Hacking Your ADHD

Welcome to Hacking Your ADHD. I'm your host, William Curb. On this podcast, we dig into tools, tactics, and best practices to help you work with your ADHD brain. Today I'm joined by Skye Waterson for our Research Recap series.

In this series, we usually look at a single research paper, but today we're covering two and pulling out practical takeaways. We'll discuss two papers on ADHD strengths: Strengths and Challenges to Embrace Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Employment: A Systematic Review, and Paradoxical Career Strengths and Successes of ADHD Adults: An Evolving Narrative. I love an "evolving narrative," and the way papers are named.

Before we get started, I'd love to hear what you think of these Research Recaps. If you have thoughts or a paper/topic you want us to review, head over to hackingadhd.com/contact and let us know. New episodes of Research Recap come out every other Friday. All right—let's get into it

If you'd life to follow along on the show notes page you can find that at https://HackingYourADHD.com/254

https://tinyurl.com/56rvt9fr - Unconventional Organisation Affiliate link

https://tinyurl.com/y835cnrk - YouTube

https://www.patreon.com/HackingYourADHD - Patreon

This week I'm joined by Amy Marie Hann, better known online as The Activated ADHD Mama. Amy's an ADHD coach, community leader, and author who specializes in helping ADHD moms wrangle the boring, repetitive tasks that tend to bury us, things like dishes, meal planning, and remembering to call in prescription refills.

In our conversation, we talk about why traditional productivity advice often doesn't work for ADHD brains and why these mundane tasks can create so much stress and shame. We dig into some of Amy's strategies that helps people build realistic systems to make those things easier and how starting with just three daily tasks can create stability when your brain constantly craves novelty. We talk about capacity, executive function burnout, and how to reframe self-care and rest as functional tools instead of guilt trips.

If you'd life to follow along on the show notes page you can find that at HackingYourADHD.com/253

YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/y835cnrk

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/HackingYourADHD

This Episode's Top Tips

1. 1. Work on designing your routines for your actual capacity, not your fantasy capacity. Pay attention to your natural energy rhythms and give yourself permission to do less when you're depleted.
   2. It's often not about how long a task takes but about how hard it feels. Build self-compassion by celebrating when you complete these high-resistance tasks and noticing the effort you've put in.
   3. There is a distinction between rest and numbing, so we need to plan intentional rest that actually restores our energy. ADHD rest is often about lowering stimulation, not eliminating it. Try for something gentle but engaging enough that your brain doesn't go looking for a dopamine hit elsewhere.

Welcome to Hacking Your ADHD. I'm your host, William Curb, and I have ADHD. On this podcast, I dig into the tools, tactics, and best practices to help you work with your ADHD brain.

Today, I'm joined by Skye Waterson for our Research Recap series, where we take a look at a single research paper—what it says, how it was conducted, and what practical takeaways we can find.

In this episode, we're discussing a 2022 paper titled "TikTok and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A Cross-Sectional Study of Social Media Content Quality." It got quite a bit of coverage when it came out, and I thought it'd be good to revisit it—not because TikTok is back in the news, but because it raises some interesting questions about ADHD information online.

Before we get started, I'd love to hear what you think of the Research Recap series. If you have feedback or a paper you'd like us to cover, head to hackingyouradhd.com/contact. New Research Recap episodes come out every other Friday.

If you're struggling with OCD or unrelenting intrusive thoughts, NOCD can help. Book a free 15 minute call to get started: https://learn.nocd.com/HackingYourADHD

If you'd life to follow along on the show notes page you can find that at https://HackingYourADHD.com/252

https://tinyurl.com/56rvt9fr - Unconventional Organisation Affiliate link

https://tinyurl.com/y835cnrk - YouTube

https://www.patreon.com/HackingYourADHD - Patreon

Hey Team!

Today I'm joined by Alex Bellitter, Senior Manager of Coaching at Shimmer, an ADHD coaching platform that's guided over 75,000 sessions. If this sounds a bit familiar, I also did an interview with Shimmer's CEO, Chris Wang, last year - but of course in this episode, we're covering a lot more and while Shimmer is mentioned it certainly isn't the focus of what we're talking about here.

But back to who we're talking with today. Alex holds a Master's in Psychology and is a National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach. She's passionate about building a neuroinclusive approach to coaching and helping people redefine what success looks like for their unique brains.

We get into what burnout really looks like for ADHD brains and how the "grind it out" mindset backfires every time. Alex shares how resilience isn't about powering through and we also unpack the ideas of capacity, how we burn through future energy, and why rest, play, and flexibility are actually key parts of productivity. Plus, we get into ADHD inertia, smart scaffolding, and that tricky process of rediscovering your strengths when your brain insists you don't have any.

If you're struggling with OCD or unrelenting intrusive thoughts, NOCD can help. Book a free 15 minute call to get started: https://learn.nocd.com/HackingYourADHD

If you'd life to follow along on the show notes page you can find that at HackingYourADHD.com/251

YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/y835cnrk

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/HackingYourADHD

This Episode's Top Tips

1. 1. We often overfill their schedules, not just with work, but with everything, because when we see "blank space," it can look like laziness or wasted time. But leaving unscheduled blocks gives us breathing room and time for the unexpected. This means it's important that we're making sure keep at least some white space on our calendars.
   2. We can fall into the trap of treating rest like a reward for finishing everything, but rest is part of the system that keeps us going. Taking time to rest isn't laziness; it's maintenance that we sorely need.
   3. External structure, such as reminders, alarms, notes, and accountability partners, can often help ADHD brains thrive, but a lot of us carry shame around using these supports. We're not "cheating" the system by building one that works for us. These scaffoldings allow us to grow stronger over time without collapsing under pressure by giving us the support we need.

Welcome to Hacking Your ADHD. I'm your host, William Curb, and I have ADHD. On this podcast, I dig into the tools, tactics, and best practices to help you work with your ADHD brain.

Today I'm joined by Skye Waterson for our Research Recap series, and we're talking about a paper called Creative Thinking in Adolescence with Attention Hyperactivity Disorder.

In this series, we take a look at a single research paper, dive into what it says, how it's conducted, and try to find any practical takeaways for you.

As this is a new series, if you have thoughts or feedback, let me know — you can head to hackingyouradhd.com/contact and send me a message. New episodes of Research Recap come out every other Friday.

Alright, let's get on with the show.

If you'd life to follow along on the show notes page you can find that at https://HackingYourADHD.com/250

https://tinyurl.com/56rvt9fr - Unconventional Organisation Affiliate link

https://tinyurl.com/y835cnrk - YouTube

https://www.patreon.com/HackingYourADHD - Patreon

Hey Team!

This week I'm talking with Kara Cruz, a licensed marriage and family therapist and Certified Perinatal Mental Health Professional with over 15 years of experience supporting women through life transitions. Kara's work focuses on the intersection of ADHD and reproductive mental health—helping women navigate the complex terrain of hormones, identity, and self-trust.

In our conversation, Kara and I dig into how ADHD symptoms can change and intensify across different hormonal stages - puberty, pregnancy, postpartum, and perimenopause - and what that means for real-life functioning. We also get into how ADHD in women often goes undiagnosed or misdiagnosed as anxiety or bipolar disorder, and how learning to track your cycle, protect your energy, and build realistic routines can make a world of difference in your adhd management.

And I want to emphasize that even if you don't have a cycle there is still a lot to get out of this episode, when I was working on the top tips for this episode I had to cut a few because there was just so much good stuff. I had a great time talking with Kara and learned a ton, I think you'll love this episode too.

If you'd life to follow along on the show notes page you can find that at HackingYourADHD.com/249

YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/y835cnrk

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/HackingYourADHD

This Episode's Top Tips

1. 1. ADHD symptoms don't exist in a vacuum and hormones can crank them up or turn them down. And this can be greatly impacted depending on your stage of life or if you have a cycle, and then where you are in that cycle.
   2. Burnout is often a side effect of saying "yes" too many times when your brain and body are already maxed out. Protecting your energy starts with noticing when your capacity dips and giving yourself permission to scale back. It's important to create these boundaries so that you are protecting the version of you that you that you still want to be at the end of the week.
   3. A big takeaway from Kara's work is that your body will tell you what's up, tight shoulders, clenched jaw, fatigue, restlessness are all early warnings that your system's running on fumes. Building quick body check-ins into your day can help you catch burnout at a "three" instead of waiting for it to hit "ten."
   4. Managing ADHD isn't only about planners and meds; it's also about repairing your relationship with yourself and the shame that has built up from ADHD struggles. That means recognizing how years of undiagnosed or misunderstood ADHD may have shaped your self-esteem through shame and self-blame and learning to separate your symptoms from your worth.
   5. And with that last tip, I just want to remind everyone, yes, you are enough.

Hey team!

Today I'm talking with Nick Jonsson, a best-selling author, executive coach, and co-founder of Executives' Global Network. Nick is the author of Executive Loneliness: The 5 Pathways to Overcoming Isolation, Stress, Anxiety & Depression in the Modern Business World. His work focuses on helping leaders tackle isolation, burnout, and addiction while finding healthier, more sustainable ways to succeed.

Now I realize that doesn't seem particularly ADHD focused, but I thought that this would be a good interview to take because adults with ADHD have a substantially increased risk of substance use disorders. And so while Nick's work doesn't specifically cover ADHD, there is still a lot that you can glean from it.

In our conversation, Nick shares his own journey through loneliness, denial, and alcohol addiction, and how vulnerability and connection became essential tools for his recovery. We dig into practical strategies for opening up in safe spaces, replacing harmful coping mechanisms with meaningful activities, and creating accountability systems that support long-term well-being. We also touch on how social media and other modern habits can quietly feed into loneliness, and what it takes to build resilience against them.

If you'd life to follow along on the show notes page you can find that at HackingYourADHD.com/248

YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/y835cnrk

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/HackingYourADHD

This Episode's Top Tips

1. Frame recovery as replacement, not deprivation. When looking to break out of unhealthy coping mechanisms, be they alcohol, social media, or some other addiction, deliberately plan what will give you that same connection without the negative costs. Having planned positive alternatives like exercise, hobbies, or group activities can make all the difference in following through with your intentions.
2. Watch out for the "gray zone" of addiction; you don't need to wait until hitting rock bottom to start changing habits. If you are questioning your relationship with alcohol, social media, or other damaging habits, take the time to reflect on what is really driving those habits. Remember, you don't have to make something worse before making it better.
3. When you can, volunteering in support groups or mentoring others not only helps them, but it can also reinforce your own sense of belonging and purpose.

Welcome to hacking Your ADHD. I'm your host, William Curb, and I have ADHD. On this podcast, I dig into the tools, tactics, and best practices to help you work with your ADHD Brain. And today I'm joined by Sky Waterson for our research recap series. In this series, we take a look at a single research paper, although today we're going to be looking at two and so it's a little something different.

What we do is we try to see how the papers were conducted, try to find any practical takeaways and discuss what's going on in these papers. So the two papers we're gonna discuss today are Boredom, Proneness, and its correlation with internet addiction and internet activities and adolescence with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. And our second paper then is boredom, proneness and Inattention in Children With and Without ADHD, the mediating rule of delay aversion.

So lots in there, lots to discuss. And we'll get all into that. And as this is a new series, I do wanna make sure that people know that. I would love to hear what your thoughts about it. Feel free to go to hackingyouradhd.com/contact and leave me a note about what you think about this series.

I'd love to hear about this and I've really appreciated all the feedback I've already gotten for this series. So I'd love to hear more and make sure that I'm doing this in ways that you guys really like. Now, new episodes of Research Recap will be coming out every other Friday.

And with that, let's get into this.

If you'd life to follow along on the show notes page you can find that at https://HackingYourADHD.com/247

https://tinyurl.com/56rvt9fr - Unconventional Organisation Affiliate link

https://tinyurl.com/y835cnrk - YouTube

https://www.patreon.com/HackingYourADHD - Patreon

Hey Team!

This week, I'm talking with Emmy-winning composers Kat Raio Rende and JP Rende, a husband and wife team who've written music for everyone from Elmo to the Jonas Brothers. But today we're talking about their project Aidee, a collection of songs designed to help kids with ADHD build everyday tools through music.

I got a chance to listen through the album before the interview and it's honestly really great. Since having my own kids I've had the opportunity to listen to a lot of children's music, so I was pleasantly surprised with how good the songs actually are and how quickly the messages got into my head.

Which leads right into what we Kat, JP and I talked about in the interview - how we can use music as a tool for memory and routines, why silly songs can be powerful ADHD strategies, and how turning everyday frustrations into sticky little tunes can lower shame and raise confidence. We also get into working with ADHD but also how to navigate working with a partner who has ADHD. We also touch on breathing exercises, dealing with shame, and the parenting tightrope of empathy and boundaries.

AIDEE - Nothing Rhymes with Orange Full Album - https://www.youtube.com/@AIDEEHD Kat & JP website - https://www.earwormny.com/

If you'd life to follow along on the show notes page you can find that at HackingYourADHD.com/246

YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/y835cnrk

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/HackingYourADHD

This Episode's Top Tips

For our tips today, let's go through all those songs on the album, each of which is a tool in itself:

1. Anything Else - Reminding us to check if there is anything else we need when we leave the house.
2. Mad Mad (Jelly Belly) - which asks us to check in with ourselves when we're feeling dysregulated and seeing if maybe we just need to take a second to take care of our basic needs
3. Put it Away - I think this one is pretty clear cut, don't put it down, put it away.
4. Control - While one of the symptoms of ADHD is that we tend to be quite impulsive, we still have control over our actions - when you feel that impulse you can take a breath and decide if that's what you really want to do
5. Learning More Everyday - We're a work in progress and while we'll have mistakes along the way, that's okay
6. Breathe - when we're feeling overwhelmed it's important for us to slow down and take a second to breathe and get ourselves recenter

And remember to hear all those songs just check out the Aidee Youtube channel - link in the show notes

t for a few months now and it's definitely one that I'm always on the look out for new episodes. Rae does a great job with her interviews, asking both the basic questions to help ground the conversation, but also getting into the more nuanced issues that come with neurodivergence.

Today, I'm going to share an episode with you where Rae talks with Dr. Christine Hargrove, a Marriage & Family Therapist with a focus on neurodiversity and financial therapy that she uses to help individuals and couples understand how their symptoms affect their financial behavior.

And honestly, this is a great episode - I know so many people who struggle with their finances, but more specifically, struggle directly because of their ADHD.

Be sure to subscribe to Hyperfocus with Rea Jacobson in your podcast player!