Transition Time

1. Figure out your transition time.

Last summer, J and I were forever stressed because I'd be getting home from work so late. The hours there were very flexible.

I'd set myself a "get going" alarm for 5:45 pm, because 6 is a good time to leave. But I'd only get going by like... 6:45. I was frustrated with myself that I took 45 minutes more to wrap up than I wanted to. J was frustrated that I promised to leave 45 minutes before I did. Finally, J suggested, "It looks like you need an hour of transition time."

Transition time is a magical word. Our ADD brains seem to be really good at switching from one thought to another, usually a lot more frequently than we want them to, and without our control. But for switching to totally different types of activities, it's like the Ned Hallowell metaphor. Our brains are racecars with bad brakes. We build up a lot of momentum, then need a long time to slow down enough that we can go in a different direction.

I was expecting my brain to be able to turn on a dime after giving it 15 minutes. But I could have looked at my real timing trends (first noticed the time at 5:45, leave by 6:45) and seen that I needed an hour.

Ever since J blurted that out, I have set myself an alarm for about an hour before I need to leave from work. I snooze it, every eight minutes, as I continue to work - but every new interruption is a reminder that Time To Go is coming up soon. Usually, an hour or hour-and-fifteen after the alarm starts going, I am ready to go.

I do this for my office job. For my work-from-home job, everyone else is "gone" (offline) pretty quickly after quitting time, and the projects I get are all short-term, so there's not as much danger of getting wrapped up in something big and working too late on it.

If I have an important appointment, I also like to set that alarm early enough to remind myself, "Hey, you've gotta be OUT THE DOOR at x time, and READY TO GO about 10 minutes before that." Because honestly, I'm never actually READY when I think I'm ready. I check my purse to see that I've got my phone and keys. I realize I'd rather have a jacket today. I need one last drink of water. And so on.

So, figure out how long it REALLY takes from thinking about changing tasks until you actually can completely leave one task alone for the new one. Then, don't make any judgements. Just set a reminder that starts at the beginning of your transition time, and gently pulls you farther and farther away until you're ready, naturally.