In today’s episode as we wrap up our series on my ADHD journey and exploration of executive functions, I am excited to introduce you to Keith Boswell, Vice President of Marketing at ADHD Online.

ADHD Online is transforming the diagnosis and treatment of people dealing with neurodiversity. Organize 365® and ADHD Online have partnered several times over the past year to present organizational solutions that I have found to work for others struggling with ADHD.

Keith brings a new level to this conversation we’ve been having - he is open about his diagnosis of ADHD and his own organization challenges and triumphs. We talk about his familys’ problem areas, the progression of aging children, and roles that will come with the organization of their house.

Find out how we met and how our partnership is evolving. Keith and ADHD Online are doing some important work for awareness and helping people function with ADHD. They are helping people to get a faster diagnosis and move on to finding solutions.  ADHD Online has medical professionals providing the diagnosis and from there you can choose to work with them or your primary doctors and pharmacies. And, they are proud to say that the solution is not always medicine!  They really work with their clients to help them succeed. Organize 365® is  excited to work with them to provide solutions that work for helping their clients live a more organized and proactive life.

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• ADHD Online
• ADHD Awareness Resources

Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!

In today’s episode we wrap up our four part series on exploring the executive functions and the role they play in our ability to be organized. I’ve always believed that you won’t just “be organized.” Organization is a learnable skill. This means that it’s not something you have to be born with. If you’re currently not organized, that's okay too! You can absolutely learn how to be organized.

I have always had a strong belief that organization is a learnable skill. So, I wasn’t surprised to learn that 87% of Americans also believe that organization is a learnable skill. However, I was surprised to find that of those same Americans - only 18% believed that they are organized. Organize 365® courses and programs teach you how to be organized. If you struggle with initiating and task monitoring, then you need community. That’s why adding the Organize 365® Community App was important to me.

Initiation is simply the “start” factor. Task Monitoring is the ability to look at how far you have come and understand how much still needs to be accomplished.

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• Organize 365® Blitz (Free)
• Organize 365® Community
• The Gap and the Gain by Dan Sullivan

Listen to today’s episode to learn how community and grace play a huge role in helping you learn a new skill (like organizing).

Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!

As we continue our series exploring executive functions today we get to talk about planning.

Can you hear it in my voice? Planning is my FAVORITE-IST thing!

Planning is so much more than filling in a planner or checking boxes. Planning is purposefully setting aside time and deciding how you want to show up in the next season. Decide what rules you want to make for your next season so you can be as proactive as you want to be. It’s time to dream about what is possible, about what you want to change, and about what you don’t want to change. 

At Organize 365®, I offer LIVE Planning Days for home and work where I teach you how to proactively plan. They are conveniently scheduled around natural Golden Windows.

Golden windows is a phrase I created to help articulate different times that are optimal for getting started on your transformational journey to organizing. Learn more about golden windows in podcast 242 - Golden Windows of Organizing Opportunity.

You do realize, without knowing it, there are about three times a year we shift in life?  These are what I like to call Golden Windows.  This is a time to organize and plan.  Effective planning going into these golden windows can have a profound impact on your organizational transformation because your organizing energy is naturally higher than normal. And with a plan in hand you can really capitalize on that energy. 

Planning is everything! Planning will help you make the invisible work visible. See how I’ve applied this to so many seemingly “invisible” tasks in life such as putting up and taking down my Christmas tree.

There are a lot of layers to this conversation - listen to the full episode and join me for the next part of this executive function series where we will be talking about initiation & task monitoring.

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• Organize 365® Blitz
• Business Friday Workbox® Starter Bundle with Planning Day
• Friday Workbox® Planning Day Bundle
• The Productive Home Solution® with first Planning Day included
• Home Planning Day Bundle - Essentials
• Home Planning Day Bundle - Deluxe
• ALL IN Work & Home Planning Day Bundle

Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!

Does it ever feel like you have a two year old in your brain talking to you all day reminding you of things you need to do and demanding what to do next?  Do you feel like you are playing an adult version of Memory or Go Fish when it comes to your paperwork? 

Now that I've learned that I have ADHD, I'm ready to dive deeper into this topic of executive function and organization with formal research. Lots of times ADHD can be diagnosed when the person’s executive functions are analyzed. In this episode I explain the Executive Function of the Organization of Materials.

Did you know most people organize their closets and kitchens first?  Why do you think that is? Listen to the full episode to understand.

At Organize 365®, I have designed systems with enough structure to get the job done and with a little wiggle room for customization, because we’re all unique. Here are the rules to keep you on track…

1. Everything should have a place. True - but you (not Pinterest, not society - you) get to pick that place.
2. We tend to reorganize about every twenty years due to stages of life and unexpected life events. This is totally NORMAL!
3. Maintain what is working for you. You only need to implement systems for what is unorganized.
4. Organization of Materials has an order (think stages of life)
5. Organization of Materials is about personal rules you create to maintain sustainable organization. 

Through learning the skill of functional organization; you will literally unlock your time and be able to spend it doing what you are uniquely created to do.

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• Lisa School Binder
• Organize 365® Lattice Binders
• Organize 365® 1.0 Slash Pockets
• Learn more about “zones” and functional organizing in The Productive Home Solution™

Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!

What's next for research at Organize 365®? Now that I've learned that I have ADHD, I'm ready to dive deeper into this topic of executive function and organization with formal research.

Lots of times ADHD can be diagnosed when the person’s executive functions are analyzed. 

In this episode, I shared three examples of me relying on my working memory.  I analyze if my working memory helped or hindered the situation and explore explanations as to why I responded, the way I did, in each situation.  

The executive function of working memory holds information in your head for a short amount of time so you can manipulate that information and do something.  Example: A math problem.  You take in the information of the numbers and functions that are being requested. When you do the problem in your head you are using your working memory to solve the problem.

All hope is not lost - yes we can improve our executive functions according to Psychology today.  They suggest to identify which executive function you want to improve and then pick a strategy to help you improve.

Strategies to improve your executive functions include:

1. Chunk things into smaller tasks
2. Externalize information using notepads, to do lists, or reminders 

(had you completed the math problem, mentioned earlier, on paper, you would be helping your working memory by reducing demand upon your working memory so it is available for other items you need to remember)

1. Buddy up with a peer to foster accountability
2. Blocking access to distractions such as your phone in a drawer while focusing on a task
3. Use rewards to motivate periods of consistent effort

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• Psychology Today
• Strategies for improving executive function
• The Sunday Basket®
• The Friday Workbox®
• The Holiday Blitz
• Planning Day for Home
• Planning Day for Work
• Notepads and Notecards
• Find me on Instagram @Organize365

Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media.

What's next for research at Organize 365®? Now that I've learned that I have ADHD, I'm ready to dive deeper into this topic of executive function and organization with formal research.

There are five areas of executive function that involve organization:

1. Initiating - getting started
2. Working Memory - holding information
3. Planning - planning ahead
4. Monitoring - knowing what needs to be done next
5. Organizing Materials - organizing your home

I believe that you can impact and change your executive functioning by learning the skill of organization so you can have more time to do what you're uniquely created to do. At Organize 365® we have programs, systems, and products to help you in each of these areas.

In this episode, I explain where I am going next and the massive decision that I have made in order to take the next step. I've talked about doing it for years, but finally, in January of 2023, I will begin a one-year program that will lead me into a Ph.D. program.

No one else will do this research for me. If we are going to take on this project as a company, I want to be the one not just leading the team, but leading the research. To do that, I have to have a Ph.D.

I've already been rearranging my schedule and preparing myself, my family, and my team for what this will look like. I'm dividing my week into three parts so my family, my company, and my studies all get the attention they need.

Come along with me on the journey!

Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!

Do I have ADHD or not? This has become so confusing!

According to ADHD Online, I have a medical diagnosis of ADHD. According to Barbara Hunter's analysis of my BRIEF-A assessment, my executive functioning indicates that I do NOT have ADHD. Who is right?

I took my questions to a psychologist in Cincinnati for a final answer.

Why? Well, first, I want to give good recommendations to the Organize 365® community. If ADHD Online is not a good resource, I don't want to refer you to them. Second, I want to continue to do executive function research related to ADHD and organization, so I want to know if I actually have ADHD or not as I go into that project.

Organization is a learnable skill. If we learn the skill of organizing, can we mitigate or eliminate the effects of ADHD?

In this episode, I share with you my story of gathering supporting information from my childhood, taking additional assessments, and speaking with the psychologist to get the final answer. I explain the criteria for an ADHD diagnosis. I also share how in the process, we determined first that I do NOT have dyslexia as I have always been told.

Two interesting things were the clinchers for my final answer. One was speeding tickets, and the other was how I handle money and debt.

Listen to this episode to hear how in the beginning, the psychologist believed there was no way that I could have ADHD and how this all came together to finally find out if I do have ADHD.

• Book: How ADHD Affects Home Organization
• Organize 365® ADHD Playlist

Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!

This month I've been exploring the topic of ADHD and more specifically, discovering if I have ADHD.

Last week, I shared my journey to reach the point of deciding to be tested for ADHD. First I took the assessment from ADHD Online and was told that I DO have a medical ADHD diagnosis.

In this episode, I'm talking with my friend Barbara Hunter about whether she thinks I have ADHD... or not. She gave me The BRIEF-A to make her determination. This is the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function® Adult Version.

The BRIEF-A is given in three parts: I took the assessment. Then both my husband, Greg, and my chief of staff, Stephanie, took the assessment to give their perspective on me.

Barbara walked through the sections of the test with me to explain what the various sections mean and my results compared to Greg and Stephanie's opinions of me, as well as ways to improve my executive functioning in some areas.

The final result? According to The BRIEF-A, Barbara says that this current assessment of my executive function says that I do NOT have ADHD.

So, where do I go from here? I contacted a doctor in the Cincinnati area to do more testing so I can definitively find out if I have ADHD or not. More to come!

Looking for more information on ADHD and Organization? Start with my book, How ADHD Affects Home Organization. It's available for free as an audiobook on the ADHD Playlist!

• Book: How ADHD Affects Home Organization
• ADHD Online
• Springer School and Center
• Barbara Hunter and Integrated Learning Designs
• The BRIEF-A

Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!

Do I have ADHD? My mom doesn't think I have ADHD. I didn't think I had ADHD. At one point, I adamantly opposed people who suggested I had ADHD.

But, in more recent years, I have thought: Maybe I do have ADHD?

When I would organize women in the Cincinnati area, many would start their appointments by telling me that they had or thought they had ADHD. My kids received their ADHD diagnoses when they were children and attended Springer School and Center for many years. I was a teacher and I saw many kids receive their ADHD diagnosis and the support put in place for them.

My book How ADHD Affects Home Organization came out of this time of discovery and research about ADHD and research about organization. (By the way, you can now get the audiobook for free on our new Organize 365® ADHD Playlist!)

People who have ADHD need more structure and support. It's not an issue of intellect. It's an issue of executive functioning. Everyone learns at a different pace and organization is a learnable skill. It's just that people who have ADHD tend to need a person to help put structure in place for them to learn the skill of organizing.

In this episode, I fill you in on my journey of learning about ADHD and then coming to the point of deciding to find out if I actually have ADHD... or not.

Many things came together recently for me to reach this point personally. I have done some biohacking with my Oura Ring and Apple Watch. I began a partnership and series of webinars with ADHD Online and learned more about their services.

But, it was my recent meeting with Barbara Hunter that pushed me over the edge. She was at Springer School and Center for over 20 years. I took any class they offered as my kids were students there. They often bring in top-notch experts in conjunction with Cincinnati Children's Hospital. Barbara is now doing executive function coaching through her company Integrated Learning Designs. In this meeting, we were discussing how there are many resources for students and employees with ADHD, but no one is really addressing how ADHD affects your home life.

So, then, I pondered out loud whether I actually have ADHD or not. Do I really want to know? What would it change if I knew? I wouldn't medicate for ADHD at this point in my life if I have a diagnosis because I have skills and systems already in place to make my life run smoothly. What would knowing that I have or do not have ADHD do for me? What I really want to know is my level of executive functioning and how to optimize that, whether I have ADHD or not!

Barbara tells me there's a test for that! It's called The BRIEF-A. I was in! Just in our casual conversation, Barbara saw signs in me that pointed towards an ADHD diagnosis. And I saw more signs. I always had a floating "C" in school, I'm a talker, I interrupt people, I'm a busybody who doesn't vacation well, and I can't sit to watch TV without a puzzle to work on or laundry to fold. So, I made arrangements to take the test with Barbara.

Before that, still unsure of if I really wanted to know the answer, I decided with some trepidation and some encouragement from Joey to first take the test from ADHD Online to see what they had to say.

The results? According to ADHD Online and their assessment, I have ADHD.

Next week, I talk about my results from The BRIEF-A and my meeting with Barbara Hunter. What does Barbara have to say about my executive functioning based on The BRIEF-A?

• Book: How ADHD Affects Home Organization
• ADHD Online
• Springer School and Center
• Barbara Hunter and Integrated Learning Designs
• The BRIEF-A

Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!

In How ADHD Affects Home Organization, professional organizer, motivational speaker, and teacher of the learnable skills of organization, Lisa Woodruff will help you to:

* Understand how your mind works

* Recognize your unique strengths and weaknesses

* Find the strategies that work for you

Learn more about the book How ADHD Affects Home Organization: https://organize365.com/how-adhd-affects-home-organization

Listen to the Organize 365® Podcast here: https://organize365.com/podcast/