Do you ever look at a day with just one meeting or a wide-open schedule and think, “This will be easy!”—only to end up overwhelmed or underproductive? You’re not alone! This common challenge in the neurodiverse community can be managed with a few intentional strategies.
Join JoyGenea, International Neurodiversity Coach, as she shares practical tips to:
✅ Avoid the productivity trap.
✅ Create meaningful intentions for your day.
✅ Balance self-care and productivity.
Whether you’re a student, a professional, or someone navigating a neurodiverse lifestyle, these strategies can help you feel accomplished and aligned by the end of your day.
Transcription:
Do you ever have a day on your schedule that maybe has only one meeting, or maybe has one meeting and just another little something going on later on in the day, and your brain says, “Wow, we aren’t even going to have to work that hard that day!” Or, it says, “Oh my goodness, how many things can I cram into that wide-open day? It’s so exciting!”
Stop. Pause. That is a neurodiverse productivity trap. It’s common in our neurodiverse community; it’s just a trap. There’s still the same allotted amount of time, and there are things that need to probably be productive in that time.
So, there are a couple of simple ways that you can avoid having the end of the day come and you go, “Wow, I didn’t get that much done because I tried to cram a million things into the day,” or, “Wow, I didn’t get that many things done because I kept thinking, ‘Any minute now I’m going to start… but why start now? Because, hey, I’ve got all day.'”
I’ve heard it. I have heard it so many times—from millionaires, billionaires, to college students. Honestly, that line gets said a lot in the neurodiverse community. It’s okay. Number one: it’s okay. It happens.
Now that we’ve talked about it, when you hear it next time, you can go, “Oh yeah, she talked about that thing.” I did! I told you about that thing. When you see that day, ask yourself: What would be the most amazing thing to accomplish with this day? Would it be self-care and taking a little bit of time—half of this day—to do something you’d really, really love to do? Or would it be amazing to move one project forward incredibly? Or to nail down and tick off a whole bunch of things on your productivity list?
Create an intention for that space, and then either schedule it (if you’re schedule-averse, that’s okay) or make a few sticky notes mapping out the strategy. If you decide, “I’d rather spend half of that day doing some self-care,” schedule those appointments. Make the time for yourself—that is also important, too. Your brain needs some time to recover. It’s all okay. Just take a little bit of time to have a little bit of intention, and you will be amazed at how incredible that can feel for you.
And if you are going to take part of the day to work, I highly recommend you decide what time your butt is going to get into that seat, or when you’re going to be in the location where the work happens.
Awesome! Thank you for checking in with me. I am JoyGenea, International Neurodiversity Coach, cheering you on on so many levels. Thank you. Bye now!