Overcoming Distractions-Thriving with Adult ADHD
David A Greenwood
Overcoming Distractions: Thriving with Adult ADHD is a podcast for busy professionals, entrepreneurs, business owners, and leaders navigating the challenges of adult ADHD.
Hosted by David Greenwood, entrepreneur, former corporate executive, author, and fellow adult with ADHD, the show explores how to succeed at work, build a business, lead people, and enjoy a more fulfilling life while working with an ADHD brain.
If you're an adult with ADHD who struggles with time management, energy, executive functioning, procrastination, prioritization, focus, organization, or burnout, you'll find practical strategies and honest conversations to help you work through those challenges.
Each week, David brings together ADHD experts, successful entrepreneurs, business owners, executives, and other professionals to discuss the real-world challenges of ADHD in business and the workplace.
Topics covered on Overcoming Distractions include:
• ADHD at Work: Managing workloads, deadlines, distractions, interruptions, and competing priorities.
• ADHD Executive Functioning: Improving time management, organization, planning, task initiation, and follow-through.
• ADHD and Entrepreneurship: Building systems, managing finances, delegating, making decisions, and running a business with ADHD.
• ADHD Leadership: Leading teams, leveraging strengths, improving communication, and navigating executive responsibilities.
• ADHD and Burnout: Managing stress, emotional regulation, overcommitment, and the demands of a busy professional life.
• Thriving with Adult ADHD: Building self-awareness, confidence, better habits, and a professional and personal life that works with your brain.
David draws on decades of entrepreneurial and executive experience, along with his own experience navigating life and business with ADHD.
This isn't about becoming someone you're not or trying to force your brain to work like everyone else's. It's about understanding your ADHD, building practical systems, leveraging your strengths, and finding ways to work with less stress and more fulfillment.
Whether you're an entrepreneur, business owner, executive, manager, or busy professional with adult ADHD, Overcoming Distractions offers practical advice and real-world perspectives to help you thrive.
Hosted by David Greenwood, entrepreneur, former corporate executive, author, and fellow adult with ADHD, the show explores how to succeed at work, build a business, lead people, and enjoy a more fulfilling life while working with an ADHD brain.
If you're an adult with ADHD who struggles with time management, energy, executive functioning, procrastination, prioritization, focus, organization, or burnout, you'll find practical strategies and honest conversations to help you work through those challenges.
Each week, David brings together ADHD experts, successful entrepreneurs, business owners, executives, and other professionals to discuss the real-world challenges of ADHD in business and the workplace.
Topics covered on Overcoming Distractions include:
• ADHD at Work: Managing workloads, deadlines, distractions, interruptions, and competing priorities.
• ADHD Executive Functioning: Improving time management, organization, planning, task initiation, and follow-through.
• ADHD and Entrepreneurship: Building systems, managing finances, delegating, making decisions, and running a business with ADHD.
• ADHD Leadership: Leading teams, leveraging strengths, improving communication, and navigating executive responsibilities.
• ADHD and Burnout: Managing stress, emotional regulation, overcommitment, and the demands of a busy professional life.
• Thriving with Adult ADHD: Building self-awareness, confidence, better habits, and a professional and personal life that works with your brain.
David draws on decades of entrepreneurial and executive experience, along with his own experience navigating life and business with ADHD.
This isn't about becoming someone you're not or trying to force your brain to work like everyone else's. It's about understanding your ADHD, building practical systems, leveraging your strengths, and finding ways to work with less stress and more fulfillment.
Whether you're an entrepreneur, business owner, executive, manager, or busy professional with adult ADHD, Overcoming Distractions offers practical advice and real-world perspectives to help you thrive.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Sep 17, 2022 • 39min
This fall is a great time to build structure and new routines
Is it time for you to get back on track? This may be the best time of the year to do that. The fall season is a great opportunity to hit the reset button on both personal and professional goals. And by doing so, it's the perfect time of year to rebuild structure in your life and recommit to routines that help you meet certain goals. You do not need to be an adult with ADHD to get some tremendous value out of this discussion with Sarah Reiff-Hekking of True Focus Coaching. Sarah and Dave discuss the many reasons why this may be a great time to get back on track. Everything from the seasonal flow of business, kids back to school, and the end of vacation season for many makes this a good time to develop new routines and "get stuff done." The right stuff…! Key points in this podcast discussion include: The ability to create more structure More uninterrupted time because school has started. Putting personal goals above career goals What time horizons are and why they matter. Committing once again to regular self-care Sarah gives listeners a road map to get back on track. Those tips include: First, take a 10,000-foot view of everything you have committed to. If you must, use visuals such as a wall chart. Incorporate what Sarah calls a flexible template for work each week. Establish when you are working and when you are not working. Set up an environment that is conducive to productivity. And she shares so much more in this podcast. Do you want to book a strategy session with Sarah? Check out the link below to connect with her. https://www.truefocuscoaching.com/apply/
Sep 14, 2022 • 19min
Why should I work with an ADHD coach? Some reasons you may not have thought of
If you are an adult with ADHD and are struggling in a number of areas of your life, one of the ways that you can minimize crisis mode is to work with an ADHD coach. An ADHD coach can help you in so many areas, including clarity on tasks and projects, developing strategies to minimize the causes of burnout, and quite simply, just helping you get more done and get the right things accomplished. Sitting down with an ADHD coach regularly can also minimize your stress and be fun. You'll look forward to your ADHD coaching sessions. Do you want to work with Dave? Find out more at Overcoming Distractions; https://overcomingdistractions.com/
Sep 10, 2022 • 38min
How executive functions play a role in planning, organization, priorities and more
How do we prioritize when we have adult ADHD? How do we plan both our personal and professional lives and how do we create organization and build time management systems? All these are related when it comes to adult ADHD and that is the discussion for this podcast. ADHD, at its most basic level is a challenge with executive functions. And many with ADHD have difficulty with planning and executing important tasks. We will discuss the basics of how many aspects of our lives affect "getting stuff done!" Back on the podcast is ADHD coach Jeff Copper with DIG Coaching. Jeff uses a phrase called task Darwinism to explain how executive functions play a role in all parts of our lives and he begins the podcast by explaining what he means. Dave and Jeff discuss how many people with ADHD make planning and organization too complicated. They also discuss why clarity is one of the most important things a person with ADHD needs to have in all aspects of life. For example, being clear on directions from clients or your boss at work. Not having clarity is a recipe for procrastination and unnecessary stress. Jeff also discusses the difference between the word 'should' and 'will' and how these affect planning and organizing tasks. Jeff also gives tips towards the end of the podcast about staying away from panic mode when it's challenging to get stuff done. You can connect with Jeff Copper below. www.digcoaching.com www.attentiontalkradio.com
Sep 3, 2022 • 17min
My ADHD New Year-September plan
Have you had difficulty getting anything done over the past couple of months? While it's awesome to have the kids at home during the summer as well as take the time to enjoy the summer months, often it's difficult to keep any type of routine and make any headway on important projects and tasks. In this short episode, Dave talks about why for him, post-Labor Day is his new year. Dave talks about why this is a great time to tear apart your schedule and routines and find better methods for getting things done for the next few months. It's a great time to analyze all your commitments and get better at time and energy management, taking care of yourself, setting personal goals that will be supported by your career, and more. Want to work with Dave? Find out more here: www.OvercomingDistractions.com
Aug 27, 2022 • 24min
Can art help those with ADHD relax?
We can incorporate mindfulness into our busy ADHD lives in several ways. Mindfulness doesn't always mean meditation. It means that you can give something your full attention without being distracted. And it should help reduce your stress. Can art help people with ADHD relax and increase their creativity? This week we have Faigie Kobre on the podcast, founder of Creativity Reunited. She spends much of her time helping people create art through alcohol inks which she explains in the podcast. She has some great tips in this podcast if you are an adult with ADHD and looking for something different to help reduce your stress. Faigie talks about being diagnosed with adult ADHD later on in life and how seeking a diagnosis came about. She talks about being a high end professional photographer and how after an ADHD diagnosis, she made the career change to educate people about art. She discusses how alcohol inks can help people relax and feel at ease, even those with ADHD and how this fits into the mixed media art community. Faigie discusses how everyone can get started with art, even if you feel you're not good at being creative through art. She says alcohol inks are a great way to express your creativity initially. Find out more at: https://creativityreignited.com/
Aug 20, 2022 • 38min
The best foods to choose for adults with ADHD
While there are many ways to manage and thrive with adult ADHD, one of the areas to focus on is choosing the right foods. By eliminating certain types of foods, we can begin to feel better and even develop more focus On this episode of Dvercoming Distractions Dave sits down with Dana Kay, Founder of the ADHD Thrive Institute and the author of the book, THRIVING WITH ADHD –A Guide to Naturally Reducing ADHD Symptoms in Your Child. While dana's book is geared more towards children with ADHD, the same advice for which foods to choose also helps adults with ADHD. Dana feels that choosing the right foods and discussing nutrition for people with ADHD do not get enough attention. It is a powerful way to manage your ADHD, and she feels more and more people should be aware of the benefits of choosing the right foods. Dana also says that the worst foods for people with ADHD to consume are those that contain gluten, dairy, and soy. She says that if you had to choose one to start with, it would be removing gluten from your diet because it has many benefits. Dave and Dana also talk about how there is a connection between the brain and the gut. I think there is no better evidence of this than when you get butterflies in your stomach when you are nervous. Dana discusses how to get on the right track, including starting with whole foods, that consist of fruit vegetables grass-fed proteins, and healthy fats. She also advises you to drink spring water. There is a whole lot more nutritional advice when it comes to ADHD in this podcast, and Dana gives her tips for getting started. Find Dana Kay at her website as well as her book. https://adhdthriveinstitute.com/
Aug 17, 2022 • 17min
Routines and Adult ADHD-A Few Quick Thoughts
Dave spends a few minutes talking about the power of routines regarding adult ADHD. Having routines, especially in the morning, as well as those that guide us in the workplace can reduce our stress, promote increased productivity and efficiency, and ultimately reduce the contribution to burnout. Dave talks about two areas that those with ADHD need to focus on when it comes to routines. We must have a morning routine that gets us out of the house and into the office without stress. And when we get to work, we need to build routines that allow us to work effectively and enjoy our career or job. Dave also talks about how it is important for us to be flexible because life changes, and we need to respond appropriately.
Aug 13, 2022 • 44min
Working conditions that can lead to burnout and how to move forward
Burnout can happen to everyone, including those with ADHD. Adults with ADHD can burn out much faster when faced with an unhealthy work environment. Burnout also occurs when those of us with ADHD are not in the right job. ADHD career coach Shell Mendelson is on the podcast this week talking about what causes employees with ADHD to lose interest and even burnout. And Shell talks about the warning signs of being in the wrong job, how to correct that and how to lay the groundwork for finding a new career or job. Some important points to the discussion include: Why performance improvement programs at a job can backfire on people with ADHD. Why confidence is important when trying to navigate your career. What contributes to burnout in the workplace including poor communication, lack of flexibility, and not enough physical space or open spaces such as cubicles. And, of course the amount of house someone works. Shell discusses how to start the process of finding a new job or career. She walks everyone through an exercise for identifying what they like and what might cause them to experience any level of burnout in the workplace. She also has suggestions for a successful job interview to ensure you ask good questions before accepting any position. Find out more about Shell here: www.passiontocareer.com www.shellmendelson.com
Aug 10, 2022 • 19min
People with ADHD are Great at Making Assumptions
One trait that many with adults with ADHD are good at is making assumptions. However in most cases, those assumptions are about negative outcomes of various situations. We assume that when our boss or client calls a meeting or calls us, it's to discuss a negative situation or to speak with us about a job that was not done properly. We also assume that some people do not like us or do not understand us. And many of us assume that the car next to us is going to cut us off on the highway. Dave talks about why making assumptions only adds stress to our lives and he discusses a couple very simple strategies to implement in your life to start the process of not assuming everything is bad. Sometimes it's as simple as rewriting the conversation in your head. If you have a habit of assuming the worst in all kinds of situations, join Dave for this short podcast about ADHD and assumptions. Learn more about working with Dave at: www.OvercomingDistractions.com
Aug 6, 2022 • 19min
When adult ADHD and time management collide
Time management especially when you have ADHD can never be about "Set it and forget it." Your systems will only last for so long before you need to adjust to personal and professional circumstances. This week, Dave talks about how you can go back to the basics and hit the reset button on your time management. If you feel like you are running out of time and energy each day, and you feel like your schedule is taking over your life, check with Dave on this short episode. Sometimes we don't see it coming and we find ourselves running in all directions and heading towards burnout. Dave talks about hitting the pause button and doing a hard reset on how you manage your time, commitments and your schedule. With a few basic tips on how to blow your schedule up and start over.
