The ADHD Skills Lab

Presented by Understood.org

You already know what needs to get done.

It’s not a knowledge problem. It’s not a lack of ideas.

But you still don’t start.

Instead, you overthink it, wait to feel ready, or tell yourself you’ll do it later, again.

Eric Zimmer is the creator of The One You Feed, an award-winning podcast with 50M+ downloads and 800+ conversations on behavior change. He is the go-to voice on sustainable habit change, and his work shows what actually works when willpower doesn’t.

In this episode, Eric and Skye break down why that gap between knowing and doing is so common with ADHD, and why trying to “think your way into action” usually makes it worse.

They get into:

• why motivation often shows up after you start, not before
• what’s actually happening when you feel resistance to simple tasks
• how to begin when your brain is telling you “not now”
• and a more realistic way to build momentum without relying on willpower

This isn’t about forcing yourself or waiting to feel motivated.

It’s about understanding why starting feels so hard, and what actually helps you move anyway.

If you're enjoying ADHD Skills Lab, you may also enjoy Understood.org’s new podcast, Everyone Gets a Juice Box: For Parents of Neurodivergent Kids.

Listen here: https://lnk.to/everyonegetsajuiceboxPS!adhdskillslab

Connect with Eric: https://www.oneyoufeed.net/ https://www.instagram.com/one_you_feed/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericzimmer/ https://www.youtube.com/@TheOneYouFeedPod How a Little Becomes a Lot (Book Page)

P.S. If you’re a founder who’s tired of the mad scramble of disorganized systems and stressful HR, and you want a business that feels as easy as plugging your headphones into an iPod shuffle, I’ve got something for you.

Want to grow your business? 

My Focused Balanced Growth Program has everything you need to build consistent ADHD-friendly routines and processes to grow. Click here to learn more.

Looking for a coach who's also an operator who'll turn your business into a finely-tuned profit and peace machine designed for your brain? 

I work with one company a month as a fractional consultant and COO, learning about your business and implementing systems that allow both trust & transparency with your team. Click here to book a call and discuss.

Presented by Understood.org

You keep setting deadlines and somehow everything still ends up happening at the last minute.

You plan ahead. You move things around. You even set earlier deadlines.

And it still compresses into a final push.

This episode explains why that keeps happening and what to change.

We build on Wednesday’s breakdown of time blindness and show why most deadline strategies fail over time, especially the fake ones you don’t really believe.

Then we walk through how to structure work so urgency shows up earlier, not just at the end.

If your projects keep turning into last minute scrambles, this will give you a way to stop repeating that pattern.

What We Cover:

• Why fake deadlines stop working after a while
• How to create real stakes earlier in a project
• What “no more changes” cutoffs actually do
• How meetings and other people make deadlines feel real

If you're enjoying ADHD Skills Lab, you may also enjoy Understood.org’s new podcast, Everyone Gets a Juice Box: For Parents of Neurodivergent Kids.

Listen here: https://lnk.to/everyonegetsajuiceboxPS!adhdskillslab

P.S. If you’re a founder who’s tired of the mad scramble of disorganized systems and stressful HR, and you want a business that feels as easy as plugging your headphones into an iPod shuffle, I’ve got something for you.

Want to grow your business? 

My Focused Balanced Growth Program has everything you need to build consistent ADHD-friendly routines and processes to grow. Click here to learn more.

Looking for a coach who's also an operator who'll turn your business into a finely-tuned profit and peace machine designed for your brain? 

I work with one company a month as a fractional consultant and COO, learning about your business and implementing systems that allow both trust & transparency with your team. Click here to book a call and discuss.

Presented by Understood.org

Deadlines exist right up until they don’t.

You can see it on the calendar. You know it’s coming. You’ve even thought about it a few times.

Then suddenly it’s urgent and everything else gets dropped while you scramble to catch up.

This episode explains why that keeps happening.

We break down what research shows about ADHD and time perception, and why this isn’t just poor planning. Future time doesn’t create pressure until it’s right in front of you, so you end up relying on last minute urgency just to get started.

If you’ve ever wondered why you only seem to move when things get critical, and why that keeps messing with your business, your team, or your stress levels, this will make that pattern make a lot more sense and set up the systems we’ll build on Friday.

What We Cover:

• Why deadlines don’t create pressure until they are close
• What research says about ADHD and time perception
• Why last minute urgency becomes the default way to work
• The gap between knowing a deadline and actually feeling it

If you're enjoying ADHD Skills Lab, you may also enjoy Understood.org’s new podcast, Everyone Gets a Juice Box: For Parents of Neurodivergent Kids.

Listen here: https://lnk.to/everyonegetsajuiceboxPS!adhdskillslab

P.S. If you’re a founder who’s tired of the mad scramble of disorganized systems and stressful HR, and you want a business that feels as easy as plugging your headphones into an iPod shuffle, I’ve got something for you.

Want to grow your business? 

My Focused Balanced Growth Program has everything you need to build consistent ADHD-friendly routines and processes to grow. Click here to learn more.

Looking for a coach who's also an operator who'll turn your business into a finely-tuned profit and peace machine designed for your brain? 

I work with one company a month as a fractional consultant and COO, learning about your business and implementing systems that allow both trust & transparency with your team. Click here to book a call and discuss.

Presented by Understood.org

Jamie Sea built two seven-figure businesses.

From the outside, everything looked successful. But behind the scenes, the pressure, urgency and burnout were becoming impossible to ignore.

In this episode of ADHD Skills Lab, Skye talks with Jamie Sea, entrepreneur, educator and host of The Jamie Sea Show about the moment she realized the businesses she built no longer fit the life she wanted.

Jamie shares what it was like to feel trapped inside success, how ADHD patterns and nervous system pressure shaped the way she worked, and why she ultimately made the difficult decision to close both companies and start again.

They explore how urgency, identity and internal pressure influence many ADHD entrepreneurs; and how learning to work with the nervous system can change the way we approach work, money and success.

What We Cover

• The moment Jamie realized success was no longer sustainable
• How ADHD urgency and pressure shape entrepreneurship
• Why high-achieving founders often hit burnout
• The role of nervous system awareness in business decisions
• What it actually looked like to close two seven-figure companies and rebuild

If you're enjoying ADHD Skills Lab, you may also enjoy Understood.org’s new podcast, Everyone Gets a Juice Box: For Parents of Neurodivergent Kids.

Listen here:

https://lnk.to/everyonegetsajuiceboxPS!adhdskillslab

Connect With Jamie Sea

https://thejamiesea.com/

https://instagram.com/jamieseaofficial

https://youtube.com/@jamieseaofficial

https://thejamiesea.com/mind-body-millions

P.S. If you’re a founder who’s tired of the mad scramble of disorganized systems and stressful HR, and you want a business that feels as easy as plugging your headphones into an iPod shuffle, I’ve got something for you.

Want to grow your business? 

My Focused Balanced Growth Program has everything you need to build consistent ADHD-friendly routines and processes to grow. Click here to learn more.

Looking for a coach who's also an operator who'll turn your business into a finely-tuned profit and peace machine designed for your brain? 

I work with one company a month as a fractional consultant and COO, learning about your business and implementing systems that allow both trust & transparency with your team. Click here to book a call and discuss.

Presented by Understood.org

You know how to do the work. But when a task is actually a project, you have to figure out the steps again every time you come back to it.

On Wednesday we looked at the research behind this problem. ADHD planning challenges often show up when the brain has to manage the structure of a project internally.

This episode looks at the practical solution.

Instead of trying to carry the whole project in your head, many ADHD entrepreneurs externalize the planning layer.

Skye and Robbie explain what that looks like in practice — including tools, capture systems, and support structures that hold the plan so your brain can focus on execution.

What We Cover

- Why projects become inefficient when the plan lives only in your head
- What externalizing executive functioning looks like in practice
- The three components of an ADHD project system: tools, structure, and support
- Why the tool matters less than the habit of capturing work outside your head
- How entrepreneurs separate planning from execution

If you're enjoying ADHD Skills Lab, you may also enjoy Understood.org’s new podcast, Everyone Gets a Juice Box: For Parents of Neurodivergent Kids.

Listen here:

https://lnk.to/everyonegetsajuiceboxPS!adhdskillslab

P.S. If you’re a founder who’s tired of the mad scramble of disorganized systems and stressful HR, and you want a business that feels as easy as plugging your headphones into an iPod shuffle, I’ve got something for you.

Want to grow your business? 

My Focused Balanced Growth Program has everything you need to build consistent ADHD-friendly routines and processes to grow. Click here to learn more.

Looking for a coach who's also an operator who'll turn your business into a finely-tuned profit and peace machine designed for your brain? 

I work with one company a month as a fractional consultant and COO, learning about your business and implementing systems that allow both trust & transparency with your team. Click here to book a call and discuss.

Presented by Understood.org

You can handle individual tasks all day. But the moment something becomes a project, everything slows down.

Research into ADHD executive functioning suggests the difference often comes down to planning demands, not motivation or intelligence.

In this episode, Skye and Robbie break down what these experiments reveal about ADHD and why complex projects require building a sequence before starting. That requirement can create real cognitive friction for many ADHD brains.

On Friday, we’ll look at the practical systems that reduce this planning load and make complex work easier to execute.

What We Cover

• Why ADHD often struggles more with projects than tasks
• What “tower task” planning experiments reveal about ADHD
• Why working memory and inhibition appear most consistently affected
• Why ADHD is a performance issue rather than a knowledge issue
• How planning demands make complex work cognitively inefficient

If you're enjoying ADHD Skills Lab, you may also enjoy Understood.org’s new podcast, Everyone Gets a Juice Box: For Parents of Neurodivergent Kids.

Listen here:

https://lnk.to/everyonegetsajuiceboxPS!adhdskillslab

P.S. If you’re a founder who’s tired of the mad scramble of disorganized systems and stressful HR, and you want a business that feels as easy as plugging your headphones into an iPod shuffle, I’ve got something for you.

Want to grow your business? 

My Focused Balanced Growth Program has everything you need to build consistent ADHD-friendly routines and processes to grow. Click here to learn more.

Looking for a coach who's also an operator who'll turn your business into a finely-tuned profit and peace machine designed for your brain? 

I work with one company a month as a fractional consultant and COO, learning about your business and implementing systems that allow both trust & transparency with your team. Click here to book a call and discuss.

Presented by Understood.org

You make a to-do list.

Then you avoid it all day.

For many ADHD professionals, the problem isn’t motivation, it’s how the workday is structured.

In this conversation, Skye speaks with Kyle Vamvouris, founder of SalesThread and the strategist behind 87 B2B sales teams, about how he actually works.

Instead of rigid productivity systems, Kyle relies on open calendar space, rapid experimentation, and what he calls “sandbox days.”

In the episode, Kyle explains:

• Why most productivity systems collapse after a week
• How empty calendar space can produce better work than tightly scheduled days
• What building dozens of sales teams taught him about focus and decision-making
• Why ADHD curiosity can be a strategic advantage in business
• How AI tools are changing how he experiments and builds companies

If you're enjoying ADHD Skills Lab, you may also enjoy Understood.org’s new podcast, Everyone Gets a Juice Box: For Parents of Neurodivergent Kids.

Listen here:

https://lnk.to/everyonegetsajuiceboxPS!adhdskillslab

Connect With Kyle:

Kyle just launched SalesThread, an AI-powered deal management platform designed to help sales teams understand why deals win or lose and close with more intention.

You can find him here:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kylevamvouris
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kylevamvouris
• SalesThread: https://salesthread.ai

P.S. If you’re a founder who’s tired of the mad scramble of disorganized systems and stressful HR, and you want a business that feels as easy as plugging your headphones into an iPod shuffle, I’ve got something for you.

Want to grow your business? 

My Focused Balanced Growth Program has everything you need to build consistent ADHD-friendly routines and processes to grow. Click here to learn more.

Looking for a coach who's also an operator who'll turn your business into a finely-tuned profit and peace machine designed for your brain? 

I work with one company a month as a fractional consultant and COO, learning about your business and implementing systems that allow both trust & transparency with your team. Click here to book a call and discuss.

Presented by Understood.org

Many adults with ADHD feel like they have to repeat the same instructions again and again.

You explain a process to your team, everyone nods, and a week later it feels like no one remembers what they learned.

Earlier this week on ADHD Skills Lab, Skye and Robbie explored research on why ADHD brains often struggle during the encoding stage of learning. When information isn’t encoded properly, it never makes it into long-term memory.

In this episode they focus on what to do about it.

They break down practical systems that help ADHD professionals and teams actually retain information, including practice testing, spaced repetition, and designing learning environments that make it easier for ADHD brains to encode new information.

If you haven’t listened to Wednesday’s research episode, start there first.

What We Cover

• Why repeating instructions rarely fixes ADHD learning problems

• How practice testing improves encoding and recall

• Why one-day training sessions often fail

• How flashcards and recall testing can work inside businesses

• Practical ways to design training that helps ADHD teams remember

If you're enjoying ADHD Skills Lab, you may also enjoy Understood.org’s new podcast, Everyone Gets a Juice Box: For Parents of Neurodivergent Kids.

Listen here:

https://lnk.to/everyonegetsajuiceboxPS!adhdskillslab

P.S. If you’re a founder who’s tired of the mad scramble of disorganized systems and stressful HR, and you want a business that feels as easy as plugging your headphones into an iPod shuffle, I’ve got something for you.

Want to grow your business? 

My Focused Balanced Growth Program has everything you need to build consistent ADHD-friendly routines and processes to grow. Click here to learn more.

Looking for a coach who's also an operator who'll turn your business into a finely-tuned profit and peace machine designed for your brain? 

I work with one company a month as a fractional consultant and COO, learning about your business and implementing systems that allow both trust & transparency with your team. Click here to book a call and discuss.

Presented by Understood.org

Many adults with ADHD feel like they have a bad memory.

You learn something in a meeting or training session, but a few days later it feels like the information has disappeared.

In this episode of ADHD Skills Lab, Skye and Robbie break down research on memory and ADHD. They explore how information gets encoded into long-term memory and why this stage of learning often breaks down for ADHD brains.

The discussion covers a major meta-analysis on effective learning techniques, research on long-term memory in adults with ADHD, and an experiment comparing retrieval practice with restudying.

In Friday’s episode they’ll explore practical systems that help ADHD professionals and business owners design training and learning systems that actually stick.

What We Cover

• The difference between encoding and retrieving information
• Why ADHD memory problems often start during the learning stage
• Research showing practice testing and spaced learning outperform rereading
• Why verbal learning can be harder for ADHD than visual learning
• What research suggests about medication and learning performance

If you're enjoying ADHD Skills Lab, you may also enjoy Understood.org’s new podcast, Everyone Gets a Juice Box: For Parents of Neurodivergent Kids.

Listen here:

https://lnk.to/everyonegetsajuiceboxPS!adhdskillslab

P.S. If you’re a founder who’s tired of the mad scramble of disorganized systems and stressful HR, and you want a business that feels as easy as plugging your headphones into an iPod shuffle, I’ve got something for you.

Want to grow your business? 

My Focused Balanced Growth Program has everything you need to build consistent ADHD-friendly routines and processes to grow. Click here to learn more.

Looking for a coach who's also an operator who'll turn your business into a finely-tuned profit and peace machine designed for your brain? 

I work with one company a month as a fractional consultant and COO, learning about your business and implementing systems that allow both trust & transparency with your team. Click here to book a call and discuss.

Presented by Understood.org

You start a business for freedom.

Then one day you realize the business no longer fits the way your brain works.

Taki Moore is often called the business coach’s favorite business coach. Through his Million Dollar Coach community he has helped thousands of coaches grow their businesses and create more than $1 billion in client results.

Along with that success was something he didn’t fully understand until recently: ADHD.

In this episode of the ADHD Skills Lab, Taki joins Skye Waterson to share the story of discovering his ADHD in his late 40s - and the moment medication made his mind go “library quiet” for the first time in his life.

It’s a side of Taki that most people haven’t heard before.

Together, they explore what happens when a high-performing entrepreneur finally understands how their brain actually works - and what changes when you stop trying to run someone else’s business model and start designing one that fits you.

From creative bursts and energy crashes to the support systems that keep his business running today, this conversation looks at the real relationship between ADHD and entrepreneurship.

What We Cover

• The moment Taki realized ADHD was shaping his work and life
• What changed after his diagnosis in his late 40s
• How he redesigned his business around how his brain works
• The systems and support that keep him focused and productive

If you're enjoying The ADHD Skills Lab, you may also Understood.org's
new podcast, Everyone Gets a Juice Box: For Parents of Neurodivergent Kids.

Listen here: https://lnk.to/everyonegetsajuiceboxPS!adhdskillslab

Connect With Taki Moore

• Website: https://takimoore.com
• Million Dollar Coach: https://milliondollarcoach.com
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TakiMoore
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/takimoore/

P.S. If you’re a founder who’s tired of the mad scramble of disorganized systems and stressful HR, and you want a business that feels as easy as plugging your headphones into an iPod shuffle, I’ve got something for you.

Want to grow your business? 

My Focused Balanced Growth Program has everything you need to build consistent ADHD-friendly routines and processes to grow. Click here to learn more.

Looking for a coach who's also an operator who'll turn your business into a finely-tuned profit and peace machine designed for your brain? 

I work with one company a month as a fractional consultant and COO, learning about your business and implementing systems that allow both trust & transparency with your team. Click here to book a call and discuss.