Overcoming Distractions

This week Dave has back Diann Wingert, therapist turned coach.

Diann discusses the concept of the four tendencies, a philosophy by author Gretchen Rubin. Dave and Diann discuss how adults with ADHD can relate to these four tendencies and how you might find yourself in one or more of these.

Diann points out that this is not a personality assessment, it is more of a way to understand the characteristics of ourselves and others. And by doing so, we learn more about ourselves and how to work better with other people, especially in the workplace.

The four tendencies are:

The upholders.

The questioners.

Obligors.

Rebels.

Diann goes through the basic characteristics of each one of these tendencies.

Dave and Diann discuss how adults with ADHD can fall into these categories and how we can see ourselves in both our personal and professional lives.

Diann and Dave also discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each tendency.

This is part one of a two-part podcast series about how adults with ADHD can relate to the four tendencies.

Check out Diann Wingert’s Four Tendencies guide here. https://www.diannwingertcoaching.com/the-four-tendencies-guide

Dave sits down with Russell Kramer, author of the book Hocus Focus- Coming of age with ADD and its medicines.

Russell owns and operates a contracting business and tells his story of growing up taking medication for his ADD and why he decided to stop taking meds. To be clear, Russell is not anti ADHD medication but has learned how to thrive as a self-employed contractor without meds.

Russell talks about why he decided to write this book and what people can learn from his story. In the book he talks about critical self-awareness and as he says, coming of age. Russell uses the term growing into his ADD when discussing learning how to thrive.

Along with Russell’s story, he talks about how he manages his business as a self-employed contractor.

Russell discusses everything from how important it is to keep track of his numbers through proper bookkeeping, keeping logs of his day and keeping track of time.

He also discusses how he manages his project lists which are critical to finishing jobs and how he breaks down projects.

And he talks about how important it is for those of us with adult ADHD to find our fit.

Find Russell’s book here: https://a.co/d/0YTuCkk

The thought of goal setting can be a turn off for many people including adults with ADHD. One of the reasons is that many adults with ADHD are not clear on what goals they would like to set, both personally and professionally.

Goal setting does not have to be scary or overwhelming. Those of us with ADHD can set meaningful and achievable goals if we prepare properly and keep them attainable.

Back on Overcoming Distractions is Sarah Reiff-Hekking, Ph.D. of True Focus Coaching, Inc. She takes us right back to the basics of goal setting and gives us advice on how to make this part of our life easier and more manageable. First, she defines what a goal is to get our discussion going.

From there, Sarah gives us advice so we can determine what type of goals we should be setting in our lives. She discusses how we can understand the deeper meaning or personal significance of the goals we set.

Some of the other discussion highlights include.

• Setting short-term goals.
• Trusting yourself when setting goals.
• What’s most important right now?
• Planning for reality.
• Moving towards a goal, not away from it.
• Understanding how goals complement each other.
• Understanding your time frame when setting goals.
• Analyzing what’s working.
• Setting mini deadlines.

Here are the links we discussed about working with Sarah Reiff-Hekking, Ph.D.

1. Time Matters Boot Camp Virtual Workshop: CreateFocusNow.com
2. Website with resources: truefocuscoaching.com
3. Link to apply for a Strategy Session at no cost: https://www.truefocuscoaching.com/strategy-session-inquiry/

One thing that pretty much everyone with ADHD experiences is the concept of “out of sight out of mind.”

That can be everything from your calendar, to do list, shopping list, backpack or laptop bag to bring to work, car keys and the list goes on.

So in this episode of Overcoming Distractions Dave sits down with Star Hansen AKA the Clutter Whisperer to talk about how we can reduce out of sight, out of mind in our personal and professional lives.

Star first addresses the idea that for many adults with ADHD there is anxiety with clutter. But she also makes sure to tell listeners that out of sight and out of mind is not a problem exclusively to those of us with ADHD. Everyone experiences this.

Star also discusses some of the common scenarios that many of us with ADHD can relate to in both our work setting and in home. We’re sure you can relate to some of these.

Star and Dave discuss the following ideas that can help reduce out of sight out of mind in the workplace and at home.

Star says to acknowledge habits that contribute to this.

Start somewhere because better than nothing is progress.

Less is more so reduce items within a particular space.

Establish locations for important items.

Embrace the truth.

Try and fail and try again!

Establish boundaries to mitigate walking into a room and forgetting why you were there. Yes this can contribute to out of sight out of mind.

Learn more about everything Star has to offer on her website; www.StarHansen.com

There’s a clear connection between our ability to think and how we plan and when we have ADHD, it helps to understand that connection.

Because many with adult ADHD have challenges thinking effectively when we need it, planning can suffer. But fear not, we have some answers in this episode of overcoming distractions.

Back on the podcast is Jeff Copper from DIG Coaching.

Jeff and Dave discussed the concept of ADHD and thinking and why times arise when we cannot think clearly or think methodically. Because of this, it affects our ability to plan whether in the workplace or at home.

Jeff says that when we have ADHD we need to have a collection of mine tools that help us through these processes. Those need to help remove discomfort when it comes to thinking and planning.

Jeff also discusses why we need to externalize thinking when we are an adult with ADHD.

Dave and Jeff also discussed the importance of mind, body, sleep and eating habits as they are part of the core to thriving with adult ADHD.

Jeff also walks us through some of the core practices adults with ADHD can implement in their daily lives to make thinking clear and as a result planning easier and more productive.

Find ADHD and Attention Coach Jeff Copper at his website. www.digcoaching.com

Overcoming Distractions focuses a lot of attention and resources on helping busy professionals like you thrive in the workplace with adult ADHD. This week we have a general discussion about how to navigate the workplace and thrive, grow and feel less stressed.

Dave has a discussion with Jess Meredith, founder of Differing Minds based in the UK. Differing Minds consults with organizations of all types to give them a better understanding diversity and give leadership the tools to help their workforce.

Jess and Dave talk about some of the basic reasons why some of us adults with ADHD have challenges navigating the workplace and how those spill into our home and personal life. We have challenges with our workload, systems, routines creating effective to do lists as well as scheduling projects and tasks appropriately. That tax is our executive functions, and it can make us tired at the end of the day.

Jess talks about some of the common challenges that many adults with ADHD have in the workplace in how to begin the process of advocating for yourself without disclosing your ADHD.

Jess says that advocating for yourself requires us to understand our ADHD, work with a coach or mentor as well as doing your own research to understand ADHD better. She said it is also very helpful to document and journal our challenges with ADHD as well as strategies that work in our favor.

Dave and Jess talk about the must haves for thriving in the workplace. She says understanding your sensory profile and sensory processing can help you understand your needs. For many with ADHD movement helps us manage our ADHD. Working for a short period of time and then getting up and walking around for a minute.

She also says that noise-cancelling headphones can be a tremendous help in maintaining focus and minimizing distractions.

And finding an accountability buddy that can help you stay on track can be very beneficial to thriving in the workplace.

Learn more about Differing Minds here: https://www.differingminds.co.uk/

Understanding the overall concept of emotional intelligence and how it affects our lives with ADHD is critically important when it comes to navigating professional and personal life and thriving with adult ADHD.

This week on Overcoming Distractions, Dave has a discussion with Dr David Sitt, the author of ADHD Refocused-Bringing Clarity to the Chaos.

Dr Sitt first discusses his book and explains why the word “clarity” is in the subtitle. It is one of the keywords that drives how we thrive with adult ADHD. He explains that for many of us with ADHD, we wake up with the lights off and we must regain clarity on a regular basis.

Dr Sitt defines emotional intelligence and how it relates to adults with ADHD.

He discusses self-awareness, and self-management, including how to regulate, problem-solving, social awareness, relationship management, and dealing with conflict.

Dr Sitt And Dave discuss how “reading the room” is incredibly important, specifically in the workplace.

Dr. Sitt also discusses how many adults with ADHD have a low frustration tolerance and talks about how rejection is part of emotional intelligence.

Dr. Sitt discusses many steps to get started on the process of evaluating your emotional intelligence. He says self-awareness is a great first step and a great way to achieve that is through mindfulness and meditation.

He also talks about the power of journaling about your social world and how that can improve your emotional intelligence.

He offers many other powerful tips to get started on the process of improving emotional intelligence.

Learn more about Dr. Sitt and grab his book on his website.

https://drsitt.com/

This episode is Part 2 of how ADHD is showing up in our lives.

This week we discuss how ADHD shows up in the workplace, our jobs and our careers. Dave is joined again by Dr. Fiona Peters a leading expert in neurodiversity from the UK. Dr. Fiona is back for round 2 with an awesome and engaging discussion.

Are you a busy professional with ADHD that is looking for coaching or mentorship? Contact Dave here. Www.overcomingdistractions.com

First Dave and Fiona discussed the love and loathe list that you were asked to work on the previous episode. They discuss how making the love and the loathe list can help us navigate both our personal lives and our career.

Dr. Fiona talks about in the workplace many of us have challenges with executing tasks and projects as well as time. Some of us go as far as to loathe these parts of our job.

She talks about how we have a conflict sometimes between good versus bad as well as the skills that are required to work in our career.

She also discusses how rejection sensitivity disorder and impostor syndrome can be hard to dislodge when we are in a career that we may not be enjoying. She discusses how when we have these situations we get into resentment and emotional dysregulation.

Dr Fiona Talks about how we can bring some calm into the workplace by working through box breathing, always pause when asked to do certain things that require us to think and even tell people that you will get back to them without making a decision on the fly.

Dave and Fiona discuss how we need to have an inventory of our capacity and as we have discussed before how to test the word no in the workplace. Without of course being reprimanded or fired.

So you are an adult with ADHD. Or maybe you do not have an official ADHD diagnosis but suspect you may have ADHD.

While there are many signs of ADHD such as distractions, lack of focus, difficulty with routines and systems and time management, there are also signs of ADHD that we may not initially recognize.

In this episode of Overcoming Distractions, Dave discusses some of the ways ADHD shows up in our personal lives with Dr Fiona Peters, a UK-based leading expert in neurodiversity.

While there may be days where we are late for work, have a rough morning and the occasional lost car keys, Dr Fiona discusses some other aspects of adult ADHD for us to pay attention to.

Some of those include tension in the household, an imbalanced relationship between partners as well as getting in the last word in discussions and arguments.

Of course we may have challenges paying our bills and cleaning the house and Dr Fiona discusses some of these as well.

This is part one of a two-part discussion about how ADHD shows up in our lives.

Learn more about the work of Dr Fiona Peters here: https://www.drfionapeters.co.uk/