ADHD Resources

Curated guide for neurodivergent individuals navigating workplace challenges.

Important Disclosure: Please read this first!

I am a proud affiliate for many of these tools that have links provided. This basically means that if you do click the link and purchase one of these products listed below that I do in fact receive a commission at no extra cost for you. I would not recommend anything that I haven't tried myself and found that it worked out for me. I understand that not all of these are for everyone because we are all so unique, so please do not feel pressured to purchase anything that you feel won't help. And if you ever have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me and I will do my best to get the answer.

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The Basics...

your mind only operates as good as what's in it.

Deep Sleep- The proper amount of sleep is absolutely critical for those of us with ADHD especially deep sleep. It may not seem that important and I know for most of my life I didn't see it that way either. However recent studies have shown that deep sleep is the minds way of cleaning out all the clutter that builds up throughout our busy days. The recommended amount of sleep is between 7-8 hours per day. Here are two ways that I have found and utilized to get that much needed rest:

Limiting Screen Time- I know that some of you are cringing right now, but the sacrifice is well worth the rewards. Watching your favorite show or scrolling on your phone before going to bed causes a slew of reasons why it can be difficult to even get to sleep. When I know that I have to get up early I just don't watch tv and do my best to not get on my phone. I remind myself that none of that is that important that it can't wait until tomorrow. Trust me, I am still working on getting better with this. But I found that I am much more productive when I do get up earlier and that helps remind me why I am doing this. For tips on how to implement this check out my blog on the 7 Amazing Benefits of Screen Free time before bed.

Reducing/ Eliminating Caffeine- I know, I know, I know just hear me out. This can be a tough one to even wrap your mind around, but this can be a real game-changer. For me the withdrawals were absolutely awful and for that reason I am glad that they were (now that they are done lol) because it reinforces my choice. I quite cold turkey because I was tired of the headaches, tired of the anxiety I felt from being jacked up on caffeine just to make it through a day of work. And after all that I would have to take more and more and sometimes I wouldn't even get the desired effects (I would still be drowsy). Yet since I made this life changing decision, I rarely am tired throughout the day and even at the end I am little tired but not so much that I need a boost. Plus, it helps me go to bed on time and the headaches are almost nonexistent. So, if you are interested in this change, I would suggest starting slowly like eliminating one cup a day for a week then two the next and so on. Also, talking to your primary care doctor about possible solutions.

Drink more Water- Yeah this is one that has been hammered away by every primary care physician that I can remember (every friggin' doctor's appointment). And every time I was like yeah yeah and maybe tried it out for a day or two and was like meh. What is the point of all of this? I mean it's virtually tasteless, and I got more important things to do than worry about how much water I am drinking. Besides I'll get as much water from all those sodas I'm drinking right? Wrong. All my life I have suffered from headaches and migraines that could last up to several days. I always thought that was just how I was little did I know that dehydration is a real problem. It wasn't until I got serious about my health and went to see a dietician and started following her suggestions that I really started to see the headaches go away and my blood pressure drop. I'll admit that it wasn't easy. I wish that I had this smart little water bottle called Hidrate Spark. It's so amazing and it syncs up to your phone and after you plug in some data it tracks your progress and sets daily goals. And the coolest thing about it is it lights up when need to drink, after you take a drink and when you need to refill your bottle! Like that is so cool and it puts real excitement into drinking water, and you'll literally be the talk of the water cooler. Look, I know that I just went down a rabbit hole on just water, but if you want to find out more about the benefits of water you can check out my guide on the 9 benefits of drinking the adequate amount of water guide.

The Essentials...

Stretching- Yeah this may seem easy but trying to remember them a whole other story. Yes, stretching has been something that I continue to have a love hate relationship with. In the beginning especially when I was really into working out again, I was always told to stretch but after thirty seconds or maybe a minute that was it. It wasn't until I started having chronic shoulder pain at work and visited a couple of physical therapists that I truly learned the value of stretching. Trust me, it still not easy for me especially since my brain is asking me the whole time are we done yet? Try setting aside some time during the day to stretch (I do it before work). A great tool I use is google calendars. Doing two to five minutes works wonders.

Walking- I have found that walking especially when I am stuck in my head about coming up with ideas or just need a breath of fresh air really helps press the reset button. Taking a quick five-to-ten-minute walk gets my mind flowing or at least out of the mental rut that I am in. I don't know it's something about the movement that really sparks the creative flow.

Breathing- Yeah yeah I hear you grumbling, "I do that already all day every day!" I feel you because I felt the same way every time someone said it to me. I was like get outta here buddy! How is that going to help me. However, I finally started to listen when my therapist gave me this suggestion. Look I said started. What he suggested was very simple which was to breath in for five seconds and breath out for five seconds, five times. And to my great surprise it actually worked to get me at least to a relative baseline of calmness. Although, I knew the benefits doing it became a like chore. It wasn't until I read a book that my therapist recommended called Breath by James Nestor that it really blew my mind. It talks about the power of breathing and how it has even been used by deep divers to hold their breath for up to 12 minutes at a time and even heal themselves rapidly. I know it sounds crazy, and I definitely am not going to be deep diving any time soon at least not without the proper equipment. Yet that's when I became hyper focused on the possibilities and started trying the different techniques described in the book. I eventually developed one that worked for me that I use quite regularly to help when I feel anxious or overwhelmed. Who would have thought that simply breathing would have such an amazing power?

Distraction free zone- Distractions can come from anywhere especially from our environment. Oh, look at that pile of papers that I neglected for six months I think it's time to do something about it. Oh, wait that my phone dinged me about a message from my boss I need to answer that. Next thing I know that cursor is still blinking on the blank document for that paper I needed to write for my boss. Try this mantra that I learned from Alan Brown while listening to him on the ADDitude podcast. He calls it the 3 label and it starts with 1. What I'm doing now. 2. BS, not what I'm doing now and 3. That's important but not what I'm doing now! Try putting your phone on silent and putting those pesky papers in a drawer or a box where you can't readily see them. Basically you are eliminating or minimizing all of the potential distractions so you can put all of your limited focus on what needs to get done now. Then you can get back to the other things!

The Next Level...

Electric Wax Warmers and Scented Wax Melts- I know what you are thinking, how are scented wax melts going to help me at work? Allow me to explain. I first heard of this idea on the Adulting with ADHD podcast by Sarah Snyder on the episode titled Space Design for ADHD with Stephanie Scheller. In that episode Stephanie talks about her findings from the study of how the environment plays a huge role on focus and production within the ADHD community. One of the things she mentioned really stood out to me and that was the study on how particular scents have an impact on memory and focus. Like you know for instance if you walk into a room, and you smell a certain scent that you haven't smelled in a long time (like Grandpa's old cologne) and it takes you right back? So, the next day I ordered myself an Illumination Fragrance Warmer- Harmony and went out to test the theory for myself. I got a bunch of different scents based on my research of what scents help with focus and clarity. What I found was yeah, they do smell great and help to set the ambiance. But what is more significant is they helped my ADHD brain to get into work mode quicker because that scent is associated with it. With all of that, my recommendation would be Happy Wax- Spa Mix because of the variety and potency, and I do love those cute little bears. As always feel free to experiment with what works for you, happy nosing.

To Do List- All right now that we set the mood, we can't forget the most important part. What are we going to do today? Say you have a really big project that you need to finish, what works for me is breaking that project up into little parts. Basically, I start with what I can work on right now. Say I need to write a blog, I figure out what is it that I am going to blog? What do I need to read or listen to in order to write said blog? What is the title going to be? I usually try to keep it very simple and just write down three main to dos for each day. That way I don't get overwhelmed by how much I don't have done, and I only focus on one at a time until it gets done. My go to, to do list that I use is the To Do List Notebook because it has check boxes and an area for top priorities, for tomorrow and appointments/calls. Those check boxes are like a micro hit of dopamine when I get to check one off, and that motivation can take me a long way towards reaching my goals. And if you don't like that big notebook, they are also available in a smaller size, here.

A Notebook- Early on in my journey to better manage my ADHD, I had a really hard time withstanding around especially at work. In my head if I wasn't always doing something that I was somehow being lazy or unproductive. I had to have something to do constantly and not just at work so when I expressed this extreme adversity to boredom he gave me this suggestion: Get a notebook and either doodle or write out the thoughts that are going through your head. Since I am an artist and a creative thinker this really appealed to me. Funny thing I started to notice that I just needed to get these feelings or words out no matter what the medium was. Once I got them out, I was a little bit better and now I could look at them and see just how crazy they were without ever harming anyone else. Now I'm not going to go into details, but I think you get the picture that notebooks are really great tool. But if you are like me and are afraid you are going to forget it somewhere and leave it lying around for prying eyes to see don't worry there is a special notebook. It's called the Rocket Notebook, and this particular notebook has reusable pages. Yeah, it has a special ink pen that allows you to erase what you wrote. It also comes with an app that allows you to take pictures of your notes and save them to your phone creating a versatile and flexible system. It even comes with a planner section for the week and month and even an idea section to help you keep track, how cool!

Break Time- Wow, now you're really cooking with gas! Don't forget to take breaks in between or you could end up burning yourself out. Ouch! Yeah, I know that you're in the zone and it can be really hard to let that go. Trust me, I've been there and still go there. I don't know if you heard of the best recommended time for breaks is called the Pomodoro method. This method calls for twenty-twenty five minutes of work followed by a five-minute break. You can do this by setting an alarm on your phone or they have actual pomodoro timers. Either way maybe you can even grab a healthy snack on your much deserved break!