Recovery is your downtime. It is your rest period required after spending your capacity.
I recognize that I am time blind. I mistakenly think that because my appointment starts at 19:00 (7:00PM for those who use an antiquated time system), that I can drive across town, find parking and account for any inconvenience that could occur when I leave at 18:47. Heaven forbid there be traffic or a road closure along the way. The time spent in the seat of my car is probably thirteen minutes but everything outside of that was not included in that time estimate.
The only motivation I will usually receive internally is through the pressure of an upcoming deadline. This is very frustrating for myself to believe that I am good at accounting for my time in some areas but in others, totally clueless and blind. One of the defining characteristics of having ADHD is that your dopamine and norepinephrine systems do not work as designed. Looking at someone with ADHD, it could appear that they are unmotivated and lazy.
In addition to taking time to account for tasks, chores, events, is that I also need to account for time to recover and rest afterwards. I have spent the good part of my life trying out systems from self-help books, systems written by prolific and lesser-known online-writers and everything that you can possibly conceive. The result is something that is something of my own with a lot of different influential flavours.
Reminders are used to manage tasks that I will either not remember or have enough friction that lower motivation. Apple’s Reminders app has been a reliable structure for this purpose. Tasks I need to account for in a day remain on my phone’s lock screen – which haunts me to accomplish most of my tasks.
My reminders support me in tasks that are hard to recall or are so important but do not have a location nor necessarily have a concrete time to execute them.
My online calendar is for time that I am committing myself to and also uses basic visual cues to help me plan my time. My calendar is hosted up in the cloud and accessible from my phone, desktop computer and my laptop. It is almost always opened on my computer screens.
My calendar supports me in tasks where I need to be in a specific place, at a specific time.
Some specific supports that I employ in my calendar include dedicated times for planning the week ahead and for meal planning. I have allocated fifteen minutes each Monday in my calendar in the morning to review my calendar. This provides myself accountability and ensures that my time is well-curated for my own needs.
A few specific uses of my calendar that support me are planned, usually weekly, times that I intently look at what lies before me.
For example, I reserve every Monday after work as a recovery block. I find returning to work on a Monday can be hard and I like to reserve Monday evening for myself, chores, and granting myself time to enjoy cooking a meal. The important part of my structure that these blue recovery blocks provide is a visual reminder that I need to not over-commit myself and to give myself the time I require to recover. I have one other colour reserved for my union councils, meetings and other planned activities.
I am a technology-focused person. I don’t necessarily always want to use technology such as smartphones and devices to assist myself but I frequently lean into them for support. There are methods and systems that work and don’t work for every single individual. It takes a lot of intent and thoughtful experimentation to find systems that work for yourself. My only advice is that forcing something to work for yourself will not work. Listen to what works for your mind and body.
Poison Dart Frog. Taken at the Muttart Conservatory in Edmonton on February 2, 2026.
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