Some Myths and Facts about Real ADHD: It's about time we dispel the stigma!

Dr. Thomas Brown, renowned psychiatrist and ADHD expert extraordinaire has published a wonderful list of FACTS and MYTHS about ADHD that I think are very relevant to dispelling the stigma. I feel it is so important for us to be educated vs just making assumptions that so often are just plain false.  I hope that this helps one reader to better understand what ADHD is all about. Then I will have been successful in writing this blog. MYTH: ADHD is just a lack of willpower. People with ADHD focus well on things that interest them; they could focus on other tasks if they really wanted to.

FACT: ADHD looks very much like a willpower problem but it isn't. It's essentially a chemical problem in the management systems of the brain.

MYTH:ADHD is a simple problem of being hyperactive or not listening when someone is talking to you.

FACT: ADHD is a complex disorder that involves impairments in focus, organization, motivation, emotional modulation, memory and other functions of the brain's management system.

MYTH:ADDers have overactive brains that need medication to calm down.

FACT: Under activity of the brain's management networks is typical of persons with ADHD. Effective medications increase alertness and improve communication in the brain's management system.

MYTH: Those who have ADHD as children usually outgrow it as they enter their teens.

FACT: Often ADHD impairments are not noticeable until the teen years when more self management is required in school and elsewhere.

MYTH: Unless you have been diagnosed with ADHD as a child you can't have it as an adult.

FACT: Many adults have struggled all of their lives with unrecognized ADHD impairments. They never received help because they assumed that their chronic difficulties, like maybe depression or anxiety, were caused by other impairments.

Very interesting...eh? It is really all about brain wiring and body chemistry. Definitely NOT a moral issue!

Feel free to spread the word!

.....And don't forget to have a productive day!

Coach Nancy

Putting Off Procrastination!

If you are like me, you have found yourself putting things off and heard that nagging voice talking to you. You know what I mean. You know that "should" voice. There are many reasons we procrastinate from lack of commitment to confusion to shame. Many of us have trouble getting started if the first step in the plan/process is too big. The antidote is to break the project into smaller, more manageable chunks. If there is too much on the plate, we resist taking action.  Commitment to a high priority plan leads to action every time.

Avoidance and procrastination are often interchangeable. We avoid doing things that make us feel uncomfortable, embarrassed, afraid; like a "perceived" confrontation which could simply be nothing more than a conversation I need to have with my boss.

I coached an MBA who hadn't filed his taxes in seven years because he couldn't get the paperwork mobilized. He was procrastinating because he didn't even realize that what he needed was an accountant! Plus his boxes of receipts were stored in many locations and he was terrified to face the IRS. Who wouldn't procrastinate? LOL Sound familiar? The reality is that once he stopped and we talked it through he was able to dismantle all of the parts so that each became a manageable project. Within two months he was mobilized and had a payment plan in place to take care of business. If he could do it, we all can! Just a matter of learning how.

A few simple tips for what to do about our own procrastination:

• Assign a specific time to do one baby step: vagueness will get you more procrastination. "This week" or "later" doesn't cut it. Be specific about WHEN you are going to do it.

• Narrow your focus to ONE task. This is the antidote to being overwhelmed by everything we have to get done all at once which actually immobilizes us.

• Think of the benefits and what it will be like to get something started- or even finished. Think of the pain you are in right now because you are procrastinating and what that is costing you.

• Make it about progress and not perfection or as a client of mine used to say "Progress IS perfection". Perfectionism will stop us every time. This is about "good enough" and being perfectly imperfect.

• Reward yourself by treating yourself kindly and gently just like you would a friend who ran the marathon.

Here's to moving ahead in all of the places you are stopped.

Have a productive day!

Coach Nancy

Improve your productivity by 41%!

I did a research project recently with a psychologist Dr. Edward Petrosky called the PSCI (Petrosky-Snell Coaching Index). We gathered data to help people be more productive and less stressed. One of the areas we looked at was time management and productivity. We surveyed over 225 business professionals ( they each completed a 100 question survey) to see where they stood in terms of crucial skills. One of the key findings that I  found pretty amazing, and highly relevant, is that one of the single best things you can do to improve productivity is: Don't agree to do ANYTHING until you identify the specific date and time you will do it. We found that people who do this are 41% more productive than those who don't!!

Look for more great tips from the PSCI research project for managing the tsunami and staying on top of your game.

Have a productive day!

Coach Nancy

Just Plane Productive: One Client's Story

I couldn't resist sharing this with you. I received the email from my client Adam who is a National Sales Manager for a large pharmaceutical company in the Boston area. It made me laugh and once again become present to the situation that so many of us face today; finding individual ways to be more productive and preserve some sense of sanity while we're doing it! Here's what he wrote:

"So as I write this I am sitting on a plane approaching Chicago  where I have a 2 hr layover then on to LA for tomorrow's full day of back to back meetings.

I am happy to say I did very well at my meetings in New York today…and I have been supremely focused  for two straight hours on this plane….which has lead me to an important insight:   I notice that I have   really unmatched productivity on these plane rides… precisely because I am trapped in a seat ..with no way out for hours……AND I don’t have to deal with interruptions…  it is as though the lack of choices….(choices like… I think I’ll go out for a coffee…or go for a jog..etc)   COMBINED with the fact that I cannot be on-line converge, leaving  me resigned to sit and get into the zone on big problems I’m working on.  I need to harness this when home..so I can get the productivity without the cramps associated with crossing the country in economy class.

Note: It’s 8:30pm Eastern as I write this… but it will be after midnight your time before it goes out… I don’t get to my hotel tonight until 10:30PM LA time..and I don t bother getting on line on the plane because the service is lousy   (which is why I get so much done )…"

Thanks Adam!

Wishing you all productive fly time!

Coach Nancy

Yikes! It feels like a Fire Hose Again! Typical Day?

My wonderful client Laurie is a senior level project manager with a major construction company in the Chicago area. She has been working for the same company , virtually doing this work for almost 15 years now. She finds herself lately sometimes working until 2 or 3AM ( seriously) to attempt to keep up in one way , shape or form to stay on top of the tsunami. Her days feel like the fire hose aimed directly at her gains more velocity . Here is an email I got from her earlier this week:

I am leaving work. I spent 4 hours in meetings today and 8-9 hours mostly working on two large change orders, two budget updates - all for the same big project.....one of five huge ones going on at the moment. I hate to say it but after being in the office for 15 hours ( email arrived at 11PM) I don't feel like I accomplished much. Pretty insane....huh?

I am going to have to postpone a meeting I have scheduled on Thursday that is also important because I simply have to get two more of the big deliverables done.

I have been tired all week. I can't work another 13 hour day - at least this week.

And on and on it goes. The sad truth is that so many of us can identify with Laurie these days.

Where are the answers? What can we do about it?

We discovered that some of this feels like an addiction to her inasmuch as a sense of accomplishment is such a driver that she will risk her very health for it. She also recognizes that she doesn't have systems in place which impacts how inefficiently she works sometimes. This is something she wants to address immediately and sees the benefit of taking the time to create simple systems.

One of the first things we did was to clear away a space on her desk where her calendar lives. Just taking the action and clearing off that space gave her a great sense of comfort and hope. She knows that she will have to do it routinely and that is OK with her because she now truly has experienced the value.

She also is embracing the idea of "slowing down to go faster" ( are you nuts?????) which is enabling her to actually get more done by pausing to think and think through before impulsively just taking action after action.

It all starts with the willingness to recognize that this type of work regimen- without boundaries- is not sustainable and that her very health and sanity are at risk and she is the only one who can make the necessary changes. Fortunately for Laurie, she does.