Nontraditional time management for neurodivergent entrepreneurs when learning a new skill

Why Entreprenuers benefit from nontraditional time management

One of the most difficult things for entrepreneurs, is that their home and work life are often impossible to separate.

This is why it's essential, especially for neurodivergent entrepreneurs, to develop and accept nontraditional time management systems.

 Nontraditional time management uses systems that prioritize:

• focused energy,
• your mind state,
• and your well-being

More than just scheduling tasks for the sake of being done at a certain time or date.

I'm a firm believer that neurodivergent minds fail the carrot-and-stick method, because tedious tasks are more of a punishment than the shame of incompletion.

Tasks that don't provide adequate dopamine hits don't move the needle enough to cause you not to doom scroll or catastrophize about how nothing is working. 

Who has had several planners of promised schedules, strict routines meant to maximize productivity, and alarms that become background noise because you just can't will yourself into finishing the damn things? 

So what is the optimal way to utilize non-traditional time management?

That's the funny thing, it's different for everyone and everybody, even for yourself.

In some seasons of your life you'll be a morning person, and other seasons of your life you'll be a night owl.

Sometimes you'll have energy.

Other times you're just trying to make it to the next day, the next break, or the next meal.

 Traditional time management means strict adherence to the predetermined schedule, but tell that to your kids, spouse, or that sleepless night you had.

 I wish it was as easy as “do this to 10x your productivity”, but I don't like to play those games because I can't predict what's going to make you go when you go.

 At a pleasure-led life, we make it an emphasis to prioritize getting a solid understanding of your energies and your rhythms, because you know you better than I could ever know you.

I'm just here to give permission to nontraditional ways of living.

This is just the chaos of maintaining your business, but in a world that is constantly evolving your skillsets have to evolve as well.

So when and where do you find the energy, attention, and time to uplevel yourself when the minimum seems overwhleming.

That's the beauty of knowing when your in a zone of focus, a moment to reset, or deciding if tasks need to be deferred or delegated.

I'll share with you my nontraditional time management system and you can follow along and make yours.

TL;DR

• Entrepreneurs blend their home and work lives so they need to use nontraditional time management
• Managing energy, brain function, focus, priorities, and emotions are the keys to leveraging neurodivergent strengths and minimizing burnout and overwhelm
• Learning new skills as a growing entrepreneur requires understanding the rhythm and flow of your days
• Download the 7-day micropleasure habit tracker to priotize habits for your energy, attention, and time

Early morning Brain Dump

I've abandoned so many schedules because they had me slated to tackle the admin tasks before I got to off track.

I personally hate admin task, but I know they are what make a business viable (yuck).

So what happened?

I delayed getting out of bed, that made me behind schedule. I dragged my ass for any and every reason imaginable.

There was so much resistance to get to work, that when I finally mustered the executive function to start working, I was spent.

Now, I get up in the morning, I enjoy getting up from 4-6am.

Then I list out ALLLLL the things I have on my mind to get done. And allow chatGPT to provide me with an action plan.

The robots have seemed to have figured out something us humans haven't, start with the shit you actually enjoy, and do just enough of the tasks that invite you to procrastinate.

With an action plan based upon what my interests and desires are for the day, I power through the things I love, and sprinkle in some of my admin task.

Before my brain dump, my plan of attack was to stare at a screen for hours complaining how much I hated xyz part of the business. I didn't actually do anything, but I definitely counted those as hours worked.

Now I am moving through the parts of the business that I love, and with 30-60 minutes of admin task a day, spaced out over the day, it isn't the chore it once was.

For me, this is my work day. From 4am to 10am, unless there are meetings or other things.

Here are some nontraditional time management techniques to check out.

New skill development

When the world is on fire just to maintain status quo, who in their right mind would ever think about adding more to their plate by developing a new skill.

Well most of the neurodivergent entrepreneurs I know have shiny object symptom, so they do this quite alot.

But how do we effeciently and effectively do it.

By creating purposeful routines and rhythms your values dictate what you have energy for.

And I am all about exploring hyperfixations as a superpower.

The sweet spot is understanding the reason for wanting to develop the new skill.

Will it help you in your personal life? Your family life? Or your professional life?

Are you a novice? Do you understand the ways in which you learn best?

Are you the type who needs to fumble through it to truly understand it?

Does someone need to explain it and break it down?

Can you jump into a 3 day rabbit hole and come back an expert?

Understanding your learning style will help you determine the best way to maximize your energy, attention, and time.

I love learning languages, but my full attention is required, otherwise it is as comprehensible as white noise.

But let me be attentive and in a short while it feels like I have been studying for months.

The new skill I am working on, AI video editing and content repurposing.

When I make the commitment to learning a new skill, first comes the fantasizing of all the pieces in my life falling together.

Then comes the initial rabbit hole of Youtube University.

Then comes the practical application.

Finally comes the plateau where I have to figure out if the novelty can outlast the tedious repitition that creates sustained skill.

This is as easy as it gets, if I didn't have family to attend to.

When home and work are in the same office building

Ever wake up early, do all your mindset work, get ready to jump into that project that inspired you while you slept, and the kids wake up fussy?

That is the reality of the entrepreneurial life, even when you are on schedule, life still happens in your home.

So how do you juggle productivity, skill development, diplomacy, and sanity when the things you love, don't love to coexist?

This is when your routines will provide you with energy, attention, and time to complete what you want.

When I say family first, that unfortunately means business comes last sometimes.

Early in my journey I had moments when my daughter asked if you are going to work so much, why don't you just go to work.

It was really hard for me to unwind and implement anti-hustle routines, like the other day when I thought about diving into work, but made paper ladybugs with my family instead.

For me, the goal of being an entrepreneur was so I can enjoy the family life of my choosing, but I have deadlines and clients at times.

There are ways around this.

By utilizing nontraditional time management you can prepare yourself for daily rhythms for creativity.

My creative genius is highest in the morning.

I incorporate my favorite task, and my learning in these moments.

Then the family wakes up and now I can be active and engaged.

When are you the most alert? When are you most engaged? How do you refill your cup? What is your learning style?

Feel like you don't need a routine, well what happens when you ignore your routines?

Prioritizing Micropleasures

The major focus on nontraditional time management is about ensuring you are creating habits to fill your cup.

Doing little things like making sure you hydrate in the morning, stretch your body, making it a priority to touch grass, and spend quality times with your loved ones.

Instead of focusing on traditional metrics of productivity, as you find the spaces to pour into yourself, you will see when the best times are to incorporate learning new skills.

On the ride to the grocery store, can you listen to a podcast or a youtube video?

If you can, consider it lucky, because that doesn't work at all for me.

As I have made it a habit to really create a life in which pleasure leads my day, my productivity has increased tremendously as a byproduct, rather than stress me out as a focus.

I want you to grow and create small daily habits that become your focus because you matter more than what you do.

Download the 7-day micropleasure habit tracker and begin to center your day around the things that fuel you instead of deplete you.

Pleasure is the seceret to growth

I ain't here to promise you'll 10x your income or productivity, because that doesn't guarantee that you will even enjoy your life if you do.

As an entrepreneur, especially a neurodivergent one, your home life affects all aspects of your business.

Creating a life that you enjoy impacts the energy and attention you have to nurture your business.

That is what these nontraditional time management systems are intended to do.

Prioritize the human being not the human doing.

Which is the optimal way to increase your skills and value, being full of love and energy or guilt tripping yourself to find another productivity hack.

I left the hustle culture, wasn't easy, but that hasn't slowed me down from learning and growing.

Finding a system for you, means taking a daily authentic mirror to your rhythms and routines and making adjustments that benefit you, your family, and your business.

That is the beauty of nontraditional time management, it is structured enough to make progress, but flexible enough for you to live.