Clients may struggle with time management, organizational, and other executive functioning skills due to depression, anxiety, fatigue, chronic pain, or attentional issues. Tasks may become overwhelming, leading to avoidance. These strategies can be used with older children, teens, and adults to improve performance at home.
Break tasks down: Do a part of a task instead of doing it all at once. For example, instead of cleaning the whole closet, pick one shelf or category to organize at a time.
Time it: Estimate how long a task will take and then actually time it to check for accuracy. Create a list of the estimated and actual times and continue to build the list over time. We often overestimate the time it takes to do a task, especially ones we don’t prefer.
Task integration: Guide client to find where tasks will fit into their daily routine, now that they understand how long a task actually takes.
Follow the energy: Not every day can be our most productive. Complete tasks according to energy and motivation levels, using effort and time needed as a guide, based on the task list.
Time of day: Align tasks for when cognitive and physical skills are most ready for action. Arrange schedule to maximize processing and physical demands. For example, a morning person may want to get the most difficult tasks done first thing.
Prioritize: Create a daily to do list and organize into 2 columns. Column 1: “must do today” and column 2: “will do if I have time”. Writing improves our ability to recall information and organizing to dos into achievable goals by priority decreases overwhelm.
Alternative for pediatric clients: Create a daily visual schedule that the client helps to create to promote independence and decrease surprises that may disrupt routine.
Add auditory components: Add upbeat or energizing components to mundane tasks, like some fun music or an interesting podcast.
Use timers:Set a timer (visual timers can be beneficial for children) for 20-60 minutes of work with a 5- or 10-minute break (or other decided upon work/break schedule). Repeat as needed to provide work parameters and improve productivity.
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