A Quick Trick to Help Keep Yourself On Task!

I’ve got an easy way to keep yourself on task that works great for ADHDers!

Let’s assume, for the moment, that you have done everything you can to get THAT THING done. You’ve set a Pomodoro timer. You broke THAT THING down into little tiny things, and you stacked it onto something you already do. Basically, you have set yourself up for success.

And yet, THAT THING still looms like a monstrous ogre. It’s boring, it’s late due to avoidance. 

Interstitial journaling to the rescue! Um….what??

Interstitial journaling is defined as “a productivity method where you write a short, timestamped note in the gaps between tasks rather than relying on a traditional to-do list.’ 

To do interstitial journaling, you need a pen and paper, nothing fancy (you can do it on your phone or laptop if you prefer). When you finish doing something, you write down the time, what you completed, and what you will do next. So, for example, when I finish writing this blog post, I will write “5:50pm, I finished writing the blog post. Now I will post it on my website.”  And so on and so on.

There are a few reasons that this works well for ADHDers. Transitions are very difficult for the ADHD brain; they involve stopping what one is doing, ceasing to think about what was happening, starting to think about the new direction one’s brain needs to head in, and beginning the new task. This involves the working memory and other executive functions that can be challenged in ADHDers.

Additionally, moving onto something that we don’t find interesting brings dopamine levels waaaay down. And the negative reinforcement of doing something to avoid a bad outcome does not work for ADHDers.

Interstitial journaling helps to put a nice shiny bow on the task you are stopping. You announce, in your journal, the ending action. It’s like saying “Okay, that part is done. Now what?”

Naming the next action gives you a direction in which to head. It helps to cut off the urge to grab your phone for just a few minutes…which turns into an hour. It relieves your non-verbal memory of mentally plotting your next move, and the one after that, because there’s no need. You just need to delineate the very NEXT action. And only focusing on what to do next can be helpful if you are feeling overwhelmed, or having difficulties with task initiation.

Writing down the time helps with the time blindness aspect of ADHD. Because the amount of time necessary to complete an action is obvious, you will have an evidence based approach to estimating the time needed, which will be helpful when planning for the future. Also, you will notice when an hour has gone by, with nothing but TikTok to write down.

Finally, this method gives you a solid written record of what you have accomplished. At the end of a day you could have many, many actions noted in succession. This gives you a really fantastic boost, and counteracts the very common ADHD refrain of “I never get anything done.” 

My favorite thing about interstitial journaling is that you don’t have to do it consistently. If you are working well, in the flow, you can leave it behind. But when you just can’t start that one task, or only finish 80% of it, interstitial journaling can be the trick to get you over the start line…and the finish line.