you may have adhd and use the techniques and "life hacks" that people with adhd use!

[@adhdoneplans]

@@nicoleweise35 great point!! you can always implement useful tips and tricks for your own brain, even if you don't have a diagnosis! a diagnosis to me was just a tool to use to understand how my brain operates!

[@brookeleigh1178]

Also remember that ADHD isn’t a disease!

[@girl.anachronism5639]

Actually, self-diagnosis is valid. It’s nice to have the validation of a diagnosis from a doctor, but we know ourselves more than a doctor and doctors misdiagnose a lot. Self- and peer-diagnosis for adhd and autism are more accurate than doctor diagnosis.

[@giovannam925]

Wow, You are so right, I did not use any stickers in my planner last year/this year, i only highlighted and I actually used it for the entire year! I normally will get a new one, lol. I do have a separate journal for my tarot and journaling. This year I want to do my journaling and my daily planner in one. Love the feedback from this video. Looking forward to 2025. I will be trying out the Wonderland222 All in One planner. We will see, lol. I am a crafty person too, have to have an outlet.

[@agirlfrommars3441]

I have been exclusively functional planning. I just placed an order for small icon stickers. That I plan to use in my week for special occasions like holidays and birthdays. So it won’t be in each week of the year if I get too distracted I’ll stop 😂 🤞 my main planner is a monthly I use it as a schedule for work and appointments and I probably won’t add stickers there 🤣

[@SunshineSM877]

This is how I plan. This is the first time I have seen someone do the same . I don't know if I have ADHD,.

[@marydetray6776]

So, im not adhd (at least ive never been diagnosed if I am, I've often wondered if I might be) but I'm the same way, everything you said in this video really resonates with me, initially when I started planning i wanted to do the whole decoration thing (cuz I'm also highly artistic) but I found, very early on, that stickers and art in my planner was not helpful to me in any way, I like my planner to strictly be my pen and some highlighters where needed, all the decoration feels too cutesy at this point in my life (almost 40) too, that's not my main reason for not doing it but I'd be lying if I said it didn't play a role, but for me, my planner is where all my tasks and needs, tracking and productive thoughts goes, not my art and when i did try combining them i found they were too distracting, too much going on on the page and id forget to do stuff or miss things cuz i just somehow didnt SEE IT on the page! Also, like you, digital planning just doesn't hit home for me either, I dont even know that I can detail why, yes I love paper and pens and leather covers, but it's not like I couldnt have those things for other stuff if I did planning digitally, so... I don't know, I think the temporary nature of digital, how easily you can just delete a task and pretend you never added it to the day in the first place? The fact that it's not all just there on a page but digital files somewhere in the ethernet... I don't know, see what I mean, I cant even put my finger on what it is about it I don't like but I just know I don't and ive tried to before, I'll share stuff with my husband in keep notes but that's always gunna also be something concretely written down in my bullet journal too. I'm just not a fan of the whole digital planning thing. And what do you do the following year with digital? Do all those digital pages just get deleted or saved as a file? Ugh, I dont like it. 😂

[@maryanne2025]

2:41 the stickers are so engrossing 😅 yo I think that why the bullet journal seems so calming to me, still haven’t done that one yet but something about it’s so peaceful minimalistic that feels helpful

[@kathryncook7193]

I always write my day out with times.i write everything. For example ill start with 6am wake up 6:15 hygene +list all parts of hygene routine 6:30 make bed So on and so forth for the entire day. I usually organize my tasks by priority and dofficulty with the most difficult in the early part of the day and the least difficult when im more likely to be tired.

[@melissafleuret7945]

OMG, I’m ready to be your friend. You remind me so much of myself heheh loved those scrapbooking parties with my mom too and I’ve been wanting to figure out what to do with all my notes that I’ve collected over the years & scrapbooking or collage has been in the back of my mind but I also wonder if anyone collages anymore lol? I love your adhd content. I also can’t do stickers either. The entire spread becomes a habitat for the monkey and I probably won’t get a single thing on the list then sticker hahaha

[@adhdoneplans]

Creative Memories parties were the best!! Stickers are a gateway drug to losing focus for me 🤣

[@lydiasalinas5106]

I am just not into the idea of sitting for a while to decorate calendar pages. I love it when other people do it. Yes, stickers are distracting, and planning how they fit together cohesively and in a logic spatial order would take too long with ADHD.

[@SweetlyDarkArt]

It's why bullet journaling/planners never worked for me. I'm an artist and I'll get sooo distracted if I'm trying to pretty plan anything. I have a junky 5x8 multi-media spiral notebook (I buy new ones and go through several a year). The only thing I use other than a monthly calendar app for all my appointments/birthdays/holidays/ect. I make a lot of lists and during breaks I give myself a fresh page for drawing, then back to brain dump or tasks. I only allow my stickers inside it once the page is done/filled/ect. otherwise stickers are only allowed on the front and back covers so I don't get distracted.

[@yaltazhu9683]

I have adhd too, I really want to watch through this video because I’m half way through already and it seems really helpful so far, but also the way you get distracted in your speech makes it really hard to follow😂 and I 100% understand because again I have adhd too lol

[@adhdoneplans]

Yes, it's about 2 years old now. I have made my videos much more succinct.

[@vlynnart]

I am not diagnosed but the algorithm recommended me this video for a reason, and honestly I loved it. I don’t use planners to actually plan my day, I find that I cannot keep track of everything so it makes me just not. I am definitely an all or nothing kinda girl and it’s prolly not a good thing. If I can’t track everything I’m just going to suffer and track nothing 😂 but I do want to do more during my day and get more things done, so I think I’m going to have to give it a shot, everything you said just said “me! Me! Me!” Especially going down rabbit holes we don’t need to go down- I think one time I got so distracted I was looking at one of my favorite actors biography just because I wanted to see if he voiced a character in a movie. 😂😂😂 Anyway, thank you for the video!

[@adhdoneplans]

Thank you so much for watching! This video is a year old, but I'm so happy it resonates with people!

[@stephenlee5338]

I was diagnosed 2 months ago and I just gotta laugh when I talk with or hear ADHD people speak. We are fast and super numerous at how nutty we are. I laughed alot and I mean in a positive way as I can kinda hear ADHD and looking at your organiser and it's just like how so many of us apeak

[@QuirkeeBunny]

Getting distracted by the sticker. Currently there now. In the past few days. 👀😂😻

[@leolaparke3222]

Oh my goodness! I'm not diagnosed but I struggle between fancy and functional. Also struggle with motivation and follow through.

[@leolaparke3222]

Thank you, this is tremendously helpful

[@adhdoneplans]

So true!

[@adhdoneplans]

You're so welcome, thank you so much for watching!!!

[@elenagolubeva4149]

It's hard to explain, but I get the point when you need structure, but also flexibility (e.g. planner with pages that you can rearrange)