Your Attention Please

Most people are feeling stressed, and this is especially true of many ADHD adults.  The downturn in the economy, climbing employer and client expectations, and an ever growing To-Do list, keep us constantly trying to do more in less time.

More fearful for their jobs than ever, ADHD adults often stay late to do their work.  Arriving home mentally exhausted, you are more likely to suffer from anxiety and of course, long hours and low energy don’t help them create with a more balanced life as a way to cope with the anxiety.

This ADHD-friendly success tips will help you manage your work-related stress:

Create a more balanced life
You must connect with family, friends, your community and nature to counter the effect of work-related stress.  Take up a hobby that allows you to be creative and in the moment, yes, even if you don’t think you have enough time or energy.  You’ll be pleasantly surprised.  Even though I was launching two programs, I signed up for a pottery class recently and my stress level has dropped.

Keep a positive attitude
Worry, frustration and negative thoughts rob you of quality time and happiness.  Notice your thoughts and ask yourself, “Is this productive?”  Will you solve the problem by constantly thinking about it, especially if you’re thinking negatively?  No!  Instead, choose to think differently.

Here’s an example.  The common reaction to someone cutting you off in traffic is to get mad and stay mad all day; again, choose to think differently.  Often we get mad because that person cutting you off in traffic only reminds you other inconsiderate people or people you feel don’t respect you.  Instead of focusing on you, consider the other person’s point of view for a moment.  The person who cut you off probably woke up late and is frantically trying to get to work on time.  If you empathize with the person, thinking, “Poor guy, I know what that’s like”, it changes your attitude about the situation and diffuses negativity before it can ruin your day.

Learn to be more effective at work
Studies show that ADHD adults are less productive than non-ADHDers because the techniques they use to manage their productivity and their time aren’t compatible with their unique brain wiring.  ADHD-friendly strategies to manage your time and life can make you even more productive than your non-ADHD colleagues.

With improved productivity, you won’t need to work later, you’ll do more in less time using less energy and you’ll feel more satisfied and more confident.  You’ll come home at a reasonable hour and with enough energy to enjoy the rest of your life.  Your improved productivity will also reassure you that you’ve done everything possible to keep your job, which in turn will reduce stress.

Stressful situation will always exist, good economy or bad.  You determine your level of stress and anxiety by the way you respond to them.

If you’d like to learn how you can better manage work-related stress, check out The Maximum Productivity Makeover for ADHD Adults. The next session begins on November 3rd.

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ADHD adults often struggle in the corporate world. Many lose their jobs, often multiple times, because they don’t fit the corporate mold.

It’s little wonder they gravitate toward starting their own business, after all, you can’t be fired when you’re the boss! While entrepreneurship may initially just be a way of creating employment flexible enough to adapt to your way of working, it often turns out to be a great career move.

You minimize negative ADHD symptoms when you spend most of your time engaged in activities you’re passionate about and that play to your strengths.

I often help ADHD adults select their ideal career and we always consider as the following Top Criteria for a good career fit:

1. Your level of interest and passion for the work
2. A very high percentage of career activities will use your strengths, and
3. You can minimize work in areas of weakness.

Apply these criteria to entrepreneurship and you’ll see when it’s a great fit for ADHDers. What other career lets you design your perfect job description and delegate the rest away?

Little surprise, then, that studies indicate a large proportion (some estimates run as high as 60 %!) of entrepreneurs have diagnosed ADHD or have many of its traits.

While some people feel ADHDers are too disorganized to thrive in their own business without an imposed structure, many common ADHD traits: big-picture out-of-the-box thinking, creativity, high energy, ability to think on your feet and make quick decisions (otherwise known as impulsivity!), and a tolerance for risk, are the same characteristics found in successful entrepreneurs.

Running your own business can be challenging, but these entrepreneurs deal with the organizational needs of their business by creating structure, streamlining systems and complete their team with people whose strengths fill any gaps in their own skills.

Many ADHD entrepreneurs are extraordinarily successful because they focus their energy where they excel and get the help they need, and to help them achieve their ambitious business goals, many of them hire an ADHD Entrepreneur Coach.

If you are an entrepreneur or are striving to become one, visit my new site dedicated to entrepreneurs with Entrepreneurial ADD at http://www.focusactionsuccess.com.

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The entrepreneurs, ADHD adults and other creative geniuses who come to me are usually struggling with productivity. Perhaps that’s why my first questions are so unexpected. They’re surprised when I ask how much sleep they’re getting, or how often they’re able to exercise. They’re shocked when I ask about their hobbies, their beliefs and how much time they spend doing things that interest them or that allow them to be creative. A common misconception, they equate “productivity” with getting things done, especially at work.

True productivity must include the “stuff” that supports your well-being, your happiness and your goals. Of course, that includes work-related productivity but it also includes honoring your commitments to your friends and family and more importantly, to yourself.

Everyone benefits from seven to eight hours of shut-eye per night and a minimum of 20 minutes of exercise each day. In fact, anyone who doesn’t get enough sleep can experience ADHD-like symptoms. However, for adults with ADHD, sufficient sleep and regular exercise will improve your ability to concentrate, your memory and your ability to deal with stress.

Awareness of how you work best allows you to optimize the use of your time so that you’ll have “spare” time when you can inject interesting activities in your life. If, instead of working two extra hours at work, you enrolled in an art or dance class, or even just spent quality time connecting with your friends and family, you’d have more energy and you’d even be more productive at work. Oh, and you’d feel a lot happier.

Of course, this process feeds on itself. Becoming more productive at work would free up even more time you can dedicate to exercising your creativity, forging new connections and pursuing leisure activities. And that’s why my first questions are a little surprising but entirely necessary. Improving your productivity starts with having a healthier lifestyle.

If you want more information about improving your overall productivity, visit http://www.productivitymythsbusted.com to request a free report called Top 10 Productivity Myths… Busted!

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Often, someone else says something you wish you’d said, or (as in this case) you’ve been saying for a long time, but they say it in a way you wish you’d said it.

This happened to me today. I was reading yesterday’s CopyBlogger issue, “how 2 blog if u suk at writin.“  It’s an excellent article for you entrepreneurs out there who have been hesitant about blogging even though you know it would be enormously beneficial for your marketing efforts, but….

This tip really jumped off the page (screen) for me! I hope the message comes through loud and clear for you too! As an adult with ADHD, your life will be so much better if you take this message to heart:

“Attempting to do what you can’t will only frustrate you. I speak from experience. When I was a child, I wanted nothing more than to be the next Bruce Lee. I read every book I could find on every style of martial arts. I attended every school within a 50 mile radius. I went to expensive seminars from renowned fighters. I was bound and determined to be able to kick anyone’s ass.

But I was in a wheelchair. Worse, I had (and still have) a disease that caused me to become progressively weaker, eventually losing the use of my arms altogether. Pursuing martial arts was the sort of hopeful foolishness that only a child can muster, and it led me to oceans of frustration. No matter how hard I tried, no matter how much I wanted it, I would never become the next Bruce Lee.

Eventually, I wised up and put all of that energy into mastering the use of words instead, and after about 10 years of studying every aspect of writing and practicing it on a daily basis, I’m finally getting pretty good it. I still can’t kick your ass, but I can probably persuade someone to kick your ass for me. Not quite as satisfying, maybe, but it’ll do.”

Thanks to Jon Morrow, the Associate Editor of Copyblogger and co-founder of Partnering Profits.

ADHDers can kick butt!  If you do it in a round about way, you’re still kicking butt. So stop worrying about what you can’t do, and stop worrying about the things you can do but not exactly like everyone else, and focus all your energy into making the most of YOUR superpower. Yeah, you’ve got one, If you think you don’t, some more exploring is in order.

Linda Walker empowers entrepreneurs, artists, authors, adults with ADHD and other creative geniuses to unleash their superpowers.  You’ll really kick butt once you break free of everyone else’s rules. Discover 10 misconceptions that are putting the brakes on your performance at www.productivitymythsbusted.com.

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Here’s what one ADHD adult wrote about managing her communication skills at work: 

I have a hard time communicating at work.  Most people don’t understand me.  I process information differently than most people do, I get bored with repetition.  I have trouble communicating even though I know what I want to say but when I begin speaking I get tongue tied and nothing comes out right.  I think it’s because I am so concerned about loosing focus and getting off subject…something I do all the time. How do you manage your ADHD at work?

My answer:

Many of my clients have this type of issue. The ADHD brain continues to process what is being said and so misinterpretations happen. You’ve actually mentioned one of the best ways to avoid that:

1) summarizing what you’ve heard. You might say: “so the decision is…, do I understand this correctly?” and you may want to check if it’s ok to discuss outside of the meeting.

2) don’t be shy to ask questions. A lot of my ADHD clients are afraid to ask any questions because they think it’s not normal to do that or that they’ll embarrass themselves or look stupid. Reality check! we all need to ask questions sometimes.

3) ask them to summarize what they understood of what you said: “I just want to make sure that I communicated effectively to you what I was trying to say. Could you recap what I just said, please”. Communication breakdowns don’t just happen to ADHDers, in fact, with the crazy busy life we lead today, many people find communication difficult. So it doesn’t sound ”abnormal” to ask to summarize.

Finally, if you don’t put yourself under stress to capture absolutely everything that is being said, you’ll be able to better relax when you speak to people and a relaxed brain is able to absorb information much better than when it’s under stress.

Tell me what you think? Are there other issues you have that you’d like addressed in this blog?

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Version française

Opening the brand new premier issue of Success Magazine and reading up on Richard Branson, the poster child for ADHD entrepreneurs, I was reminded of a conversation I recently had with a client of mine. She’s an entrepreneur with ADHD whose psychologist told her that becoming an entrepreneur is one of the worse careers you get into if you’re an adult with ADHD because it lacks structure.

I was flabbergasted to be honest! I work with many incredibly successful entrepreneurs with ADHD. In fact, I feel that many ADHDers are perfectly suited for entrepreneurship. After all, they tend to be “Big Picture” thinkers who are great visionaries, very important qualities in leadership. Details tend to bore the large majority of ADHDers. They’re also adventure and risk seekers, and crave high stimulation.

The biggest complaint my ADHD entrepreneurial clients mention is a difficulty with focusing on one idea at a time because they just have so many brilliant ideas. Their creativity allows them to be excellent problem solvers, often finding “out-of-the-box” solutions to seemingly impossible problems. They are easily distracted by their environment and are more likely than “neurotypicals” (adults without ADHD) to spot opportunities. They have unlimited amounts of energy and focus when working on projects they’re interested in.

Lack of structure can cause ADHD entrepreneurs to fail but it is far from insurmountable. It’s actually where I often come in for my clients. They’ve often been in business a while and now that it’s getting big they need help to create structures. They often struggle with projects because of it.

If you’re an ambitious adult with ADHD and you decide to start a business you’re passionate about and find people who can help you to manage your areas of weakness, you’ve got a better chance to succeed and be unstoppable despite the odds.

Richard Branson (Virgin Industries), David Neeleman (Jet Blue Airlines), and Paul Orfalea (Kinkos) are living proof that when you work on your strengths, channel your energy in passionate endeavors, you can be wildly successful ADHD Entrepreneurs.

What are thoughts on this?

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