Before talking with your doctor about a treatment plan, make a list of symptoms that you want to see improved with treatment.  An example would be:

• Being able to focus for longer periods of time
• Being able to sit still when needed
• Being able to accomplish things during the day
• Improving frustration level
• Getting along with co-workers, friends and family
• Improving handwriting
• Being able to get a good night’s sleep
• Being able to get up in the morning
• Being able to get to work (school) on time

Creating this list and discussing it with your physician will help you to focus on what type of treatment plan will work best for you. Once you have completed this list, you will have a goal in mind for treatment.  You can even rate these items as “Important” or “Not so important” to get a sense of what areas you want to work on first.

As you begin your treatment plan, keep your list handy.  Each week, rate each item on a scale of 1-10 (ten being the best).  You will be able to see quickly which areas have improved and which areas still need to be worked on. Bring your weekly checklists with you to your next doctor’s appointment. This will help you and your doctor determine if the current treatment plan is working, or if you need to make some changes.   

This method will work best if you begin with one specific treatment. By keeping track you can determine how well it is working before adding additional treatments or increasing the dosage of your medication. 

Remember, when beginning any type of behavioral strategies program, choose one or two behaviors to work on at first.  You will overwhelm yourself if you make a list of all your shortcomings and decide you are going to change them all at once.  Once you have improved in those areas, you can add additional behaviors and work on improving those.  Patience and consistency are important in beginning any type of treatment plan.