Flashbacks to the Great Trapper Keeper Struggle of 1988

Depending on how old you are, you likely remember the Trapper Keeper, an organizational tool from Mead for school aged kids that was popular in the 80’s and 90’s.

Before they were banned (I know, right?? Google it), you weren’t cool unless you had a one. I remember very distinctly when I was got my first Trapper Keeper before fifth grade. It was tan and had a lovely mountain scene on the front.

While other students organized the inside folders by subject and put the corresponding assignments and papers in each, it wasn’t very long before I was blindly shoving every paper into the front of the Trapper Keeper and then shutting it.

Within a few months, my Trapper Keeper had a broken spine and the papers spilled out every time I pulled it out of my backpack, where half eaten pencils, loose papers, and book covers, sans books, ate up most of the space.

I was 10 years old when I recognized on some level that those things just weren’t for me.

Fast forward to my forties….

When I first started working full time at a gym, I was impressed by my boss’s productivity. He used a planner daily and had a knack for cranking out tasks in a way that I admired. So, after chatting with him about his system, I ordered my first planner.

I was like, yes! Systems! This is the thing that will solve all my disorganization problems! I shall create systems with a planner and some to do lists and there will be color coding and people will want to be like me.

But, because I didn’t want to feel too hemmed in by a planner, I bought one that was specific to people who kept a blog. It was designed to help you cultivate blog posts throughout the week, and so allowed for a little creativity.

I had all the enthusiasm on day one. By day five, I was remembering to check the planner, but wasn’t writing in it like I had the first two days.

I spent the next 25 days carrying the planner around, opening it occasionally, writing in it some, but mostly I just felt shame every time I looked at it. By day 30, I ditched it completely, but kept watching my boss, opening his planner every day, and executing his tasks and moving the business forward and was like ugh - why can't I do that?

A few months later, I came across another type of planner, and I was sure that this would be the one that stuck. This one revolved around meditation and being present and I thought ah – yes – this is the one that will finally unlock my productivity.

It was also expensive, so I figured if I spent enough on it, the financial investment would be a motivating factor.

A month later, I was shoving the leather-bound book into the trash, this time with a seemingly insurmountable amount of shame. Why couldn’t I make these things work for me?

Early last summer, I got my answer.

I was listening to a podcast about coaching clients with ADHD and had the experience that many women my age have when they hear about ADHD as an adult.

Oh my God. That's me.

I was blown away, and said something to one of my clients. She laughed.

"I could have told you that years ago."

I just thought I was a hot mess. I really did. But why was I always calling myself that? Well, because I struggled with:

· Organizing and Prioritizing

· Time management

· Focusing on a task

· Multi-tasking (shifting focus from one thing to another was really hard)

· Restlessness

· Planning

When I looked up some of the symptoms of adult ADHD, specifically in women, you might not be shocked to find that those symptoms included struggles with:

· Organizing and Prioritizing

· Time management

· Focusing on a task

· Multi-tasking

· Restlessness

· Planning

The challenge, I realized, is that I was perpetually trying, in my use of planners, to jam a square peg into a round hole. A lot of traditional systems don't work with my brain.

Every time I tried to follow a system, like using a planner, it always felt like putting on shoes that didn’t fit quite right..

Instead of ordering another planner, I decided to take a different approach. There was something that I learned in one of my coaching programs that stuck with me.

Every night, I make a list of the top three things I want to do the next day.

That's it.

That? Simplifying the whole planning process down to one task that involved a pen and a post it note? Or scrap of paper? That made a huge difference for me. Within 30 days, I was in the habit of ending each day by writing down my top three tasks for the next day.

Planners be damned. At least for me.

I'll have more to say about ADHD in the future. I just received an official diagnosis a few weeks ago, something I had put on hold while I negotiated my cancer.

But if this rings familiar for you, just know you’re not alone.