Being Productive in the Midst of Modern Living with ADHD
Jan 22, 2024
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The hosts explore the challenges of managing modern living with ADHD, including task prioritization difficulties and scheduling disruptions. They discuss the technique of brain dumping and finding effective strategies for task prioritization. The episode emphasizes understanding one's limitations and focusing on the present moment. The speakers also share personal struggles and offer alternative perspectives to make progress.
Articulating tasks and finding meaningful completions amidst overwhelming responsibilities is crucial for individuals with ADHD.
Distinguishing between tasks in the present moment and those that are not present, as well as recognizing the influence of 'shoulds' when prioritizing, can help individuals with ADHD manage their tasks effectively.
Deep dives
Challenges of ADHD in Work and Living
The podcast episode focuses on the challenges faced by individuals with ADHD in their work and daily lives. It explores topics such as avoidance, procrastination, and the impact of comorbid conditions like anxiety and depression. The hosts, who are coaches, discuss how ADHD can exacerbate mental health conditions and share insights on managing dual diagnoses. The episode also highlights the complexities of modern living, particularly unpredictable childcare and constantly changing work expectations. A listener's input is shared, expressing struggles with starting tasks, prioritizing, and scheduling due to interruptions and disruptions. The hosts emphasize the importance of awareness, articulating dilemmas, and finding meaningful completions amidst overwhelming responsibilities.
The Undifferentiated Mass and Breaking it Down
One of the main challenges discussed is dealing with an undifferentiated mass of tasks and commitments, making it difficult to prioritize and find meaningful completions. The hosts share strategies to address this, including articulating and differentiating the tasks through talking to someone who understands the context, doing brain dumps to clarify commitments and prioritize, and recognizing the need for realistic time management. They emphasize the value of breaking tasks into manageable steps and seeking clarification when the ask is not clear. They also mention the importance of distinguishing between the here and now tasks and the tasks that are not present, as well as recognizing the influence of the 'shoulds' that often affect prioritization decisions.
Navigating Overwhelm and Finding Clarity
The hosts discuss the experience of feeling overwhelmed and limited by the multitude of tasks and responsibilities. They emphasize the significance of talking about and articulating dilemmas to gain clarity and objectivity. They suggest strategies like verbalizing challenges, seeking support from understanding individuals, and engaging in reflective activities like brain dumps. The hosts also highlight the role of awareness in understanding personal limits, managing the pursuit mode versus possession mode dilemma specific to ADHD, and making distinctions between tasks that can be accomplished within the current sphere of influence and those that require pursuit. They reinforce the idea of finding meaningful completions and learning to navigate the tension between planning and doing in a way that addresses the individual's unique challenges and priorities.
Ash and Cam sampled challenges from their Patreon community to provide inspiration and content for today’s episode. They chose to focus on one post about the challenges of modern living, and how to engage and be productive when one is maxed out with all of the demands for one’s attention. The hosts explore the dilemma of managing modern living, unpredictable childcare, and ever changing workplace demands.
They relay how the listener articulates the dilemma of prioritizing, scheduling and identifying a starting place in any task, and how to get a meaningful completion in the face of too many inputs and demands. The episode emphasizes the importance of articulating challenges, finding meaningful completion, and distinguishing between the "here and now" and the "not here, not now" aspects in managing tasks and priorities and how this elicits specific neural network activation.