Taking Control: The Adhd Podcast

Thank you for supporting The ADHD Podcast on Patreon! — https://patreon.com/theadhdpodcast Morning—if yours are a blessed cloud of peace, goodwill, and light, you can probably skip this episode. That’s right, today’s show is for those of you who have trouble, who live for the snooze, and who can’t quite get enough of the multi-tasking in the mornings. Not sure how to train your brain and condition your spirit to get ready for the day? Do you need a new alarm strategy to get you out of bed and out the door on time? Maybe you need to give yourself permission to think about your mornings in a new way, to shake things up and approach your schedule with a fresh start! If you’re looking for help in mastering your morning routine, join us and share your experience today! ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

We’re back! After a brief summer vacation, we’re back to take on a subject that impacts us all: how to adapt to changing schedules, and the things to think about when considering a major addition to your commitments when it comes to your ADHD. Not only do you have to have an intimate understanding of your current schedule, but you need to approach new commitments with open eyes when it comes to the time baggage they bring with them! Plus, we’ve got a great listener question on when to consider medication for your kids. Thanks to everyone who has written in — it’s great to be back in the saddle! ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

It’s SUMMERTIME! We’re officially gearing up for our own vacations here on The ADHD Podcast so we thought we’d take some time today to talk about more than just vacations. It’s about managing kids, and accomplishing goals, and making the best use of your time that you possibly can. We’re taking some time off ourselves this summer. This week’s episode is our last until August! So make sure you’re subscribed to the mailing list so we can let you know when we’re back in the saddle! Thanks, everybody! Have a great summer! Best friends forever! Links & Notes TCA Vacation Planning Checklist The ADHD Podcast 167: Overwhelmed Summer Schedule ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

We got a question some time ago asking about the merits of the Bullet Journal system for ADHD organizing. We’re of two minds on the subject so we thought it might be a good time to review the state of planners, planner systems, and organizing tools that span the range from shorthand scheduling to full-on works of personal art. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

This week we offer a follow-up to our conversation on making decisions with a twist: what about all those decisions that are even more challenging to face, with consequences beyond our daily organizing challenges? How do we condition ourselves to move through them and discover what lies on the other side? This week is dedicated to processing, researching, and making the decision to act, and discovering the tools you need to employ to condition yourself to take action! ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Do you find yourself sitting at your computer waiting for that next call? How about standing in line waiting for the next teller? Wherever you are, if you have five minutes and one of your devices, you can work on your digital organization. This week on the show, a sampler of activities and resources for you to use in those small windows and tiny breaks to keep your digital life straight.  Plus, follow up and a listener question from our organizing show with another take on decision-making.  Links & Notes Alto’s Adventure Hazel File Juggler Lumosity Pencil by FiftyThree ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

It’s Q & A day! From hyperfocus to distraction, information clutter to productivity at work, we power through your queries with our thoughts, strategies, and recommendations. Thanks to everyone who wrote in with your organizing ADHD questions. This week we’re taking on: What's the best body double strategy? How do you decide where and how to house things? I don't have enough time to devote hours to organizing! How do I set up routines that endure in the long term? How do I nurture myself without going too far into hyperfocus? I stay home while the family is at work/school all day. How do I not resent their messes when they leave? Overwhelmed at work: how do I manage account management demands? Information overload! Should I stress about disorganized journals and digital clutter? How do I help my high school son remember and submit homework on time without organizing on his behalf? How do I help my preteen with organizing fundamentals and managing/estimating time? Links & Notes Personal Kanban: Mapp

If you share space with another person, then organizing is a team sport. From defining the purpose of shared spaces to keeping one another accountable, you can’t build new habits if you don’t have the support of those who spend their time in your proximity. This week on the show, we’re talking all about how to engage your family in supporting organizing efforts. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

We all go into our organizing projects with the best of intentions. Did you just open your closet to a pile of junk falling on your head? Did you turn on the light to your attic and finally register the disaster of boxes? Did you fall into the stacks of mail and bills on the floor of your living room? Wherever you are in your home, making the connection that you have a space to be organized, and then taking action to organize it, is a noble effort! But taking that first step without thinking through the consequences could make the organizing job worse for you. This week on the show, we’re talking about the three reasons your organizing efforts may be losing focus and offering you a way to think about your projects before you start that may just save you time and frustration in the long run! ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

It’s true, if you’re struggling with getting organized and you’re living with ADHD, there’s likely a key challenge holding you back. It lurks there, in the back of your mind, an invisible standard to which you will never live up. We’re taking on this subconscious demon on the show today, kicking off a series on ADHD organizing principles that will help you get on track, stay on track, and recover when you fall down.  Links & Notes Avoid These Five Organizing Mistakes Plus 5 Organizing Worksheets ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

We all have repetition in our lives. But until you stop and think about all the things that repeat around you, you may not know what you’re missing. So, it’s through the lens of task lists that we’re going to talk about some of the options for using technology — the simple and the advanced — to build our checklists quickly and efficiently and ensure we’re not missing a single step in the otherwise invisible processes we take on each day. Links & Notes The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right by Atul Gawande Text — The TXT format on Wikipedia TaskPaper from Hog Bay Software Markdown: “Markdown is a text-to-HTML conversion tool for web writers. Markdown allows you to write using an easy-to-read, easy-to-write plain text format, then convert it to structurally valid XHTML (or HTML).” Markdown is practically a prereq for TaskPaper only because the philosophy of using certain indicators in a text file and allowing a client application to act on those characters in a specified fashion is the same in bo

We’ve had some great questions and feedback on our last few episodes around ideal schedules. This week, we’re taking this concept a bit further. How do you take a new strategy and implement it to turn it into a lifestyle? How do you handle less desirable tasks — gating and focusing even on the stuff you really don’t want to do? How do you decide what to work on first? These are deceptively simple questions with answers that we often make more complicated than we need. We’ll do our best to untangle them on the show this week! ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Today on the show we’re digging into just one aspect of the book Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg Mckeown: Priority. This is the act that puts constraints around our ADHD, allowing us to see the forest for the trees, but to exercise our focus on a tree, too. We talk about the power of focus and clarity, how living in accordance with a clear priority strategy can lead to greater productivity and balance, and how developing your ideal weekly schedule can help you truly visualize the hidden opportunities that exist in your own personal sea of time. Links & Notes Essentialism: The Disciplines Pursuit of Less by Greg Mckeown ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

As it turns out, productivity and procrastination are two sides of the same coin. Depending on the day, your toss might yield unparalleled output, focus, and attention. Then again, it could yield a rousing binge session of Top Chef. Because of the inherent unpredictability of this productivity/procrastination calculation, it becomes so important that you build in the systems and gates that allow you to focus when you really need to focus, and the freedom to let go and relax your brain when you’re finished. This week on The ADHD Podcast, we’re talking about the systems and processes that might help you beat procrastination, from focus sprints to setting a real, rational priority for your time. Join us! Links & Notes Google Ngram Viewer: priorities ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

If you’re a regular listener of this show, you know we’re a big fan of habits. Habits help the ADHD world go ‘round! This week on the show we’re going to dig into the underlying engine that supports building and sustaining new habits: Reminders! Without a reminder system you can trust, building habits will be nothing more than an exercise in frustration. So settle in and get ready — we’re talking about visual cues, technology, buzzers and bings this week, in addition to a few great book recommendations and follow-up! Links & Notes Mini Habits: Smaller Habits, Bigger Results By Stephen Guise Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown The ADHD Podcast 242: Building Mini Habits for Self-care ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

This week on the show, we’re talking all about positive energy. Energy is contagious. Whether you’re inheriting the mood of your partner or children when they wake up sour in the morning or catching the waves of joy from a colleague celebrating a grand accomplishment, if left unchecked, we are at the mercy of the moods and intentions of those around us. But we have a choice! We can take an active role in cultivating positive energy around us to deal with difficult situations with confidence and strength. Links & Notes 244: Having Fun with Kirsten Milliken 240: Practicing Mindfulness for your ADHD with Casey Dixon ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Today’s show is all about fun! We’ve talked about engaging the brain before. We’ve talked about ways to manage distraction and hyper-focus. But today, we’re going all in on play as an alternative to medication for your ADHD. To help us, we’ve brought in the expert: Dr. Kirsten Milliken of PlayDHD.com. Kirsten shares the playfulness mindset, and offers tools and strategies for engaging the playful part inside all of us to help us deliver in coordination with our ADHD, and not in competition with it! Links & Notes PlayDHD.com ADHDExecutiveCoach.com PLAYDHD: Permission to Play … A Prescription for Adults with ADHD by Dr. Kirsten Milliken (Amazon Pre-order) About Dr. Kirsten Milliken Dr. Kirsten Milliken is a dynamic and unique clinical psychologist who lives and works in the Portland Maine area. Yes, she has ADHD! Kirsten has used her insight and knowledge of ADHD to develop her playful style as well as her companies, ADHD Executive coaching and PlayDHD. Kirsten espouses that Play is the best non medicatio

We’ve talked about the connection between nutrition and ADHD before, but this week, we’ve got an expert to help us bring the lesson home. Our guest today is Tonya Harris. She’s on a mission to help parents learn how both diet and common toxins in the home can affect their child’s health and lessen the symptoms of behavior and attention issues through simple dietary and lifestyle changes. We talk about everything from the insidiousness of MSG and sugar to food coloring and supplements, and how each can help or hinder your ADHD. Join us! Links & Notes Gone Holistic Nutrition for Optimal Brain Health Handout (PDF) Find Tonya on Facebook Find Tonya on Twitter Find Tonya on Instagram Healthy Home Healthy Kids ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

We’re talking about building habits for self-care today! One of the most important things you can do for yourself, to take care of your self is to figure out the mechanics that help you best cement new behaviors. In that light, we’re introducing a terrific concept by way of a wonderfully approachable book. The concept, Tiny Habits. The book: Mini Habits: Smaller Habits, Big Results, by Stephen Guise. Learn to build big new habits into your life through the tiniest of daily actions! Links & Notes Mini Habits: Smaller Habits, Bigger Results — Stephen Guise Forget big change, start with a tiny habit: BJ Fogg at TEDxFremont ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

The essence of great self-care is rooted in building habits. And building habits, when you’re struggling with ADHD, requires help. This week on the show we present some of the digital tools that can support you in your efforts to build new self-care routines in four key areas: Sleep, Exercise, Food, and Mindfulness. As usual, when we do a digital episode, there’s no way we can cover every app, every option, every platform. But these apps should serve as a launchpad for your own research to meet the unique needs of your hardware and lifestyle. Links & Notes Productive Coach.Me Habit Tracker Listener Pick: Swiftime Listener Pick: Watchminder Withings Aura Runtastic Runkeeper Zombies Run! MyFitnessPal LoseIt! Withings Smart Body Analyzer The Mindfulness Bell Day One 2 ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★