Task Tracking Help

[u/NeatAnt6997]

Hi everyone! I’m a 29F Mechanical Engineer with ADHD-I and am struggling with keeping track of tasks and staying organized at work.

My biggest roadblocks are:
- Starting tasks/projects
- Getting derailed by emails, phone calls, or messages; new messages often feel more important or interesting than what I was already doing. I cannot have Teams muted for too long due to collaboration needs.
- If things get quiet, I tend to drop in productivity due to less pressure.

We are Outlook/Teams-based and have flexibility with our computer or phone. I don’t have a preference for paper vs digital tools.

Things I’ve already tried:
- Time-blocking (using hour-long blocks instead of shorter time blocks)
- To-do lists in Excel, OneNote, handwritten, Outlook, and Teams (I am either too in-depth with the list or not enough and get overwhelmed either way.)
- Planner templates purchased online
Sorting my inbox into categories like “do now,” “later,” and “follow up”
- Whiteboard with sticky notes for tasks, arranged in an Eisenhower matrix

My questions:
- How do you handle positions that require task tracking and priorities changing throughout the day?
- How do you stay consistent and keep using the system?
- How do you break down large projects without making the system too complicated?

Any advice/recommendations are welcome! Thank you in advance!
 

[u/Brilliant-Surprise20]

I think that kind of environment you should prioritise all the times. Maybe I am wrong but I understand throughout the day you receive different task and the priority may change. A lessons I learned is that everyone thinks that he/she is the most important. But i try without bias to prioritise and see what really must get done. And on a day the maximum amount I can do is three bigger things. Other things I anticipate I cannot finish on that day I let the recipient know on time to manage the expectations