The Four Quarters Method: Tailored for ADHD Adults

Are you ready for an ADHD twist on the four quarters approach to time management? Awesome, then keep reading. As a productivity coach for fellow adults with ADHD, I’m always thinking about time:

• How can we make it more visible?
• How to recognize it passing.
• New ways to structure and think about time.

In episode 243 of the I’m Busy Being Awesome podcast, we’re exploring an innovative approach to thinking about time that I think you’ll love.

It is both practical and actionable. It helps us challenge our black and white thinking.

And it provides that ideal balance of structure and flexibility that so many of our brains crave.

Ready to learn more?

Fantastic!

You can listen to the episode below or stream it on your favorite podcasting app here.

Prefer to read? No problem! Keep scrolling for the entire podcast transcript.

In This Episode, You Will Discover

• The four quarters method of time management
• My ADHD twist on the approach
• 5 powerful ways it can support your ADHD brain to navigate time with greater ease

Episode #243: The Four Quarters Method: Tailored for ADHD Adults: (Transcript)

Today we are exploring a new way to think about time and how we approach our days.

As a productivity coach for ADHD brains, I’m always thinking about time.

• Can we make it more visible?
• How to recognize when it’s passing.
• How we can make it feel more real and tangible.
• New ways to structure time based on our brain’s different preferences.
• How we can create different levels of flexibility.

Finding Your Preferred Level of Daily Structure

One of the topics that I talk about regularly with my clients is the importance of finding their brain’s preferred level of structure. Because as I say time and time again on this podcast, no to ADHD brains are alike. This means that there is a nuanced approach to designing that ideal level of structure for each person.

Just because one person loves to use the Pomodoro Technique of 25 minutes of work followed by a 5-minute break, doesn’t mean that works for everybody.

Case in point, that is a terrible approach for me because it takes me about 25 minutes to get into the work. So if I use the Pomodoro Technique, I essentially spend my entire day in transition, which is a nightmare.

Similarly, just because some brains do really well with highly structured time blocking every 30 to 60 Minutes, it doesn’t mean that all brains will thrive with this. We need to find what works best for you.

This is why I think it is so powerful to work with a coach whether in a one-on-one or group setting to have that guidance and support as you go through the iteration process and figure out the approach that’s best for you in this season.

Because what’s also true is that our seasons change. The level of structure that we need changes based on the type of work we’re doing, whether we have kids or not, how old those kids are, and so many other competing variables because we are all dynamic humans.

What Is The Four Quarters Method?

Several years ago, I came across a concept from Gretchen Rubin. You’ve probably heard me talk about Gretchen Rubin in the past she has a lot of great frameworks and ways to think about human behavior generally. Back in 2021, she posted a tweet saying…

“Instead of feeling that you’ve blown the day and thinking, “I’ll get back on track tomorrow, try thinking of each day as a set of four quarters: morning, midday, afternoon, evening. If you blow one quarter, you get back on track for the next quarter. Fail small, not big.”

I love this idea so much. I find it to be an incredibly effective mindset to approach our days, and I’ll talk more about why I love this framework so much in just a moment.

This four quarter idea resurfaced sometime a couple years later on TikTok.

it breaks down into 4 parts

Morning, midday, afternoon, evening.

If you look into the TikTok explosion that followed, people added a rough time to these quarters… Morning from 6 AM to 10 AM, Midday from 10 AM to 2 PM, Afternoon from 2 PM to 6 PM, Evening from 6 PM to 10 PM.

So again, that is the general idea of the four quarter approach – thinking about your day in those four quarters.

I love this idea, but I noticed for myself, my brain wants a little more structure. There’s not quite enough specificity for me. So, I explored this a little bit further and realized there’s too much overlap in very different activities between these four quarters.

What I mean by that, is that I’m doing rather different things, and I don’t like the idea of them blending together into one quarter. My brain wants a little bit more compartmentalization.

When I started playing around with this, I realized that one simple shift makes all the difference for my brain.

I’m offering this thought process because I encourage you to have that same curious, experimental approach. Remember, there is not one right way to do this.

So if you find you like the four quarter approach, or you like my approach, but that you notice you need a slight shift, please by all means, do it. This is how it works. This is how you find what works best for you.

Tailoring the Four Quarter Approach for ADHD Adults (5 Parts)

I realized I needed a slight shift in how this approach worked.

For myself, that shift was creating fifths instead of four quarters.

When I divide my waking hours into five different sections rather than four, I realized that the breakdown of hours aligns much better with how my day is traditionally structured, how my ADHD brain typically thinks about the day (meals, transition points, etc).

I break my day into fifths, using 3-hour increments.

Here’s what it looks like:

1. Early morning from 6:00 to 9:00
2. Mid-morning from 9:00 to 12:00
3. Afternoon from 12:00 to 3:00
4. Late afternoon from 3:00 to 6:00
5. Evening from 6:00 to 9:00

Then from 9:00 onward, I am beginning my evening routine and getting into bed by 10:00.

I love the idea of intentionally and actively planning within these five blocks or containers of time each day.

This 5 Block Approach Is Ideal For You If:

• You have a brain that prefers a bit more structure than looking at your task list and choosing your top three for the day
• But, less structure than 30 or 60 Minute time blocks,

This quarter or fifth approach to mapping out your day could be a supportive alternative.

5 Benefits of the Four Quarter (or 5 Part) Method

Now, let’s talk about why I think this is such a fantastic approach. Whether you use the four quarters or the 5/5 it doesn’t really matter, the general idea and benefits remain the same.

1. Helps with All-Or-Nothing Thinking

I love how this approach of quarters or fifths really helps stop our all or nothing thinking in its tracks.

Many of you – like me – can easily slip into all or nothing with our schedules.

I think I’ve shared on the podcast before that when I first discovered time blocking, my brain was so inflexible. My cognitive flexibility was so non-existent that if I scheduled my day to start at 8:00, and it was 8:07, I genuinely believed that I had blew it. I ruined the day.

I say that now and can laugh, but it felt so real to me for so long. So for anybody’s brains who fall into some level of that all or nothing trap, the four quadrants or fifths approach could be really useful.

As Gretchen Rubin mentioned, if your first or second block doesn’t go as planned, it doesn’t mean the day is over or ruined. Instead, you can start fresh at the top of the next quarter or the top of the next 5th.

Using this approach helps to reset the all or nothing because we can reset at the next block rather than needing to start fresh the next day.

2. Provides a Balance of Structure & Flexibility

I also love this approach because using quarters or fifths provides both structure and flexibility. After working with hundreds of ADHD brains over the years, I’ve found this to be a golden ticket for many of us.

We need some level of structure, but there’s got to be some flexibility in there, too.

So what do I mean by this, specifically? If we think in fifths with the 3-hour blocks, you…

• Have that regular rhythm in repetition knowing that there are five three hour blocks to work with every day.
• Have five three hour containers that you can fill with whatever you want.
• Get to choose what goes in there.

Some of them might be the same each day. For example, I tend to follow the same morning routine every day whether it’s the weekday or the weekend. But my weekdays and weekends vary with my other blocks.

Another example: Maybe you are a consultant, and you decide that your mid-morning from 9:00 to 12:00 is saved for meeting with clients, your afternoon from 12:00 to 3:00 is saved for lunch and creative work. Then you split your late afternoon in half. The first half is Administrative work and your shutdown routine, and the second half is your commute home and transitioning back into the house.

That’s essentially how my late afternoon block works. It’s administrative work in the first half, and then the second half is my shutdown routine and my transition activities into being present and ready for my evening block.

There’s a lot of flexibility here, but knowing that you have the regular rhythm of those containers can be really helpful. You know they are there to hold whatever you put in them.

3. Provides Helpful Benchmarks In Your Day

Whether you use quarters or fifths they provide clear mile markers or benchmarks in your day.

I know you don’t need me to remind you that most of us ADHD brains are super time blind. Many of us have a hard time recognizing the passage of time, especially when we are deep and hyperfocus or super busy running from one thing to the next. We tend to live in the now and have a very short time Horizon.

I love how Dr Barkley talks about ADHD years living in now or not now.

When we use quarters or fifths, we bring that time Horizon much closer. We know that we’re working toward the next 3 hour benchmark.

I know that when I sit down at 9:00 I’m working toward the next benchmark at noon. I also know that that benchmark is there as a pivot point. That is when I’m shifting to the next block.

I think this is really powerful because if you do go down the rabbit hole on some research or you get sucked into a project you hadn’t anticipated, and you finally surface for air. You can check the time and see which block you’re supposed to be in. And then transition into that block knowing whatever you identify for that block of time is waiting there for you.

4. Great For Focused Work

The fourth reason why I really like this blocking approach is more specific to the fifths approach of 3 hour containers. I love this approach for my brain with deep work. When I am in hyperfocus or flow.

When I’m working on a podcast or creating new content or writing a workshop for my clients, I know that my brain is on and sharp for a good 90 minutes. I also know that I need transition in and out 30 to 45 minutes together.

Usually 20 to 30 minutes to transition into the work, and about 15 minutes to transition out of it.

So if I have a good two to two hours and 15 minutes worth of deep work, then I can use that remaining 45 minutes to an hour for administrative tasks, smaller things I need to check off the list. That tends to work quite well for me.

Similarly, I love seeing clients in 3-hour sections. 3-hour blocks feels amazing.

My 101 clients I see for 45 minutes, my groups I see for an hour, and when I can line that up from 9:00 to 12:00 and then have a break after that for lunch, my brain is lit up and it feels so good.

As I mentioned, these are my personal preferences for work and flow. I’ve played around with it and found that it works great for me. Allow yourself that same gift of experimentation and iteration.

What size container feels really good for you?

5. Makes Prioritization Easier

The final reason why I love this approach is that it makes prioritization much easier for my brain. And I know many of you, like me, can quickly feel overwhelmed when it comes to prioritization.

When I look at my day and I think about the five blocks I have to work with, I like that I can ask myself:

What matters most in this 3 hours? If I only do one thing, what would it be?

I think this is especially effective when I am off my routine or there’s been a shift in plans.

For example, today kind of fits that bill. I’ve had a pivot in my day, so I looked at my five blocks and I asked myself:

Okay. What is the most important thing this morning from 6:00 till 9:00?

Today they were actually two things, but they were definitely doable within that 3-hour block. I was walking Bruno, and getting myself ready for the day

Then I ask myself, okay how about from 9:00 till 12:00. What’s the most important thing?

Again, I looked at my list and I realized it’s mapping out this podcast. If I can get that done, maybe get it recorded, but that’s a bonus. The most important thing is getting it mapped out.

From there, I looked at 12:00 to 3:00. And I asked myself, what’s most important?

Suddenly, what felt like an untethered day with competing demands, quickly cleared up. I know exactly what matters most in each block, and I focus on that.

Key Takeaways & Recap

To wrap things up here, first and foremost, the key takeaway is about finding the personalized approach that works best for your brain. Just because it works for one person doesn’t mean it’s the exact approach for you.

So, allow yourself time to experiment to make it work for your current season.

With that overarching concept in mind, today we looked at:

• Gretchen Rubins method of approaching the day in four quarters
• My twist on it with thinking in fifths

We also talked about five main benefits:

1. Helps us challenge the all-or-nothing mindset that can throw us off track.
2. Offers an awesome balance between structure and flexibility, which is something that’s crucial for so many of us with ADHD brains. Having a reliable rhythm to operate within, while still allowing room for spontaneity, is a game-changer.
3. These time blocks act as benchmarks throughout the day, which help us stay grounded and aware of time passing.
4. The 3-hour fifths approach is especially supportive for deep work and focused blocks.
5. Helps us quickly prioritize. By focusing on the individual blocks and asking, what’s the one thing that would be most helpful to get done in this one block. Or what matters most about this block today, it helps us create clarity and hone in on what really matters.

So, whether you’re sticking to the classic four quarters, taking a cue from my playbook with five blocks, or something in between, the key is to experiment and find what clicks best for you.

And if you give it a try, I would love to hear about it! Head over to Instagram and either send me a DM or leave a comment on the post for this episode if you’re listening in real time. I am @imbusybeingawesome, and I can’t wait to hear about it!

Alright, my friends, that’s going to do it for us this week.

Ready To Take These Concepts & Apply Them To Your Life?

If you’re ready to learn how to support your ADHD in a way that’s best for YOU, I invite you to visit imbusybeingawesome.com/group to learn more about my small group coaching program, We’re Busy Being Awesome. When you’re there, you can add your name to the waitlist so you’re the first to know when enrollment opens for the next cohort.

👉 Want to learn my simple step by step approach to locking in a routine and making it stick, be sure to take my free course ADHD Routine Revamp.

Until next time, keep being awesome. I’ll talk with you soon.

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