Back in a corporate environment, need guidance.

19 Comments

1. Margo MaldonadoJune 16,2024 at 1:51PM UTC

   First. Create a time when you read your email. Twice, three times a day. Take care of easy issue immediately. Create a list of what will take time. I sort by “from” first. It’s easier to delete in mass. Create rules for repeat emails like notifications.

   Create a schedule. Weekly, Monthly and daily use your calendar. Create an email response stating you are in a meeting and will return message ASAP. You are in charge. Letting emails run you is stressful. You create your own reality.

2. AnonymousJune 16,2024 at 3:23PM UTC

   I do the following:

   1. A quick 5 minutes of stretching at the top of the hour. I have a timer on my smart watch.

   2. 2x a day I take 15 minutes to walk outside in the sunshine. I do deep breathing while I walk.

   3. I keep a pad of paper next to me always and have trained myself to keep a running list of outstanding items and things to do.

   I utilize the calendar option in Outlook to flag things so it's easy to come back to.

   I am constantly checking things off my list as well as adding to it.

   I play soft meditation music in the background abd light aromatherapy candles to help my stress.

   I take lunch on my patio for sunshine and fresh air. To give my lunch more ease, I prep the night before.

   Finally I create rituals to structure my selfcare. It helps my think more clearly.

   I too need structure and routine to my day so I don't get overwhelmed. After many years of trial and error I know what works for me so I can be as productive and stress-free as possible.

3. AnonymousJune 16,2024 at 5:05PM UTC

   Yes, routines and structure are so important to keeping me balanced and things under control. My anxiety flares if I'm not structured.

   My productivity and quality of work is much higher if I maintain my balance. Working from home helps too but on the days I go into work I make little adjustments like noise canceling headphones etc. But I can be just as productive.

4. Susan KuhnJune 16,2024 at 4:31PM UTC

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5. Lynn KlinkmanJune 16,2024 at 4:59PM UTC

   I have the same issues. No ADD but so much going on, trying to keep track, follow up, etc. I was writing it down but then there was too much to search through if i had to look for something. Then I learned how to use OneNote. I watched lessons on the basics on YouTube. I made a weekly template. It's manual to put in my calendar, but doing that reminds me of what is coming up. I have sections for projects, notes, daily stuff, and a section for following week followups, so I remember to put them on the next week page. It's working! I can look back 3 weeks with a click and refer to something and then just click back. And lately I can't remember anything so it helps so much. It takes a bit to learn it and set up a page that works for you but in the end it's so much better than a notebook. Each Friday I create my page, copy the template and copy in anything for the next week. Takes me about 30 minutes. But it's time well spent for me. And I have tweaked my template over time as I've learned more about it, and how having different tables works for me. I think it has way more capability than I'm using as I only watched one or two different lessons on how to get started. It helps me a lot. ??

6. AnonymousJune 17,2024 at 3:39AM UTC

   Set up rules for every type of email and sort like crazy. At my org, everyone copies everyone and the politics in place say that you have to respond, so one informational email equals 27 additional useless emails. It is so backward, but I will never change it. They measure engagement by how much we email. No wonder we are always behind on projects! I refuse to play that game and it has cost me but I’ve told my boss every time it comes up that if I am writing or in meetings, I am focused on the task at hand and reply to important emails in between. They do not like it but it is reasonable. Every article online talks about what a time waste email is. I also use the thumbs-up emoji a to acknowledge benign emails. They think I am weird but too bad.

7. AnonymousJune 17,2024 at 12:00PM UTC

   Ughh, I hate those make-work policies like that. So useless and time consuming.

8. AnonymousJune 17,2024 at 11:59AM UTC

   My solution is to set specific times to check email. For me it was in the morning, right before lunch and in mid-afternoon. I also did a quick check before I actually left for the evening. Then, I set a time on my calendar (15 minutes) for email. I checked my email and dealt with anything I needed to during that 15 minutes. Otherwise, I silenced email notifications. The only exception was when I was working on a project that was urgent. Then, I set a rule so that email thread would notify me. The reason I did this was because every, single email notification was a disruption and I did not really care that Fred was going on vacation for a week and all those silly emails of corporate life.

9. Christi LopezJune 17,2024 at 12:20PM UTC

   As others have suggested, the first 30 minutes of my day is blocked on my calendar for sorting through my email and reviewing my project schedule. I also block time on my calendar for my projects (usually in 2-hour blocks). I work on projects for my office, the wider department, and then other departments within my organization. I color-code each project so when I glance at my calendar, I can see who is taking up most of my time.

   I use Microsoft To Do for my projects, which really helps. Not only can I log each step I need to take and check things off as I complete them, but I also keep a running timeline of all communication related to the project in the notes section. An added bonus is I can just PDF my list at the end of the week and email it to my director so she knows what I'm working on.

10. Miranda McdadeJune 17,2024 at 5:28PM UTC

    I see a lot of people recommending a scheduled block(s) of time in the day to handle your correspondence. My additional advice is to handle each thing once and ideally completely. As an ADHD person it's tempting to skip to the next email that you have a ready answer for, or is part of a project you're more excited about, and then you wind up losing track of the less fun or urgent correspondence. You can sort things into an EOD or EOW folder or different operational folders, and tackle it at a later scheduled block if that makes sense for your work. But cherry picking your correspondence will result in lost threads and avoiding the things you're least comfortable with.

11. Me!June 17,2024 at 8:13PM UTC

    These tools were created to make work easier. Regardless of if this is actually the case, I like to think of these system e-mail, teams etc, as tools. I control them rather than being a slave to them. Not every message requires a response and in some cases it’s better not to respond right away. Perhaps the sender will figure it out. I find setting up conversations in outlook to be helpful (all associated messages linked together), you can simply jump to the last one and read through. Also, set up rules in outlook to auto filter those messages you don’t need or are not helpful. Send them straight to trash, designated folder or where appropriate, mark them read if possible. Remember that everyone feels overwhelmed, you are not alone.

12. AnonymousJune 17,2024 at 11:43PM UTC

    Reconsider forgoing your medication while you're in transition. As someone who also struggles with attention issues (and two kids with the same issues), I get where you're coming from. Once you get used to the new tools and workflows, you can always reconsider. Change is hard. Don't make it harder on yourself than you need to.

13. Karen P. StoreyJune 18,2024 at 7:56PM UTC

    Great works are performed not by strength but by

    perseverance! YOU CAN DO IT. Take one step at a time.

    Life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles. Remember,

    one step at a time!

14. GirlBossanova934974June 19,2024 at 12:59PM UTC

    As others have pointed out, there are tried and proven methods of managing an INBOX. The recommendations already listed are very good! Block out 1-2 times per day to go through your emails. I have used the THREE tier method to manage my INBOX. Box A is emails that have to be acted upon right away. Box B is emails that can be acted upon in the next 12-48 hours and Box C are emails that can be filed or just plain deleted. Over the years, I have found Box C to be getting bigger and bigger as employees continue to CC THE WORLD on their basic communications. LESS is better when it comes to CC.............If you create 3 subdirectories and follow this method, things will become far less overwhelming very shortly. And keep the INBOX clean.....That way, you don't have to worry about missing anything important.

15. AnonymousJune 19,2024 at 4:33PM UTC

    Yes, when you come in to work in the morning (virtually of course) spend the first hour organizing the emails you have gotten. Take the ones from the least recent to most recent and put priority levels on things that are not pressing. You can also cut and past them into your calendar as todo's or into a todo list to follow up on later. At the end of the day go back to that list and re-look at it again to add to your calendar for tomorrow anything that did not get done today. Midday just keep the flow going on anything new that comes in. Not knowing what kind of work that you do it's hard to give more depth about how to disposition those items but if you need interactions or follow up meetings with others to complete any tasks therein, add those to the calendar as well. Put a few spots on your calendar each week for planning and follow up not to be interrupted by others.

16. AnonymousJune 19,2024 at 6:27PM UTC

    I am the original poster. Thanks for the advice. For those who mentioned me stopping medication, it was actually years ago that I stopped and my comment was basically been there, done that, as far as medication goes.

    I do have a question though, about the emails. Do you think it's good to move emails from your inbox into separate folders that are not time-related but rather subject-related? I have never been too good with filing and categorizing in general and I'm afraid that trying to move things will create a disaster. I have heard that ADD people do not do well with files because they like everything laid out in front of them and not hidden.

17. Christi LopezJune 20,2024 at 12:22PM UTC

    The only unread emails I move out of my inbox are newsletters or webinars to review when I have a break (and those all get assigned categories). If I don't see something, it ceases to exist, so filing things away for later never really works for me. Having them in my inbox is also motivation to deal with them quickly. I dislike having more than 10 items to deal with in my inbox at a time.

18. Miranda McdadeJune 20,2024 at 6:24PM UTC

    It depends a little. I do fine with things that are readily sorted by order of importance. Deadlines or actionability for instance. If things are just sorted by subject I'm liable to hyperfocus on a subject I enjoy or feel competent in, which can become self fulfilling prophecy.

19. AnonymousJune 27,2024 at 1:29PM UTC

    I'm ADHD - diagnosed at 40 and am now 51. I was on meds for a while. Then went off for a few years (the specific med I was on combined with work stress was creating rather unpleasant side effects). Decided after a few years to go back to meds and worked with my provider on finding what worked for me and continue to tweak.

    Now all that said, if you aren't will to try meds again what other resources have you tried? Are you looking at resources specifically geared towards the neurodiverse population?

    I receive so many emails daily that if it weren't for Teams, I'd probably totally drown. I tell people, if you send me something and you want a response, please message me on Teams giving me a heads up. I also spend time at the beginning or end of the day reviewing email to make sure nothing important was lost. I actually block off time on my calendar to focus on this. Sunday nights, I will prepare for the week ahead by sitting down at my computer, seeing what I have coming up and catching up on email. I've made it a habit. I color code my outlook calendar. I have many folders in Outlook that I move messages to after I have handled them (if I need to hang on to for future reference). I used to be a notebook person...constantly taking notes...but they were a jumbled mess with no rhyme or reason. I upgraded to a Rembarkable2 a year and a half ago and that has been wonderful in keeping my notes organized.

    While I haven't gone this route, I know there are ADHD coaches. You may want to consider that.