Task Management Software For ADHD
There are a lot of claims about how useful software like Asana and Monday.com are for people who are neurodivergent, but there is very little information out there about how to implement this use or train people to use it for this.
Following a year-long trial using Asana, we’ve developed a pretty good knowledge of how it can be used to support people with ADHD in the workplace.
As we start to work with other organisations to build similar support systems, and to avoid having to write a book on how it can be used, here are just the 5 aspects of ADHD where I have found that Asana can help.
In an ideal world all of the structures around us would bend to accommodate our needs, but sometimes that can’t happen as quickly as we would like, and that is the context I am writing about.
Prioritisation
It is very common that ADHDers do not prioritise well, our executive functioning isn’t great, and that’s the set of skills that covers things like prioritisation.
If I have a to-do list infront of me, my brain instinctively imagines everything as urgent. Everything is either happening at this moment, or not at all.
This means I can get quite overwhelmed when there’s a lot of tasks to do, and I have to spend a lot of time consciously managing those tasks into some kind of prioritised order with a set process.
This is time I don’t really have to spare.
This is the main use case for Asana for me, because it’s the main thing that makes my work challenging.
There’s a group of features that help with prioritisation such as urgency drop-downs, but there’s also simpler things. When we set up a piece of work in Asana, we create a task that defines the window in which that work needs to be done. Then each sub-task within that process gets assigned to a certain day. For example, if I need to write a fundraising bid, then there is a task for the entire bid, and a series of subtasks for the various drafts and information gathering.
If I prioritise badly then I can quickly and easily see the window I have to get something done and some tolerances on when I can delay something until.
You can also use the timeline view to make future elements of a task dependent on previous ones, so I can always have a visual on the road to completion and immovable deadlines. If I delay something until tomorrow in my head, I don’t always have a good grasp on the implications of this.
If I need to delay something in Asana, then I can quickly see what is appropriate. This is obviously just timeline planning, but I think people often underestimate that this might need to happen on a small-scale because our brains are not always doing this instinctively.
My approach to building a system in Asana is a bit like building a neurotypical brain, which can do the things I don’t do effectively.
Time unaware
I don’t always notice the passage of time particularly well. This happens to a lot of people, but it’s a common trait seen in ADHD people.
This means I don’t often plan my time well, I don’t have a good understanding of how long tasks are going to take me.
The useful thing about Asana is that it can store template tasks, so if there’s a process you do quite often then you can save this series of actions as a template. For example, I work mainly with fundraising and if I am writing a bid then I normally go through the same drafting process to prepare the application.
I have a bid writing template saved in Asana, which I can deploy very quickly and I can save in there the time it takes me to do each element of the task. It takes some set up, I had to actively record some of the timings, but it’s incredibly useful.
In the list view it will also add up that column to calculate how many minutes of work I have assigned to myself on any one day. This means I have a good gauge of if I am at capacity or not, and I don’t have to do time planning myself.
Again, it is functioning as a neurotypical brain, in the way my brian does not.
Working with a support worker
I have a support worker that I work with about two days per week who supports me with my ADHD.
Asana is the main way we keep track of everything that needs to be done, and as it is a collaborative software, she can control a lot of the information in there for me.
It is relatively common that neurodiverse people work with part-time support workers, though some people do have support full-time. This means support workers are going to be working on other jobs too, and therefore may need a flexible arrangement to time.
When you don’t have a lot of time with someone, it is not hugely useful for me to spend all of it in meetings updating each other.
Asana allows us to see where each other is at with certain tasks, so we don’t have to spend all that time on updates.
It means my support worker can see if I am behind on tasks in a certain week, and then she can be more active and step in to support or identify where I might be encountering a barrier in order to help me solve it.
It’s a bit like giving a support worker a route in to see your brain, and what’s happening.
Memory
I have a relatively bad short-term memory, I don’t necessarily pay attention to things in a way that makes them stick.
I have templates for everything in Asana, I actually use their “forms” features to structure meetings a lot of the time. I have a form I use when talking to prospective new clients, to make sure I don’t forget to ask for any of the information I need.
For my weekly regular meetings, I have an Agenda built in Asana and if I have a brief thought about something I can quickly throw it in the description of that agenda item so I don’t have to remember it.
The key here for me is to have quickly and easily accessible places where I can externalise information before I forget it. It’s useful to have all of this in one system, that I can also use on my phone, so I am not having to remember which system a certain type of information is in.
This takes some design and set up, to map where you need to retain information, but Asana can function as memory for you.
Accessible process retention
We have designed a lot of my work to be structured in such a way that it works for my brain.
When I am collaborating with new people this can often be a bit confusing, and I have to explain processes.
But actually Asana can cut down on some of this emotional labour I have to do. Task templates define how something is going to work, I don’t have to spend as much time explaining how things need to be done for me to be effective, because the ideal templates are always there.
I don’t lose these accessible processes because I don’t have the energy to advocate, or I’ve forgotten what is useful for my own access.
Forgetting my own access is strangely common - with external pressures I often think I can do something in a different way that would meet another person’s needs but Asana is a good reminder of how I need that process to be laid out because it structures it for me.
This is less about Asana functioning as a neurotypical brain, and more about it functioning as an ally and advocate for me to do my work better.