Errand Stacking for ADHD Moms | Stop Wasting Time and Run Errands Efficiently | ADHD Time Management Tools
One of my favorite memes says “My hobby is driving my kids to their hobbies.”
Because if you're a mom like me, you spend an incredible amount of time driving around to activities.
And you’ve probably had more than one moment where you think to yourself “I wish I would have brought the dry cleaning because I'm driving right by there on the way to soccer" or “Why didn't I call in that prescription refill since I'm going to the grocery store anyway?”
But even with a working memory that doesn’t always remember and a sense of time the fails to recognize things that need to be done in the future, there is a way us ADHD moms can make the most of the time we spend driving around…a little hack known as errand stacking, one of my favorite mom hacks that can save you time, energy, and money (especially with gas prices they way they are right now).
Because it’s much quicker, easier, and more cost effective to do something if you're already out and about, right?
So let’s chat a bit about errand batching to make your ADHD mom life a bit easier.
Why ADHD Moms Struggle with Errand Running
I don’t know about you, but there are many days when it takes a lot of energy to do even the simplest tasks as an ADHD mom, especially at the end of a long day with work and afterschool activities.
But here’s the thing, it’s not necessarily laziness or even exhaustion that may make running to the grocery store in the evening or dropping off that Amazon return seem like an insurmountable task.
In fact, seeing as task initiation (aka doing the darn thing) is an executive function, I’d venture to say that our errand running resistant could come down to dopamine.
Think about it, if you’re at the end of the day, you’ve probably spent most of your dopamine reserves solving problems, making decisions, managing your time, and keeping your emotions in check both for your work and your family.
By the time 6pm rolls around, your tank is running on fumes.
Which doesn’t couple well with errand running which requires the executive functions like:
Decision making to decide where you need to go, what you need to do, or what you need to pick up at the places you decide to go
And time management to figure out how much time you need, especially if you’ve got other commitments that night.
You’ll need dopamine to fire up the ol’ executive function to start and switch any tasks you want to do.
And the fact that most errand running won’t fall into the dopamine-inducing activity categories of new, exciting, fun, or different, it may be difficult to get your motivation going.
But even when we are experiencing ADHD executive function challenges when it comes to running errands, most of us moms will have family commitments that will take us out and about at least a few nights per week.
And as I said earlier, it is typically much easier for us to motivate our ADHD brains to go out and it takes way less executive function energy if we’ve got some other obligation that’s making us leave.
What is Errand Stacking?
This is the magic of errand stacking or batching your errands together in one intentional trip instead of scattering them throughout your week or making individual trips.
You can save time because you’re grouping several actions outside the house together at one time.
You can reduce the mental load because you’re initiating that task of leaving the house once rather than for each individual errand.
And seeing of list of where you need to go and what you need to do gives your brain a break from having to remember individual tasks.
Just like it can be easier to write several emails or pay several bills in a row because you’re “in the zone”, grouping several errands together minimizes task transitions or context switching, which can be exhausting for your ADHD brain.
How to Errand Stack as an ADHD Mom
So how do you get started with errand stacking?
Well, as with nearly all the ADHD tips I share, it begins with creating better awareness…Awareness around what you do and need to do, awareness around where you go, and awareness around when you’ll be in those areas.
Know You Need to Go…
To start, know where you need to go by making a list of errands you regularly run. Post office, library, grocery store, amazon returns, etc.
For instance, a few years back, my husband bought me one of those water dispensers that takes 5 gallon jugs.
It’s about a third of the price if I fill them at some of our local grocery stores than it is to have them delivered. But of course, none of those grocery stores are super close to our house.
BUT there is one not too far from where my son has swimming practice. Which brings me to step 2…
Know Where You Will Be Going
Make a list of places you regularly visit like your kid’s school, your office, your church, a park where you have sports practice or the home of your kid’s trumpet teacher.
Once you know where you go, list the places that are near that location where you might need to run an errand.
An excellent ADHD tool for this would be making a mindmap. Start by placing the overall task/subject in the middle of the page (in our case, it would be errands to run).
Make arms coming off the center for each of the places you regularly go. Then break those arms down into the places you may need to run an errand to that are nearby.
Here’s a sample of my errand running mind map…
Because I know the store where I fill up my water jugs is near where my son’s swim practice, I can plan to bring them along and fill them up when I know I’m taking him to practice.
Which leads us to the final step in errand stacking…
Know Your Schedule
Because of ADHD time blindness, many tasks often slip our memory until it needs to be done now (or it’s too late).
The term ADHD time blindness was coined in 1997 by ADHD researcher Dr. Russell Barkley to describe an ADHDers difficulty with perceiving, tracking, and managing time.
In a nutshell, us ADHDers find it difficult to plan for future events because our brains struggle to acknowledge time beyond what is happening right now.
You might have heard people describe it as thinking of time in 2 ways, it’s either “now” which means it is immediately urgent or important, or “not now” which means it could be happening in 3 days or 3 years but our brain won’t prioritize it because it is not “now.”
Creating an awareness around our schedule helps us take those errands that may feel like they are not now and makes them into now.
For instance, instead of putting off calling in our prescription when it’s getting low (because we don’t need it “now”), we train our brains to call in the refill for a Thursday pick-up because the pharmacy is near our soccer practice fields.
In the past, we may have waited to call our refill in until the bottle was empty. Then we may have struggled with the motivation to go pick it up or finding the time to go within our busy schedule.
If we start to create an errand stacking plan, we know when we see soccer practice on the schedule that we will be near the pharmacy. And if we noticed we were running low, it might be a good time to pick it up that night.
Now, I realize that this might sound completely overwhelming. You’re like “um, I thought you were going to make my life easier not more complicated.”
Which is why you might want to just start with one area of town or one type of errand.
Pick up your groceries while your daughter is at piano lessons. Drop off library books on the way to school pick up.
Once this feels like more natural, you can start to add more. The most important thing is to start bringing awareness to where you’re going to be and when you’re going to be there so you can make the most of your trips out.
Tips for Making Errand Running Easier
And before we wrap up today, I want to share a few bonus tips to help make errand running a little easier…
Reduce friction by prepping ahead of time. Box up the Amazon returns the night before so you aren’t rushing to do it while you’re trying to run out the door. Put the donation bags in front of the door or in the back of your car so you don’t forget to load them.
Don’t overload the list, especially if you’re working with limited time. Maybe keep to 1 or 2 additional errands (depending on what they are) until you start to get a better feel for how long things take.
And remember, not all errands use equal amounts of executive function. You may want to build in extra time if your errand is going to involve things like making decisions. Because depositing a check in an ATM takes waaay less time than figuring out what to make for lunches and dinner for the rest of the week.
And finally, keeping track of how long errands actually take can go a long way in helping you understand how long you need to block for similar errands in the future.
If you’re still struggling with your time management and trying to fit everything into your busy life as an ADHD mom and ADHD business owner, I’d love to help you find a way. My ADHD coaching programs are designed to help you set goals, make time to take action, and follow through to see the success you know is possible.
To learn more and discuss how I can support you, click the link below to schedule a free, no-obligation clarity call with me.
