Do you remember being a kid and wanting to be a grown-up? Did you think this was what you were in for?
If you’re like many American’s you’re overworked, anxious and maybe even depressed.
Weekends give most of us the chance to downshift and recharge. But we don’t treat them as sacred. Downtime almost always gets pushed aside to catch up or get ahead on our work instead.
You’re exhausted. But you’re not happy. Not really happy.
When did being happy become second to being productive?
It can be especially difficult for those with ADHD because you’re constantly feeling like your behind and aren’t as productive as you or others want you to be.
PLAY may be the cure to, low productivity, unhappy relationships, boredom and depression.
What if you can’t remember your past because you never actually made memories? Is that worse than making them and then forgetting them?
I wonder who will tell this present when it becomes the past? Will future grandparents have stories that start with “I remember when I was your age…?”
I don’t know the answer to that but I do know these things to be true.
- I can’t go back and live the past because it’s gone. Poof! Doesn’t exist.
- And I can’t live in the future because it doesn’t exist yet.
- The only thing that does exist is the present.
So, if I’m not existing in the present, do I exist at all?
Are you feeling stressed? Are your neck and back muscles tight? Are you furrowing your brow? Feeling frustrated? Are you stuck? These are all signs it is time to take a break.
I know you don’t want to take a break right now. Why? Because you’re too busy. You’re going to push through and get stuff done.
Sometimes we know there’s a better way to do things, but we’re just so busy we don’t even think we have the time to find it—so we keep going like we always have.
When I started taking breaks they made me happier, more focused and more productive—and I bet they can do the same for you, whether you’re in the office or studying for a test.
Discover the science of why we need breaks at work, home and school and what to do on your hard earned break.
Do you treat “help” like a 4-letter word?
What if you had more freedom to ask for what you wanted and for specific support from other people? What if you could ask for help in a confident, humble and empowering way? What if you remembered that you are worthy of other people’s help and that they want to help?
While it sounds simple enough, accepting help is challenging for all of us. It’s especially hard for those of us that believe that seeking help undermines our independence and our ability to cope.
There is a tendency to think that you “should” be able to cope alone, to manage without help, or that “life shouldn’t be this way”. It’s a tendency to see the world as it “should be” as opposed to as it actually “is.”
Wanting something to be, or something not to be based on unrealistic standards is only wishful thinking.
8 Reasons You Don’t Ask For Help and What To Do About It
Do you use a to-do-list? Or, do you not bother because they don’t help you get anything done. For some our to-do-list stares back at us at the end of the day taunting us for not getting anything on it done.
Make A Kick-Butt To-Do-List
When did we allow ourselves to be conditioned to hate 5 out of 7 days of our week? For most of us, Monday is the day we dread.
These “beliefs” have trapped us into work habits of low productivity.
Not only is stuff not getting done, but we keep beating ourselves up with negative chatter that feeds the bad habits.
Monday arrives, for many of us, a groggy shock to the system. It’s difficult to remember where you left off on Friday.
Unfortunately, according to productivity app Flow, most workers experience a slump on Friday when it comes to productivity. That means Mondays are forced to be the busiest days. They are compensating for Friday.
Mondays will never be productive if you wait until Monday to figure out what to do with the day and the week.
We start Monday’s having to find the energy to “start again”. For most of us it is literally starting over, which is not motivating.
We haven’t even left ourselves a trail of bread crumbs from where we left off on Friday.
This feeds our procrastination.
Do you define success by “you having to do it all yourself”?
Imagine feeling peaceful, experiencing a deep feeling of well-being – my definition of success. How I get there is merely a strategy.
If you’re never feeling successful in your days, it’s time to start doing something different.
Are you a good multi-tasker?
Think you are awesome at your work because you’re doing two things at once? Nope.
You just make yourself look bad. Or worse – stand to disappoint others and yourself.
We think multitasking is good or, at best, necessary, to help us be “productive” and get as much done as possible. Multitasking makes us feel very busy, like we’ve been productive. So why are so many of us strangely panicked at the sight of our scantly completed to-do lists?
Because multitasking is a constant interruption – a constant distraction.
The most overlooked distraction is our thoughts. For those with ADHD it is often the biggest barrier to paying attention.
Efforts we make to lessen external distractions don’t work for tuning-out our own thoughts.
Music, TV, bright neon lights are distracting to most. For others, those are crucial to keeping focused. What works for the neurotypical brain does not work for the complex ADHD brain.
When you notice your kids distracted by irrelevant sights and sounds, quickly bouncing from one activity to another, or becoming bored quickly, what do you offer?
If you tell your kids, “Go study in your room where it is quiet,” you are not alone.
I did it.
I didn’t know better.
Other well-meaning parents and experts share this as an effective focusing strategy. It may be for some, but not others.