New Year’s Resolutions for Those with ADHD

New Year’s Resolutions are all about making a commitment to improving our lives and ourselves.  Losing weight and exercising more remain the top two resolutions made by US adults, and those are fine self-improvement goals.  However, if you look at the trends for Americans who are increasingly overweight and in danger of becoming diabetics, it takes more than just a lofty promise to ourselves on New Year’s Eve to accomplish a goal.  It takes a plan.

Not Just a Promise… A Plan!

For the more than 5 million Americans with ADHD, a list of resolutions may include plans to become more organized, procrastinate less, channel your excess energy, and reconnect with friends and loved ones.  A top 10 list of New Year’s Resolutions may include:

1.      Get Organized with Finances – Use proven organizational methods

            Start by getting rid of and recycling paper clutter, including junk mail, old newspapers and magazines.  Then take your bills and place the bill with the furthest due date on the bottom of the pile.  Write the date due and the amount due on the envelope (if you saved it) or on the visible portion of the top of the bill.  Continue with your stack until you have the bills that are due the soonest, or possibly any that are past due.  From this stack build a spreadsheet or construct a document with 5 columns – Creditor’s Name, Amount Due, Date Due, Date Paid, and Amount Paid.  If you pay bills from multiple accounts you should add a column for From Account.  Many affordable       accounting software programs are available to help you stay organized from month-to-month, but the first step is always reducing that overwhelming pile into a manageable stack and developing a working list.  Some programs  even have payment reminders that could be programmed to be sent to your cell phone to help to make sure that a due date does not pass.  As for going entirely paperless for a bill paying system, we do not recommend doing so if    you have ADHD, as having a tangible reminder in the form of a piece of paper is to your benefit.

To learn more about ADHD treatments, therapies, and tips, visit www.portraithealthcenters.com.  To schedule an appointment at Portrait Health Centers, call (847) 868-3435 or simply click below:

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