Overcoming Distractions

To kick off the year 2022, we have ADHD coach Jeff Copper back. Jeff is with DIG Coaching and always has a wealth of information and tools for adults with ADHD.

This week we are talking about goals but, activating the necessary steps to achieve your goals and even specific tasks. Most of us have goals we want to achieve or projects we want to embark on but for those of us with adult ADHD, we need an activation plan. Sometimes it’s as simple as getting the house clean or more involved such as embarking on a project for work. But for most of us who tend to be distracted, a plan is necessary.

How do we activate a plan when we have ADHD?

First as Coach Jeff Copper explains we need to understand how our executive functions work as well as possibly get in the way when it comes to getting things done. That involves some substantial self-awareness in understanding the way our brain works. Also as Jeff explains, we need to own our ADHD.

We need to understand what distractions do when it comes to being challenged with activating plans of all types and we need to get a firm grip on how uncertainty and lack of clarity delay tasks and projects.

Jeff talks about some simple steps to get better at activating plans, projects and other tasks.

He suggests asking yourself what is hard about getting started on a particular project or simple task and to bring that further, acknowledge what is difficult about getting started.

He also recommends understanding what is easy about getting started and analyze both.

Learn more about working with ADHD coach Jeff Copper here: www.digcoaching.com

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ADHD and entrepreneurship do go together quite well, most of the time. Many people with adult ADHD end up working for themselves for a whole host of reasons. And while this might be a great option, there comes an immense amount of time management strategy involved in any entrepreneurial journey.

In this episode, we talk with Roxanne Jarrett from Swellhead Coaching and Support Services about entrepreneurship, ADHD, and managing your time effectively. Roxanne loves to work side by side with entrepreneurs that just happen to have ADHD and she offers a number of great tips for maximizing your time and staying focused.

You don’t have to be an entrepreneur to get a ton of value from Roxanne’s tips.

Roxanne talks about some of the advantages that an entrepreneur with ADHD has. And she also discusses as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, whether entrepreneurship is still a great path for people with ADHD.

She talks about many of the common time management challenges that adults with ADHD encounter when it comes to entrepreneurship, and she offers her advice for tackling those issues.

Roxanne says that as entrepreneurs with ADHD, we need to cut ourselves some slack sometimes, give ourselves the validation that we deserve as well as the credit needed to stay focused on our entrepreneurial journey. Some days we will accomplish much and others not so much.

And Roxanne talks about the must-haves for managing time and staying focused as an entrepreneur with ADHD. Those include having a passion for the work you do, having a road map to grow and continue to thrive, and put the systems in place that work for your brain.

Freebie Link Roxane talked about:

https://www.swellhead.com/freeroadmap

Find Roxanne Jarrett, MA, CPC from Swellhead Coaching & Support Services on her websites.

www.swellhead.com

www.roxannejarrett.com

There are a number of important ways to manage your adult ADHD. One critical factor and thriving with adult ADHD is to ensure you have proper sleep habits. Not only getting enough sleep but getting quality sleep is just as important.

In this episode we speak with Kelly Myerson is an author and a sleep expert as well as an occupational therapist. Kelly walks us through strategies for proper sleep, tackling mindset the environments as well as healthy habits for sleep.

Kelly first discusses is what happens during sleep that can help us perform better the next day. She talks about how sleep restores certain cells in the brain and how getting enough sleep helps us with both our physical and mental health.

She also talks about what happens when we don’t get the adequate sleep that the ADHD brain needs. That includes a decrease in executive functions at the overall lack of focus. She also discusses why the ADHD brain actually requires healthy sleep habits.

Kelly gives us strategies for creating the best sleep environment how to create better sleep habits. She gives us tips for how to slow our brain down before sleep time and she also provides advice for people with ADHD who historically do not sleep well.

She says you need to develop good habits as well as a devotion to getting a good night’s sleep.

And if all else fails, it’s time to call a sleep specialist or your doctor.

Find Sleep Expert and Occupational Therapist Kelly Myerson here at her website.

https://www.beingwellwithkelly.com

There comes a time where everyone regardless of ADHD needs a great mentor or coach. How do you find the right ADHD coach and when is it time to get ADHD coaching? Those are some of the topics discussed in this podcast.

Dave’s guest is Evan Kirstein of Progressive Growth Coaching. Evan coaches entrepreneurs, executives, and adults with ADHD.

Evan talks about the types of things an ADHD coach can help you with. Those include prioritizing tasks, projects, and other commitments you have in your personal and professional life. He says that a major emphasis can be placed on executive functions and how to improve those for better performance.

Evan says a great ADHD coach can help you be honest with yourself and take ownership of responsibilities and can give you a foundation for transformation.

He says working with an ADHD coach can help you with work habits, meeting deadlines, and overall effectiveness in your professional life. And one important thing. An ADHD coach can help you pick yourself back up.

Evan covers other items in the podcast including when the appropriate time to consider working with the coaches. He covers what you should be looking for when partnering with a coach and trying to find the right fit.

He talks about whether you need an ADHD coach or just a professional coach that is a good fit and matches your values.

And he discusses is what you should do if you are resisting the idea of partnering with the coach.

Learn more about working with Evan here: www.ProgressiveGrowthCoaching.com

How do you go from being broke, getting a divorce, and then creating a thriving successful life with adult ADHD? The answer is in this podcast episode. If you want to engineer a successful life and consistent habits, make sure you listen to this conversation.

This week Dave has a conversation with Aron Croft. Aron has turned his past experiences into a successful coaching and consulting practice. While we joke about crashing and burning on this segment, there are some valuable lessons to be had.

Aron discusses his story of been diagnosed with ADD, earning minimum wage, being broke, getting a divorce as well as how he got through Harvard. While he always achieved good grades in school, he went through numerous job changes and other struggles until he realized that he should try to get an official diagnosis.

Aron has implemented many systems in his life to achieve success and he coaches others to do the same. He discusses ways to manage and thrive with adult ADHD, and the ways we can implement motivation in our lives.

He talks about engineering progress as well as engineering consistency to get the things we want in life. He also discusses how the brain processes information when we have ADHD and the strategies to get things done.

And he discusses must-haves to thrive with adult ADHD.

Those include celebrating quick wins, stopping the self-blame, finding meaningful goals that are self-generated as well as self-education on adult ADHD. He thinks it is very important to find the support you need and most importantly, never give yourself problems you do not need.

You can find Aron Croft on his website here. https://hiddenadhd.com/

For many with adult ADHD, the right technology can be a game-changer. Whether that is applications that help us run our business or something as simple as maintaining and sharing a grocery shopping list. We can’t escape technology anymore in our lives and we must embrace what helps us thrive.

Helping us navigate the many apps that are available to us is Brittany Smith, from Devise & Conquer Coaching. Brittany offers exclusive coaching when it comes to helping adults with ADHD find just the right apps and technology for their lives.

Britney discusses whether ADHD responds better to apps and technology or whether we prefer pen and paper. Or does ADHD respond to both methods?

Britney discusses how entrepreneurs and business professionals with ADHD can consider the several types of apps including time management, mindfulness, and other crucial pieces of technology to help us with our professional lives

And she walks us through the process of finding the right apps that work for us as individuals with ADHD. Britney has a number of recommendations for apps to help us organize our lives and she shares a few of her favorites.

Brittany also recommends a series of automation tools to help us write our lives in our business.

And she recommends monitoring what we use for technology and using it to better our lives, not complicate it.

Brittany also recommends when you’re starting the use of a new app to make sure you utilize it for a few weeks to see if it works for you. You must give it time in order to effectively evaluate whether it’s a good fit for your life or business.

Find Brittany Smith here: https://conquer.consulting/

In this podcast, we are going to laugh at, and about our ADHD. And we’re going to learn how to find the humor with our adult ADHD.

On Overcoming Distractions this week is Pasha Marlowe, a therapeutic comedy coach. Pasha is going to walk us through how to find humor in our day-to-day activities in the ADHD world and how to use laughter as a tool to manage and thrive with adult ADHD.

Pasha and Dave talk about not only humorous things that have happened during the pandemic but what they have learned through this era of COVID-19. And Pasha discusses her own challenges.

Pasha discusses why many people find it difficult to laugh about their challenges and struggles including ADHD and she also discusses why it is important for the mind and body to be able to find humor in everyday situations.

Dave and Pasha have a discussion about how we can begin to find more humor and other things to laugh at in our daily lives and why it is so critical for our mental health to be able to lighten up throughout the day.

And Pasha talks about her therapeutic comedy coaching sessions and programs. Make sure you check out her comedy coaching.

Learn more about Pasha Marlowe and her coaching programs on her website. https://pashamarlowe.com/

How can I manage my emotions better when I have ADHD? This is a common question as well as a struggle in individuals with ADHD. Our emotions can get the best of us in both challenging times and times of excitement.

In this episode of Overcoming Distractions, Dave has a conversation with Marcy Caldwell. She is the supervising psychologist at Rittenhouse Psychological Assessments, and she has an upcoming program called Meltdown to Mastery.

Marcy first discusses why those with ADHD have challenges in managing emotions of all kinds. She talked about how the ADHD brain can have a flood of emotions and get overstimulated and in many cases irritable.

Marcy spent some time discussing her green, yellow, orange, and red indicators for recognizing and managing your emotions. It is a great method to identify when your emotions could be getting the best of you.

Dave and Marcy also discussed how to control emotions through breathing and how that can help you process feelings and reduce anxiety. And something as simple as taking a walk to process your emotions can help soothe your anxiety.

Marcy gives us a road map and walks us through the basics of getting a handle on our emotions both good and bad.

And Marcy also walks us through her Meltdown to Mastery program which provides a framework to develop the necessary skills to manage the emotions that come with ADHD.

Connect with Marcy and her practice here: https://rittenhousepsychologicalassessments.com/

The ADHD brain always gets cluttered when we have too much to do and too much information to process. That’s why it is so important for us to take time out whenever needed to do what we call a brain dump.

That’s the focus of this episode. We will talk to Jenna Knight an ADHD coach based in Massachusetts. She has come up with an organized process for conducting this must-have tool in your arsenal.

But first, Jenna and Dave discuss why the ADHD brain often gets cluttered and bogged down. They discuss why oftentimes, adults with ADHD have information, notes, and to-do lists all over the house and even all over our workplace.

Jenna talks about how at first, we just need to get comfortable writing everything down. And she emphasizes not having a filter when doing this. It doesn’t matter whether it’s home, school, work-related or anything else. She encourages us to dig deep and just get everything on paper to start.

Jenna walks us through how to categorize our brain dump after that, including a seven-step process that includes prioritizing what is due, prioritizing appointments we have, and other important tasks.

She recommends creating categories, eliminating, and even delegating tasks, and possibly postpone certain tasks that are not urgent.

She also recommends planning out daily tasks that reoccur.

Jenna recommends doing this anytime you have too many lists and posted notes lying around the house or in your workplace.

Take the time and listen to this podcast and learn Jenna’s seven-step process to get more organized with a brain dump.

Find Jenna Knight here: https://www.neverdefeatedcoaching.net/

If you have ADHD and you feel you are suffering from overwhelm or even burnout, you want to take the time to listen to this new podcast episode. We discuss one of the silent conditions of mental health and that is burnout.

Back on Overcoming Distractions is Dr. Sharon Saline. She has over 30 years of experience working with individuals with ADHD, she is a bestselling author and a leading expert in many areas of ADHD and neurodiversity.

Sharon and Dave talk about burnout and how people with ADHD may experience this more than others. And not only more common but many with ADHD can also get to burnout much quicker.

Sharon points out that many of us with ADHD are also people-pleasers which over time can result and burnout because we do not want to disappoint others. She also points out that burnout can collide with other ADHD characteristics, and we need to be careful not to let it go too far before addressing overwhelm and burnout.

Sharon shares her tips to help manage overwhelmed and burnout such as identifying the stressors in your life, target what to deal with first and prioritize, pause before agreeing to commitments in your life and in your business, and understanding what flow is. Flow is when we truly enjoy what we’re doing for longer periods of time and that is an indicator of what we enjoy doing.

She discusses active self-care, reducing isolation in how you can bring pleasure to your life daily such as walking or other forms of exercise.

She suggests looking at work differently and make sure you are taking frequent breaks with an emphasis on going into nature.

And one important factor in managing overwhelmed or burnout is to pay attention to what is going on in your life and do not let burnout get out of control.

She has many more expert tips from managing overwhelmed and burnout so take the time to listen to her expert advice on this subject.

You can connect with Sharon Saline here; https://drsharonsaline.com/