How to: Todoist

This book could be considered a romance novel replacement for my ADHD brain:

A neurotypical husband who unconditionally loves and supports his ADHD wife while she does all the infuriating ADHD stuff. Swoon. 

Unfortunately, a fantasy for me is a nightmare for many a neurotypical partner. My friend, who shall remain anonymous, picked up this book for ideas to manage life with her ADHD partner. She really didn't like the book in large part because it outlines strategies for how to take care of an "adult child". It's daunting for women, who usually turn-out to be the primary caretakers of children, to think about taking care of a spouse who won't grow-up and move-out. But, as an "adult child" myself, I'd argue that what we ADHDers bring to the relationship in-terms of creativity and fun makes us worth the added frustrations. Right? Right...Paul?

The book is written by a neurotypical husband* and ADHD wife.  The * is that this husband was a teen parent (with a former partner) and is now out of the intensive parenting season. As such, I would argue that he is much better equipped for some of the extra relationship challenges that come from ADHD. My grandmother turned 20 eight days before my dad was born; there wasn't anything she couldn't handle. In fact, I'm looking for a professional grandma right now as we speak. But I digress...

I would say the general aim of the book is to build empathy for neurotypical partners around the struggles their ADHDers face. If you're married to a neurotypical techie man, like me, then instead of having him read this book you can just show him your to-do list. When Paul saw my monstrosity of a to-do list while transferring over my Evernotes to Apple notes he said, "It made me really sad for you."  

One summer day we employed the ole "kids play" and "parents talk" strategy at the Jewish Children's Museum to get my Todoist app set-up. Todoist - the actual topic of this blog post.

I have the basic free version which includes five projects. The same organizational principles as physical stuff and ADHD applies here - less is more. The problem isn't not having enough organizational bins, it's having too much stuff.

Home is where I have my daily routines.

You're looking at this and saying "OMG you nap every day?". Yes, I need more sleep than Paul does and we go to bed and wake-up at the same. Until I can get my ADHD diagnosis and get some Ritalin flowing through these veins, giving my tired brain a rest is the best I can do. That, and putting on make-up to disguise "Raccoon Mommy". 

Daily Checklists is actually not a good name for this next section, but basically it's where I keep track of things I need to replace in my purse and my sabbath check-list.

This is the list of which I am the proudest but unfortunately don't crush as hard as I wish. I also just started blocking out 1.5 hours on my calendar on Saturday to have time to do get "Sabbath ready".

You've got to plan to rest so you have time to take your kids to cozy lunch spots like this.

Hugo: "Take a picture of me hanging from the hand-cuffs!" 

Side note: I sent unsupervised Hugo to the toy store to buy a present for the class' advent calendar. I didn't ask what he got until I found out too late that he gifted a kid handcuffs. But, no phone calls home. So #normalBerlin #esposas

The Grocery list tab is pretty self explanatory. It's kind of silly because the app congratulates you for accomplishing tasks at the grocery story as you check things off.

The Errands Tab could also be named "excuses to get out of the house". 

I recommend the Sub-section: "Kid Entertainment"

I haven't totally cracked the Annual Planning tab. 

At the top I list my general priorities. Below, I have a list of todos for the coming months. Some things don't need to be repeated every year - like picking-up Carmen's new ID card - but some do - like figuring out how to survive Christmas break. 

Stay sane my friends.