From the course: Time Management Fundamentals

Dave's story on getting organized

From the course: Time Management Fundamentals

Dave's story on getting organized

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(upbeat music) - Many years ago, I was one of the most chaotic people you'd ever meet. I jumped from career to career. My workspace was disorganized. You'd need to use a shovel to get from the door of my office to my desk. And then as a young married man, I heard two words that changed my life, "I'm pregnant." And that motivated me. It was sobering to think that I needed to help provide for a new life. So at that point, I saw a psychologist. And after I completed a couple of different tests, he asked, has anyone ever talked to you about ADHD? And I said, no. And he said, you're off the charts ADHD. I can say with 99.99% accuracy, you've got it. And that moment gave me something specific to work on, a name to a previously unknown challenge. My journey of solving it for myself led to my current career of helping others be productive. Now my background is in business systems, how processes can help organizations succeed. So when I recognized time management was my biggest issue, I started piecing together processes to help someone who was a chaos master like myself, but there was a problem. Most systems had great concepts but were built by people who were already very organized, focus masters. They weren't adapted for a chaos master like me. So I assembled a simpler process to help myself get organized, and then I discovered something interesting. My biggest issue is the same as most everyone else. Most people have so much going on, they're switch-tasking so much, so even if they don't have the genetic condition of ADHD, they experience the same stress and issues. It's an epidemic of scattered attention. So I started to teach and coach others using this new process. And from that point, things took off quickly. My first book, "The Myth of Multitasking" and every book and course I've created since then is about helping even disorganized people find focus and time. And of course I still deal with chaos. My wife makes fun of the fact that she can tell where I've been in the house because of the open cupboards I leave everywhere. So if you followed me around, you'd see that 98% of the time, I'm completely organized and in control, but there's still that 2% where the ADHD slips through. This course is about helping people with their work day, and that's important. But the thing that gives me the most joy is its impact in a person's everyday life. Each day, we can focus on friends and family. They want to talk to us. But if we are in a state of switch-tasking, looking at our phones, not focusing on people, we're missing out on these relationships. And that returns me to the moment that led to this course, wanting to be a good husband and father. So what makes my day is when someone who's completed this course tells me this has changed my life or that the relationships with the people who matter most are stronger. That's the hidden theme in my work, the ability to improve the quality of your life. For me, in the end, being more present for the people I love and having more free time to spend with them is what this is all about.

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