Managing ADHD goes beyond just taking your medicine every day. Yes, your medications are important; missing a dose can have negative consequences. Help yourself remember to take your medicine — set an alarm, or use a daily pill holder so you can see quickly and easily whether or not you’ve taken your medicine. If your medicine has side effects that seem worse than the condition they are supposed to help, talk to your doctor about a change.
There are other changes you can make to your life to help make your ADHD more manageable.
- Get organized. It isn’t easy to do — you’ll have to get used to making lists and trying to complete them. You can use a daily planner for your to-do list, and set your watch or alarm clock to help you remember important appointments and activities. Leave notes for yourself if that’s what it takes. Don’t go crazy with that daily task list — Rome wasn’t built in a day, and you certainly can’t do a week worth of tasks in one day.
- Minimize distractions. This one can be a hard one. Be realistic about what your distractions are — music, television, instant messaging — and try to cut them back. Move to another location if the area you are working in is too loud. Take yourself off the internet if web browsing is your biggest distraction. Ask others to help reduce your distractions by holding conversations elsewhere or relocating your desk.
- Control impulses. Take the time to count to ten before you speak or act — if you have a problem with speaking or doing things on impulse that you later regret.
- Channel that excess energy constructively. If you have more nervous energy than you know what to do with, it needs to find an outlet. Take up a hobby or sport, or find some other way to release extra energy.
- Ask for help. Your doctor or other health care professionals may have suggestions to help you manage your ADHD.