Tips & Tricks Tuesday: Making lists for routines and transitions to help manage executive function

For some autistic people, challenges with executive function can make day-to-day routines difficult or draining.

Having an organized to-do list is a big advantage, but still requires careful planning. This week, in honor of World Autism Awareness/Acceptance Day, gm1 shares their insights in creating lists specifically for routines and other especially challenging times of day.

On discovering the RTM Smart Watch app, which amazingly, is “independent” - so notifications still works if the phone battery goes flat - RTM is now a very important tool with which to manage my disability.

I have a favourited project called “Transitions”, and in there a weekly repeating task for every day of the week. A series of subtasks breaks the day down into the various stages of my day, with a timed device reminder for each step. Wake up, morning exercises, breakfast, walk the dog, work task 1,2, lunch, work task 3, 4, supper, and my evening routines. A notification sound , and vibration on my wrist prompts me to move to the next task/routine.

One of my last tasks each evening is quickly check my routine for the next day, and make sure all reminders for that day are set correctly and and any appointments or scheduled calls also are set.

This technique stops me getting distracted and helps me focus on the next task at hand. I also always use plenty of emoji in the task/ routine name so when it pops up on my Smart Watch it is a quick visual cue as well.

To cope with anxiety when out and about, I make full use of the Evernote integration. I have scans of bus passes, bus time tables, maps, important phone numbers, anything that I can use to help prompt or I might need. I use key words in Evernote note titles - such as “Appointment” or “Meeting” or “Travel” then saved searches in RTM for example source:evernote AND name:appointment though sometimes I also put pertinent points in the notes, which can then be viewed on the Smart Watch task details.

I have also shared a project with my social worker, so they can remind me to do things or if I need them to help me with something they can see - also helps keep all information in one place.

Finally, one thing I find very difficult is decision making, I find it overwhelming. So for example I keep a list of books I want to read on my Kindle, films to watch on Netflix , recipes I want to try and another saved search called “DownTime” list:books OR list:films OR list:recipes AND priority:1 - from my Apple Watch, I can scroll a select choice and make an easy decision.

Thanks for sharing this tip, gm1! You’re our Tips & Tricks Tuesday winner this week.

Do you have a suggestion for our weekly Tips & Tricks post? Got an interesting set-up or idea? Head over to the Tips & Tricks forum, add a new topic, and let us know how you use Remember The Milk. Each week we’ll give away a 1 year Pro account to the user whose idea inspires the Tips & Tricks Tuesday blog post for that week.