The ADHD Skills Lab

Skye Waterson
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Things are starting to fall through the cracks. Not because you're not trying, but because the systems everyone recommends weren't built for a brain like yours. The ADHD Skills Lab is for business owners with ADHD whose responsibilities have grown past simple solutions. Each week, Skye Waterson and guests share research-backed strategies and real-world systems to help you reduce the chaos, make consistent progress, and stop reinventing the wheel every time life gets complex. No "just use a planner." No productivity hacks that last a week. Just honest, practical support from someone who has spent years researching, testing, and refining what actually works for adult ADHD. Skye is the founder of Unconventional Organisation, a former academic diagnosed with ADHD during her PhD, and the author of over 50 articles read by more than 250,000 people worldwide. She has worked with senior leaders, business owners, academics, and professionals navigating ADHD in high-responsibility roles, and was invited to share her research with both the Australian and New Zealand Government.  🤝 In partnership with Understood.org: https://u.org/4boG8QW 🌐 https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/ 📲 https://www.instagram.com/theadhdskillslabpodcast/

  1. 1d ago

    Why ADHD Hustle Never Scales | Amy Marie Hann

    You are working every spare minute, and the business still is not growing the way it should. Amy Marie Hann spent 10 years hustling in a sales business that never really scaled. She worked constantly, burned out, and eventually realized that more effort was not going to fix the way the business was built. Amy is the creator of Master the Mundane, a book and membership community for mothers with ADHD. In this conversation, she explains why people with ADHD can stay with the wrong thing for too long, how slowing down brought back her clarity, and why she built her next business around the life she actually wanted to live. She also shares why she grew her team and then deliberately made it smaller, how she uses numbers to keep new ideas and emotions from driving business decisions, and where AI genuinely helps her without replacing her own thinking. You will hear what changed when Amy stopped measuring progress by how hard she was working and started building a business she could actually sustain. What We Cover Why ADHD hustle can create a lot of activity without creating growthWhy sticking with the wrong thing too long can be a bigger problem than quitting too soonHow slowing down gave Amy more clarity and creativityWhy Amy grew her team, then deliberately went lean againHow tracking numbers helps separate good decisions from rejection sensitivity and new ideasConnect With Amy Marie Hann Website: https://www.amymariehann.com/ Instagram: @amymariehann 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.

    Why ADHD Hustle Never Scales | Amy Marie Hann

  2. Sep 29

    You Won’t Outgrow ADHD Working Memory, So Build Systems Instead

    You start an email, remember a purchase, open another tab, and suddenly five tasks are each 20 percent done. For adults with ADHD, working memory problems don't necessarily disappear with age. Skye Waterson and Robert Waterson unpack a 2013 meta-analysis of 38 studies on working memory in adults with ADHD. The researchers expected older adults to perform better. Instead, the review found adults with ADHD performed moderately worse on both verbal and visual working memory tasks, with age not changing the overall picture. Then Skye and Robert get practical: how to stop relying on your head to hold everything. They cover one central place for tasks, low-friction capture, redundant reminders, recording tools, and physical cues you can't ignore. The goal isn't to remember harder. It's to build a system that means you don't have to. Want Skye's prioritization filter? DM me “prioritize” and she'll send it to you for free. What We Cover: What 38 studies reveal about working memory in adults with ADHD, and why age didn't change the pictureWhy every task needs one central, ranked location instead of scattered notesHow redundant reminders and physical cues help when working memory failsWhy a five-minute post-meeting dictation can catch what AI summaries missP.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.

    You Won’t Outgrow ADHD Working Memory, So Build Systems Instead

  3. Sep 23

    Does RSD Cause Physical Stress?

    Rejection sensitive dysphoria gets talked about constantly in ADHD spaces, but there isn't much research behind it yet. In this Research Recap, Skye and Will unpack a small study that tried to measure what happens when people with ADHD symptoms experience social exclusion. Using a deliberately unfair ball-tossing game, researchers compared how rejected participants said they felt with changes in their heart rate and blood pressure. The results didn't line up the way researchers expected. This isn't proof that RSD is or isn't real. It's a look at what one study found, where the results got messy, and why measuring rejection sensitivity is more complicated than it sounds. Want more of Will's work? Visit HackingYourADHD.com or subscribe on YouTube. What We Cover: How the Cyberball task was used to create social exclusion in a lab settingWhy participants reported feeling excluded while the physiological data didn't show the expected responseThe unexpected drop in blood pressure and what researchers thought might explain itWhy self-reported rejection sensitivity didn't line up neatly with ADHD measuresHow the study's small, self-selected sample limits what we can concludeWhy this paper raises useful questions without settling whether RSD is realP.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.

    Does RSD Cause Physical Stress?

  4. Sep 21

    Psychotherapist Shares How Smart Delegation Saves Neurodivergent Entrepreneurs

    You hired help. You still find yourself taking things back on. Kara Kushnir built A Work of Heart Counseling and Wellness from a part-time practice into a fifteen-provider team. But growing the team meant learning that she couldn't keep doing everything herself. In this episode, Kara talks about the temptation to say yes to everything, the burnout that follows, and how she learned to delegate, ask for help, and build a team she trusts enough to tell her no. What We Cover Why trying to do everything yourself is a direct route to burnoutWhy Kara still catches herself taking on work she should delegateHow saying yes to too much led to overwhelm and depletionWhy asking for help and knowing who to ask are skills you can buildHow transparency about her weaknesses changed the relationship with her teamWhy knowing what you're not good at is part of building a healthier businessConnect with Kara: A Work of Heart CounselingInstagram: A Work of Art CounselingInstagram: Taking CaraP.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.

    Psychotherapist Shares How Smart Delegation Saves Neurodivergent Entrepreneurs

  5. Sep 18

    The Truth About Masking Your ADHD & How To Fix It

    ADHD treatment works. But does it keep working the same way eight years later? In this Research Recap, Skye and Will dig into the MTA study, one of the largest and most influential ADHD treatment studies ever conducted, and what researchers found when they followed the same kids over eight years. They unpack why the strong early treatment gains had disappeared by year eight, why medication use dropped dramatically over time, and the surprising finding that even the group still taking medication didn't maintain the same early advantage. They also look at what happens as kids move into middle school, when organizational demands increase and strategies that worked before may no longer be enough. Importantly, they separate what the research actually tells us from what it still can't explain. Want more of Will's work? Visit HackingYourADHD.com or subscribe on YouTube. What We Cover: Why the MTA study's early treatment gains had disappeared by year eightWhy only about a third of participants were still using medicationWhat the research does and doesn't tell us about stopping medicationWhy changing life demands can require changing ADHD strategiesWhat the middle school research suggests about symptoms at home versus schoolWhy "pills don't teach skills" matters when thinking about long-term ADHD managementP.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.

    The Truth About Masking Your ADHD & How To Fix It

  6. Sep 16

    ADHD and the Daily Habit That Makes Goals Inevitable

    You know what you want in the future. You still can't make yourself do the boring task today. Skye and Robbie break down the goal setting system Skye actually uses, adapted from Dan Martell's framework. It works backward from a 25-year vision to one specific goal this year, then down to one daily non-negotiable that makes that goal inevitable. They also get into what happens when you miss a day, why trying to focus on five goals at once backfires, and how immediate rewards can make the thing you keep avoiding easier to actually do. What We Cover: The full process from a 25-year vision to a daily non-negotiableWhy your yearly goal needs to be specific and measurableHow to choose the one priority that matters most right nowWhy five new non-negotiables at once can become zeroHow immediate rewards and recovering from missed days keep goals aliveP.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.

    ADHD and the Daily Habit That Makes Goals Inevitable

  7. Sep 14

    The ADHD Task Manager That Actually Works (Jason Chatfield)

    You know what needs doing. You have the ideas. So why is actually finishing the thing so hard? Jason Chatfield has written and drawn the syndicated comic strip Ginger Meggs for sixteen years, writes for The New Yorker, and built a career across cartooning, comedy, and writing. But he learned he cannot rely on his brain to generate ideas and execute them at the same time. Instead, Jason built physical systems that separate thinking from doing: external deadlines, index cards, a wall calendar, batching, and pairing difficult tasks with things he actually enjoys. In this episode, Jason breaks down the practical systems he uses to turn ideas into finished work without relying on willpower. What We Cover: Why Jason stopped planning and executing in the same blockThe index card system that makes finished work visibleHow external deadlines give his ADHD brain structureWhy his wall calendar beats another productivity appHow he pairs difficult tasks with things he enjoysThe first-thing, last-thing routine that separates planning from doingWhy it took three ADHD diagnoses before he believed itConnect With Jason Chatfield https://www.jasonchatfield.com/ https://www.instagram.com/newyorkcartoons/ 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.

    The ADHD Task Manager That Actually Works (Jason Chatfield)

  8. Sep 9

    Why ADHD Business Owners Struggle With Social Media More Than Money

    You built the business because you were good at the work. Nobody warned you that promoting it might be harder than doing it. New research on neurodivergent entrepreneurs found that maintaining a social media profile was the most commonly reported self-employment challenge. Ahead of work-life balance, unpredictability, and financial pressures. In this episode, Skye and Robert unpack why social media has become such a difficult part of running a business, what else neurodivergent entrepreneurs say they struggle with, and the support and habits they find most helpful. What We Cover: Why maintaining a social media profile topped the list of challengesHow work-life balance, unpredictability, and marketing comparedWhy peer support, professional networks, and mentorship matterWhat entrepreneurs said helped their wellbeing, from movement and sleep to boundariesP.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.

    Why ADHD Business Owners Struggle With Social Media More Than Money
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About

Things are starting to fall through the cracks. Not because you're not trying, but because the systems everyone recommends weren't built for a brain like yours. The ADHD Skills Lab is for business owners with ADHD whose responsibilities have grown past simple solutions. Each week, Skye Waterson and guests share research-backed strategies and real-world systems to help you reduce the chaos, make consistent progress, and stop reinventing the wheel every time life gets complex. No "just use a planner." No productivity hacks that last a week. Just honest, practical support from someone who has spent years researching, testing, and refining what actually works for adult ADHD. Skye is the founder of Unconventional Organisation, a former academic diagnosed with ADHD during her PhD, and the author of over 50 articles read by more than 250,000 people worldwide. She has worked with senior leaders, business owners, academics, and professionals navigating ADHD in high-responsibility roles, and was invited to share her research with both the Australian and New Zealand Government.  🤝 In partnership with Understood.org: https://u.org/4boG8QW 🌐 https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/ 📲 https://www.instagram.com/theadhdskillslabpodcast/

Information

  • Creator
    Skye Waterson
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    217
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The ADHD Skills Lab
  • Show Website
    The ADHD Skills Lab

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