ADHD Skills We Can All Learn From

Hey, fam, Evan here, your local resident, do the same word. Your resident mental health and addiction therapist here at Cadre. And today I wanted to talk about really fun one could do for ADHD. Now, you may be watching this and being like, well, I don't have ADHD, but maybe you do. Well, I'm not saying you, but maybe you do, but you maybe have a family member and maybe. However, regardless, I can't talk today. I don't know what my problem is. See if I can warm up here. But so basically, what I'm trying to say is that regardless if you have ADHD or, you know, someone who has ADHD, this could be quite helpful.

And some of these skills could be really helpful even if you don't. So let's. So here's why. ADHD, right, is a neurodevelopmental disorder which is characterized by difficulty with impulse control and attention, essentially, and a handful of other things. But those are like, kind of the broad categories. Now, one of the issues that comes up with ADHD, you know, a lot of people like, oh, it's not real or what? You know, it's like, oh, everyone's diagnosing themselves with it just because they have a trouble with this or that.

And the thing is, a lot of people can relate with the symptoms of ADHD, and that's why a lot of people may be mistakenly self diagnosed with it. However, some people identify and then they actually do have it. So it's a double edged sword. And actually, sometime this week, I did schedule live where I will be talking about, like, self diagnosis from social media. But the reason I bring that up is because there's so many people who can relate with the symptoms, right. And relate with the difficulties.

So that's why I think this may be able to be helpful for you, because a lot of these things I'm going to recommend are actually good things for anybody. These are good, like, skills for productivity and just life in general. So you may get something out of this as well. These are a lot of things I have implemented that I find to be helpful and that I find clients find helpful. And other people who have ADHD have reported that these things could be really helpful. So let's go through some of them now.

First, again, we got, I guess one thing to add to that is that the things folks struggle with ADHD, I mentioned a lot of folks struggle with, but it's just to a higher degree, it's more intense. And so with that being said, it's just more important to do these with skills with the predominant treatment for ADHD. And what those would say is the best research as far as best outcomes is taking medications. However, not everyone wants to do that. It doesn't necessarily work for everybody. It's not the road they want to go down or not.

These things are extremely important. I was speaking with a doctor who's an expert in ADHD, and he said, the meds just give you the ability to do these things that you need to do right. It helps with the impulsive mind, the inattentive mind, to be able to do some of these skills, to focus long enough just to be able to do them right. So without further ado, let's get into some of the ones I find helpful. The first one, unironically, is making a list. Now, this is really important for, it's like, I call it around the world, cleaning, for example, like, a lot of folks with ADHD, and you could apply this to a lot of situations where it's like, instead of being like, I'm going to clean this room, this room and this room, it's like, you clean a little bit here a little bit here a little bit.

So you just kind of go in circles. And so it's like you're constantly transitioning. It's like, oh, I need to do this. I need to do this. I need to do this. So you may clean for an hour, but you're kind of bouncing all over the place, and that can make it really difficult. And then one of the problems, too, is you're wasting a lot of time in those transition periods. So instead of just being like, I'm going to do this room, then transition, it's just very inefficient. And then sometimes folks with ADhd struggle with short term memory.

So, like, okay, I'm gonna do this. But then you totally forget what you were gonna do in the first place. A lot of folks with ADHD, it's like they walk into the basement or something and they're like, wait, why am I here? A lot of people have that experience, but folks with ADHD, quite a lot. Cause they're, like, constantly in their head thinking about random stuff and kind of working on autopilot. So the list really helps kind of organize. It gets things physical, right? It makes these tasks a physical thing that you could look at.

I like to keep it with me. You can see this one. This is my favorite notebook, but I left it out in the rain, unfortunately. So it's all, like, screwed up. So I got another one, but I'm like, this is good enough. I just, you know, I picked one that it's like a nice off color. It's got a little wood grain looking thing. So it's like, I don't know. So whatever reasons, like find a list thing, whether it's a little something that you like, right. And I just kind of keep, I just have this on my desk where I do most of my work or I bring it with me if I'm going to be working somewhere else right now.

There's different strategies for doing the list in and of itself. One of the ways I do it is anytime I can think of any task, I put it on the list. So that's the only excuse to break a task that I'm doing. I don't always break it. So it's like you do one task at a time, but whenever I think of a task, I write it down. Right. And so that could be really tie. So like everyday look at the list and I'll mark which are the ones that I'm gonna do that are. And then if I don't do that the next day, then maybe I will reprioritize.

Some people do a new list every single day, which is fine. I kind of do one evolutions of what people trying to think of as other rules for the list. Those are like my big rules is one task at a time only breaking it to put other items on the list, prioritize and do the ones that are the biggest priority in that moment. And then every day that may change new ones. Okay, all right. This is becoming, this task is creeping up as a due date, a deadline. And that's another one too, actually is people with ADHD do better when there's like some kind of like strict deadline.

Now that doesn't mean we won't necessarily procrastinate certain things, but if you give someone with ADHD something to do without a deadline, then that could be bad. So maybe a self imposed deadline, although your mind's like, I know I really don't need to do this, but with that, having a calendar is really helpful because people with ADHD, you'd be very forgetful. So a lot of times, taking advantage of technology, a lot of people will literally put everything they possibly can in that calendar and set an alarm or multiple alarms so you don't forget.

And so you get constant reminders. Therefore, things don't slip through the cracks. When you have ADHD, a lot of things, a lot of details, minute details, boring details tend to slip through the cracks. You forget about it and then you're like, oh, crap. So these are kind of all, these are kind of ways of plugging those. Not all of them, but many of these are ways of plugging the gaps so that the water doesn't leak out of the bucket, so to speak. So again, sometimes it's good every single morning.

A lot of people, a lot of successful people do this anyway, is to kind of block out your day. So one of the things, first thing, like, instead of just jumping into tasks and starting the cycle is the first thing is then decide what you're going to do for that day and then block your time out. Like nine to ten, I'm going to work on this type of task. Ten to eleven, I'm going to work on bills, you know? And so you have it, like, set throughout the day and you try to follow that as closely as possible, get this task done, and then really too, like, you feel good afterwards.

Like with people with ADHD or anyone else who does a list, they feel good crossing it out. And even if you do a task that wasn't on the list and you finished it before, put it on the list, then cross it off, right. It's a feeling of accomplishment. And then sometimes people do those tasks that they really don't want to do first. And I think it's important, too, to give yourself something to look forward to. So schedule in your breaks, do something on your break to let your mind loose. Let it kind of out of its cage.

It's like a dog. Let it run around, take it out to the backyard, throw it a bone, let it play fetch for a little bit, and then bring it back to do its work duties because you'll burn out if you do too much of those things that are not fun or, like, interesting. It's kind of like radhes. Like, is it fun? Is it interesting? Is it new? Those are like the three variables of will. Something is a disorder of extremes where, you know, there are, it is a double edged sword. So for as many things as there are deficits, there are advantages, there are, there are gifts, skills that you may have that others may not.

So that's like, how do we minimize the risks and maximize the benefits of ADHD? So that is one way of doing that is being sure to take breaks. And a big one that I've been hearing a lot more about lately is like being sure to schedule big tasks into smaller tasks. So if I have a big project, like, oh, I got to file my taxes or something, it's like, okay, instead of, like, being, you know, looking at this mountain, right? It's like, bite, you know, we're looking at this giant elephant. I have to eat.

Just looking at like one bite at a time, right? I'm going to do them. I'm going to eat the ankle today. Like that I could do, right? So it's like, all right, I'm going to collect my receipts. That's it. I'm going to put it on a spreadsheet, right? It takes 30 minutes, and I'm just going to do that. Right? So you kind of break, come back, break, come back. Instead of just having this, you know, thing that you procrastinate, you're like, I don't want to look at it. Right? So that is that. What else?

So, like mindfulness. I know this is a big buzzword, but it's extremely important for folks with ADHD. And, you know, maybe being a little hypocrite with this one, but. But that could take many forms. So it's just like maybe taking time to just put your phone away to go for a walk to, you know, just kind of get out of that cycle of constant distraction. So noticing your breath, maybe it's like actual meditation. Maybe it's, you know, doing one thing at a time. Like, okay, I'm eating my dinner. I'm gonna put my phone away.

I'm just gonna focus on eating my dinner and enjoying that moment. And. And so there's different ways of doing mindfulness. And I made a handful of videos you could check out on mindfulness, too, and some different ones. Like, I did a walking mindfulness. So looking at different things, even if it's like, again, a little, like even doing it for a minute a day is extremely beneficial. And maybe you just kind of up it from there. In the same vein, I find, and others found, too, that exercise, physical exercise is extremely important.

Right? Just like it is for dog, you know, so they don't tear up the house. I always say, like, the ADHD mind is like a working breed of dog. Like, you could, you could really put it to work in a good way. Except if you don't, then it'll tear up the house, right? So you got to give it a task. You got to give it something to do, something to chew on. Otherwise, you know, it gets, it can't get directed inward sometimes in the form of substance use or just general depression, things like that. If you're not really keeping your mind occupied on somebody, care the boring stuff the day to day so that doesn't mount and cause anxiety.

Like people with ADHD have anxiety. A lot of it is anxiety due to their ADHD symptoms. What did I forget? What did I miss? You know, when's the ball gonna drop? Like a sense of impending doom, because you're like, oh, crap. You know, sometimes how your symptoms affect your relationships is a big one too. So, yeah, another little strategy too, is making a game out of it. Sometimes I do that where I'm like, okay, how fast could I fold my laundry? Can I fold all these clothes in less than ten minutes?

And boom. I like, try to do it. So gamifying. So if there's a crap test, you don't want to do game, gamify it or give yourself a reward at the end. So whatever it is, however, you could trick yourself into doing it. Now, a lot of times what happens with folks with ADHD, struggle with, is not necessarily doing the task. Once you start, it's starting, right? It's the anticipation is worse than the participation. You're like, oh, I gotta do. Then once you're in it, once you start the task, you tend to, like, sometimes get hyper focused on it, and you actually don't always hate it.

Maybe you do, but you're like, okay, I'm in it. I'm gonna get this done right, make a game out of it, whatever. So just tricking yourself into starting it to say, okay, I'll do it, I'll pay three bills, but then you're in it. All right, I got the envelope, I got the stamps, I got everything out. I got the bills. I'm just gonna do. I'm gonna finish it. Right. When you do it, you feel better about yourself, right? So there's all these little tricks that you can do. And again, a lot of it is just to get done the stuff that you otherwise couldn't.

So that's one of the biggest complaints. People, they each have, is having trouble getting stuff done and managing the day to day, or as some people call it nowadays, adulting, doing things that are not fun, interesting, or new. So if you are diagnosed, well, if you're not, and you think you may have a go see a psychologist, someone who could diagnose it, certain specialist type therapist, and then they could talk about the different options that you have. But at the end of the day, these are some of the things that you kind of have to do.

I mean, unless you get on the medication, you're like, oh, this is fine. I just automatically do these things or I don't even need them, and then you just take it again the next day. So sometimes people just find that doing that in and of itself is helpful, but these are ways to really maximize the benefit, to really address some of the symptoms that are more like kind of task related, and then you have all sorts of other things like navigating relationships that could be really difficult, but I won't dive into a lot of that today.

I probably have to put more thought into it, to be honest, before I start getting into those topics. So maybe that's something I'll look a little bit more into and maybe we could do that another time. So, managing relationships with ADHD. So maybe I'll do a series, maybe for. I usually do a series every few months. Maybe my next series will be an ADHD one. That would actually be a lot of fun. Anyways, where ideas come from, you're watching it happen in real time. So anyways, folks, glad you're here.

As always. If you have any questions, reach out. Be sure to to comment. What's your experience? Me? Have you tried any of these or have any of these been helpful? And until then, I'm going to be doing a few lives throughout the week this week and I will see you then. So be sure to look out for that. Take care. Bye.