Just Put Pants On!

and other funny but true tips to activate your ADHD brain and get sh%$ done!

One of the best things about being a therapist who specializes in ADHD and an ADHD Coach is that I am also a human with ADHD that needs some fresh ideas now and again.

When I tell my support groups, clients, and workshop attendees that I learn from THEM every day, I seriously mean it! I too need novelty in my routine so that my executive functioning skills…function.

One of the number one sticking points that push my clients to call me and start coaching or therapy is struggling with what those of us in the biz like to call “task initiation or activation.” What that really means is getting started on a task. Yes, often the hardest tasks to get started on are mundane and boring…

For me that is laundry, it is always laundry!

Another huge Executive Functioning frustration for my clients (and me from time to time) is there may be a task that we really, really want, yet find overwhelming for a myriad of reasons. Yes, even starting those tasks that we completely understand the importance of can be tough!!!

In working with those who struggle with executive functioning skills for almost 25 years I have collected some amazing tips along the way. Some will make you giggle, but all have been Franki Bagdade Therapy or FAAB ADHD Coaching tested and approved!

Now remember all people are different and therefore all people WITH Executive Functioning Challenges are different so it may take a few tries to see which technique is the best fit for your unique brain.

An object in motion stays in motion-

Once you have left the house, to drop a kid off at school, or take something to the post office… stay out and do those errands you’ve been avoiding. You may want to consider grabbing your laptop on the way out the door to drop off the kids. Then you can pick a favorite coffee shop and do the things that you haven’t been able to do with the distractions of home.

I recently realized that even though I have a whole office set up both at my house and at my office, certain open-ended tasks won’t get done at home. Therefore on oddball days like today when I have an in-person client at 9 am and not another one until 3:00 pm I elect to stay in my office and get tons of writing done instead of going home in the middle and spending most of the day walking from room to room in my house trying to figure out where I left my coffee and petting my dog, #IYKYK

Similarly, many of my clients struggle to get the work done that they keep lugging back and forth from the office to their homes. They have the best intentions of revisiting these tasks after dinner or on the weekend but once they come home and their brain flips to “non-work mode” they can’t seem to toggle that switch back. Instead, many of us with executive functioning challenges are more successful staying an extra hour from time to time at the office than trying to get back into work mode after they’ve changed into their sweatpants at home.