4 ADHD-Friendly Principles for Becoming Your Own CEO
Feeling overwhelmed by ADHD? Here are four basic strategies to help you take control of your life - your biggest CEO role yet!
No. 1
Get it Out your Head, and In Front of your Eyes / Ears!
In other words, stop relying on your memory!
People With ADHD struggle with what's called working memory. You can imagine this as a kind of "bucket" in your brain that holds information for you that you still need to use - like things you need to remember to do, or what you're going into a room for. For ADHDers, their buckets have "holes' in.
So think about how you can outsource this bucket to either pen and paper or some digital tool that will hold it all for you.
Now on a basic level I'm talking about making to-do lists. No, let's call them (literally) Bucket Lists - because I know about your rocky relationship with to-do lists and ADHD!
If you want help staying focused on a goal, put reminders where you can see or hear them often. And let the reminder be about the benefit achieveing the goal - like getting in regular movement, for example. What is the long term benefit of going for a walk a few times a week? Is it mental health? Longevity? Physical comfort? Get that long term benefit in front of your eyes. So in the above example you could stick up a Post It by the couch with a visual reminding you of the benefit.
Or get it in front of your ears - this is a good strategy for people who respond better to audio cues than visual cues. Think of a song that you associate with achieving the goal, and have that song play as your reminder alarm for doing the immediate task.
"Getting it out your head" can also refer to journaling. For example, if you have a decision to make, it’s difficult to weigh up everything in your head - the options, the pros, cons, the consequences for each option - in a “leaky bucket.” So journaling, or making a pros and cons list, or a mind map, can help you work with all the relevant information.
Or you can get all the considerations in front of your ears - Talking it out with someone like a friend, partner or a coach is like having them holding a bucket of space for you to verbally think and process. You get to hear and examine all the aspects outside of your busy ADHD mind.
No. 2
The Way to Eat an Elephant is One Bite at a Time.
Big tasks can be daunting, especially for ADHDers who tend to be "big-picture" thinkers who are approaching the whole big project at once.
Break your projects into smaller, manageable steps. For example, instead of "Plan the party," list out steps like
"Make guest list"
"Find a venue" and
"Send invitations" ...
Breaking things down is the key to almost any inaction.
PS: It's important to do a gut check for every step to see if it needs to be broken down further. Ask yourself “Does this one step still feel like something I want to avoid doing?”
In the above example, if "find a venue" sounds overwhelming, break it down into more. Imagine your brain was going on vacation and a robot was coming to do the job instead. You have to program it to tell it what to do in order to "find a venue".
What are the steps you want the robot to take?
Ask on some groups for suggestions.
Make a list of your top 5 options.
Call each option to get more information...
In short, breaking things down is a soothing balm for anxiety, because it teaches your brain not to fear just that next step in the process.
No. 3
One Size Does Not Fit All
One of the biggest mistakes that people with ADHD make when things are not going as well as they'd like, is to assume that they just need to try harder - "I just need to be more disciplined, less lazy, use a planner!"
Having ADHD is a different way of being in the world - so it's not about trying harder. It's about trying differently - figuring out what works for you and then using those strategies to move you forward.
For example, there's a neurotypical productivity tip called "Eating your Frog First", that claims that when you start with the hardest thing on your list and get it done, it gives you the motivation to do all the less hard things. But this is not necessarily ADHD-friendly advice!
When you have a chronic activation problem, a.k.a, difficulty getting started, it helps to knock off a few easier tasks to build up your motivation.
The main thing here is that there is no one right way. What's right is what works for you.
No. 4
Being Organized Enough is Enough!
Thriving with ADHD is not about getting better at being "normal". It’s not to be super-organized.
The ultimate goal in thriving with ADHD is to:
Part 1 : Discover
what you really want
what you're already good at
what you really care about
Part 2: Figure out and how to support or outsource your organizational challenges just enough ...
Part 3: ...So that you can devote most of your time and energy resources being the CEO of a good and meaningful life!
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