Overcoming Distractions

If you haven’t figured it out yet, executive functions pretty much rule our life. From remembering to brush our teeth, working memory, planning our day, switching from one thing to the next, understanding time etc.

If those of us with ADHD do not understand and get a handle on improving our executive functions, it makes it challenging to get through work, home environment and everything in between.

This episode is dedicated to understanding Executive Functions 101.

Dave’s guest has been here before- Lara Honos-Webb….Clinical psychologist and author as well as Cofounder of Bonding Health which is an app that helps children with ADHD. She is the author of Brain Hacks: Life-changing Strategies to Improve Executive Functioning and her new book 6 Super Skills for Executive Functioning.

Dr, Lara gives listeners an overview of what our executive functions are. Attention and focus, planning and organization, emotional regulations, controlling impulses…

She talks about why those of us especially with ADHD rely so heavily on executive functions to get through the day.

Dave and Dr. Lara also discuss some examples many can relate to of how poor executive functions can hinder us as busy adults with ADHD.

And Dr. Lara gives everyone some advice on some of the most effective ways to improve our executive functions.

If you’re really challenged with executive functions and getting projects and tasks completed, she recommends finding ways to make it more interesting, implement fun and of course ask for help.

Find Dr. Lara Honos-Webb here. https://www.addisagift.com/

If you are an adult with ADHD looking for career advice, this is a great episode of Overcoming Distractions. Whether you need to change careers or jobs or just need some adjustments in your current workplace, Shell Mendelson will give you some advice.

Shell Mendelson is a career coach for adults with ADHD and the author of the new book Unlock Your Career Path: A Course for ADHD Adults and Teens.

Shell and Dave discuss her recent book and start out by talking about how ADHD can impact our careers including some examples listeners can relate to. One area some adults with ADHD can relate to is when placed on a performance improvement plan at work, which, as Shell puts it, can be a soul-crushing situation.

When forging a new career, Shell talks about how many childhood experiences, including things we like and hobbies, could be an indicator as to our career direction.

Shell also discusses why she’s often used the word preferred in her book. She says it is important to understand preferences and must-haves when analyzing your career. Those include:

• Working conditions
• Knowledge
• Geography
• Accommodations
• money

And Shell and Dave wrap up by talking about some of those must haves that adults with ADHD need to consider in their career path. They include clarity, learning more about yourself, owning your career path, building confidence and being ready.

Find Shell and her new book here: www.careercoachingwithshell.com

In this episode, we are talking about confidence for adults with ADHD or for that matter confidence building for anyone.

Back on the podcast is Alyssa Dver, founder of the American Confidence Institute. Alyssa is one of the leading authorities on the subject of confidence out there today.

Confidence is something that allows adults with ADHD to thrive. Many of us struggle with self-doubt which sometimes gets in the way of being our best selves, especially in our career or the workplace.

When we have confidence, then we can earn the trust of others in the workplace, leadership, clients, and others. And it’s just an awesome feeling when we can walk into work and be confident.

Alyssa starts out by defining confidence in the simplest terms we can all understand.

She talks about how lacking confidence can affect us in the workplace and our personal lives.

Alyssa discusses with Dave about people who have come up with a breakthrough in building confidence and some of the things they say in how it affected their lives.

Dave and Alyssa discussed the barriers to confidence not only in the workplace but in our home environments and some of the challenges we face daily that are disguised as a lack of confidence including some red flags.

And Alyssa gives a listeners a simple blueprint for starting your journey of building more confidence.

Learn more about the American Confidence Institute and Alyssa Dver here.

https://www.americanconfidenceinstitute.com/

In this episode we are talking about managing distractions with the help of willpower.

While many adults with ADHD may be put off by the concept of willpower, building that willpower muscle can be an effective strategy for thriving with adult ADHD.

Back on the podcast is Giovanni Dienstmann, a sought-after meditation teacher and author of the books Practical Meditation, Mindful Self-Discipline, and ..Wise Confidence.

Giovanni and Dave discuss the following on this episode of Overcoming Distractions.

• Giovanni provides a well thought out definition of willpower and how it affects our lives.
• He discusses why willpower must be a daily habit in how we build upon it much like building muscle.
• Dave and Giovanni discuss why distractions are another form of seeking energy.
• How decision fatigue and willpower are connected and how increasing willpower can reduce decision fatigue.

Giovanni goes through a simple framework for improving willpower in our ADHD lives. That includes working on our environment and working on ourselves. That includes both mental and physical environment. Working environment adjustments can include minimizing any electronic notifications such as your phone. Use website blockers if necessary and declutter your environment.

And Giovanni discusses a process for slowing down and building effective intentions to help build thou willpower.

You can find Giovanni’s books and his app here. https://www.mindfulselfdiscipline.com/

If you are an adult with ADHD, this conversation is built just for you. Whether you are a CEO, busy executive, business owner with ADHD or are juggling life and professional responsibilities, you’ll learn a lot about being an adult with ADHD in this conversation.

Kathleen Nadeau, PhD, is the Founder of the Chesapeake Center and the author of Still Distracted After All These Years: Help and Support for Older Adults with ADHD.

In this conversation, you’ll get a snapshot of what it’s like to be a busy adult with ADHD and get some great tips for thriving in both business and home life.

First, Dr. Nadeau discusses why she wrote this book.

While we see a lot out there in the world about children with ADHD, as you well know, ADHD impacts adults as well. Dr. Nadeau discusses how ADHD impacts almost every aspect of our lives, including sleep, work, distractions, overcommitting, and much more.

Dave and Dr. Nadeau discuss why one of the most impactful and basic ways you can thrive with adult ADHD is have the proper support and structure in place. Having a mindset of taking control while having the proper support can go a long way in reducing the chaos of ADHD.

Dr. Nadeau discusses the importance of having brain-healthy habits, including research into diets, and she talks about some of the basics of building an ADHD-friendly environment.

How do adults with ADHD develop a mindset of taking control?

Learn more about the Chesapeake Center and find Dr. Nadeau’s book here.

https://thechesapeakecenter.com/

This is Part 2 of Dave’s conversation with coach Diann Wingert about how adults with ADHD can understand the Four Tendencies, authored by Gretchen Rubin.

Diann makes it clear, as she did in part one of this discussion, that understanding the four tendencies, whether in ourselves or others, is all about expectations.

She also discusses with Dave the importance of understanding “it depends.” Every adult with ADHD has different wants and needs and their particular life and career circumstances. That’s why when understanding someone’s tendency, we also need to preface it by “it depends.”

Dave and Diann also discussed understanding your tendency and possibly the tendency of others you may be working with including direct supervision, that this can guide you to the right career or job.

And in the case of adults with ADHD who have gone on to work for themselves and explored entrepreneurship, many understand these tendencies and it has enabled them to choose who they work with including the type of clients they serve.

Diann tells listeners that if you want to understand how to work with different tendencies and personalities, you need to understand that it’s not about you in their behaviors. People may behave a certain way but it’s a result of their tendencies.

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

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