Hacking Your ADHD William Curb

Hey team!

After last week’s episode on toolkits I got a request to do another episode like it but specifically on sleep tools.

Now before I jump in on the episode I want to talk for a minute about why I typically haven’t been doing so many episodes on specific tools. What it comes down to is that often the specific tools aren’t what’s important - what tends to be more important are the strategies and reasons behind the tools.

I kind of think of like if someone told me that they needed help fixing their bike and I handed them a wrench but they actually had a flat tire. Sure a wrench is great for fixing a bike when it needs something tightened, but without the understanding of what’s actually going on behind the scenes that tool may actually be useless.

A specific tools can make all the difference when implementing strategy, we just need to know the why behind it.

So for this episode we’re going to be skipping a lot of the basics of sleep - I’ll do another episode specifically about all that. What we’re going to be focusing on in this episode is our sleep hygiene, which is just a fancy way of talking about all the good habits we have related to our sleep. And so we will get into the why behind what we’re doing but in each section we’ll spend some time talking about the specific tools - and I’m going to try and include links to everything I talk about in the show notes - and none of these are going to be affiliate links, just either things I use or have used and probably a few other things just as options - so if you want to follow along with the show notes you can find them at hackingyouradhd.com/182

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Find the full show notes at HackingYourADHD.com/182

This Episode's Top Tips 
The four pillars of good sleep include duration, quality, regularity and timing.Create a bedtime routine tailored to your preferences and needs to signal your body it's time to wind down. You can limit screen time before bed by utilizing app blocks or screen time features to minimize exposure to overly stimulating content.Optimize your sleep environment by ensuring darkness, maintaining a comfortable temperature, and investing in bedding that promotes relaxation, such as weighted blankets or sensory compression blankets.

Hey team!

We're chatting with Maddy De Gabriele, an Australian science communicator who's turned her personal journey with ADHD into a mission to help others. Through her Adult ADHD Starter Kit and corporate workshops, Maddy breaks down ADHD management into bite-sized, easily digestible pieces.

In this episode we dive into specific tools that can become part of your everyday toolkit for managing your ADHD. We discuss timers, headphones, pillboxes, blankets and more in this episode. If you’ve been wanting an episode that goes into the actual tools that I and many others use in their day to day ADHD life, then this is the episode - Maddy brings the goods.

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Find the full show notes at HackingYourADHD.com/181

This Episode's Top Tips 
When we’re looking at what goes into our tool kit we need to be thinking of both the physical and mental items that can assist us throughout the day.It’s important to work on getting past the idea of how we “should” be able to do certain things and look at what tools will let us actually do those things.It’s important to work on understanding and accepting ADHD as a chronic condition. We need to recognize ADHD's impact on our daily life and work on employing practical tools and strategies to mitigate those challenges.

Hey team!

This week we’re talking with the host of the ADHD Wise Squirrels podcast, Dave Delaney - as many of us Dave wears many hats — keynote speaker, author, and of course podcast host. Dave has actually been podcasting since 2005, although he only recently started up ADHD Wise Squirrels after his recent diagnosis. With that diagnosis, Dave has been on a mission to support others in the community and break down stereotypes that surround ADHD.

In our conversation today we discuss everything from the impact of ADHD on personal development to the power of storytelling in building connections. Dave brings a blend of professional insights and personal experiences that provide a host of strategies to tackle common ADHD challenges. It’s fun conversation and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

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Find the full show notes at HackingYourADHD.com/180

This Episode's Top Tips 
Recognize and accept your ADHD, allowing yourself the flexibility to navigate challenges without harsh self-judgment.Identify and cultivate personal coping strategies for ADHD-related challenges, such as body doubling for productivity or mindfulness to stay present.Many of us with ADHD have a natural inclinations towards entrepreneurship that we can use to funnel our creativity.

Hey Team!

Today on the podcast, we're exploring the lighter side of living with ADHD, featuring the hilariously honest Ellie Hino. A stand-up comic who finds humor in the everyday, Ellie has featured for comics such as Maria Bamford, Laurie Kilmartin, and Atsuko Okatsuka. She recently released her debut album, Soft Bones.

In our conversation today she brings her personal journey with ADHD into the spotlight, sharing stories and strategies that hit home for many of us. We discuss getting a diagnosis later life, getting started on medication, impulsivity and time mismanagement. This episode is packed with relatable stories and actionable tips for tackling the day-to-day hurdles of ADHD. Whether you're newly diagnosed, a seasoned pro, or just curious, you'll find valuable insights and plenty to relate to.

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Find the full show notes at HackingYourADHD.com/179

This Episode's Top Tips 
Make living spaces ADHD-friendly with functional organization and storage solutions that work for you. Think of using hooks instead of traditional hangers or bins and baskets for clothes instead of keeping your clothes in a dresser.We can channel our impulsivity into creative outlets like comedy or improv that allow us to embrace those sides of ourselves on a regular basis.Acknowledge and plan for the real time it takes to do tasks, while it may feel like it only takes a minute for us to get out the door we acknowledge all the steps involved if we want o have an accurate picture of how long things take.

Hey team!
This week we’re going to be discussing the challenges of managing ADHD within a relationship where both partners have ADHD and how that can lead to the amplification of symptoms and the struggle to maintain routines and tools.

We’ll also be diving into the potential difficulties of managing ADHD later in life but also how we can lean into the strengths that we have already developed.

This is another listener questions episode and if you’d like to potentially have your question answered on the show head over to hackingyouradhd.com/contact and click on the orange button.

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Find the full show notes at HackingYourADHD.com/178

This Episode's Top Tips 
In relationships, clear communication is key, and it’s important to foster accountability while making sure that you are also staying out of judgment.Find a balance between structure and flexibility in daily routines, and make sure you’re creating room for accepting your ADHD (and your partners).When examining your previously created coping strategies, be sure to explore how you developed them and figure out if they are still helping you or if they need to be adjusted.

Hey team!
We’ve got another listener question today, this time from my friend Aggie:

  
Hi, Will, Aggie here. Longtime listener, first time caller. To give listeners context, you and I did admin work together and accountability coaching groups. Then we actually got to meet in person at the Chad conference before COVID hit. I myself have a background as a special education teacher, uh, specializing in severe disabilities and autism specific programs. So behavior is one of my strong skills. Implementing understanding. and executing behavior interventions. My question is this, planning and scheduling and time tracking are all great preventative strategies.Do you have any insight or resources around when you know you're already late, probably rushing, and you're trying to stay calm and collected and still show up the way you want to, Even when you were already late. So I'm trying not to show up flustered and discombobulated. I'm thinking maybe some people have coping strategies or other people can share what they do to, to do what I described and give me a jumping off point on how to reframe that emotional state.In the moment of slight or major panic. Would love to hear your ideas or other listeners ideas in response. And thank you so much for your podcast. You're seriously crushing it.
Thanks for the question; Aggie and I think this is an issue we can all relate to. Being late sucks. So, in this episode, we tackle the struggle of showing up calm and composed when maybe we don’t feel calm and collected. We’ll be looking at a number of tools that we can use to try and get ourselves in the right head space, as well as jumping into what we can do so that we might not be late quite as often.

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Find the full show notes at HackingYourADHD.com/177

This Episode's Top Tips 
Practice acceptance of your ADHD and that sometimes lateness will happen. Work on changing the narrative from self-criticism to understanding and try to give yourself some compassion when you’re running late.Try reframing "I'm sorry I'm late" to "Thank you for your patience" to create a more positive atmosphere and show your gratitude when someone waits for you.Deep breathing can be especially helpful in calming your nervous system - when we’re running late and stressed, our prefrontal cortex is impaired, and that makes rational decision-making harder. By slowing down and activating our parasympathetic nervous system through deep breathing, we can calm ourselves and get into the right headspace.