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​“5 Best Tricks for productivity!”
“Organizing Hacks from a Pro!”
“10 Tips to Streamline Your Email!” 

Do these types of headlines grab your attention? They’re meant to. As life moves at a quicker pace with increased complexity, we want quick answers to our dilemmas so we can move on to “more important” stuff. I feel like we’re living in a tips and tricks world as a result.

Social media is full of tips for being more productive, focused, and organized. Sometimes these ideas can be a useful springboard, but I also see how people get stuck in a cycle of trying one hack after another looking for the “perfect” productivity or organizing tool. I’ve seen too many abandoned systems to think there is an organizing silver bullet. The hard truth is that it’s not the system, but the maintenance of the system, that really makes or breaks it. And maintenance takes time.

When clients come to me looking for tips and tricks for their time and space challenges, I often have to resist my own desire to give them answers.  In those moments I have to take a breath and instead find out more about their particular challenge and (even better) what they are seeking rather than the outcome they are trying to avoid.  Only then can we brainstorm ideas that could work for their life. 

I'm not a big fan of tips and tricks, but they can be beneficial if the focus is on positive habit development rather than the perfect tool or hack. For example, creating space in your schedule for the reality of paperwork, email, and other “adult stuff” is essential. The best trick is not getting too caught up in someone else's ideas. When we get curious about how you function best and what supports your activation, we can start to create an intuitive process for you. Anything that helps you reflect on your experience and gain new awareness is positive in my book.

If you like this post then you may like We are Each Naturally Creative Resourceful and Whole (NCRW).
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“I just can’t seem to focus and get my work done!”
“I feel so scattered right now.” 
“I don’t even know what I did today.”

Sound familiar? Clients often come to me with challenges of time and productivity. They’re frustrated with themselves and feel that they can’t get their stuff done. This view comes with a heavy dose of self-judgment and often completely glosses over all they are doing. However, when I hear challenges of focus and time mentioned repeatedly, I get curious about possible neurodiversity. 

Merriam-Webster defines neurodiversity as "Individual differences in brain functioning regarded as normal variations within the human population." The coaching program I graduated from, Coach Approach Training, was founded by two amazing coaches Denslow Brown and Cameron Gott, who also happen to have ADHD. Neurodiversity awareness and education is built into every part of the program and is foundational to the way Coach Approach graduates work with their clients. 

When we speak of neurodiversity we can be referring to ADHD and executive function challenge as well as other brain-based differences, but even if you don’t identify as neurodiverse, we can all benefit from understanding our brains better. To be clear, I am not a mental health professional or physician and do not diagnose clients. My goal in discussing possible neurodiversity with clients is to help them get curious about their brains and how their wiring may be impacting their experience. 

When we bring curiosity to our experience, we start to build awareness around the things that will set us up for success such as:

• Voicing Your Values: knowing what you value and why is the North Star of coaching. Keeping these values in mind helps move you toward your big-picture goals.
• Focusing on Strengths: recognizing the things you’re already amazing at (that you likely take for granted) helps you start using them to your advantage.
• Uncovering Modality Preferences: finding the situations in which you function best helps build awareness about your wiring and design informed actions.​
• Building Supportive Routines: we all have routines, but not all of them are supportive. To function our best it’s helpful to identify and build upon routines in our life that are supportive of our goals.

My question for you:  Are you curious if ADHD is at play in your life? If so, I highly recommend checking out the resources below.​

See you soon!
 
​If you like this post you may like the post Learn How to Hack your Brain with your Body.
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ADHD RESOURCES:
Translating ADHD Podcast - I like this episode about the barriers to journey thinking.
This is a great podcast created by two ADHD coaches (who also have ADHD). Cam happens to be my mentor coach and teacher. I recommend starting around episode 185 where they do a series of shows about ADHD and the coaching process. This podcast can help supercharge your learning as a coaching client!
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ADDA - Attention Deficit Disorder Association
​ADDA is a community and resource for adults with ADHD. It has many facilitated support groups for all kinds of adults with ADHD. ​

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