Overcoming Distractions

One of the best ways to thrive with adult ADHD is through effective routines and proper systems. It’s also great if the important things in your life have a place where you can find them.

Effective routines that are tailored to our lives and our careers help guide us throughout the day and provide tremendous benefits for reducing the stress of having ADHD.

This week we have Skye Rapson on the podcast who is the founder of the Unconventional Organisation based in Auckland New Zealand. Skye and her team offer ADHD coaching and other services and everything are offered by those with ADHD.

Many people with ADHD feel they are stuck but Skye is a doctoral candidate. She is living proof that people with ADHD can thrive and achieve the goals they want. She discusses briefly how she has been able to navigate school and other life commitments to get to this point in her life.

Skye and her team focus a lot on routines with their clients including how they work closely to identify overwhelmed and create strategies to reduce overwhelming behavior with ADHD. She discusses how they do that.

Skye and Dave also have a discussion about the importance of developing systems because they do support our weaknesses.

Skye walks us through a process for creating routines in your life when you have ADHD. She also says that we need to consistently revisit our routines because circumstances in life and our careers are changing all the time. It’s important to adjust where needed.

Dave and Skye also talk about how creating proper systems and routines can reduce the effects of burnout. Running around scattered all day only creates stress and anxiety and will ultimately lead to burnout.

Find out more about Skye Rapson and her team here: https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/

And don’t forget Dave’s new book Overcoming Burnout. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09WQ17T22

What is the difference between knowing about ADHD and owning our ADHD? Jeff Copper from DIG Coaching comes back on Overcoming Distractions to discuss this topic.

If adults with ADHD are going to thrive in life and in professional settings, we are going to have to understand how to own our ADHD. It’s important for us to understand our individual ADHD as well as how our brain operates but it is also equally important for those with ADHD to be able to take charge.

Jeff Copper and Dave talk about what it takes to actually be in charge of your ADHD and take ownership of it.

First, Jeff gives us a refresher course on executive functions and includes information about how important self-awareness is as well as emotional self-regulation. He discusses exactly what self-awareness is and if those with ADHD can truly be aware of themselves and their surroundings.

Jeff and Dave also discussed the relationship our emotions and self-awareness have and how tuning into these can help us thrive in all areas of our life.

Another big question that Jeff answers is the difference between knowing about ADHD and owning ADHD.

And as always on overcoming distractions, there are many tips that you can walk away with to implement in your life. Jeff gives us a number of basic tips to get started on the process of owning your ADHD.

Learn more about DIG Coaching and Jeff Copper here as well as links to Attention Talk Video. www.digcoaching.com

Every organization needs different viewpoints, regardless of its size. To solve problems and move forward, different types of brains and thinking styles can be a tremendous advantage in any size business.

Sarah Ohanesian and Jeff Gibbard join the podcast this week to discuss how they work together with different types of brains. Working together, they provide companies with productivity training. And because they each have a different type of brain, they can be far more effective than other consultants.

Jeff has ADHD, and Sarah does not. Because of this, they feel they have an advantage when working with clients.

Dave, Sarah, and Jeff have a wide-ranging discussion about how different brains can work well together.

One of the major advantages Jeff and Sarah see is that they have the ability to work with other different brains as well as identify people who may need different approaches to productivity.

They also discuss why clarity is the backbone of any business and any individual. If you are an adult with ADHD in the business world and you are not seeking clarity, you will find yourself having all types of challenges with productivity, procrastination, time management, and task initiation.

What can leaders of companies take away from having different types of brains in their workforce? Sarah and Jeff answered this question. But it all comes down to different ways of solving problems.

Because Sarah and Jeff teach productivity, Dave asks them for a few tips to maximize productivity in business and in life. First, recognize different people have different strengths and weaknesses. Next is be very open about clarity. You should seek it in every aspect of your life.

Honest conversations bring about that clarity and make productivity easier and teamwork much better. Also, Sarah and Jeff talk about the need to have systems in place especially when you need to manage adult ADHD.

And for many, visual processing is huge for being productive so look at techniques such as mind mapping and Kanban boards.

Find Jeff and Sarah here: https://getsuperproductive.com/

One of the phrases that bother people who have ADHD the most is when people tell you to “try harder.” many of us with ADHD heard this phrase growing up, and even sort written on our report cards. But those with ADHD know better. “Trying harder” is far from a solution to improving our lives.

Burnout can come from trying harder so it’s important to understand how our brains operate.

Laura MacNiven from the Springboard Clinic in Toronto is back on Overcoming Distractions the podcast to discuss this very topic and to offer a different viewpoint. She is the co-author of May We have Your Attention Please? With Dr. Anne Bailey.

People with ADHD need to try differently rather than focus on trying harder.

Laura takes time to explain the core differences between trying harder and trying differently and Dave and Laura even pull the phrase apart “try harder” to understand what it actually means.

Laura says that a lot can be accomplished by understanding the stories we tell ourselves. If we can reshape those stories, we have a better chance of finding different ways to accomplish the things we want.

Dave and Laura also discuss what can happen if people with ADHD continue to just try harder including the effects of burnout.

Laura and Dave chat about why understanding our brains as adults with ADHD and some self-awareness can go a long way and understanding how to create different ways of getting things accomplished.

Laura gives some tips for understanding your ADHD brain as well as creating some personal awareness. That includes taking time to check in with yourself and to check the stories you are telling yourself. Take time to pause repeatedly to look inward. Understand what’s important in life and your career and what wakes your brain up. And finally, take some time to understand when you are at your best. That can be the time of day or the part of the week where you can operate smoothly and focus on what needs to be done.

Fine the Springboard Clinic here: https://www.springboardclinic.com/

Learn more about the book “May We Have Your Attention Please?” here:

https://www.springboardclinic.com/the-book

Are you a high achiever? And are you one of those go-getters that just happens to have adult ADHD? Even professional businesspeople and entrepreneurs can experience a whole host of distractions in their professional lives. And that’s what we are talking about in this podcast episode.

This week we have back Casey Dixon from Dixon Life Coaching. Casey coaches high achievers with ADHD including attorneys, professors, and many more in high-profile and demanding careers.

Casey talks about what she classifies as a high achiever including some specific careers as well as some specific traits when it comes to those that are driven to succeed.

Casey and Dave also discuss whether those of us in high-demand careers suffer the same distractions as other people in different industries and careers. Casey suggests that many of us need to find the tasks and projects we are good at and try hard to delegate the tasks we do not like to do. She says working on things we are not good at reduces our focus.

Casey offers a number of suggestions to help high achievers with ADHD reduce distractions and gain more focus. She says even making small changes can produce high payoffs in productivity.

She highly recommends that those of us who are high achievers with ADHD take a step back and think about how we are working. This is where coaching can come in where you can work with a professional to pull apart the different aspects of your professional life and create solutions.

Casey and Dave also talk about reducing commitments to increase productivity. Some of us call it energy management and others call it obligation management. But analyzing your commitments can have big payoffs as well.

Casey also states that we are all human and we need to pay close attention to self-care. That includes proper sleep habits, exercise, and taking time to be mindful. Paying attention to these will only improve our executive functions.

More about Casey Dixon:

Casey is intensely focused on building top-tier training, coaching, consulting, and advising experiences for high achievers with ADHD. She created Dixon Life Coaching in response to the grievous lack of understanding and quality services for an often-overlooked population… exceptionally smart, highly-educated, wickedly-talented, overstressed, overworked, overwhelmed, successful-on-the-outside adults with ADHD. https://www.dixonlifecoaching.com/

Casey’s online courses:

The Mysterious Paradox of Being a High Achiever with ADHD

https://register.dixonlifecoaching.com/high-achiever

Live Well ADHD

https://register.dixonlifecoaching.com/live-well-adhd

Research has shown that adults with ADHD are more prone to addictions than others. That includes alcohol abuse and other substances. In this podcast, will discuss why those with ADHD are more prone to these behaviors and we will also discuss how to mitigate our reliance on alcohol and other addictive substances.

We have back Lara Honos-Webb, author of Brain Hacks and Six Super Skills for Executive Functioning: Tools to Help Teens Improve Focus, Stay Organized, and Reach Their Goals as well as many other books. Dr. Lara Has been on Overcoming Distractions many times and it’s a wealth of knowledge in the area of ADHD.

Dr. Lara Talks about how addictions such as those with alcohol and other substances not only affect those with ADHD to a greater percentage but how they have increased during the past two years of the pandemic. Lara talks about how prevalent addiction is in the ADHD community as well as why we’ve seen the increases recently.

She also answers the question about why those of us with ADHD have more challenges with addictive behaviors. Hint, it’s our impulsivity. She also discusses that those of us with ADHD are typically addicted to other types of uses such as digital addictions, our phones as well as social media.

Laura discusses how addictions can affect the executive functions of anyone but in particular adults with ADHD. She discusses how our executive functions decrease but overall if we protect our executive functions as a regular habit in our lives, we can help stave off addictions.

She says we must do our best to build self-confidence and self-efficacy as we try to limit our addictive behaviors. And by doing so focus on self-love versus shame to recover.

Lara says that there are all different types of support groups including those that work in moderation as well as those that demand abstinence.

And she describes what she calls urge surfing which is your ability to catch yourself and understand how you may be able to delay your actions. Yes those of us with ADHD are already good at delay but there is a case for making it be used in our favor when it comes to addictions.

Find Dr. Lara Honos-Webb at:

www.addisagift.com

Improving communication in the workplace is something everyone should strive for but for those of us with adult ADHD, it needs to be an ongoing process of identifying what can be effective. Some of us receive communications differently, some of us put out communications in the workplace that can be misunderstood, and the bottom line is not every communication style is a match.

This week we have back Grant Crowell, Author of Grantasms Creative twisted words for cool people!  and a self-professed social wordsmith. Grant and Dave discuss how to improve strategic communications in the workplace as well as being an entrepreneur with ADHD. As you’ll find Grant’s book also injects a little fun and humor into the process.

• What exactly is strategic communications and why do we need to practice it?
• How do we have fun and reduce stress while improving communication styles?
• How do we find the right patterns of communication as well as capture attention of our coworkers and others.
• How can we connect appropriately as well as implement some humor in meetings and other settings?
• How can we be mindful of the social context of things we say as well as read the room.
• Why do us ADHD’ers need to focus on being strategic in our communications?
• Why is clarity in communication so important for those of us with ADHD?
• Grant and Dave discuss the topic of co-workers or clients not giving clarity on projects or assignments. Vague directions, etc…which leads many with ADHD to procrastinate.
• They also talk about how some co-workers, a boss or clients can abuse our people-pleasing nature. Many of those with adhd are people pleasers and it leads to exhaustion, frustration, overwork and burnout. How do we communicate properly and train others on how to treat us?
• And Grant gives a fast lesson and roadmap to being more strategic in our communications.

Find Grant’s book here: https://www.amazon.com/GRANTASMS-Creative-twisted-words-people-ebook/dp/B07ZY9JDPP

Connect with him on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/GrantCrowell

Planning seems to be another challenge that many with adult ADHD must deal with. While the topic of planning could be a much larger conversation, on this podcast episode, we discuss what it takes to plan out tasks and projects in our professional lives.

If you need to get better at planning your professional or personal life out, this is a great discussion with a ton of valuable tips.

Nikki Kinzer and Pete Wright from Taking Control…The ADHD Podcast join Dave to discuss ways those of us with ADHD can get better at planning as well as executing on those plans.

First, Nikki, Pete, and Dave discuss why people with ADHD have challenges with planning at many levels. They discuss how certain executive functions can get in the way of planning projects and tasks as well as more extensive items such as an entire workweek. But they also make it clear that those with ADHD are not the only ones who have challenges with planning. People without ADHD also could use a lesson in planning as well as entire companies

Nikki, Pete, and Dave discuss how just planning your day the night before can be a game-changer. We hear this all the time but many of us do not practice it and end up sitting at our desk the next day with no plan.

The discussion evolves into planning on a much greater scale including how being meticulous with your weekly calendar can help you plan projects, execute much better as well as manage your time and distractions. When you have a system in place for managing your entire week with proper planning, it is much easier to make progress.  Something as simple as color-coding your calendar can make a huge difference in your professional life.

They also discuss how a lack of planning creates a domino effect in an organization, affecting others around you.

Nikki, Dave, and Pete discuss whether planning hinders the creative process or can it help the creative process blossom? Some people feel that too much planning gets in the way of creativity and idea generation.

What are some of the ways we can plan and be organized as an entrepreneur or business professional and have plenty of time for creativity? The gang talks about ways to be a planner and be creative.

And as always, the guests leave us with great tips we can implement in our own lives.

Check out Nikki and Pete’s ADHD podcast here: https://takecontroladhd.com/the-adhd-podcast

So many of us with ADHD have real challenges with motivation. That comes in many forms and we see it in all areas of our lives. Motivation challenges us from simple tasks at work, getting up enough energy to go to the gym or complete large projects. And motivation even challenges us when we need to do basic things such as clean the house.

Jandra Sutton is back on the podcast, founder of the Wildest Company a full-service creative agency. Jandra also offers various coaching services and has been featured in many major publications. She was officially diagnosed with ADHD right before the pandemic and has some perspective on what it takes to create meaningful and effective motivation.

**Please support the podcast at: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/overcomingd

One of the top ways that Jandra has looked at motivation is the focus on the process rather than getting excited about an entire project. Sometimes it takes just a little bit to get us off the mark.

Jandra talks about what prompted her to write an article for the Metro UK about motivation. She has learned about what it takes to get motivated as a person with ADHD running a business and she shared some of her advice in that article.

Dave and Jandra also talk about whether many with ADHD take a look at motivation incorrectly and whether we look at the mountain we cannot climb or whether we are better at picking away at small parts of a larger project.

Dave and Jandra also talked about how the ADHD brain responds to motivation differently as we may require different types of prompts to get started.

Jandra talks about what works for her and she has her tips for motivating herself as an entrepreneur with ADHD running a business. As you’ll find out, some may surprise you but they work for her.

And the bottom line of this conversation is that you need to find what works for you because every person is different when it comes to motivating factors.

Connect with Jandra on her website: https://jandralee.com/

Find Jandra’s article for Metro UK here: https://metro.co.uk/2021/12/05/why-waiting-for-motivation-to-strike-doesnt-work-15675469/

Don’t be afraid of this goal-setting discussion because we are going to discuss setting goals in a way that supports both our professional and personal desires.

Ask yourself this question when setting goals. Who do I want to be?

If you’re like many people, you set some New Year’s resolutions, and then by February, you fell off track pretty quickly with meeting your goals or even getting started on them. On this episode of Overcoming Distractions, we are going to discuss how to stay consistent on the progress needed to achieve our goals.

We have back on the podcast, Sarah Reiff-Hekking, Ph.D. of True Focus Coaching.

First, we discuss whether setting New Year’s resolutions is a bad idea or if there might be a better time of the year to set them as well as implementing goal setting on a more frequent schedule.

Sarah says that we have to understand who we want to be in order to set and achieve goals. This means finding a way to align both professional and personal goals so they are harmonious. Your professional goals should help support your personal and family goals and the way you want to live.

Sarah also says that setting and achieving goals helps us with our self-esteem and gives us purpose as well as meaning in life. It also facilitates engaging with others which can help with the process.

Dave and Sarah also discuss why good habits and routines are some of the keys to making progress with our goals. With behavior change, small moments can help you in the long term.

And as always Sarah gives us some quick tips to get back on track. She says always keep restarting and a good rule of thumb is to revisit your goals every three months. She also says if you’re struggling, just focus on today. You can work up to revisiting your goals weekly, make sure you’re taking your whole life into consideration, and renew your goals when needed.

If you want to connect with Sarah Reiff-Hekking, Ph.D at True Focus Coaching, you can reach out to her here: https://www.truefocuscoaching.com/apply/