I write this on the day I am leaving to go on a vacation, so i would like to encourage you to do the same. Go on vacation! Take some time off! Have some fun! Thinking you cannot afford a vacation? Think again! My question for you is can you afford to not take a vacation? Taking a break and getting away from it all is good for your mental health and can make you a better worker.

Dog ownership can seem like a daunting challenge for those of us with ADHD. Having a living, breathing creature depending on you is a lot of responsibility. Dog ownership is scary but highly rewarding. So, what can those with ADHD do to ensure they are the best dog owner they can be? Read below to find out!

I started this blog in 2018, and I have been in and out of relationships during that time. I have not, however, talked about the dating process on this blog before. Dating is a tricky thing, and ADHD does not make things easier. It complicates the matter. So, let’s explore the dating process and ADHD a bit in this post.

If you are following my YouTube channel, you know that I am currently writing a book. This project is unique because, in writing my previous books, I had the opportunity to write in a different way that I am writing now. My early books were written by giving myself a word count for each day and writing until I hit my daily word count. My latest books (The Reset ADHD Trilogy of Books) were written using my blog posts. This time, I am trying to write a book while running a business. So, how do I go about this?

One of the hardest parts about living with ADHD is dealing with the ramifications of when things go awry. We quite often find ourselves not where we want to be. This is frustrating and can lead to negative self-talk. This can quickly devolve into a harsh relationship with oneself. When we are constantly berating ourselves, we begin to internalize the messages we are receiving. How we break out of this vicious cycle is not easy and seems overly simplistic, but it can be done.

Once per month, Reset ADHD offers “Improv for ADHD” play sessions. These sessions are an opportunity to have fun and grow in your ADHD management skills. Improv is a huge part of my life, and I love sharing it with others. But, why do I love it so much? Well, there are many reasons. I will detail why it is so special to me below.

As regular readers of my blog are aware, my Catholic faith is important to me, and the Catholic Church has entered the liturgical season of Lent (and many protestant denominations have as well). The season of Lent is about preparing oneself for Easter. This involves a lot of self-denial, something that is challenging for those of us with ADHD.

Lately, I have been coming up with action items and then forgetting about them. I was at a loss for how to take my handwritten notes and make them actionable. My action items from meetings were getting lost in my head. I’d close my notebook, and they would be out of my head. After discussing this conundrum with some colleagues, I came up with a solution that I am testing out. I have confidence in this new system, but before I reveal it to you, let me share what the mechanisms behind the forgetting.

A while back I committed to teaching a class. We set a date for the course sessions, and then I promptly forgot when we were doing it. It wasn’t an immediate commitment, so it left my brain. I recently panicked, thinking it was coming up soon. I thought I wouldn’t have enough time to prepare. Luckily, I had put the dates in the calendar on my phone, and I have plenty of time to prepare. However, I need to get going. It will be here before you know it. Preparations should get underway soon. So, how do I keep this project in mind when it is still a couple of months away?

It’s January here in South Dakota, which means two things:

1. My smoker is covered in snow.

2. I’m craving barbecue food like crazy.

This is causing me to reflect on the barbecuing process and how much I enjoy it. Yes, it is time consuming and messy, but now that I have tried smoking meat, I cannot stop. In short, I love making good barbecue food at home. It is a major part of my life now.

At this point, you may be wondering why an ADHD blog is talking so much about barbecue. Well, I feel smoking meat has helped me with my ADHD. Here’s how…

So, I have this bad habit. I leave my email open on my computer. This means I am frequently checking my email. When faced with writer’s block, I check my email. Any time I open my computer, I check my email. When I am bored, I check my email. I am constantly checking my email. This hurts my productivity. Is this blog post a declaration that I will check my email less? Well, no. I am still probably going to check my email quite a bit, but I think being aware of how often I do it is creating a new awareness for me. I want to be more aware of how I use my time and how various tasks either drain my energy or re-energize me. In short, I want to get off auto-pilot and be more in control of my life.

Every once in a while, an idea pops into my head. It seems grand and impossible, yet I want to do it. Now, I know I have ADHD, and the ideas that pop into my head could be an impulsive mistake if I act without thinking. Maybe you, dear reader, know something about this. Has a grand idea ever popped into your head that you immediately wanted to act upon? This is scary and can go horribly wrong if not dealt with properly. So, what should you and I do in these scenarios?

As some of my readers are aware, I do not classify ADHD as a superpower. I stand by my previous claims about that. However, what if it is? What would be the implications of that? Let’s consider what would be true if ADHD was a super power. After all, many out there claim it is. How can we respect them and dialogue with them if we cannot fully consider their opinion? Let’s explore superpowers, what they are, who has them, and how they are used. Then let’s look at what if ADHD is a superpower.

One often-quoted expression is “New year, new me.” I’ve never liked that expression. The reason I don’t like it is simple. There is nothing magical about the calendar changing that changes you. The person you are on January 1st will be practically identical to the person you were on December 31st. The calendar does not change you. You change you.

Get into the holiday spirit with a playful ADHD Christmas carol! Embrace the quirks of ADHD during this festive season and enjoy the unique joys it brings. Join us for some cheerful fun. 🎄✨ After the holidays explore how Reset ADHD can support your journey with ADHD whether through ADHD coaching, ADHD courses, ADHD group sessions and more.

At the 2023 International Conference on ADHD, Alan P. Brown of ADD Crusher made a shocking confession. He does not wash his hands after going to the bathroom. Scandalous, I know! However, he further clarified that what he does after using the restroom is go to the kitchen and wash two dishes. By the end of the washing, he has clean hands and two clean dishes. This is silly, and that is why it works.

When dealing with ADHD, the subject of impatience inevitably comes up. Those of us with ADHD are like Veruca Salt from the movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. That character sings a song in that movie entitled, “I Want It Now.” Like Veruca, those of us with ADHD want things now. This is especially true when it comes to managing our ADHD. We do not want to wait for improvement to happen slowly. We want to be on top of our ADHD now. However, this is not reasonable. There are no miracle cures or overnight fixes for ADHD. In short, when managing ADHD, we are looking for progress, not perfection.

One of the tragedies of living life with ADHD is we do not give ourselves enough credit for what we are doing. We forget about the good things we have done, those things that help us move forward in life. There is a negativity bias that we need to overcome. We tend to focus on the things that have not gone according to plan. Yet, we need to remember that, sometimes, reality is better than what we had planned and that we have been making strides. Yes, there is always room for improvement, but we tend to discount the progress we have already made. So, I say to you, dear reader: You’re doing better than you think.

When in the course of human events it becomes necessary to track all of those things you intend to do, it is commonly recommended to make what is known as a “to-do list.” Yes, it is necessary to create such a list, for those of us with ADHD have trouble remembering all we intend to do. Memory is not our friend. It is fickle, so it becomes imperative to externalize our intentions.

Equally important, however, is the need to make a list of those things you do not want to do or are not worth your time. Therefore, I say to you: Make a not-doing list.

I like poetry. I like writing it, and I also like reading it (when the poems are good). I have had stretches of time where I was really into poetry, reading and writing as much as I can. However, I have also had stretches where poetry has been absent from my life. I get distracted by other things, and poetry becomes less of a priority. Yet, my love for poetry always remains. I quite often think to myself, “I should get back into poetry.” Somewhat recently, I had one of those I-gotta-get-back-into poetry moments.