Works for me

Over the years, I've developed a lot of different systems that turn my default levels of dysfunction into (mostly) function. I've recorded them here in case anyone else finds them useful.

Sometimes people tell me that I seem very organised. This is because I need to be. I'm ADHD as hell and if I can't follow all my special routines then my entire life blows up.

This page is inspired by smallcypress's systems page, and Fragmentary's posts about being online and doom loops.

Admin

I use Finch for my personal to-do lists. I have a lot of recurring tasks set up – everything from taking my meds every the morning to certain housework jobs that only need to be done every three months – and it works pretty well for that. Also I like playing dress-up with my bird.
Sunday mornings are my dedicated admin time where I try to get all my weekly chores done. I find it's easier to keep on top of them if I have a regular slot.
I keep a separate calendar just for people's birthdays so I can send them a little birthday message. I used to be terrible at remembering birthdays (I think I got too reliant on Facebook back in the day) but it turns out it's very simple to keep track of them if you just write it down. And everyone likes to be wished happy birthday.

Budgeting

I use a copy of YNAB 4 that I bought back in 2012. (It annoys me that they moved to a subscription model. I refuse to upgrade.)
I follow the rule of "Give every penny a job", so any money that comes in gets assigned to a specific budget item.
Any annual charges get their own budget item and I pay in 1/12th of the cost every month, even if that's just a few pounds.
I also put a flat averaged-out rate into various budget items for things that come up intermittently throughout the year: Christmas gifts, non-Christmas gifts, haircuts, buying clothes, prescriptions and dental costs, home maintenance.
Every Sunday, I check my statements and log my spending against the budget.

Cooking

Every Sunday, I pick seven dinners to cook from my list of go-to recipes and make sure I have the ingredients for them.
Chopping vegetables sometimes feels like a mental barrier when I need to start cooking, so I buy a lot of my base vegetables (like onions and garlic) pre-chopped and frozen. If I can't get them pre-chopped, I buy them in bulk, then chop and freeze all of them in one go.
I have an alarm on my phone to remind me when to start making dinner every day, and I snooze (not stop!) it until I actually start cooking.
Lunch is always leftovers. I make extra portions whenever I can.
I make the same thing for breakfast almost every day (porridge).
I keep a running shopping list in my phone's Notes app and update it whenever I notice we've run out of something.

Emails

I am very much an inbox zero person. If I don't need to do anything more with an email, it gets archived. Unread messages stress me out.
I have a separate folder called "Potentially stressful newsletters" where I automatically funnel newsletters that I like but I know will do my head in if I read them in a bad mood. That way I can read them at my leisure, but don't get flashbanged by some incredibly depressing headline when I'm not up for it.

Journaling

I write at least one page in my journal every night before I sleep (and occasionally at other times of the day too). My handwriting is impenetrable even to me, so I don't re-read them very often, but it helps to hash out the stuff that my brain's been gnawing on all day.
My notebook preferences: A5, hardcover, dotted, bookmark and pen loop. Recently I've been buying them from Dingbats. I like to get a different colour each time.
I was really into bullet journaling for years and enjoyed the process of making elaborate spreads, but eventually the pressure to make everything pretty got in the way. Now I just recap my day or do an unstructured thought dump.

Mood tracking

I use Daylio to track what common activities I did every day and also give that day a basic mood rating (1-5). I don't use the journal functions, but I do find it useful to see overall trends in my mood – it can be helpful to look at a long-term view and think, "Okay, I definitely am feeling worse than usual at the moment."

Sleep

I have an alarm on my phone to remind me to go to bed at the same time every night (whether I have to get up early the next day or not).
I try to minimise the amount of time I look at my phone in bed, although I do update a few apps (Finch and Daylio) and set my morning alarm.
Once I put my phone down, I write in my journal, and then I read a book until I'm sleepy enough to close my eyes.
I use an eye mask, especially during the lighter months.

Smartphone usage

I sometimes fantasize about getting rid of my smartphone, but the fact is that it can be incredibly useful. However I do my best to minimise its evils.
I aggressively uninstall any app that makes me anxious or that I find myself spending too much time on. I don't need Discord to live in my pocket. If I urgently need to watch something on YouTube, I can do it in the browser, but it will be just inconvenient enough to put me off watching more.
Anything that could result in me spending money out of boredom gets even more aggressively uninstalled (cough cough, Vinted).
I do allow myself a few apps that will meet that time-wasting urge without consuming limitless amounts of it. Checking Letterboxd will give me a few minutes of entertainment if I am stuck in a waiting room, but it will not spike my anxiety or consume hours of my life.
I try not to look at the news on my phone, and definitely not in bed.
Notifications for basically everything switched off. Silent mode. Don't bother me!!

TTRPGs

I love playing D&D and other TTRPGs over video calls with my friends, but sitting at the computer means I am liable to get distracted. My fix for this is that I take copious notes for every session. They give me something to do while still keeping me focused on what's happening, and they almost always come in handy. I make a separate Markdown file for each session, and then later I organise the sessions into "chapters" for each arc of the adventure.

Work

I buy multipacks of cheap A6 notebooks, decorate them with washi tape and hold them shut with a rubber band. Every morning, I write the date at the top of a new page, followed by my meetings and to-do list for the day, and then I tick them off with a pen. For some reason, this is way more motivating than a digital to-do list.
If I don't finish a task, I migrate it to the next day using bullet journal notation.
I'm not a strict Pomodoro person, but I do find setting a timer for 20 minutes helps me get over the hump of starting a new task.