Lesson 04 · 11 min
One Place for Everything You Have to Track
Six reminders in six apps is the same as none. This lesson picks one and makes it boring.
Listen first
Listen first: two minutes on Sunday
Spoken introduction · read aloud in your browser
There's the school portal, a group chat, a note from a teacher, a photo of the whiteboard and something you told yourself you'd remember.
That's five systems. You need one, and you need to look at it at the same moment every day.
The principle
One list, one look, same time
The problem with reminders is not setting them. It's that checking is itself something you have to remember to do.
So attach the check to something that already happens — getting into bed, waiting for the bus, plugging your phone in.
Two minutes, every day, at the same anchor. That's the whole system, and it beats every planner you'll be given.
Anchor it
When I plug my phone in, I look at the list.
Course tool · Lesson 04
The Two-Minute Week Look
Not planning. Just looking, so nothing arrives as a surprise on Thursday.
Quick win · 3 min
Photograph the board
If a teacher writes something on the board, photograph it. Then — this is the part that matters — type the deadline into your one list before you leave the room. The photo alone is where deadlines go to disappear.
Notice
Where does school information reach you?
All of these need to end up in the same single place.
Research says
Supports at school are part of the guidance
NICE guidance recommends environmental and educational supports for young people with ADHD, alongside any other treatment. Asking for a written copy of instructions is a legitimate support, not special treatment.
NICE (2018, updated). ADHD: diagnosis and management (NG87).
Reframe
I should be able to keep this in my head.
Nobody can. Everyone else is just writing it down.
Use an ADHDier tool
The Three-Alarm System
Alarms that mean something specific, not background noise.
Open the toolKeep this
Three things to take.
- 01One list, checked at one anchored moment.
- 02Convert every photo and message into that list immediately.
- 03Written instructions are a reasonable thing to ask for.