Many people who have ADD or ADHD struggle to remember important appointment dates and times, and often neglect their own personal needs such as taking daily medication, eating regularly, drinking water, or even picking up the kids after school. ADD allows people to hyper-focus when in the midst of a project, and everything else is set aside temporarily.

People who have ADD or ADHD often deal with a constant forgetfulness, which can be extremely frustration. Although there are many reminder methods such as daily planners and electronic calendars, these methods only work if the person remembers to use them or to check them regularly.

Forgetting appointments is expensive when you pay a $90.00 missed appointment fee. With the new HIPPA laws many physicians, therapists, and dental offices are choosing to fore go the usual appointment reminder calls to patients to avoid violating the laws set into place to protect our medical records and patient rights. Those that choose to call can only talk directly to a parent, guardian, or patient specifically. Any message left on a voice mail systems are usually too vague to be of any use to the recipient when neither the patient nor the doctor's name is used. This is especially true when more than one person lives or receives messages at a number.

Even with a reminder call 1-3 days before an appointment it is easy to forget the appointment on the day scheduled, especially if one forgets to write down the appointment time or to view his or her calendar daily. When making repeat appointments for therapists, allergists, orthodontists, personal trainers, etc. try to make the appointment the same day and time each week or month. For instance when scheduling choose the first or last appointment of the day every other Thursday for three months in a row. Then set your cell phone calendar reminder to notify you of the appointment the morning of and an hour before the actual appointment time.

There are some other reminder gadgets on the market to help one remember repetitive items, like daily medication, to eat a healthy snack, drink water, or whatever one needs, including the kids release time from school. These gadgets are only as useful as the person who is setting them up. It cannot remind you of something if you do not activate the device before hand.

The one personally used is the Invisible Clock Vibrating Reminder. This nifty gadget looks like a very small pager, and has a vibration only feature, which makes it easy for anyone to use discreetly. There are up to 12 daily and repeating alarms that can be set. As a night worker sometimes the worry is missing school dismissal and child pickup times. Since that time rarely changes, I set it as a reminder in my personal Invisible Clock Vibrating Reminder.

The size of this item makes it ideal for older children to use without having mom or dad constantly bugging them to do their chores, homework, or take their medication. Although initially it takes time to set up your personal reminders once programmed it is virtually trouble free. This little gadget makes time management a breeze for anyone who has a busy lifestyle, and especially for anyone diagnosed with ADD who has difficulty remembering to take medicine, or keep appointments.

I have included a links to three items personally tried and tested with great success for time and medication management. Please feel free to post in the ADD forum any ideas you have had success with regarding personal time management gadgets.