Coping with ADHD
Lesson 2: Creating a System to Manage Multiple Tasks
When you look at your calendar and task list, you’ll often notice that you’re juggling many tasks at the same time. This can quickly become overwhelming because there is a challenge deciding on what matters most and staying with a task long enough to finish it. This lesson introduces a simple, structured system to help you manage multiple tasks more effectively, even when prioritizing and follow-through feel difficult. The goal isn’t to “try it once.” The goal is to practice long enough that it becomes an automatic habit.
Why Managing Multiple Tasks Is Hard
With ADHD, tasks can feel very urgent or avoidable. Even when you know a task is important, distractions, low motivation, or uncertainty about where to start can make it hard to stick with it. That’s why relying on willpower alone rarely works. Instead, this lesson focuses on external systems that take the pressure off your brain and help you organize tasks in a clear, concrete way.
Master List vs. Daily List
To manage multiple tasks, you’ll use two lists, each with a different purpose.
The Master List: Your master list holds everything you need or want to do: work tasks, home projects, personal errands, and long-term goals. Tasks stay on the master list until they are fully completed. You can organize this list into sections (for example: work, home, health) if that helps.
The Daily List: Your daily list includes only the tasks you realistically plan to work on today. These tasks come from your master list. If a task doesn’t get finished, it’s not a failure, you simply move it to the next day’s list. Many digital tools do this automatically, but this works just as well with paper systems.
The Key Skill: Prioritizing
When everything feels important, it’s easy to default to doing the easiest tasks first. While this can feel productive, it often means the most meaningful or time-sensitive tasks never get done. To avoid this trap, you’ll use a simple prioritization method that forces clarity.
The A–B–C Method
Start by listing your tasks, then assign each one a priority rating by asking two questions: Is it urgent? Is it important? then label them in the following categories:
A Tasks
Urgent and Important. These need to be done soon (today or tomorrow).
B Tasks
Important but not urgent. Some parts may need attention now, but they don’t require immediate completion.
C Tasks
Lowest priority. These may be easier or more appealing, but they’re not urgent or essential.
Be careful not to label too many tasks as “A.” When everything is an A, nothing truly is.
How to Use This System Day to Day
Use your master list to decide which tasks deserve “A” or “B” status and should move onto your daily list.
Use your daily list to decide what to work on first, second, and third, what to do yourself and what can be delegated.
As deadlines approach or circumstances change, you can update task ratings. A task might start as a “C,” become a “B,” and later an “A.”
Priorities are flexible, not fixed and that’s a strength of this system.
Importance of Daily Practice
This skill takes practice. It’s normal to struggle when learning a new skills like prioritizing tasks and shift habits like resisting the pull of easier, less important work. Over time, this approach helps you make steady progress on what matters most instead of feeling busy but stuck. The goal isn’t perfection, it’s creating a system that helps you move forward with more confidence and less overwhelm.