By Jeff Copper, MBA, PCC, PCAC, CPCC, ACG – April 13, 2020
You might be wondering how you know if your ADHD stimulant medications are working? Do you get a buzz? Will you immediately be able to pay attention or automatically gain the skills you need to advance in your job and life? Unfortunately, meds don’t work like that. You’ll know that your ADHD meds are working when you can sustain focus on things longer than you normally would. For example, say, before you started taking meds, you could read only four pages of a book before your mind started to wander. Then after taking meds, you could read four chapters.
Continue reading “Are Your ADHD Meds Working?”
What happens in the ADHD brain? It’s a mystery of the universe, right? Maybe, but once in a while, I coach someone and get a glimpse of the unique logic that is ADHD or at least what works for one person with ADHD. I’m grateful to EV for agreeing to let me share her unique logic. It matters little if it makes sense to you. What matters is it works for her. Like most with ADHD, her process might not be mainstream, but it works for her.
Have you ever wondered how you get things done with ADHD? It’s not that you are lazy or lack the ability to focus. Misinformation like that has given those with ADHD a bad rap. You just do things differently. Somehow you get them done, but you might feel the pressure and stress about how to tackle a deadline.
As an adult with ADHD, you’re probably aware that one of the side effects of this fun little disorder is having a lot of things going at the same time. The ADHD brain thrives on stimulation. It generates ideas upon ideas and gets excited to start something new—sometimes multiple things—all at the same time. For someone with ADHD, generating ideas and seeing the potential of them produces dopamine that “lights up” the pleasure center of the brain, just as food, chocolate, alcohol, and addictive behaviors do. 
It’s that time of the year where one year ends and a new one begins. It’s tradition to stop and reflect on the prior year and set some goals for the new year. In my coaching practice, I’ve come to realize setting goals is really not that difficult.
I’ve got dyslexia. What does that mean? In simple terms, when I look at a “b,” my mind retrieves a “d.” When I look at a word like “through,” my mind retrieves “threw.” Do you have any idea how hard it is to read, much less to comprehend when you are retrieving the wrong words and trying to make sense out of a sentence? It’s frustrating!
Years ago, I interviewed a gentleman who was explaining to me the theories behind Japanese psychology. One of the things he said was that the Japanese practice gratitude. He explained that problems abound. The thing about a problem is it must be dealt with right then. For example, if you have a flat tire, that’s a problem, but you have to deal with it in that moment. In contrast, if there’s something you do that is successful or goes right, you don’t have to celebrate it in that moment.
As humans, we are very much appearance-based. We latch onto what we see, and often, this reliance on what we can see and what we can prove becomes an obstacle and a source of anxiety.
Have you ever called customer service about your computer and they asked if it was plugged in? The question seems silly, but do you know why the question is asked? It’s because through experience, working through long complicated solutions, they had found out the problem was something as simple as plugging in or turning on your device.
If you’re reading this blog post, chances are you were drawn to it by the word “disorganization.” Many of those with ADHD look at the clutter and their seemingly inefficient systems and proclaim themselves disorganized. But more often than not, this is an appearance-based judgment.