How do you organise?

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I have a real problem with organising my time and my life. I am able to make detailed lists and timetables, but I have great difficulty in carrying them out.

I realise this is about executive dysfunction - the difficulty making the switch from top-down processing (the planning and seeing the whole picture) to bottom-up processing (living in the moment - carrying out tasks and focus on detail). I know the research shows that people with on the autistic spectrum have disruption between those two types of processing in the brain. But surely there must be a way around it - a way to compensate and find alternative ways to organise one's life. There must be people on the autistic spectrum who have found strategies for organisation.

So, I just thought I'd make a thread so that if anyone has found any organisation strategies in their life that help, they could share them. As a sort of pooling of resources.

I don't. I simply procrastinate.

I think organisation requires a bit of motivation, and I haven't been feeling much of that these days.

Perhaps, if you're the type that can't function well without structure, a timetable dictating your routine might be a good idea? At least to begin with?

No, the timetable is what I have problems with. I can make a beautiful, detailed, brilliant timetable, and I love the idea of one - but I can't apply it to my life. When it actually comes down to applying it, I don't. I feel trapped by it.

I have a PDA that I write in. It bugs me all day with automated alarms. I also have the people around me at tell me to do things at certain times. It works for the most part.

my organisation is very poor. it can take me days to get down to do shopping for food or to do something like pay a bill. (although the latter is better now that i can achieve it on line quite frequently.) organisation takes all my effort. And i procrastinate. I keep most information in my head without lists (as i loathe making them -they make me feel trapped and pressured.) one area where i am able to aboslutely organise IF it interests me to do so is my special interest area. there i can do it. still takes effort but it is ok.

I'm having a lot of problems with this as well, to the point of wondering if I am ADD . I have no problems spending ten hours researching something I'm interested in but can't seem to even make a list of things I need to do to reach and end goal . It's really frustrating me right now . So I'm here to see if any one has found something that works. I have an idea that my "special interets are a big part of the problem. Who can focus on cleaning the house when there is so much information on-line and craft projects I would rather be working on .

I guess I'm fortunate in that I have a job where everything I do comes in a form, including when to do it. For other things, I have databases, but I tend to just prioritize, plan ahead, and try to hold things together...

I am curious, what job are you speaking of? Sounds like something I might be good at.

I have the same problem you do. It extends to physical organization, but I believe it's part of the same thing. I need my environment to be clutter-free, and yet I don't have the ability to keep it that way. Due to the fact that we aren't millionaires, our family of four lives in a 1200 square foot house. That would be fine if we were different kind of people, but we all have our special interests and hobbies (which take place inside the house, and require stuff and space). My oldest son is AS, and, like me has a huge challenge with putting things away neatly. So, the house is almost always a mess, even though I make a pretty decent effort to keep it tolerable. It completely wears me out to put things away. Since the house is small, you can't just put something back on the shelf, but you first have to move the thing that is stored in front of it. Things are crammed in together, and when you try to get one thing down, other things get knocked around. I realize that everyone else in the world can just tidy up as they go, and still have time and energy to work full-time, go to PTA meetings, workout, make dinner, shop....

I sometimes fantasize about getting rid of every item in the house that I don't use or love, and being able to have it neatly organized. My brain works much better in an environment like that. But I'm not the only one in the family. And realistically, if I only owned one item, I'd still have trouble keeping it in it's proper place. The problem is in ME.

Oh yes!

I tend to do housework when I'm too tired to do crafts, like late in the evening. I don't resent the time lost quite so much then.

I've always been a listmaker which helps a bit, important things 'must do', in capitals and other things I want to do in lower case. The 'want to do' things don't always get done. I force myself to do the important things first, or do one then give myself a couple of hours to do something I feel like doing; self-bribery, lol.
The worst thing for me is financial stuff, checking bank statements, getting quotes for house insurance etc. I need to nail myself to my chair to do those.
I'm an inveterate time waster though. I'll faff about tidying a cupboard rather than do something even more boring.

I organize quite well at work, cause I want to keep the job. Otherwise I'm real bad. But I've allways concidered this matter boiled down to the question; to be a robot or not. I admit, however that I could use just a little more organizing skills

I've never had a PDA, and don't really know much about them. Is there a specific kind that you'd recommend? And what exactly do they do - just make alarms go off for things on your schedule?

Get a blackberry or i phone. I set my schedule with tasks and alarms. I have it set up to play music like an IPOD to help me relax when I need to. I have books on it to read so I don't get frustrated waiting in long lines or for appointments. It has a notepad so I can make and save list after list.
I set up most of my schedules and alarms to repeat on a regular basis. I immediately put new appointments in when I get them, so i don't forget or double book.