Overcoming Distractions-Thriving with ADHD, ADD

How many of you feel like you're living in chaos?

How many of you are tired of operating like this and would love to find another way?

Sometimes, we need to adjust our mindsets, especially as busy adults with ADHD.

But don't get scared or run away when you hear the word mindset because Dave talks about some simple mindset adjustments that you can start to implement in your professional and personal life.

Reducing chaos as a busy adult with ADHD means you have to implement some different mindsets and rewrite the way you speak to yourself.

Join Dave as he goes through some of the simple mindsets you can begin to adjust to lower your stress, reduce the chaos and thrive as a busy adult with ADHD.

**Do you want to work with Dave one-on-one? Go to www.overcomingdistractions.com and book an introductory Zoom chat. Or go directly to Dave's calendar; https://calendly.com/davidgreenwood1/15min

Busy adults with ADHD often face the challenges of burnout. And sometimes, adults with ADHD can burn out harder and faster than others.

On this episode of Overcoming Distractions, we discuss why we may see more burnout in the adult ADHD community.

At the basic level, those of us with ADHD have challenges with executive functions, managing the emotional aspect of ADHD, time management and other factors that are major contributors to burnout.

Paula Liub is a burnout expert for ADHD, autistic, and highly sensitive people.

Combining her own burnout experience with a degree in psychology, yoga, and 20 years of mindfulness practices, Paula has developed an effective system that beats and prevents burnout by using a combination of science backed and mindfulness tools.

Our main discussion points about ADHD and burnout include:

· Why ADHD Brains are More Prone to Burnout

· Recognizing Early Burnout Signals (Especially in ADHD)

· Biggest pitfalls in ADHD burnout

· Practical Tips to Regulate Your Nervous System & Energy

· Best approaches beyond tips and tricks

Paula's Website: https://paula-mindfulness.com/

**Do you want to work with Dave one-on-one? Go to www.overcomingdistractions.com and book an introductory Zoom chat. Or go directly to Dave's calendar; https://calendly.com/davidgreenwood1/15min

Many adults with ADHD overcommit to others or themselves and, as a result, end up operating way over capacity.

How many of you feel over committed right now?

Have you committed too much to other people or organizations?

Have you made too many commitments to yourself?

Join Dave as he discusses how to minimize your habit of overcommitting. Dave will give you some simple questions to ask yourself to get you thinking about why you may be overcommitting and how to reduce the desire to always say yes.

Quickly analyze what you're committing to and reduce long term over commitments and some quick wins to get your week back.

**Do you want to work with Dave one-on-one? Go to www.overcomingdistractions.com and book an introductory Zoom chat. Or go directly to Dave's calendar; https://calendly.com/davidgreenwood1/15min

How do we achieve meaningful productivity as an adult with ADHD?

How do we get what we need to get done, stay on track, meet deadlines and achieve some fulfillment?

And how do we get all this accomplished as an adult with ADHD and a demanding career and other responsibilities in our lives?

Dave talks about why achieving flow during the week is one of his secret ADHD weapons. Maximizing the large amounts of time to achieve meaningful productivity can be a game changer when you have ADHD.

But let's not mistake flow for hyperfocus. Flow is when we're doing good work, being creative, and being challenged just a little bit to keep us engaged.

Join Dave on this short podcast about what it takes to maximize flow during your work week.

**Do you want to work with Dave one-on-one? Go to www.overcomingdistractions.com and book an introductory Zoom chat. Or go directly to Dave's calendar; https://calendly.com/davidgreenwood1/15min

Want to learn how to work smarter and not harder as an adult with ADHD?

Working smarter involves creating a weekly schedule that works with your ADHD and allows you to have meaningful productivity.

Creating a schedule that allows you to have agency and control over your week allows you to have more fulfillment and can lower your stress when you have ADHD.

Spend a few minutes with Dave as he discusses the basic framework for reworking your weekly schedule as a busy adult with ADHD.

**Do you want to work with Dave one-on-one? Go to www.overcomingdistractions.com and book an introductory Zoom chat. Or go directly to Dave's calendar; https://calendly.com/davidgreenwood1/15min

Many adults with ADHD struggle with perfectionism. And that's the topic of this week's podcast.

How do we thrive as adults with ADHD without letting perfectionism get in our way?

Let's discuss the dilemma of perfectionism and adult ADHD.

Dr. Tara Cousineau is the guest on this episode of Overcoming Distractions and author of the book The Perfectionist's Dilemma. She is also the author of the "Kindness Cure" and has joined us on the podcast several times.

Trained at Harvard Medical School, she's a part-time staff psychologist at Harvard University's Counseling and Mental Health Service.

Dr. Cousineau describes herself as a recovering perfectionist, and because of that, she discusses why she decided to write The Perfectionist's Dilemma.

Dr. Cousineau gives us a basic definition of what she feels perfectionism is.

Dave and Dr. Cousineau discuss how we can find more balance, peace and joy by tackling perfectionism. And how we can cultivate a better relationship with ourselves.

Dr. Cousineau also discusses the following with Dave.

• Where is perfectionism rooted? Is it a fear of judgment, etc…? People pleasing?
• Are we born as perfectionists, or is this learned behavior?
• Perfectionism is more than just work. We also see this in social interactions and in other areas of our life.
• Can perfectionism cause anxiety and stress? Can it even lead to burnout?
• Dr. Cousineau walks listeners through a beginning strategy to help minimize the challenges of perfectionism.

Find out more about the Perfectionist Dilemma including valuable resources here. And don't forget to purchase the book!

https://perfectionistsdilemma.com/

The Peaceful Perfectionist (Substack)

https://taracousphd.substack.com/

**Do you want to work with Dave one-on-one? Go to www.overcomingdistractions.com and book an introductory Zoom chat. Or go directly to Dave's calendar; https://calendly.com/davidgreenwood1/15min

Happiness is a big topic, right?

But so many of us have to navigate the ups and downs of ADHD. Demanding careers, habits we wish we could adjust, understanding our own ADHD, and, for some, having to go through burnout.

And one thing is clear, there is no template for digging ourselves out of burnout. Everyone's experience with burnout or major stress requires some different strategies.

Our goal? We just want to be happy. And we want fulfillment in our lives so we can thrive as an adult with ADHD.

Today's guest is Cat Duvall.

Cat Duval is the founder of Nine Lives Yoga and Morning Ritual Club, where she's guided over 25,000 clients across 11 countries. Through her 4 Pillars of Happiness framework—Peace, Purpose, Power, and Play—Cat helps people transform burnout into balanced, joyful living. Her journey with burnout inspired her mission to create accessible, ADHD-friendly routines that prioritize well-being and personal growth.

Cat discusses her four pillars of happiness with Dave. They include.

Peace

Power

Purpose

Play

Cat also gives actionable advice for adults with ADHD who are struggling to navigate the ups and downs of burnout.

Find Cat's resources here.

https://yes.catduval.co.uk/ to download free Future You meditation

https://www.catduval.co.uk/burnout/ to read action steps to overcome the 12 stages of burnout.

**Do you want to work with Dave one-on-one? Go to www.overcomingdistractions.com and book an introductory Zoom chat. Or go directly to Dave's calendar; https://calendly.com/davidgreenwood1/15min

If you are currently surrounded by Post-Its or sticky notes, you're going to want to hang out through this whole episode because this one is for you.

We are talking about some of the best practices for planning, especially in the workplace and how to select a planner that works with you and for you.

There are many working parts to productivity and one of them is planning.

Some of us are good at planning and then do not execute.

Some of us execute without planning.

If we slow down and plan out several aspects of our career and home life, it's going to make life much easier for us.

And as is common in the ADHD world, what works for you may not work for others. Such as the type of planner you use.

Grace Koelma is the author of the ADHD Focus Friend, the future ADHD digital planner and she is the host of the podcast your ADHD besties.

Grace and Dave start with one of the biggest challenges for adults with ADHD and that is our struggle with planning. That is planning simple tasks or planning more long term projects.

***Other questions that Grace and Dave discuss during the podcast:

Is there some resistance to structure when it comes to effective planners, journals and even task management systems?

Does the interesting thing… take control over the important thing?

Why do we abandon planners and journals? Are we impatient, get frustrated easily? Do many just not work with our brain?

How do we get ourselves to slow down to plan appropriately?

Learn more about Grace's planners, podcast and more at her website. https://futureadhd.com/

**Do you want to work with Dave one-on-one? Go to www.overcomingdistractions.com and book an introductory Zoom chat. Or go directly to Dave's calendar; https://calendly.com/davidgreenwood1/15min

If you're on a journey and your goal is to thrive as an adult with ADHD, one of the best ways to begin to move things in a positive way is to employ some self-awareness. So today's podcast is about how to ask a series of questions after each work day as you work towards creating fulfilling work days with meaningful productivity.

Dave talks about a few basic questions you can ask yourself every day to understand focus, time and energy, what energizes you what drains you and how you can put a little more thought into how you structure your days with a goal of feeling good as you drive home.

Check out this podcast on adult ADHD, daily self-awareness and making small changes that can equal big results.

**Do you want to work with Dave one-on-one? Go to www.overcomingdistractions.com and book an introductory Zoom chat. Or go directly to Dave's calendar; https://calendly.com/davidgreenwood1/15min

On this episode of Overcoming Distractions, we are talking about burnout and what it can do to our body.

When people are truly burned out, in most cases that causes trauma within the body. And that trauma can come in all types of forms. And when burnout is not addressed, it can take a person years in some cases to recover.

Burnout is also becoming far more complex. For example, not all burnout is rooted in the workplace. You may have caregiving responsibilities which are adding to your chronic stress.

So let's get into what burnout does to you as a human.

The guest on this episode is Clinical Psychologist Dr. Claire Plumbly …author of….THE TRAUMA OF BURNOUT: How to Manage Your Nervous System Before It Manages You.

First, Dr. Plumbly talks with Dave to clarify the differences between stress and burnout. The term burnout seems to be thrown around a little too loosely lately. Burnout is chronic stress unaddressed.

Chronic stress leads to burnout. Dr. Plumbly talks about what chronic stress is doing to our bodies and our nervous system.

Dr. Plumbly also discusses with Dave the various modes of burnout including the red mode and the green mode. Why most of us shut down when we are burned out and how to soothe the nervous system into green mode as she explains.

She also explains the polyvagal theory of the nervous system. Understanding this can help us recover from burnout more effectively.

Learn more about Dr. Clair Plumbly here as well as finding her book: https://www.drclaireplumbly.com/