Time Management for Migraineurs (or, how can you get everything done when you can't get anything done?) Time management, for anyone, is about having systems that allow you to achieve what you need and want to achieve.
It's never important to have a good memory, or to be a disciplined person.
It's only important to operate as if you have a good memory, and as if you are are a disciplined person.
Repeat after me:"I will never get it all done.
I will never get it all done.
I will never get it all done.
"When you die, there will be things on your to-do list.
These challenges are shared by 100% of the human race.
If you have Migraine disease in your life, you have the additional challenge of the life interrupted.
Just when you had other plans (to go out to dinner, to cook the dinner, to go to work and earn the dinner) you get a migraine.
You may be able to go on functioning in a limited way, or maybe not.
Everything will go on hold while the migraine runs its course.
How do you deal with the interruptions; how do you know where you left off? Just remember - you will never get it all done, and that makes you exactly like everybody else!But if you have systems in place to help you operate like a disciplined person, you will get some of it done.
If you're careful, you will get the things that are most important to you done.
1.
What are the categories of things you need to do and handle in your life?Make your own list.
What are your values? Aspirations? Your categories should reflect them! (For 2.
Start a separate column or sheet of paper for each category.
In some categories you may have specific goals.
Put those goals at the top of the category - check if your tasks support those goals.
3.
In each category there are ongoing tasks (no matter that I flossed yesterday, I still have to do it again today!And that refrigerator keeps emptying itself!) and there are one-time tasks.
List the tasks.
4.
Create an ongoing schedule of the tasks that need to be accomplished at regular intervals, and prioritize them.
Which ones should be the first to go if you are stopped by a migraine?Which ones should you try to get handled (by yourself or someone else) no matter what? 5.
For one-time tasks that move you towards a goal, put them in the calendar, but remember, you can reschedule anything you schedule! 6.
For migraineurs especially, it's important to have a list of what you might be able to do with a migraine (for me it's often fold the laundry, clean out my email box, crochet), so if you feel well enough you can feel like you have accomplished something!(And the feeling will be true!)It's also important to have a list of things to have around to comfort you when you can't achieve anything.
Having your comfort kit ready is a great achievement in and of itself! 7.
Keep your lists up to date, and have them where you can find them.
When the migraine is over, whether or not your head is still foggy, you will be able to answer the question "Where was I?" No matter how difficult or overwhelming something seems, it can be managed if broken down into tasks, and put into existence in a calendar or checklist.
If it's only in your head, it doesn't really exist!Amazingly enough, when things are written down so they can be referred to later, we feel better about them.
We know they won't disappear if we stop thinking about them.
When I take to my bed with migraine, my computer or at least a lined pad of paper goes with me.
Unless I am too sick to have any light on, or think at all, I lie down thinking, "what do I have to handle, make sure of, not forget, or reschedule?"And as soon as I've answered the question, I can give myself over to whatever I need to do to get better.
It's like calling in sick for your life.
I invent all my checklists ahead of time.
Healthy day checklists - including what I need to do daily to stay healthy.
Sick day checklists.
Preparation lists and schedules, to refill prescriptions, to keep what I need on hand.
I know I will never get it all done.
But with preparation, I can achieve some of the things that are most important to me.