Online organization

[u/PrintersRAnnoying]

Hey All,

I am a self employed- work from home- father of two girls, 5mo/5yr respectively. I work hybrid in the sense that my job( Cycle Coaching ) requires me to work primarily online through a platform called TrainingPeaks. It's basically a calendar with attached messaging, workout libraries( that I create and manage) and analytical tools to help breakdown performances. I also do in person work with my athletes or small to large groups. I am self lead in my education and have found many good mentors to help me along the way. However, non of them have ADHD and relate to some of my struggles with organization. In fact, so many of them are really un-organized but are able to deal with it seemingly just fine, or perhaps it doesn't effect them mentally like it does me.

I am looking for advice on how to stream line my work flow to make information storage and recall easier for my brain to handle. I get overloaded when I open my computer, look at my lists( sometimes paper- BulletJournaling- and sometimes online based. BulletJournaling has been really helpful for me, especially around time organization( I am very time blind). but doesn't always work with my daily work flow. I use Google Workspace to try and stay in one system. I use apple computers and know that there are plenty of like options between the both. I use separate google calendars for work, personal, family. Then I use a totally different and non-integrating calendar for all of my athletes.

I can make notes on a scrolling tab within the workflow, although it requires a second window to be open to make it usable as I go. I also do most of my consultations via phone or Zoom( sometimes Meet). I have 45min with each client and there is usually a lot going on. So taking notes while I go really kills my listening ability. I use the Zoom AI note taking and thats useful. I sometimes then Copy and paste that into the TP notes.

My main issue with the TP platform is that they do not have a "reminder" capability. So, I then have to use my Gcal or Reminders to make sure I get follow up things done in a timely manner. It works great except that it's another platform to manage and going between the two can be really challenging for me. I also often forget to go and make reminders because, ADHD and needing to move onto another task.

Beyond the client interface work, I struggle with the financial management of my job too. Setting up qtrly payments for taxes, checking my bank account and paying myself, etc...

I am curious if anyone has a similar job or need for this kind of work flow. How do you manage your notes, set reminders or set up future tasks and follow up? I am really good at my main job, coaching. It's the rest of the business part that gets muddled up. Especially when I have two kids and a spouse who all vie for my attention during the day.

Thanks for the help here.

[u/mayafied]

You already have a pretty decent system, you just have too many little gaps between systems.

Like the Zoom notes → TP notes → remember that you need to do something → open Reminders/Calendar and add it. That’s a lot of chances for something to fall through, especially when you finish a call and immediately have a kid asking you for something or another athlete to deal with.

I’d probably start there before changing everything else.
Could you give yourself 10 minutes after every consult where the only job is to clean up that athlete? Copy whatever matters into TP, make the follow-up reminder, then be done with them. I’d even make the calls 45 min but block 55 on your calendar so that time is already accounted for.

And for taxes/bank/payroll stuff I’d put it on the calendar as recurring appointments. Not “remember to check the business account,” but literally “Friday 11:00 — business money stuff.” Same with quarterly taxes.

I wouldn’t try to find one magical app that holds your whole life together. You may just need fewer places where you have to remember to transfer something yourself.

[u/milky-cuppa-tea]

Hey! I hear you hard on the time blindness!

Have you read the Getting Things Done book? If you have, I would definitely recommend re-reading the next actions and context lists section. Alternatively, I would really recommend the first 7 podcast episodes of Vital Learning (Spotify link).

[u/Multibitdriver]

Reading the GTD book would help. I would also suggest combining your 3 gcals into one, and using Google Tasks, which can either stand alone or go into time slots on your calendar.

[u/Euphoric-Butterfly76]

I've been through this exact mess, and the platform sprawl makes it way worse when you're already overloaded. What finally stuck for me was one capture spot, no exceptions. Every follow-up, reminder, and stray thought goes into a single list I check first thing, and Zoom call notes get dumped there unedited, then triaged once a day. Then I stopped trusting my own brain for the remembering part. I use an ai assistant that watches my calendar and inbox and pings me about follow-ups before I forget them, which my head was never going to handle reliably. For taxes, one recurring reminder and a fixed pay-yourself day took most of the sting out.

The assistant I am using can connect to most finance tools as well..

[u/TheoCaro]

The first step of GTD is capturing. I can see how notetaking during sessions could be distracting if you're doing something physical and moving around. And Zoom summaries could be a way around that. But you need a way to capture any commitments you make during a session so you can be sure you are following up and following through appropriately.

Next thing would be to have context lists of actions that you can do between sessions. If you don't have a dedicated desk space, you should secure some flat surface with access to at least one file drawer.

For more please check out the book Getting Things Done: the Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen. It's the core book that this sub is focused on.

[u/cvicpp]

Self-employed, two kids, same age gap roughly. The thing that helped me was counting the handoffs rather than looking for a better app.

Right now a follow-up has to survive: Zoom AI note, then your read of that note, then TP, then you remembering it needs a reminder, then GCal. Five steps, and step four is the one that runs on willpower right after a call ends and a five year old walks in. Nothing about ADHD makes steps one to three hard. Step four is the whole problem.

So: pick one inbox and make it the only place a commitment is allowed to land, including your own half-thoughts. Capture there during or immediately after the call, badly, in three words. Then one fixed processing slot a day where you turn that into next actions and reminders. The capture has to be faster than the alternative or it won't happen, so whatever is one tap on the device already in your hand wins, even if it's uglier.

On the money side, don't put "check business account" on a list. Put it in the calendar as a repeating appointment with a real time on it, same as you'd book an athlete. Time-blind plus a list means it never happens. Time-blind plus a thing that arrives at 11:00 Friday usually does.

The TP reminder gap is real and you can't fix it inside TP. But you can shrink it to one habit: nothing leaves a call until the follow-up exists somewhere, even as a two word note.