How Can I Be Productive as a Neuro-divergent Person?
Oct 15, 2024
Art by Analise Black
Can you be an effective illustrator if you have attention challenges? Absolutely! Jake Parker, Samantha Cotterill, and Anthony Wheeler share their best tips to stay productive, maintain motivation, and meet deadlines (without losing your mind!).
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KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Learn the difference between urgent and important activities. Just because something is calling for your attention doesn’t mean it’s the most valuable use of your time.
- Not every day will be perfectly productive, but don’t let an hour of distraction ruin your whole day. You can choose to reset and focus at any time!
- Don’t be too hard on yourself. Humans get distracted and it’s nothing to be ashamed of. Analyze those moments and learn what you could do differently next time.
- Go to the library! Ready magazines! Expose yourself to ideas that haven’t been curated for you based on past preferences or current trends.
- What can you do to lower the barriers to start working? Identify your most important task each day so you have a clear objective.
- Don’t get discouraged. If you’ve done it before, you can do it again.
Whether it succeeds or fails, each project you launch is a stepping stone towards your next idea. Don’t bank so much on the success of one project that you don’t move on to the next one.
Do common things uncommonly well to set yourself apart.
Don’t force every idea to become a cash cow; leave some art just for yourself. You might still make money off of it, but don’t create it for that cause. Focus on the purity of the craft and let other endeavors (artistic or not) pay the bills.
Time spent perfecting your craft is not time wasted, and neither is time spent earning a living. Find the balance and appreciate both pursuits.
QUESTIONS
How to be productive with ADHD:
- Give grace. Some seasons are more challenging than others. Do your best and remember it will eventually get easier.
- Have a daily accountability partner. It might help to pick someone outside of your family and maybe put some consequences on the line for extra motivation. For example, if you miss your deadline, you have to pay your partner $20.
- Assign yourself a daily MIT: Most Important Task. Write it down before the next workday so you know your highest priority as soon as you wake up.
- Find your ideal work pattern. Do you like to take care of the hardest task first, or do you gain momentum by starting with easier items?
- Consider working alongside another person to improve your focus.
- Be realistic about how much you can get done in a day.
- Have cues/habits to teach your brain it’s time to work. Turn on specific music, wear your favorite hoodie, or drink something from a special mug every day when you’re ready to buckle down.
- Try the Pomodoro method or other time management techniques. Set small goals for yourself, like seeing how much you can get done in ten minutes.
- Don’t let urgent things (like text messages) distract you from important things (like your MIT or your relationships).
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