Those of us with ADHD can be pulled in many different directions. We find a lot of things interesting. Some become lifelong obsessions. Others fade away quickly. How can we tell what will stay in our lives and what will fade away? It is not easy, and this can be especially frustrating when it comes to determining what we want to be when we grow up. So, what can be done to figure out what one needs to know in order to pick a career?

If you have followed this blog for any period of time, you may have noticed my passion for sleep. Getting plenty of sleep is crazy important. In short, if you are looking to step up your ADHD management game, try getting more sleep. There are plenty of posts on my blog that go into how to get a good night’s sleep.

However, followers of my blog may have noticed a glaring omission in all of my writings on sleep. There is one aspect of sleep about which I have not written. That topic is naps. Why have I not written much about it? The short answer is there are not a lot of definitive answers out there on the subject of naps. That has left me confused on the topic. Are human beings meant to take naps? Are naps good for you? If they are, how long should one nap? I do not have answers to those questions. I only have one bit of insight on naps.

Why are you waiting to take action? Get started! The time to act is now, not later. I can promise you the ideal time to get started on that thing you are procrastinating is right now. The “perfect” time will never come. Perfection does not exist in this life.

Granted, there are some times where it legitimately makes sense to wait, but those moments are rare. Most often, if we do not act today, it will most likely never happen.

Today’s blog post has to do with scheduling. Don’t run away yet! This blog makes the case for scheduling everything. It is truly helpful, and if you are not scheduling your to-do list items, this blog post will help explain why you should give it a shot.

I have a section on my weekly planning worksheet that says “Misc.” This is where to-do list items go when I do not have a specific day or time to do them. I might as well label this section, “Things I Am Not Going to Do.” Rarely do I do anything in that section. The bottom line is this: If I don’t schedule it, it’s not going to happen.

Self-care is a necessity. If you do not take care of yourself, you will be unable to take care of everything else going on in your life. Taking care of yourself is not easy, though. It can be hard to find the time to do it, and it can be hard to know what to do for self-care. For example, treating yourself to ice cream might sound like self-care, but if done too often, it can lead to health problems. (Every once in a while, ice cream is okay.) So, what follows is a selection of self-care tips and ideas.

The ADHD brain can be fickle. ADHDers have trouble remembering things, especially in the short term. The old expression “in one ear and out the other” seems to apply to those of us with ADHD. The trick I have found is to find weird ways of remembering. I plan on sharing some weird ways to remember things in this blog post. I hope you find them helpful.

It is important to identify your needs as an ADHDer. The world will not identify them for you, and even if the world does identify “needs,” they may not be your specific needs. We are all different and have different needs, so what is needed for one person may not be needed for you. You need to identify your specific needs in order to live a fulfilling life.

Ever wonder why you struggle to focus or get started on a project you do not want to do? The explanation behind it is that those of us with ADHD have an interest-based nervous system. This means that our brains are attracted to whatever is interesting to us in the moment. Interest, in this case, is anything that stimulates the brain.

It is important to point out that this stimulation can be positive or negative. So, you can be engaged by a crossword puzzle or rumination.

We all have dragons to slay. By dragons, I mean the big scary tasks that we know we have to do or want to do but have a sense of overwhelm when thinking about doing it. These tasks can seem insurmountable, but they can be done. They might be difficult, but we can do difficult things.

The first thing you need is a plan of attack. Break down what you need or want to do into tiny steps. Figure out where to start and how to best accomplish what you need or want to do.

ADHD brains may have a more special relationship with food than one may think. A diet rich in brain-healthy foods can give individuals stronger focus, better mood stability, and even more stamina. Over time, individuals can also experience less distractibility, less tiredness throughout the day, and fewer sugar cravings. Encouraging healthier eating habits can have profound effects on the ADHD brain.

ADHDers are prone to perfectionism. This can wreck our productivity. We sometimes feel we need everything to be just right before we can begin a project, or on the flip side, we keep working on a project until it is perfect, meaning it never gets done. So, if we need to get something done and we notice perfectionism getting in the way, what can be done? There are several mindset shifts that can help us let go of perfectionism.

Structure, while naturally abhorrent to the ADHD brain, is necessary to live a productive and successful life. Sometimes a simple structure is not enough to keep you on the right path. That is when you need to up your game and implement a fierce structure. A fierce structure involves taking drastic measures to discourage unwanted behavior and encourage wanted behavior. The idea of a “fierce structure” comes from ADHD coach Barbara Luther who has been instrumental in teaching many ADHD coaches how to best serve those with ADHD. Let’s take a look at five fierce structures that might be of benefit to you.

Patience is a muscle. It needs to be strengthened for it to work properly. In short, we learn to be patient by embracing those situations where patience is required of us. Instead of stewing in impatience, embrace the opportunity to practice patience. Here are 5 ways to do so.

I write this on the day the round of 64 begins for the NCAA basketball tournament. I am wondering how I will stay focused when all of these exciting basketball games are going on. Not all of my readers are college basketball fans, but all of us are fans of something. It can be a challenge to stay focused and productive when there is something exciting happening in the world. Heck, it is hard to stay focused when there is something terrible going on. You may be distracted by the NCAA tournament, or you may be distracted by the war in Ukraine. Whatever is going on, society, school, your employer, etc. expects you to stay productive. So, what can be done when other things are vying for our attention?

Managing your ADHD is kind of like fulfilling an order at a Burger King. The slogan for Burger King used to be “Have it your way.” I maintain this is a principle that ADHDers ought to adapt. You see, you have to manage your ADHD your way.

If you have ADHD, you might find that you struggle with time management. In fact, there is a very strong likelihood that you will struggle with time management. It is an executive function skill we ADHDers just do not have. We tend to focus on the present much more than the future. Because of this, we get so wrapped up with what we are doing that we forget about what we need to be doing later. In short, we have no internal sense of time. What we need to do, then, is externalize time.

Last week, I wrote about embracing imperfection. This week’s blog post might sound contradictory to that idea. However, it is not. We must be okay with not being perfect, but that does not mean accepting mediocrity. We have the ability to do great things, and we must strive for excellence. It is imperative that we achieve greatness because to accept anything less than excellence denies our worth. Who we are is not ADHDers. We are human beings endowed with innate dignity. That is why we must strive for excellence.

When it comes to managing your ADHD, there is surviving, and then there is thriving. Many with ADHD merely survive. What I hope for in my clients and my readers is that they thrive in life. To thrive as an ADHDer means to level up and reach a whole new height of living.

When I was in junior high and high school, I wanted desperately to fit in. So, what did I do? I did what I thought was expected of me. I said the things I thought I was supposed to say. I acted the way I thought others wanted me to act. Did it work? No. I had very few friends in junior high and high school. I bounced around from friend group to friend group, not really feeling comfortable anywhere. By the time high school ended, I felt alone and desperately wanted a new start.