One of the most popular productivity tips bandied about the internet, self-help books, and seminars is: Do the hardest thing you have to do right away in the morning. Doing that big gruesome thing is supposed to help you be more productive throughout the day. This is great advice……for neurotypicals. However, the ADHD brain does not work the same way as neurotypicals. The ADHD brain needs to do things in a way that supports their brain and does not fight against it. So, for those of you with ADHD brains I give you this productivity tip: DO THE FUN THING FIRST!

The summer before my junior year of high school, I was forced to read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain for the AP English class I would be taking that school year. I hated these summer reading assignments, but this one I actually enjoyed. Twain’s writing style and the story intrigued me.

One of the parts I enjoyed the most was Tom Sawyer’s sudden arrival into the story. When Tom Sawyer arrives, he and Huckleberry Finn get into all sorts of mischief, mayhem, and adventures.

Whether you are managing ADHD or fighting some other battle, you can sometimes feel like you are climbing a mountain. Climbing a mountain is daunting and takes hard work, as does battling ADHD. If you are on a mountain, there are some things you should know.

I do not write comedy. I don’t ever sit down to write a funny story or a stand up comedy routine. However, I am funny. I did improv in college, and I have been known to make funny comments in conversation. Yet, I cannot write comedy. I have found that, when I try to be funny, the humor is ruined. I am more funny when I let myself be in the moment, when I’m not trying to think of something clever to say.

What should I do with my life? In what hobbies should I engage? How will I live my life?

The above questions are important questions that everyone needs to ask themselves. If you want to live a happy, fulfilling life, find the gifts God gave you and use them to the best of your ability.

We ADHDers tend to have a history of messing up. When you have not yet learned how your brain works best, you mess up a lot. This can lead to a lack of confidence, even in areas where we are naturally gifted. Unfortunately, we become prone to experiencing a great deal of fear, anxiety, and nervousness. However, that does not mean we have to be slaves to this fear. Instead, we can escape its deadly grasp and take back control of our life. This is something I learned through my experience in the theater.

One thing that I have always struggled with is: What is normal? What is it like to not have ADHD? I am always going to have some level of distractibility. Even non-ADHDers do. So, where should I be? When it comes to treating and managing ADHD, am I where I should be? Do I need to be doing more? Do I need to up the dosage of my medication? Do I need to switch medications? Do I need more coping skills? Do I have non-ADHD issues getting in the way of managing my ADHD?

Confession time: I am a bit of a Trekkie. I have seen all of the Star Trek movies and every episode of every Star Trek TV show that has completed its run–The Original Series (TOS), The Next Generation (TNG), Deep Space 9 (DS9), Voyager (VOY), and Enterprise (ENT). I have come to greatly admire the Star Trek universe and all of the races and characters Gene Roddenberry and all who have worked on the various Star Trek projects that have been created over the years.

Everybody always shares the same old advice for time management. The three big ones are: Plan on more time than you think you need (approximately 1.5–2 times as much time as you think you need) to do a task, aim to be 15–30 minutes early for everything, and use timers/alarms/planners. You’d think after years of people saying these things that everyone would be so much better at time management, but they are not.

I recently read (okay, listened to the audiobook of) Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams by renowned sleep researcher Matthew Walker, PhD. IT. BLEW. MY. MIND. Sleep is crazy important. Because I read that book (okay, listened to that audiobook), I made several changes to my life. My sleep schedule is now quite strict, and I bought a new bed to ensure maximum comfort. In short, I learned that, if you don’t get eight hours of sleep every night, you’re basically screwed.

Welcome to BOREDOM BUSTER! This is a new series of blog posts that I am introducing to help you find ways of getting rid of the boredom of certain mundane tasks to which ADHD brains have an aversion. How often will these BOREDOM BUSTER posts come out? I have no idea. Don’t expect them with any regularity.

Those of us with ADHD defy the norm quite often. Our natural way of doing things works for us, but it is not the way everyone else does things. Because our natural abilities are so different, we get programmed at a young age to not do things the way that is easiest for us. We get pressured into doing things the way everyone else does. This is not good. It does not allow us to accomplish what we otherwise could because we are forced to things in the same manner as everyone else. We need to be free to live by our own owner’s manual.

There are plenty if times where those of us with ADHD do not win. ADHDers need wins, or life will get miserable. Not winning sucks.

SO….you’re probably wondering, “How does one start winning when ADHD makes life so hard?” Good question. Now, I normally give multiple pieces of advice or several steps of one piece of advice in my blogs, but to answer today’s question, I only need to say one thing…

In the 1993 movie Groundhog Day, Phil Connors (Bill Murray) is stuck reliving the same day over and over again. This movie is hilarious, and I highly recommend it. However, it might cause some uneasy comparisons for some of us with ADHD. Sometimes, we can get stuck in a negative cycle of the same patterns or behaviors that do not serve us.

Who wants to go through life with every day being a grind? No one! Who wants any part of life to be a grind? No one! So, why, then, do we do things we find to be a grind? Because we let the things we do become a grind. Everyone has things in their life that are a grind. However, we do not simply have to accept these things as a grind. We can find a way to gamify these tasks and make them fun.

Hello!

I write this while crouched like an owl on my chair, instead of sitting at my desk like a normal person. Why am I owling as I write this? Well, I am dealing with writer’s block, and I need to have a post ready to go by Monday at 10:45 AM. It is 11:45 AM on Friday currently, and I refuse to work on Sundays. So, as Daffy Duck says in Space Jam, “It’s gut check time.” Something needs to happen, and sometimes, if one wants something to happen, one must change what one is doing. Sometimes, changing things up can bring the focus needed to complete a project. Hence, owling…

The other day, I attended a dinner party and stayed later than I had intended. This led to me being tired the next day. I have been trying to get more sleep, so not only was I tired, but I was also disappointed in myself for staying out so late. This is a problem, and I’m sure I’m not the only ADHDer who struggles with this.

One of my favorite movies is Good Will Hunting. It is a movie I first watched during a difficult time in my life, and it is one I return to in times of great trial or transition. I feel there are many life lessons that can be learned from this movie, and I especially feel that ADHDers can learn from this film. If you have not seen it, I recommend you watch it because it is a good movie and this blog post will make more sense if you have seen it.