In my talks, podcasts, and videos, I relate information and helpful advice on various topics concerning ADHD and attention. From time to time, I receive comments and questions from folks disagreeing with what I say, because they “feel” what they are doing works for them. Continue reading “How Controversy Speaks to Self-Awareness”
Those with ADHD struggle with working memory. A working memory impairment hinders the ability to follow a sequence of steps because they’re not able to hold the steps in their mind. It takes a lot of effort because they have to override their automatic instincts and use an already taxed working memory to work through a problem.
Continue reading “ADHD: A Thought versus a Plan”
Athletes, dancers, pilots, coders, artists, and others with ADHD can be passionate, dedicated, all-in, and focused. But what if their passion evaporates? We know those with ADHD can be very passionate. As I’ve learned over the years, ADHD is not so much a deficit of attention as it is a self-regulation issue. It’s interesting that for those with ADHD the passion is almost like a drug. The issue is not that they can’t pay attention; it’s actually that they can’t stop paying attention to it.
Continue reading “ADHD: When Passion Is Lost”
The common theme to all of my newsletters is how paying attention to the wrong belief leads us to the wrong solution, and how being stuck is a symptom of paying attention to an inaccurate belief. As an attention coach, I find that, for most of my clients, the hardest part is not paying attention to the right things, but rather unlearning, letting go, or not paying attention to what the Ego believes it should pay attention to. Continue reading “When the Ego’s Belief Mistook the Wrong Thief, It Caused Such Grief!”
Those who have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often have difficulty with what we call transitions, that is, starting and stopping projects when they are in the middle of something and get interrupted or they have to look elsewhere for further information. Those are transitions, like having to reboot the computer (or the brain) to get back to the thought process where they were. It’s tough enough for non-ADHD people, but with ADHD, it’s much more effortful. It takes a lot more time to get back in the game and it can be exhausting. Continue reading “ADHD and Transitions: The Concept of Rebooting”
As an ADHD coach, I’ve noticed that many of my clients have seasonal allergies, and when the allergies flare up, they tend to have difficulty with cognition. Allergies in and of themselves generally make it more difficult for most people, because allergies can kick off histamine responses that can affect the way the brain functions. Continue reading “ADHD: Allergies, Allergy Medications, and Medication Interactions”
The band Three Dog Night sang it best in their song titled “One,” with the lyrics that go like this:
“One is the loneliest number that you will ever do.
Two can be as bad as one.
It’s the loneliest number since the number one.”
Yes, one is the loneliest number until you add a second.
I’ve always been curious what stops someone from getting rid of things. Having coached many, many borderline hoarders, I’ve seen the overwhelm this clutter bestows on them. So, let’s talk about purging. I have several suggestions to illustrate this, but as an example, I’ll use the tassel on my cap when I graduated from the University of Tampa. Continue reading “ADHD: Is Clutter Trash or Museum Bound?”
Kids with ADHD are growing and soon they will reach puberty and have distractions (for boys, its perfume and petroleum if you know what I mean). We know that ADHD is very much an issue of the ability to self-regulate, to pause and override the automatic responses. Developmentally, these kids are a couple of years behind, and then all of sudden, you throw puberty on top of that and menstrual cycles for girls and that makes things a lot more difficult. Continue reading “Impact of Perfume and Petroleum on ADHD”
Untangling a knotted fishing line because it was miscast might be frustrating, but it will pass. Being miscast as a fisherman? Now, that is a problem! As an ADHD and attention coach, I define “miscasting” as placing someone in a role and asking them to do something with an expectation of performance that is not supported by their underlying abilities. To better understand miscasting, let’s use horse racing as a metaphor. Continue reading “MISCASTING: Just a Bad Cast or the Wrong Hobby?”
