ADHD & Motivation, with Brooke Schnittman and Ali Idriss | DB Speaker Series
ADHD and Motivation
DifferentBrains.org is excited to present “ADHD & Motivation: Tools for Achieving Your Goals in 2022” a presentation by ADHD & Executive Functioning Coach / self-advocate Brooke Schnittman MA, BCC, ACC and self-advocate / writer Ali Idriss.
Join Ali and Coach Brooke – co-hosts of the DifferentBrains.org series ADHD Power Tools, as they offer tools and tips for finding motivation.
LINK TO BROOKE’S FREE E-BOOK: bit.ly/CWBebook
LINK TO FREE FLOW QUIZ MENTIONED IN PRESENTATION: flowresearchcollective.com/flow-blocker-quiz
–MORE ABOUT OUR PRESENTERS–
BROOKE SCHNITTMAN MA, BCC, ACC
Instagram: @coachingwithbrooke
Twitter: @BSchnittman
Linkedin.com/in/coachingwithbrooke
Facebook.com/coachingwithbrooke
ALI IDRISS
FOR EPISODE OF ADHD POWER TOOLS:
DifferentBrains.org/category/adhd-power-tools
TRANSCRIPTION
SARAI WELCH (SW):
Welcome to our Different Brains Speaker Series installment for January – ‘ADHD & Motivation: Tools for Achieving Your Goals in 2022’. My name is Sarai Welch, and I am an intern at Different Brains, and I want to thank everyone for attending. This webinar will have live closed captioning generated by Otter.ai. These can be controlled using the CC button on your zoom dashboard. Different Brains is a nonprofit organization that strives to encourage understanding and acceptance of individuals who have variation in brain function and social behaviors known as neurodiversity. Our mission has three pillars: 1 to mentor neurodiverse adults and maximizing their potential for employment and independence, 2 to increase awareness of neurodiversity by producing interactive media, and 3 to foster the new generation of neurodivergent self advocates. Here at different brains, we promote awareness through the production of a variety of neurodiverse media content, including our multiple web series, blogs, podcasts, movies, and documentaries, all available for free at DifferentBrains.org. All of our content is worked on by those in the mentorship program, through which we aid individuals in taking the first step towards achieving their goals, finding their voice, expanding their social skills, and understanding of the professional world. Additionally, we have begun facilitating research projects to better understand the ways people can maximize their potential. To find more information, or to make a tax-deductible donation, please visit our website at DifferentBrains.org. Before we start, I want to invite everyone to send questions using the Q&A feature in Zoom, or by putting questions in the chat box. And now I am going to hand it over to our presenters for this evening: Brooke Schnittman and Ali Idriss.
BROOKE SCHNITTMAN (BS):
No worries. A very ADHD thing of me: I haven’t changed my last name yet, so it should be Clemens.
ALI IDRISS (AI):
Hello, everybody. How you doing? Okay, I’m gonna share the screen real quick. We’re gonna get started. Welcome, everybody. Thank you Sarai for the warm welcome. Hello, Brooke. Hello, everybody. My name is Ali. I’ve been an intern at different brains for about almost two years now. I was diagnosed with ADHD as seven years old. And I’ve been mean to, you know, share my journey and help others with the tools that I’ve overcome, that have allowed me to overcome the main challenges of face along the way. I’m currently a second year. second bachelor’s at FAU, Florida University doing my second bachelor’s in neuroscience. I rated my bachelor’s in biology, I aspire to become a physician at different brains. I’m co host of ADHD Power Tools with the lovely Brooke Schnittman, and I’m doing research on college students with ADHD. And I’m loving every bit of it. And today we were doing this webinar and I’m excited. So go ahead Brooke, introduce yourself.
BS:
Thank you for the warm introduction. Lovely to see all of you popping in and using the chat. The more you engage, the more you’ll get out of it. And the more you think about what you want to get out of it, the more you’ll look for that. So my name, as Ali said is Schnittman. I’m the CEO and founder of Coaching with Brooke. We’re an ADHD and executive function coach at coaching company for motivated students and adults with ADHD. Eight years old and up and we are seeing people worldwide. So we have clients in Singapore, UK, everywhere. Originally, I’m from New York, graduated from NYU with my master’s in students with disabilities in 2006. And then I became a special education teacher on Long Island, a turned assistant director of special education, working with primarily ADHD peers and students with learning disabilities. And then I moved to Florida to be closer to my family started my company in 2018, where we have a combined experience of over 50 years of working with ADHD or so we have seven coaches on board just hired a recovery coach. So it just keeps on expanding to make a greater impact. We’ve worked with over 1000 clients who have ADHD so very excited to be here and be Ali’s co host we have videoed close to 80 videos I think students and I just want to apologize in advance if you hear a lot of loud breathing in my voice. I am eight months pregnant and proud of it and every time I eat and it’s late at night, it’s hard to project so I apologize if you’re noise sensitive and hear that. But Ollie and I have really worked collaboratively together to film these short little tidbits ADHD power tools, it can be found on both of our YouTube youtubes. And it’s taken off, it’s been over a year now, I believe. So we said, it’s finally time to do a webinar for everyone. And, you know, get that this information out there information that’s popular to the ADHD ears. And also, I started an ADHD Ed camp three years ago. And that’s a free day summit for ADHD years, and 30 ADHD experts who spend their time and day helping the community. So that’s been wonderful as well. So looking forward to working with you guys sTODAY.
AI:
Yes, yes, I’m super excited to um, without further ado, let’s hop right in. So our goal today, in the next 45 minutes, we already are a couple minutes. And we’ll be learning how to manage and achieve 2022 goals by getting control over your motivation with ADHD, they’ll be around 30 minutes of regular presentation over topics. And we’ll hop into the q&a, it might vary, might go over a little under who knows how many questions we got. But stick along enjoy the ride. Brooke, you can go over to today’s topics.
BS:
So today we’re going to be talking about everything that’s related to motivation, and how to increase your motivation. So that includes our interest level, which is also correlated to our level of dopamine, we’re going to talk about flow states and how they use our flow states to activate. And with those flow states, we get motivated, knowing our why behind setting a goal and an action and an intention. What else can interfere with motivation. And then use all of that to set 2022 goals.
AI:
Awesome. Let’s get right in. Brooke, I want to ask you, what is the connection between motivation, interest level and dopamine or dopamine? What are some tools to increase our motivation?
BS:
Sure. So the human brain needs dopamine. And it’s Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that facilitates communication between neurons to be fully activated or switched on, so that you can pay attention, focus and self regulate. So ADHD, there’s that dopamine levels are either really high, or really depleted. So we are constantly seeking dopamine. So for us, when we have these low dopamine levels, it also contributes to low levels of interest and vice versa. So even if you want to focus on something like you want to get off the couch and go do something you just can’t, because your dopamine is so low that you’re unable to activate to do the task. This is the opposite of what a lot of us here. But this is called a state of hypo focus. And instead of asking yourself, How can I make myself do this boring task, which so many of us just try to force ourselves to do it. Let’s think of an opportunity to say, how can I make this task more interesting, or activate my brain for this task. So it’s easier to do, because it’s really hard when we have those low dopamine levels. And on the contrary, when you have high dopamine levels, you have a high level of interest. So we’re going to get into this later on. So I’m not going to belabor it. But when you have a whole To Do List of 50 things, but you’re excited by something that is interesting to you, that will give you those high dopamine levels. So that leads to a high level of hyper focus. And I’m sure a lot of you have heard of that before. And this is when it becomes so higher interest level that we lose track of time and have difficulty pulling away from the task. So sometimes we do this and we forget about things. So that is when you got to really take a look at how you’re in your hyper focus. So it’s not bad to have hyper focus, but make sure that when you get into hyper focus state, you’re doing it at a time that you don’t have other responsibilities that are getting in the way.
AI:
Yeah 100% And to to chime in on the how preset interest level in certain tasks, you know, you want to ask yourself you want you want to try to make the task more bearable. You want by asking how can I do this in a way that works for me? What might make it feel worthwhile. So an example I did, I just, I just switched it, I’m gonna use this program, I bet. So, so example on how to make a task more interesting is, for example, say one day went to the grocery store, you got to do some grocery shopping a classic era, and that we all got to run, maybe you can go with a friend, making it you know, a little less boring. And so you know, kind of do that socializing at the same time or shop late night when the line is not as as long when it’s not as busy. You know, minimize that, you know, the agony of waiting in line, or shopping a different store, new experiences, new brands, make it into an adventure. And the same goes for other things like going to the gym, you can work out with a workout buddy, make it more exciting. Or you can go to a different section, different part of the gym, look up, look up new workouts, and go or even go at a different time of the day. So these little things that can increase the interest level in a workout. And don’t forget, sometimes you need to replenish your dopamine pool, and not take part in really extreme like dope, dope, intergenic behaviors and give that which gives you the extra dopamine lift. And that’s why I think intermittent release of dopamine is super important. You don’t want to expect a release that highlights those high levels of dopamine every time you engage in certain activities. So how can you release an intimate release of dopamine. So say, for example, you’re out with your friends, and usually have two drinks with your friends, break it down to one, for example. Or maybe you have a cup of coffee before going to work I know might be tough night having a cup of coffee before going to work. But switch it up, you know, create that intermittent release of dopamine, um, maybe not take your phone out during class, I’m a college student. And it is so hard to sometimes not take that phone either in class, or waking up extra early for a workout. So and it’s hard for us with ADHD to create that routine or that that scheduled for the intermittent release of dopamine that that routine. So a dopamine supportive element is just flip a coin, and you know, see, see where it lands and try something different. So that’s what I would say to increase the interest level in the task. See, you are taken.
BS:
Yeah, and Andrew Huberman talks a lot about dopamine, I know that he is a supporter of the ADHD world. So if you want to learn more, he goes into the dopamine levels and what can increase your dopamine to help you stay motivated?
AI:
For sure, for sure. And a lot of this stuff. I mean, Andrew, man, I learned a lot from his YouTube channel, podcasts and talks a lot of great stuff. So I couldn’t agree more.
BS:
Andrew Huberman someone else? Yep. Yep. Got it.
AI:
All right. Next topic, flow states and activation. I want to ask you, Brooke, what are flow states? And how does it lead to activation?
BS:
So flow is the most addictive state on Earth. So just say that to yourself, it’s the most addictive state on Earth. So think about things that give you flow. It’s the source of intrinsic motivation. So people are addicted to getting the flow because feels so good. And you’re motivated to do so much. So what triggers this addictive see, the neurochemical changes in your brain with the flow states, like Naropa, nephron, dopamine, and then demine, serotonin, endorphins, all of those things start changing with flow states. And you know, endorphins are performance enhancing chemical. So with the increase of endorphins, you are going to be able to perform better. So we take it more deeply, and we process it more quickly, within norepinephrine and the dopamine. And then these chemicals impact our motivation, our creativity, and our learning. So Steven Kotler talks about flow states, you can look him up, there’s a quiz, we’ve linked it right here on the slide. If you just put in Steven Kotler and flow state quiz, you’ll find it and you can find how you can get into your flow state. Everyone has a different way of getting into it. Some people do it right before they take a nap. Like they start thinking creatively. That’s how they get into their flow state right before they fall asleep. Some people get into it by taking a shower. Some people are hard chargers so they need to do some really physical activities to start thinking creativity diddly and and get motivated. But these flow states can also get you into that hyperfocus zone. So you just got to be careful. And make sure that you’re doing it at a time where you’re not prioritizing other things that you need to. And also that you know that you can come down from it healthy without burnout.
AI:
Yes, 100%. And, you know, that flow state, a lot of us with ADHD is hyper focus, we to engage in certain tasks, it’s either it’s like a do or die deadline, it’s super urgent, or it’s super challenging, or it’s super interesting, we’re talking about interest level earlier. And, you know, hyperfocus is more likely to cure in that state, when you it’s, it’s, it’s pretty challenging. And it just, I want to go over like a quick you know, a recipe on how to maybe approach your tasks and what you do every day. With that hyperfocus minds, they’re just trying to focus harder, and fall into that flow state and activate. Number one, do what you’re passionate and do what you’re interested in, we talked about that. And slide before, something that you’re interested in, passionate, and don’t be afraid to take risks. If you’re into something difficult, different or difficult, dive deeper into it, embrace it, and don’t let others around, you bring you down. If you’re really into some don’t let people bring you down on it. Um, it’s okay to get hyper focused on a certain task and end up not reaching your goal with it. Sometimes we go into that little rabbit hole, and it’s okay to fail at it or, or, you know, in the end, that you’re creating important experiences that will help you learn more and sometimes open new and life changing doors. Surround yourself with people who appreciate the risks, you take people that understand your hyperfocus, who sometimes also volunteers hyperfocus, rivals to, um, maybe they can embrace or maybe they can help you snap out of it when time isn’t right. So that’s, that’s why I think it’s super important to understand those those points to, you know, approach the task and that kind of mindset.
BS:
And I saw we had a question come in about, you know, what do you do when you get into hyper focus? So we can certainly answer all those questions at the end? How do you get yourself out of it? How do you tell other people about it? Happy to answer that at the end. So thank you for the chatbox
AI:
knowing your why, that’s the next topic. But I want to ask you why is knowing your y so important.
BS:
So our why, which I know I see some of you guys who have taken my AC activation program. But knowing your why leads you to become more clear, more focused and understand what motivates you about achieving your goals. So the trap that US ADH tears fall into is when we are comparing ourselves, other people or other people around us, our friends or family, our significant others are telling us what we should be doing. And then we go ahead and do that. And and when we do that very often we’re not motivated to do it for the right reasons. And we might stop doing it until we complete it. We might stop at 90% with myself at 50% and then we feel bad for ourselves and shame each other for it. So knowing your why is strictly to understand your motivation behind doing a task, a goal and so on. And I have this wife on all that if you just ask yourself, Why am I motivated about this goal? What will it help me achieve when I finish it? When you repeat those two questions over and over again until you get so clear that you know how you feel when you finish that school. So if you have that somewhere you get it out of your head and put it down on paper and you understand that it’s your motivation behind doing it. You’re less likely to give up and you’re more motivated and excited to do the call.
AI:
Yes, I agree 100% with what you’re saying Brooke and I think knowing your y is one thing but also reminding yourself what your why is sometimes we tend to forget why we’re doing something why we’re trying to achieve something and I’ve a few ways you know just to remind yourself what your why is number one sticky notes I know we’ve everyone’s heard about sticky notes at least once and sticky notes just so important. In your car, in your bathroom, in your in your hallway on your door and your room. You can even put it on your laptop these days you know with with Zoom calls, you can always put sticky note around your desk space and everything is over zoom so just writing down once you figure out your why once you know what your why is writing down a sticky note and remind yourself of it surround yourself with it. Other ways to surround yourself with knowing your why listen to podcasts and channels such as one is called Motivation hub on just stay motivated take on a day so you want to go to workout when you’re trying to achieve this certain goal. remind yourself, read biographies and autobiographies of successful people out there. Some good ones, I recommend our Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. And Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki, we’ll we’ll plug that into the chat. Later on, if anyone has a question we can like, give you guys a titles of those books, but even hang up a photo of someone inspiring or something inspiring. And if you’re into a certain goal, look at those who achieved that goal. And try and understand how they did it, how they did it, pick up what is what you think is useful. And move on for a really good example is I’ve been aspiring to be a physician. as a, as a very, very young kid, there’s certain experience I’ve gone through that want me to go after that I want to help people. There’s many reasons why but a really big part of knowing why I want to do it and understand why I want to do it. And help that helps me remind is once I started shadowing doctors, once I was engaged and immersed into that world, and saw those inspiring figures walking around understanding it more, it really changed the game, I seeing the patient and the doctor interact, and see how the doctor helped the patient and treated the patient and put a smile on the face. And just the problem solving and medical decision making once I saw once I immersed myself in it. And that’s a you know, that’s a real example of how it how it’s so important to to have those inspiring figures and to help you know your why. Next, I want to ask you, Brooke, what else can interfere with motivation?
BS:
Sure, so procrastination, conditions, rejection sensitive dysphoria, which is a really popular thing that people are talking about in the ADHD community. So procrastination happens when we aren’t necessarily motivated by the thing that we say we’re going to do. Also, procrastination can happen when you don’t have the right conditions beforehand. So Dr. Russell Barkley talks about, let’s say you have a goal of, I don’t know, doing your taxes, we all love that, or filing papers. But perhaps you don’t have a system to do that, that works for you. So you’re trying to file the papers, but you don’t know where to start, you don’t know what works best for you. You might be in a room, that’s chaotic, too. So then you want to start doing some other things ahead of time. So you have to make sure that you know a system and you have the right plan to support you in doing what you need to do. Procrastination, we hear about procrastinate it. What happens sometimes with procrastination is when we don’t have the right conditions, or we’re not motivated for something, we do something else. And we feel really good about it because we did it. For instance, when you do that mundane, hard tasks, or the task that you’re not motivated about, maybe you organize your closet, instead of doing the tasks that you said we were going to do, or perhaps you start cleaning, or perhaps you do the laundry, all those things, you’re like, Yes, I got something done, but you didn’t get done what you intended to do. So that’s called procrastinating. Rejection sensitive dysphoria is, like I said, very hard. In the ADHD world. Most people who have ADHD are also very sensitive to what other people think, or say about them. So this is sometimes called rejection sensitive dysphoria RSD, which is not a medical diagnosis, believe it or not, but a way of describing certain symptoms associated with ADHD. So we don’t handle rejection, well, rejection from other people, when we perceive that they’ve criticized us. Or when we feel like we’re not good enough, we can reject our own self. So we might feel shunned, criticized, but it’s not typically the case. And we can get very upset and emotional about that. Statistically, up to 99% of teens and adults with ADHD are more sensitive than usual to rejection. And nearly one in three say it’s the hardest part of living with ADHD. So if you can’t get your emotions in check, you feel like you’re not good enough. You feel like you don’t have support, you feel rejected, then your confidence is way down. And, you know, any little obstacle along the way, it’s going to be challenging for you to finish that task.
AI:
100% And I’m gonna run it back to work. destination, we all procrastinate as a college student. It’s the procrastination is to a whole nother level, there’s so many more responsibilities being taken on, you might not be living with your parents anymore, you have new classes, new job, and there’s so much going on. And there’s so much opportunity to procrastinate, whether it’s you know, taking notes and studying for an exam, or just paying for certain bills. So, um, I think I think everyone out there, you know, procrastinate every now and then. And I think accountability is so important that I want to really stress on accountability. And by doubling we’ve talked about by doubling before and at power tools, Brooke is brought up. She’s the one who taught me what it actually is. And it just goes hand in hand with accountability. I think having that person or that group that you can go and do a certain task with is super important. For example, I have an exam in two weeks, I can meet up with one of my classmates or friends in the library and study with them. And if it’s too distracting, because sometimes us with ADHD, we we get distracted, easy. Sometimes I tell my friend that come in, let’s go to library, and we’re there sitting and talking for hours on end, maybe we can just meet there together then split up and do our own thing. But that accountability is super important that you know, there’s someone that will hold you accountable, I think is so important for procrastination ahead of time. Um, I also want to bring up the 1% rule. Later, I’ll go more deep into it. But I’m obviously doing using your time wisely. Do a small piece ahead of time is always important. I know it’s tough for us to to reach that goal. But accountability is another piece that I think is very helpful when you when you really want to finish a task and not procrastinate. And create a schedule routine, create schedule and text your friend ahead of time, reach out, whether it’s starting a business, whether it’s going to work, whether it’s a car pulling accountability is very helpful. And for rejection sensitive dysphoria, we’ve also talked about on ADHD power tools to help you know, to help, you know, understand your strengths is so important, reinforcing their strengths, reminding yourself of what your goals are writing down your achievements on paper, putting them as signals and writing down your achievements, those affirmations, we all are human. And we have those moments where we forget our strengths. But it’s good to remind ourselves in other strengths and try not to take things too personally count to five in the in the social setting, and even by yourself because sometimes you might get a little impulsive and we think us with ADHD I do myself count to five, try take a deep breath and understand we are all humans, and talk to those who you trust. Talk to those who you trust about how you feel and surround yourself with loved ones and family? For sure. When um, yeah.
BS:
Yeah, breathing can certainly help with focus, especially deep belly breaths, can cause anxiety and stress. And when you have those anxiety and stress going on, your executive function shuts down. So it’s hard to stay motivated and focus even if you want to. And you were saying about accountability, love the body doubling but also accountability is knowing what you’re going to do, how you’re going to do it, and when you’re going to get it done. So if you just say I’m going to do the dishes, and you go into about a doubling session, well, when are you going to get the dishes done by how are you going to get the dishes done? What steps you’re going to take? Yep, I will you know, it’s done. What is done? Yep.
AI:
Then, in the next slide, setting goals, there’s certain questions that lead to lead to you know, I’ll show you right now, where you’re saying goes, let me I’ll just go ahead and ask you. What can I get into? Is that happening right now I’m getting excited. I’m gonna have to order some tools you can give us to set goals and stay motivated to set your goals.
BS:
Yeah. So you want to make sure that the goals are smart. And I know you’re going to get into that. But also, you want to, for business purposes or for personal purposes, try to make your goals attainable in a measurable amount of time. So it’s hard for us and vision, but we have so many goals and say these dears a lot of us are intrapreneurs or dreamers. So it’s important and I like to look a year out, see where I want to be my map, break things down, brainstorm, figure out how to work backwards from a year and then break it down by quarter. And by backwards design so then once I do that, figure out okay What can get in the way of me achieving this goal? Like, what obstacles am I going to face along the way, so I can be prepared for it and it doesn’t shut me down before I do it. And also, how am I going to schedule this. So just because you have the right path and actions and tools to get your goals done, if you don’t have it scheduled, you’re a lot less likely to get it done.
AI:
100% Um, in scheduling, creating an action plan, organizing is super important. In general, because you want to ask yourself these questions right here that I’m sharing with you, what do you want to achieve? That’s, you know, knowing your why, whose expectations are driving your goals, you your own someone else’s? And do you understand what you need to do to achieve this goal? These questions are super important, because because if you bring up understanding we do to the school, you want to create an action plan, casual organized, right? A very important piece to scouting organizer reading is the 1% rule, I’m having the humility, set the bar low enough for yourself. For example, have an essay due in two weeks. Or say I need to pay the bill and two weeks, whatever it is, we always have something new. So a deadline, I’m trying to do 1% A piece every day, think of a ladder and going up the ladder one step at a time, breaking down projects into smaller more manageable, manageable chunks. If if you look at my to do list, I have things like just getting out of bed, brushing my teeth, just walking into my car just to cross things off, to give me that motivation and, and just set setting the bar low enough for yourself. So I can approach those larger goals and give myself that motivation to to attack and my action plan. And you see ADHD thrives off structure, but hates that same time, right, Brooke? Is that what you say? So it’s super important to schedule organizer, right? You want a physical calendar, whether it’s on your wall or on your desk, you want a digital calendar on your phone, you can download an app called forest, I think that’s what it’s called on where you can plant small trees and creative forests for small goals and tasks that you want to do. And, and you can have a little flash card in your pocket and cross things off. There’s many ways that you can create that routine and you want to schedule it ahead of time, you want to remind yourself what you want to achieve on every piece of paper you write. And I think it’s I think it’s super important to just create the action plan see in front of you, and approach that routine as much as you can. For sure.
BS:
I’m so late and with that 1% Rule filled on each small action. So I don’t know how many of you have read atomic habits, but you take these small little habits and your habits stack on it. So if you know that you can brush your teeth in the morning, perhaps you can tie that into maybe taking a glass of water if you’re not a water drinker, right after it. So you anchor it to something that you do as a habit. And then you continue to move forward and continue to have it stuck on and on and on.
AI:
Have you ever sent 100%? Well, without further ado, I think that that concludes our all of our topics right there. And now it’s
BS:
30 minutes. Whoo.
AI:
Sarai, take it away.
SW:
Hey. Yes, so, so far our first question we have when in hyper focus state, how can you learn to better control that.
BS:
So knowing your triggers that are going to get you into your hyperfocus state. So if you know that you have a lot going on one day, and you don’t have control of your hyperfocus if you happen to know what gets you into the hyperfocus state. If you don’t know that’s fine too. But to have something like an alarm to get you out of that hyper focus state when you need to get to the next thing. I like to schedule a day where I know I can get my creative juices flowing and hyper focus. So if there’s something that I know I can hyper focus in or if I do something, it’s going to get me into that hyper focus state try to watch out for that it’s just being aware. Okay,
SW:
um, for next question, what can the loved ones of ADHD errs do to help and not get in the way of motivation?
BS:
So what I would ask is, what are you doing right now to get in the way of motivation? I mean, try to be as supportive as possible to an ADHD year I don’t know if this person happens to be your spouse, or a good friend, and you get annoyed by them, you know, probably jumping and having motivation to all these different things and not following through on it.
AI:
I want to say one more thing on the loved ones part, I think communication is super important. Ask questions, whenever you’re curious, hey, what can I do to help you achieve this goal? Is this a time that you want me to be around? Is this not a time you want to be around? How can I help you? What could I do? Um, I think communication is super important. I’ll leave that that I think just communicate non stop asking questions, whenever you have some online I think is super important. And understand their ADHD. Understand ADHD in general. For example, if you’re here at this webinar, I think it’s a super important piece trying to understand and talk to experts about it.
SW:
Our next question is in the chat and is for you, Brooke. They’re asking, How has your ADHD been affected by your pregnancy? Mom Brain Stuff? Has it been harder? Or has it been easier?
BS:
Both. So I have allowed myself to take a step back in things that are too much, where in the past, I had a lot of pressure on myself. And I would try to get everything done right away and feel like if I didn’t get something done in one day that I would, you know, I feel bad about it. So it’s allowed me to take a step back, and really prioritize what’s important. Sleeps important. Exercise is important. Eating right is important, not taking my Adderall. So also that changes the way that I focus for sure. It also changes that little like, rush in the morning that I would get, I’m also not drinking coffee, which also gave me that little boost. So it just being a lot easier myself and being realistic with when I get to that point where I can’t focus anymore.
SW:
Okay, so for our next question, can you give an example of a why
BS:
I’m so essentially, why is the motivation behind doing something. So if you want to switch your job, that’s a big task, big goal, getting clear on why you want to switch your job and perhaps go into this other fields or start your own company. If you want to. Let’s say buy a house, and it has to be a certain type of house, getting clear on why that house is important to you. If you have a concern about a friend or a loved one, why is it a concern, so it’s just getting clear about why you’re feeling a certain way and really narrowing it down?
SW:
Okay, so for our next question, um, how do you recommend we structure our day in order to be able to study effectively, as I find I am better at studying in the morning. Any tips?
BS:
Absolutely. So my ebook gives a lot of tips on how to focus, we’ll share that at the end. But also, knowing your time that you like your focus time. So if you’re better at setting in the morning, optimize on that time, so don’t try to get away from it because it’s in the morning. Most people even if you get a second wind as an ADHD year, the biggest focus time is typically in the morning. How do
SW:
you recommend making time for your big goals and dreams while still completing your daily have to?
BS:
That’s challenging. So as ADHD years, we want it now or not now. And when you have big dreams, a lot of times we want to get that and we want to achieve it like yesterday, but big dreams don’t come unless you have a goal behind it and actions behind it. So going back to what I was saying before about breaking it down, making smaller measurable goals, quarterly goals, having benchmarks along the way of achieving things so you can say okay, I’m progressing towards that big dream. And like Ali said, reflecting on it. Very often we’re GAAP focused. So you might say, Okay, I did XY and Z but I have so much more to do like 80% laughs and we focus on the negative because cuz we’re negative bias, but coming back and journaling and reflecting on how far we have come, and what we can contribute that to.
SW:
Okay, so our next question is, if you dig down and find that your why for something is really just boredom or restlessness, what do you do next?
BS:
So, I’m, I’m not really sure why. So what are you trying to achieve? To get to your why? So what is the task? I’m not clear on what Morgan saying with that. So maybe Morgan, if you want to write in the chat, so explain what task you’re trying to do that correlates of boredom and restlessness. Okay, she’s considering switching jobs, since you know my company, please don’t Okay, gotcha. Got it, she’s just bored. There’s no problem with it. I actually had this conversation today with one of my clients. If you’re bored in your company, it means you’re not challenged. So, ADHD is constantly switch roles with it either in a company or in different jobs because they’re bored. So ask your job when you’re in it. If there’s opportunities for growth, there’s nothing wrong with being bored, we can get bored easily because we can acquire things pretty quickly. Also, a lot of ADHD errs are entrepreneurs because they get bored, and they need that stimulus. A lot of ADHD ears are helpers, like teachers in the profession of caring for others doctors. Also, a lot of us are salespeople, because that’s exciting. And it’s different every day. So if you’re bored in your job, it might not be the right job for you.
SW:
Our next question is how can technology help people with ADHD improve, strengthen, or develop executive functioning skills?
BS:
It has to be the right type of technology. So we have. Like, if you for instance, on the basic level, if you have a planner that’s online, that’s considered technology, right? And you organize and schedule and part of executive function is organization. So it’s knowing again, why you’re doing something. And if that system in the technology field is motivating to you. So there’s plenty of apps, there’s plenty of things that you can use to help you with your executive functions, and organize and assist and focus. But sometimes we get bored of that app. And we need a dopamine change, and we need to micro change that app. And that’s not a problem either. So yes, technology can definitely help. But once it stops helping it, there’s nothing wrong with switching to something else.
AI:
I want to add something to that, too. Right now with technology, it’s become so innovated, so advanced. There’s such a multitude of resources out there for people with ADHD like ourselves. For example, I’m moving I’m going to give three I already brought up Forrest an app, I put it into the chat, which is a really cool application you could download on your phone helping you to approach tasks and complete tasks and creative forests, which is really fun. Another thing is podcasts. Podcasts are a I didn’t even know podcasts were until just a few couple years back and they have really been growing into this new thing that so many people listen to. We can you can plug in your phone into your car and just listen to podcasts on your way somewhere. You can plug it you can put a podcast on your phone and put your phones in while you’re folding your clothes or doing laundry and listen to people discuss podcasts listen to discuss ADHD tools, stories, very relatable content to get super important. One more thing is Apple products and Google products. You can connect all your Apple products onto the same cloud. If you’ve got if people don’t like iCloud that they’re on, you can do Google if you don’t like Google, you know you can have a hard drive or something like that. Go back to old fashioned but your iPhone, your Apple Watch your laptop could all be under the same iCloud where you can access all the same thing. BROOKE I know you use Google Calendar all the time, Google Calendars very efficiently with Apple products to the sending of these automatic reminders all the time, which is super, super important and help your executive functioning skills, you can invite someone to Google Calendar, you can create it, and really, really maximize that organization that routine strengthen as much as you can. So just syncing all your products together on the same email is very helpful.
BS:
Absolutely. And there’s an app called sauna Sun sama also. And you can bring together all of your organization systems and they compile it for you into one organization system. So you if you use Apple or Google or Windows or if you use Asana, Trello, any of those stuff, you can combine it all into there to
AI:
one more software website want to recommend this notion. I’ll plug it into the chat as well. Motion is an awesome, awesome note taking program. It is super super, it’s very customizable, very user friendly, the math options and things you could do is awesome. It’s kind of like Google Docs, but it’s a lot more I say aesthetically pleasing. And there’s so many more options. It has all sorts of really cool ways. You can take notes, really cool ways you can create a calendar, a routine notion, it’s real great stuff. You can share things with other people. You can task, manage, create a business plan, take notes for your class, put, you know write down your bills, things like that. It’s very, it’s very customizable and awesome. I’ll put into the chat. Awesome.
SW:
Okay, so we have enough time for three more questions. We’re gonna start with this one. Can one on one, adaptive sports activities help to relieve the symptoms of ADHD and autism?
BS:
One on one, adaptive sports relieve the symptoms of ADHD. So what type of adaptive sports um, what I can say about sports in general, is that if you are doing something where you are focused, right and getting your adrenaline going, you’re increasing your dopamine and is helping you stay focused. So a big thing for ADHD, here’s his martial arts. Another thing that can help is getting on the soccer field and getting that energy out. You know, aerobic exercise is huge. So, I don’t know if that person answered, what type of adaptive sport I also know that there are movements that you can use to help you stay focused, and Dr. Halliwell has a whole thing on that as well.
SW:
Okay, so our next question, is it a thing to find that you hate or fear change thrust upon you, but yet also need or want change to do? Well, this is odd to me, if I need change, why do I panic when there is a policy change or update?
BS:
Absolutely, because you don’t know what to expect. So there’s the fear of the change in itself, and not knowing what the outcome is going to be. And trusting yourself with that change as well. And with change, you don’t have all the conditions in place yet. So I get anxious about change all the time. But I thrive on change at the same time. So sometimes I have to just jump into things take risks, and not know what the outcome is going to be and be okay with that. But it’s the risk reward.
SW:
Okay, and for the last question, how can we root ourselves deeper into objectivity when subjectivity can become such a distraction when interactive with family or other emotional interactions?
BS:
I did. David, I’ve spoken about this already. So how can we root ourselves deeper into the activity when subjectivity can become such a distraction? When interactive with family or emotional interactions? Wow. So can you explain in layman’s terms for me, Dave, what you’re trying to say? I’m a little confused. I think I understand because I know you. But if you can dive a little bit deeper into that. While you type that, John did say the adaptive sport being tennis. So there are sports, like tennis. Yes. Like love tennis in Florida that helps students who have autism. So yes, I know that that is big on that if you want to look that up. Dave, if you can’t get to this question and break it down for me so I can understand what you’re trying to say. I’m happy to discuss it another time with you. Remaining objective allows for less emotional volatility as we know. To Ollie, do you understand that?
AI:
Yes, I think what hopefully I think what Dave is trying to say is how can we, how can we stay objective and very, very factual instead of approaching things with emotion? Yeah, emotion and opinion. Family and other emotional interactions.
BS:
Thank you, um, you need to come from a place of calm. You have a lot of emotional volatility with your family and preconceived notions. You know, speak with them collaboratively, when you are in a state of calm. If you’re not, then remove yourself from the situation. So there isn’t that high level of emotional volatility.
SW:
Okay, great. So I’m Ali and Brooke, if you guys have any last thoughts before we wrap up?
AI:
Yes. And this slide right here, I’m just adding on ways everybody can get in touch with us. via website, social media. If you guys want to screenshot this, write this down really quick. But um, yeah, I think that’s it. Thank you so much, everybody. This was awesome. This is my first woman I would different brains. If you guys want to stay tuned with ADHD power tools broken? I have many more episodes coming soon. Um, this was awesome. Thank you.
BS:
Yeah, no, I appreciate all of you coming here at 7pm on a Thursday, I know that some of you, it’s even later for you as well. So I hope that that one thing that you were thinking about in the beginning, you were able to get out of this. And if you’re not, you’re always welcome to contact me or different brains and get more questions answered. You could also reach out to Ali or me through social media, ask a question, or get a question answered on the ADHD power tools. So just like Instagram message us and say, hey, I’m interested in X topic. And Ollie and I are pretty good at saying all right, we’ll do a 10 minute webinar on that or 10 minute webisode on that 100%
AI:
Yeah, leave comments on our YouTube videos. DM broke the different brains and we’ll see what we can do. 100% But um, yeah, thank you, everybody.
SW:
Thank you to our amazing moderators and panelists, and thank you for everyone for attending. Thank you guys so much. If you did enjoy this panel, please consider making a tax deductible donation at differentbrains.org/donate. So from everyone here at Different Brains, thank you and good night!
