Automating Your ADHD Life Part 1 (Rebroadcast)

0:00Welcome to Hacking Your ADHD, I'm your host, William Curb, and I have ADHD. On this podcast, I dig into the tools, tactics, and best practices to help you work with your ADHD brain. One of the paradoxes of ADHD is how much work we can get done when we're interested in something, but then how little we get done when something is boring. Unfortunately, in life, there are a lot of things that are going to bore us, and this becomes especially true with those boring tasks we have to do over and over again.

0:31This is where automation can come in. Automation is simply something that accomplishes a task for us without our intervention. Whether we know it or not, all of us use some sort of automation in our lives already. We often don't think of simple things like setting an alarm as an automated process, but it's a way we can externalize a reminder that will go off with no other input from us. Today, we're gonna take a look at how automation can be helpful with ADHD, some of the ways that we can take advantage of automations, and then go into some specific things we can look at for automating.

1:02And there was actually a lot to cover here, so I'll be going into even more automations next week. Before we get started, one important thing I want to make sure to emphasize is that I'm going to talk about a lot of different ways that we can set up automations in our lives. But for the love of God, don't try and implement them all at once. If, after listening to this episode, automation is something that sounds like something you'd like to pursue, pick a couple to start out with and see how they work for you.

1:27I know with ADHD, we can get gung ho on things real quick, and trying to do too much at once is just a recipe to get overwhelmed and then do nothing. I think automation can have a lot of value, but setting it up right can take a lot of time and effort. So start small and figure out what will work best for you. With that said, I'll be linking to as much of this stuff as I can, so if you wanna check anything out I mention in this episode, be sure to go check them out at HackingYourADHD.com/automation.

1:54All right, keep on listening to find out some of the best ways to get tasks to complete themselves for you Automation is about taking away choices. This might seem counterintuitive, but hang with me for a second. When we're setting up an automation, we're letting our past selves dictate what will happen in the future because we're setting up a system that is going to happen automatically without input from our future self. The process of an automation is making it so that one thing happens, something else is triggered.

2:28For example, at my old house, we had a laundry room in the basement, and being forgetful folk, we'd forget to turn the light off when we left the room. Now, I didn't love walking down to the basement every evening to turn off the light at the end of the day. So I changed the light switch to be motion sensor. So then when we walked into the laundry room, it would turn the light on for about 15 minutes, as long as there was some movement, and then automatically it would shut the light off.

2:51No more schlepping myself down the stairs to turn the light off. And that's the point of automation. It's to save you on those tasks that you otherwise wouldn't want to do. But for ADHD, it also has some added benefits because there are times, you know, we might forget a thing or two. So with that example of the laundry room light, if I just didn't forget to turn off the light when I was leaving that room, there would have been no issue. But in that particular instance, there wasn't a good way to make sure that I had a reminder to turn that light off.

3:20Sure, I could put up a sign, but that's not a good guarantee that I'm actually gonna notice it. With the automation, it takes that aspect of human error out of my hands. It doesn't matter if I forget or not. It's just gonna happen anyways. And of course, automation can also help get us through some really boring stuff as well. One thing I really hate doing is filling out web forms. It's the same thing every time. Sure, it only takes half a minute to fill out my name and address, but I also have to double-check to make sure I didn't type William Crub instead of William Curb.

3:49So I use an extension with my browser that automatically fills in all that form nonsense when I click a button. It might not save me a ton of time, but it does save some of my executive functions for more important things When we're thinking about trying to automate a process, there are a few things that we should think about first. So automation is about making our life easier, but sometimes automation isn't the right answer. I know, that's a strong way to start off an episode about automation, but what I'm trying to say here is that before we even go about the process of automating something, we want to try and think about things in a few different ways first.

4:23So the first thing we want to think about is how we can systemize it, and this is basically trying to think about how we can make the process easier. Looking at what are the steps involved, and how could we make those steps easier? And are those steps in a logical order? And then this brings us into our next model of thinking, which is the process of minimizing. Are there steps we can eliminate, or do we even need to do this thing in the first place?

4:46Because sometimes we're doing things just because that's how we've been doing them, and on further reflection, realizing that, hey, it doesn't really do anything for me. And we want to start with these two frameworks because we want to make the automation process as easy as possible. To do that, we need to know the steps involved, and we need to remove unnecessary steps. All right, let's take this out of the hypothetical and into something a little bit more tangible.

5:09One place I've worked on a little bit of automation magic is in creating new episodes for the show, and specifically while I'm writing them. So let's say I'm sitting down to write a new episode. I already know that there are gonna be a few steps that I would take for every episode. So first of all, I currently do all my writing in a program called Notion, and in it I have a database of all my possible topics. So when I'm creating a new episode, there are a few files that I put together because I've got my pre-writing, and then I've got the actual script, and then I also have a section for my introduction and outro.

5:39And while that's just three files for this, I've actually created an automated process by building a template for new episodes. So instead of just having a new blank file when I have a new idea, when I click the Create New Episode button, it creates a file with all those documents ready to go. It has my pre-writing document that pops up with a couple of prompts, and then it has my script document, and that's separated into three sections since most of my episodes end up in three parts.

6:03And then it has a file with the intro and outro with, you know, all the stuff I normally say already written down. And I think it's pretty clear how that can save me some time. But this kind of system also has a ton of advantages for my ADHD brain because I'm not gonna get distracted in the middle of putting this together, and I'm not gonna forget a step of it. Everything just pops into place soon as I click New Episode. And this also helps fight off with the I don't wanna's because when something just automatically happens, there's not a lot of room to argue with it.

6:31And it also reduces that decision fatigue. If I already made the decision earlier in the day or maybe even earlier in the week or month, then that's not something I have to worry about now. So the important part about automation is that they are going to make things happen automatically. And so we've got all kinds of areas that we can use automations, like our finances, diet, our home, shopping, daily planning, fitness, social life, in our businesses, and with accountability.

7:11I'll try and touch on all of those ideas, although not all of them in this episode. But what I actually wanna start off with is that last one there, accountability, because I think that might be one of the most useful ways that we can use automations. Because while automations might be great at doing things for us, I think they're even more powerful when they get us to do things. So let's think about how we could get something to make us do something else.

7:34Our easiest example comes just simply from alarms and reminders. And I know, that hardly feels like an automation, but that's kind of because we're so used to them already, and they clearly fit my definition of something that just automatically happens in the future. If I want to wake up by a certain time, I set an alarm, and it automatically goes off in the morning. And in fact, if I have a regular time I want to get up by, I can set my alarm to be reoccurring.

8:00No need to set it every night. That's an automation. And these automations have gotten easier and easier with digital assistants. I can easily add items to my to-do list by asking Siri to add something. And again, this may not feel like an automation, but just think about all the steps I'm removing by just saying, "Siri, remind me to change my laundry in an hour." So I cut out opening any apps, and since I wear an Apple Watch, I don't even have to take my phone out of my pocket.

8:25The reminder gets added to my to-do list, and I also get the reminder when I ask for it. But let's think bigger. What if I really wanted to get out of bed on time? Sure, I could set multiple alarms. But what if I wanted to create some stakes? You know, some consequences for sleeping in. YouTuber and blogger Thomas Frank had an amazing idea for this in which he used a service called Buffer, which you can use to automate your social media posts, and he had his set to automatically post a tweet fifteen minutes after his alarm went off that said, "It's six-ten, and I'm not up because I'm lazy.

9:02Reply to this for five dollars via PayPal, limit five, assuming my alarm didn't malfunction Now, I'm not gonna go into the language of lazy, but having this tweet scheduled meant he had to get out of bed every day to go and cancel it from his computer. And I gotta say, that's quite the motivation to get yourself out of bed. Not only would he be embarrassed about the tweet going out, but he'd likely be out $25. And of course, he did have the wiggle room of an alarm malfunction, but he also had the knowledge that if he ever lied about it, he knew the system would be broken and unusable.

9:32And since he liked the system, that was a pretty good motivation not to lie. And I know when I heard about this system, I knew it would have some flaws for myself, like me waking up and forgetting to cancel the tweet. But I still think we can take away some ideas from this, because the idea here is just to create some external accountability automatically. Let's say you had a habit of working late, so you decided to work with your accountability w- group on making sure that you got home on time.

9:57Using some smart home automations, we could create a system where your house sent a message to your accountability group whenever you got home. Or maybe I really want to start implementing my weekly review system. Sure, it would be great if I could just get myself to do it. But what if I had a scheduled text to go out to my accountability team if I hadn't completed my review in time? Or better yet, have it send a link to a file, and if I haven't done my review in time, the file will be blank.

10:21And to be clear here, this isn't about trying to shame myself into doing something. Sure, not hitting the task might be embarrassing, but this is something that I supposedly want to do. And usually my problem of not doing it has nothing to do with my ability to do it. It's more about the fact that sometimes it feels like there are no real consequences to not doing something. And with these interventions, the consequences are fairly mild. It's just letting my accountability group know if I did or didn't do something I said I wanted to do.

10:52And then if I keep not doing the thing, then that's something that needs to be addressed, because it probably means there's something more there. The advantage of a system like this is it takes the wiggle room out of your hands. I can't pretend like I did what I said I was going to do. For it to trigger, I actually have to have gotten to my house or sent the file. The point here is that this takes a lot of human error out of the system. It's just about setting up a system that helps me do the things I want to be doing and creating some consequences if I don't do those things.

11:22And this is all going to depend on what you're comfortable with. If you have no negative feelings with letting people know you didn't do what you said you'd do, then that's not going to be a good system for you. And on the other hand, if you get so much anxiety from the thought of missing your check-in that you obsess over it, that's also going to be a problem. It's all about balance here and trying to set up the system to work with you and not something that's just going to create more problems for you down the line.

11:59All right, with that in mind of how some of these ideas could be implemented to help, let's take a look at some of the specific ways we can use automations in our life. One place I've been looking at recently to implement more ideas on how to… is how to do more home automations to help with some of my ADHD tendencies. Over the last few years, there have been more and more innovations of the field of smart homes, and I think there are a lot of places that we could benefit from this.

12:21Of course, it should also be noted that there are definitely some privacy concerns involved with home automations. Be sure to research the company you're planning to use and see what you might be able to do to mitigate some of these concerns. All right, so let's dive into these home automations. Earlier, I had an example of your home sending you a text when you arrived, but that doesn't address the problem of cueing yourself to leave on time. One of our problems with ADHD can be really hard to break us out of what we're focused on, and that notification on our phone might not do the trick.

12:50Well, how about some smart lights that flash or change color when it's time to get ready to go? Or more ideally, flash once when it's fifteen minutes before you have to go, and then flash again when it's time for you to pack up. It's always good to give yourself a little heads-up for these transitions. Or if you're still thinking about ways you might be able to use your accountability group, let's say you have a problem with snacks. Well, if you store them all in a single cabinet and install a sensor that will text your team every time the cabinet is opened, that might be helpful.

13:15And this idea could also be used for something like if you have kids and are worried about them getting into something that they aren't supposed to. We also have a ton of home automation options for things that can help with things we might forget, like locking the doors, turning off lights, closing the garage, or even getting alerts when your laundry is done. I mentioned lighting a bit earlier, and one of the things I've been thinking about investing in recently is a hue lighting system.

13:39With these smart lights, I could automatically have the brightness adjust depending on the time of day. So with this, I could have my house lights start dimming in the evening when I need to start getting ready for bed, and I could even have them reduce the amount of blue light they are putting out, which would also help me sleep better. And on that same idea of getting ready for bed, one of the things that really helps me sleep is having the house at the right temperature.

14:00Too hot and I just can't stay asleep for very long. I wake up and toss and turn, and this means that I have to have the thermostat adjusted to the right temperature well before bedtime so that my bedroom isn't too hot. Normally, I just have a reminder on my phone to check what the thermostat is set at. But with automations, I can just set it and forget it and have the house at an ideal temperature for me to fall asleep once bedtime rolls around. And then on the other side of the sleep cycle, you could also have your smart lights slowly turn on in the morning to give you a gr-- a more gradual wake-up.

14:30And with a smart speaker, you could have it read your daily schedule while you're brushing your teeth. You could have music automatically play when you get home. I'm gonna be honest here. I saw this on a ton of lists, but this sounds like an absolute nightmare to me. I just pictured myself walking in and yelling at Alexa to turn the thing off so that I could concentrate on getting in the door, and getting the dogs to stop barking, and getting the kids' shoes off.

14:53So maybe take that one with a grain of salt. But to me, it just seems like a sensory overload at a really bad time. We can take that same idea of having things automatically happen when we walk in to maybe have some of the house lights turn on or have our office get ready for us as we walk in. And there are also things like a Roomba, which can automatically vacuum your house for you. And while a Roomba isn't perfect, it is a way to reduce some of those boring tasks.

15:18All right. I hope this got your brain juices flowing about what's possible with automation. And of course, I promised you a lot more, so I'll be back next week with even more ways that we can use automations with our ADHD. Thanks for sticking with me all the way to the end. Before you go, though, let's do a quick rundown of today's top tips. One, automation is a way for us to front-load our work so that we can save time in the future. It can be helpful for ADHD because it can reduce our decision fatigue, reduce the chance of us forgetting a step, and it just saves us time.

15:54Two, when we're thinking about automating a process, the first thing we need to think about are the ways that we can systemize the task, and then if we can reduce the number of steps it takes. By systematizing and minimizing first, we make the automation process easier, and sometimes we find out we don't actually need to automate something because we found a better way of doing the task. Three, we can use automation to help with accountability by setting up automations that will let our teammates know when we have or haven't done what we said we were going to do.

16:22This can be especially helpful because it takes the reporting process out of our hands. Four, there are a ton of things we can do around our house to automate our everyday tasks that'll make our lives easier, from automatically locking doors at night, to getting notifications that we left the garage door open, to having a smart speaker read out our daily schedule. Our biggest limitation is just usually what we think is possible. So go out and explore some options.

16:46And a bonus tip here that's not really a tip, I just want to reiterate something that I said at the top of the show, which is take this slowly. There are a ton of ways we can add automations into our lives, but the surest way of doing none of them is trying to do all of them at once. I know I got excited about a lot of the possibilities I saw while researching the show, and I've been tempted to really dive in. So I'm also going to try and take this advice to heart.

17:10I'm going to try to start off with playing with some smart lights and seeing what I can do with them in my office. Also, I'd like to give a shout-out to the YouTube channel Smart Home Solver, where I got a ton of ideas for this episode. So if you want to see a bunch more ways to use automations, go check out his channels. And links will be in the show notes at hackingyouradhd.com/automation. That's it. Thanks for listening. I'd love to hear what you thought of this episode.

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17:58Just go to hackingyouradhd.com/patreon. That's hackingyouradhd.com/P-A-T-R-E-O-N. And now for your moment of dad. What do you call a number that won't sit still? A Roman numeral.