364 - Managing ADHD as a Web Designer with Rob Chaplin

Jan 27, 2025

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An unexpected topic of conversation I’ve consistently had over the last couple years when coaching members of my community Web Designer Pro privately is around managing ADHD and running a web design business.

When thinking about ADHD, I’m probably not alone in immediately jumping to the visual of the wild 7 year old kid who can’t sit down in class. But since the conversation around this has become more prevalent for me both personally in my coaching DM’s and in the web design community at large via other forums or groups I check into, I wanted to dig into what this looks like practically for adults running a web design business.

Since this is a sensitive topic, I wanted to chat with someone who I could level with and learn from versus being educated from an “ADHD Coach” per say.

That’s why I’m dang pumped about sharing my recent convo with my old friend (literally, we were doubles tennis partners in High School) Rob Chaplin. Rob and I reconnected a couple years back when he was considering jumping into a creative field like web design. Since then, he’s been through all my courses, built up his freelance business and became a member of my community Web Designer pro.

But in 2024, he let me know that he hit a wall…feeling disorganized, down, scattered and disoriented about how to move forward in business and in life. Now, many of these feelings are natural when you start a business, do something new or take on the common stresses of building something – but for Rob, it was more.

After some self-research, he dipped his toe into pursuing ADHD treatment, most of which are behavioral and habitual and I have to say, I’ve seen a noticeable difference with his output and his overall energy and state.

For all those reasons and more, I wanted to have an open chat about HIS experience and journey managing ADHD as a web designer and because he’s so new in the journey and he’s really passionate about sharing what’s working for him.

We dig into:

The red flags that led him to research ADHD
How he started small and began making better progress in becoming more focused and productive
What tips, tricks and strategies he uses to help his ADHD (daily) now
How creative fields like web design are actually ideal for folks on any spectrum of the ADHD scale
How ADHD can actually be used in a very positive way with boundaries and constraints

Again, this is purely an explorative chat for me to learn more about this world without judgement or preconceived notions.

Disclaimer: Rob shares HIS journey, methods, strategies and medications that work for him but this is not medical advice or recommendation. See your doctor or consult with a professional before exploring any of the medications that are mentioned.

Head to the show notes to get all links and resources we mentioned along with a full transcription of this episode at joshhall.co/364

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