Organising your thoughts and Planning your Tasks.

Learn to group and organise – this is the next stage after getting all your worries onto paper. Look at your thoughts. Use colour or number to group them. That way you can work on them together, making it more time-efficient. You can also order your tasks by deadlines or importance (the tax man waits for no one!) Another good strategy is to make a note of missing information you need or questions you have to answer.   

Plan, plan and plan some more.  Honestly, this must make me sound like a financial advisor but I am a huge believer in the use of planning. Proper planning is not just a case of: 

1. Write essay 
2. Apply for new job 
3. Buy new car 
4. Clean the house 

No, no, no! Planning your tasks is about breaking a task down into its individual elements and being aware of them, so you know how long it is likely to take, or if you have missed anything or need some help.  

Let us take the new job task for example…….. Applying for a new job does not automatically happen! There are loads of steps that can make it seem daunting…….. 

So, when I plan out my approach, I first note down all the steps, questions, tasks I can think of. In no particular order (this is important) 

• Decide why you want a new job.
• What do you want to do? 
• Do you have the qualifications and skills? 
• Research jobs in your chosen area – what do employers want to see?  
• Find your C.V. (Now where is it? – Under the Christmas cards from 2 years ago?) 
• Review C.V. and update it.
• Write a cover letter.
• Research Companies (to make sure you are not joining a cult – true story.) 
• Shortlist jobs to apply for.
• Identify key skills you need to highlight.

The next stage is to order these, the reason I say it is important to just write things down as they come to you is that this stops overload or memory recall issues which will happen when you try to process your thoughts in your head and then write them in the chronological order.  

It is so easy to order them afterwards and you will be surprised how much more you can process when you are not worried about the order……..TOP TIP – this whole process can be used for many different tasks, including joining a cult ….I jest. 

Here is the list in the order they should be completed – it took me 1 minute to order 

1. Decide why you want a new job 
2. What do you want to do?  
3. Take a quiz or speak to an advisor? 
4. Research jobs in your chosen area – what do employers want to see?  
5. Do you have the qualifications and skills needed? 
6. Identify key skills you need to highlight 
7. Identify transferable skills to support any weak areas.  
8. Research Companies (to make sure you are not joining a cult – true story) 
9. Shortlist jobs to apply for 
10. Decide on application order based on the deadline 
11. Find your C.V. (Now where is it? Under the Christmas cards from 2 years ago?) 
12. Review C.V. and update it in line with the skills and experience you highlighted in 6 and 7 
13. Write a cover letter 
14. Proofread and ask for support to sanity check your applications 
15. Submit applications 

Now, you may have noticed some extra steps in this section – this is OK! This is because you have remembered the steps you need to take as you have been ordering. This is because your processing ability has been freed up. After all, you are taking things one step at a time. 

You can now take each step in turn rather than trying to process everything simultaneously, giving you more time to process and complete the tasks. 

Learn about your condition – knowledge is power. Research shows that those who know about their condition, illness, and legal rights allows them more personal-agency, confidence, and progress.   

Learning is unique to you. Just because you have been taught one way it DOES NOT MEAN YOU HAVE TO LISTEN TO ALL PEOPLE and use it all……………………….BUT if you are still stuck and need help, ASK! 

Take a break but do not avoid the work – This is SO IMPORTANT. Stress is everywhere and sometimes causes you to avoid tasks. Procrastination just makes things so much worse. Seeking support rather than hiding will be an invaluable skill. Use the processes above to help you, beyond planning your tasks in the workplace or daily life this approach can help you move past any issues you may have, you can then move on and seek specific help. 

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