Organizing Folders and or Workspaces that work for non linear brains... Dyslexic and ADHD

Duane J. Hoffbauer

I don't store most of my work (copies of invoices, important emails, inspection reports, work orders, parts diagrams, etc) in a typical folder, subfolder or nested folder system. To me, it is a blob of letters and numbers when searching for anything. I also don't have a brain that can go to my desktop and find an icon from a sea of 100 icons. I use Evernote for 99% of my content due to its structure. It works better in my head that's more logical to how I organize. Plus I can find anything quickly even with very little search info.

One way I use Smartsheet is for a daily journal/todo/calls/emails/planner etc. A while back, my account would only allow 10 sheets, so I would covert each sheet ( a week's worth or so) to a pdf and send it to Evernote. That way all the content is searchable besides titles and tags. The only downside was if I attached a file/image to the sheet, I would manually have to send it to Evernote as well.

Now that my account has unlimited sheets, (Thank you Smartsheet!) I don't have to free up sheets all the time and keep more important info right in the app instead of converting a sheet to a pdf or even better, an excel file to store for later then bring back into Smartsheet. ( Excel is too complicated and clunky).

So I don't intend to replace Evernote with Smartsheet. But I would like to utilize the app more (using the mobile app, using it with Outlook etc) and keep more of my digital content in Smartsheet. But having several folders with several subfolders of sheets looks like trouble.

Any ideas for an impaired brain that needs an accommodation? Thank you kindly.

Jeff Reisman

@Duane J. Hoffbauer

Hi Duane. Yours is a very interesting question, one that likely has no single answer. I am a high IQ neuro-divergent adult (ADHD) with two neuro-divergent sons (both high IQ w/ADHD, one that probably has a foot into the Autism Spectrum,) and one neuro-typical high IQ daughter. So I have some idea of the challenges of organization in both the physical and virtual realms.

I find that it's usually a matter of trial and error. Defining your categorization of data and testing it out to see if it holds true for >90% of what you're organizing is vital. Part of my work is creating Smartsheet solutions for various departments at my company. I generally use Workspaces for this, with everything for the solution contained within - sheets, reports, dashboards. Within the workspace I designate folders for different categories:

"Live Data" for the sheets and dashboards the users will access directly;

"Background Resources" for lookup sheets, helper sheets, metrics sheets that feed reports and dashboard charts, etc. - things the users don't need to access;

"User Tools" for various reports or sheets users can open to add or manipulate data.

The nice thing is that I can use the browse pane to open a workspace, and using the folder structure, easily find the item I'm looking for based on its category.

The challenge for our divergent brains lies in defining the categories and setting the rules that make sense to us. Once the rules are in place and learned, the ADHD brain adapts quite well since we no longer need to make those executive decisions about how to set things up. Good luck!

(For the record, I never think of my brain as "impaired." There are things my brain can do that are vastly more powerful than a typical brain: inductive reasoning, near eidetic memory, high idea productivity, a subconscious that keeps working a problem without me, spatial reasoning that is off the charts - literally... No way I'd trade this brain for a typical one!)

Jeff Reisman

@Duane J. Hoffbauer

Hi Duane. Yours is a very interesting question, one that likely has no single answer. I am a high IQ neuro-divergent adult (ADHD) with two neuro-divergent sons (both high IQ w/ADHD, one that probably has a foot into the Autism Spectrum,) and one neuro-typical high IQ daughter. So I have some idea of the challenges of organization in both the physical and virtual realms.

I find that it's usually a matter of trial and error. Defining your categorization of data and testing it out to see if it holds true for >90% of what you're organizing is vital. Part of my work is creating Smartsheet solutions for various departments at my company. I generally use Workspaces for this, with everything for the solution contained within - sheets, reports, dashboards. Within the workspace I designate folders for different categories:

"Live Data" for the sheets and dashboards the users will access directly;

"Background Resources" for lookup sheets, helper sheets, metrics sheets that feed reports and dashboard charts, etc. - things the users don't need to access;

"User Tools" for various reports or sheets users can open to add or manipulate data.

The nice thing is that I can use the browse pane to open a workspace, and using the folder structure, easily find the item I'm looking for based on its category.

The challenge for our divergent brains lies in defining the categories and setting the rules that make sense to us. Once the rules are in place and learned, the ADHD brain adapts quite well since we no longer need to make those executive decisions about how to set things up. Good luck!

(For the record, I never think of my brain as "impaired." There are things my brain can do that are vastly more powerful than a typical brain: inductive reasoning, near eidetic memory, high idea productivity, a subconscious that keeps working a problem without me, spatial reasoning that is off the charts - literally... No way I'd trade this brain for a typical one!)

Duane J. Hoffbauer

@Jeff Reisman Thank you for taking the time to comment. I certainly appreciate your thoughtfulness. I will certainly use and apply your input.

I don't make an effort to be negative, but I do acknowledge my realities. Many call ADHD a gift. It's only has been a scourge for me.

Jeff Reisman

@Duane J. Hoffbauer

Over the past year I discovered that TikTok (aka Short-Attention-Span Theater) has a treasure-trove of short videos (1-3 minutes) from all sorts of people with various forms of ADHD with their insights, tips, tricks, and coping mechanisms for thriving with ADHD. Many of these took me years to figure out on my own, others were brand-new and are already helping me and my sons better manage. Best of luck to you, sir!