Chasing Butterflies: Managing ADHD Idea Overwhelm as a Serial Entrepreneur

Dec 23, 2025

Sarah Dowd, a cultural strategist and creative entrepreneur, shares her insights on managing idea overwhelm as a serial entrepreneur. She discusses the 'burden of creativity' and why ADHD-driven individuals often thrive as polymaths. Sarah introduces her six-stage process for organizing ideas and emphasizes the importance of using AI tools for capturing and structuring thoughts. She also explores designing audience-specific messaging and the interconnectedness of multiple projects, providing practical strategies to harness creativity without burning out.

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INSIGHT

Polymathy Is A Business Asset

Entrepreneurs with ADHD are natural polymaths who must juggle many roles and skills when building a venture.
Sarah reframes polymathy as an advantage if you create frameworks to organize and steward ideas.

ADVICE

Use A Six‑Stage Idea Loop

Capture every idea without judgment, then move through connection, structure, iteration, expression, and reflection.
Use that six-stage loop to vet ideas and preserve the ones worth developing.

ADVICE

Turn Voice Notes Into Project Folders

Use voice notes and AI chat folders to dump and preserve free‑flowing ideas quickly.
Turn those captures into searchable project folders so you can revisit without losing momentum.

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What This Episode Is About

If your brain generates ideas faster than you can execute them, this conversation will make you feel seen. Sarah runs five businesses and has developed a systematic approach to managing what I call the "burden of creativity"—that relentless flow of inspiration that can fuel or derail you, depending on how you work with it.

This isn't about picking one lane or shutting down your creative engine. It's about building frameworks that let you honor your ideas without drowning in them.

Who This Episode Is For

Founders juggling multiple business ideas or revenue streams
Creatives who struggle with follow-through despite abundant inspiration
Consultants and coaches who feel scattered across too many offers
Anyone who's been shamed for having "too many interests."
Serial entrepreneurs who want to build interconnected businesses without burning out

The Big Idea

Having an ADHD brain means you're wired for abundant creativity. The challenge isn't generating ideas—it's knowing which ones deserve your energy and how to move them from concept to completion without burning out or abandoning ship halfway through.

Sarah's approach: treat your ideas like they matter, but give them structure so they don't hijack your focus.

What to Listen For

The Reality of Being a Creative Polymath

For many ADHD entrepreneurs, being interested in multiple things isn't a distraction —it's how they’re built. Sarah explains why being a polymath is actually an advantage in today's business landscape, as long as you set boundaries around what gets your attention.

The "Catching Butterflies" System: Capture, Connect, Structure, Iterate, Express, Reflect

Sarah walks through her six-stage process for managing creative output. It starts with capturing every idea without judgment, then moves through connecting related concepts, building structure around the keepers, iterating on them, expressing them in the world, and reflecting on what worked. Simple in concept, powerful in practice.

Using AI as Your Digital Thought Partner

Both Sarah and I use AI tools (ChatGPT, Claude) to externalize our thinking. Instead of letting ideas swirl in our heads, we dump them into our AI assistants to help us organize, connect dots, and build project folders. It's like having a patient colleague who never gets tired of your tangents.

The 3D Jenga Model for Interconnected Projects

Rather than treating each business or project as a standalone tower that could topple, Sarah visualizes her work as a 3D Jenga structure. Each piece supports the others. When one idea doesn't work out, the whole thing doesn't collapse—the remaining pieces actually get stronger.

Energy Management Over Time Management

Reflection isn't self-indulgence—it's how you build a feedback loop that keeps you moving forward. Regular check-ins about how you feel, what your vision is, and whether your projects still serve that vision help you stay aligned instead of spinning your wheels.

Why This Matters

If you've ever been told you're "too much," or felt guilty about having too many interests, this episode offers permission to work with your brain, instead of trying to conform to any norms. You'll walk away with practical strategies for managing creative chaos and the confidence that being a polymath entrepreneur isn't a problem to fix—it's a creative operating system that needs the right infrastructure.

Connect With Our Guest, Sarah Dowd

Sarah Dowd is a cultural strategist and creative entrepreneur with 25+ years of experience transforming heritage and culture into immersive, inclusive experiences and developing cultural organizations.

She is the founder of The Tricolor Collective – a £1m-turnover agency behind pioneering initiatives such as the UK’s first social-impact heritage disposals program– as well as Les Raconteurs and Heritage, Culture & Crafts for All.

Navigating a late ADHD diagnosis, Sarah champions neurodiverse leadership, proving that creativity, joy, and disruption are powerful tools for lasting change.

Sarah’s Substack on Chasing Butterflies: https://substack.com/inbox/post/177719859?r=pzapf&utm_medium=ios&triedRedirect=true

Sarah’s website - Podcast - Instagram - LinkedIn

"I believe the key to happiness is someone to love, something to do, and something to look forward to."

-Elvis Presley

How do YOU capture your creative ideas and see them through to the finish line? I’d love to hear from you!

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