You can't improve what you are not aware of and that is absolutely true when it comes to adult ADHD. Self-awareness can be one of the most powerful ways to thrive with adult ADHD. Without some self-awareness, we don't know what we need to work on or improve. How do we go about self-awareness? Dave talks about some of the basics of becoming more aware of your challenges as well as your successes in this short episode. You'll find a theme here and it has to do with slowing down and beginning to un...
May 15, 2024•20 min
Many individuals with ADHD hear the term goal setting, and they want to run the other way. Does this sound like you? Many times our perception of goal setting can introduce overwhelming thoughts. We think of massive goals such as running a marathon or losing 50 lbs. But goals are not always big ideas. They can be small achievements we want to make. Dave's guest on this episode is Dr. Fiona Peters an expert in ADHD in the workplace, a researcher, speaker and authority on this topic of goal settin...
May 04, 2024•35 min
Adults with ADHD need to practice more kindness to ourselves and be intentional about self compassion. But how do we do it? This podcast episode is dedicated to helping busy adults with ADHD fine ways to be more kind to ourselves and help us understand the science of self compassion. Tara Cousineau PhD is the author of the book the Kindness Cure, a meditation teacher and perfectionism coach. Tara first discusses why she wrote the book, the Kindness Cure, what prompted her and what she wanted to ...
Apr 27, 2024•35 min
Many adults with ADHD especially in the workplace have challenges speaking up for their wants and needs. In this episode Dave goes through some of the differences in how we speak up. Specifically, understanding that being assertive and aggressive is very different. And as you might imagine, being assertive and tactful, is the most effective way to express our needs in various situations. But if we don't speak up to our coworkers, leadership and our clients, many of us can have our wants and need...
Apr 17, 2024•19 min
Dave talks about one of his favorite words and philosophies when it comes to thriving with adult ADHD and that is clarity. He offers a quick clarity playbook of areas adults with ADHD should focus on in achieving more clarity. Having clarity helps us thrive as busy professionals with adult ADHD. And that clarity can be in all areas of our life but most importantly in our careers and our business. Achieving clarity, asking the right questions, understanding why we're doing something and understan...
Apr 13, 2024•21 min
Let's chat about some of the adult ADHD myths out there. Dave has decided to have a little fun and, in this episode, discusses some of the more common and irritating myths about adult ADHD. are there more myths about ADHD? You bet! We know these ADHD myths are not true but it just goes to show all of us that we have a lot of work to do when it comes to creating awareness and educating others about the challenges many of us face. Are there good parts to adult ADHD? Of course, including creativity...
Apr 10, 2024•17 min
There are many ways that professional adults with ADHD can get the support they need to thrive in business and in life. In this episode of overcoming distractions, we go through some of the more popular methods for busy adults juggling life, family and business. Back on the podcast is Jeff Copper from Dig Coaching. Jeff and Dave discuss many ways adults can receive support through coaching and mentorship depending on their challenges and goals. They talk about some of the more effective ways of ...
Apr 06, 2024•36 min
Let's face it, many of our challenges as adults with ADHD revolve around executive functions. We've talked about executive functions several times on overcoming distractions because it is an important aspect of our lives and our careers as adults with ADHD. Dave gets street smart once again and discussed Some simple ways we can improve or compensate for our executive function challenges. As he mentions in the podcast, each one of these could be a separate podcast but this episode is meant as an ...
Apr 03, 2024•23 min
If you are a professional adult with ADHD, have you ever considered the services of an occupational therapist? In this episode, we discuss why adults with ADHD may want to consider occupational therapy. Jamie Cutino is an Occupational Therapist / 2x TEDx Speaker and an ADHD Advocate and she joins Dave to discuss various aspects of benefiting from occupational therapy. Jamie gives a general overview of occupational therapy and how occupational therapists generally work with clients. **Do you want...
Mar 30, 2024•32 min
Most of us have heard of or purchased a weighted blanket but have you ever heard of a weighted pillow? Mikey Goldman is the founder of Quiet Mind and he's the inventor of the first of its kind weighted pillow. And he is a successful entrepreneur with ADHD. Dave talks to Mikey about a number of things that relate to adults with ADHD and feeling calm. First, Mikey talks about growing up with ADHD including the successes and challenges he encountered. And he talks about some of the challenges as he...
Mar 23, 2024•34 min
Cynthia Hammer is the founder and executive director of the Inattentive ADHD Coalition and the author of the book… “Living with Inattentive ADHD-climbing the circular staircase of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.” Cynthia explains the mission of The Inattentive ADHD Coalition and what the organization does and how it provide much-needed resources for those of us with ADHD. She talks about what inspired her and prompted her to write a book about inattentive ADHD and speak about her perso...
Mar 09, 2024•31 min
If you haven't figured it out yet, executive functions pretty much rule our life. From remembering to brush our teeth, working memory, planning our day, switching from one thing to the next, understanding time etc. If those of us with ADHD do not understand and get a handle on improving our executive functions, it makes it challenging to get through work, home environment and everything in between. This episode is dedicated to understanding executive functions 101. Dave's guest has been here bef...
Feb 24, 2024•38 min
If you are an adult with ADHD looking for career advice, this is a great episode of Overcoming Distractions. Whether you need to change careers or jobs or just need some adjustments in your current workplace, Shell Mendelson will give you some advice. Shell Mendelson is a career coach for adults with ADHD and the author of the new book Unlock Your Career Path: A Course for ADHD Adults and Teens. Shell and Dave discuss her recent book and start out by talking about how ADHD can impact our careers...
Feb 17, 2024•43 min
In this episode, we are talking about confidence for adults with ADHD or for that matter confidence building for anyone. Back on the podcast is Alyssa Dver, founder of the American Confidence Institute. Alyssa is one of the leading authorities on the subject of confidence out there today. Confidence is something that allows adults with ADHD to thrive. Many of us struggle with self-doubt, which sometimes gets in the way of being our best selves, especially in our careers or the workplace. When we...
Feb 10, 2024•42 min
If you're wondering if you're experiencing stress or you're going through burnout, Dave takes time to discuss the differences between being stressed out and burnout. Busy adults with ADHD can experience stress at many levels, and if not addressed, it can eventually turn into burnout. Dave discusses the difference in the definition, causes of burnout, the impact of both stress and burnout as well as the basics of what you need to know when it comes to recovery for stress and burnout. They can be ...
Feb 07, 2024•21 min
In this episode we are talking about managing distractions with the help of willpower. While many adults with ADHD may be put off by the concept of willpower, building that willpower muscle can be an effective strategy for thriving with adult ADHD. Back on the podcast is Giovanni Dienstmann, a sought-after meditation teacher and author of the books Practical Meditation, Mindful Self-Discipline, and ..Wise Confidence. Giovanni and Dave discuss the following on this episode of Overcoming Distracti...
Feb 03, 2024•37 min
Dave continues his on air checklist of distractions many adults with ADHD face. This is Part 2 and Dave discusses some not so obvious Distractions that enter our lives quite frequently. When we think of Distractions we think of the usual suspects including office noise, doom scrolling on social media and shiny objects. But there are many pieces of our day that when you come right down to it, end up being distracting. And maybe more so than the general distractions we always think about. This pod...
Jan 27, 2024•21 min
We're talking about distractions in this podcast. And if you can't name them, then you can't deal with them. If you are a busy adult with ADHD, distractions are coming at you all day long. You're distracted at home, and distractions are most likely entering your professional life in some way. But the only way we can conquer our distractions is by self-awareness and owning them. Only then can we work towards minimizing distractions as adults with ADHD. This podcast is meant just to give you a bri...
Jan 24, 2024•19 min
There are huge misconceptions and misunderstandings about procrastination. And Dave tackles this because of a recent social media post he saw telling people that they should schedule procrastination to manage their time. That's bad advice to say the least and to a greater extent reckless, especially for adults with ADHD. There is an enormous difference between procrastination and strategic delay and Dave goes through both and offers a few tips on how to understand your own procrastination a litt...
Jan 13, 2024•19 min
Dave talks again about his two favorite words when it comes to adult ADHD. Clarity and control. Because you can't talk about these two enough. They are mission critical to surviving as a busy adult with ADHD. Dave discusses briefly why clarity and being in control is such an important part of your ADHD life and gives some examples of how to gain more clarity and take back control. The more busy adults focus on these two areas of life, the less reactionary you'll be. **Do you want to work with Da...
Jan 06, 2024•19 min
If you are an adult with ADHD, this conversation is built just for you. Whether you are a CEO, busy executive, business owner with ADHD or are juggling life and professional responsibilities, you'll learn a lot about being an adult with ADHD in this conversation. Kathleen Nadeau, PhD is the Founder the Chesapeake Center and the author of Still Distracted After All These Years: Help and Support for Older Adults with ADHD. In this conversation you'll get a snapshot of what it's like to be a busy a...
Dec 16, 2023•32 min
In this short episode, Dave runs through some of the lessons learned from people who have experienced burnout. While it is a harsh way to learn lessons about life and gain some self-awareness, many people who have experience burnout have learned how to understand thier capacity, manage time more effectively, learn to communicate their needs and more. In Dave's book Overcoming Burnout, real people share these lessons from their own time feeling burned out. **Do you want to work with Dave one-on-o...
Dec 13, 2023•18 min
This is Part 2 of Dave's conversation with coach Diann Wingert about how adults with ADHD can understand the Four Tendencies, authored by Gretchen Rubin. Diann makes it clear, as she did in part one of this discussion, that understanding the four tendencies, whether in ourselves or others, is all about expectations. She also discusses with Dave the importance of understanding “it depends.” Every adult with ADHD has different wants and needs and their particular life and career circumstances. Tha...
Dec 09, 2023•39 min
If you're looking to thrive in the coming year then you're going to have to build a solid foundation for managing your adult ADHD. Dave gets street smart here and discusses briefly a number of areas that he believes make up that solid foundation for thriving with adult ADHD. Managing ADHD does not have to be complicated and focusing on the basics is one of the best ways to get a better handle on living with adult ADHD as a busy professional. If you want to move forward and feel better in the com...
Dec 06, 2023•17 min
This week, Dave has brought back Diann Wingert, therapist turned coach. Diann discusses the concept of the four tendencies, a philosophy by author Gretchen Rubin. Dave and Diann discuss how adults with ADHD can relate to these four tendencies and how you might find yourself in one or more of these. Diann points out that this is not a personality assessment; it is more of a way to understand the characteristics of ourselves and others. And by doing so, we learn more about ourselves and how to wor...
Dec 02, 2023•34 min
Dave sits down with Russell Kramer, author of the book Hocus Focus- Coming of age with ADD and its medicines. Russell owns and operates a contracting business and tells his story of growing up taking medication for his ADD and why he decided to stop taking meds. To be clear, Russell is not anti-ADHD medication but has learned how to thrive as a self-employed contractor without meds. Russell talks about why he wrote this book and what people can learn from his story. In the book, he talks about c...
Nov 18, 2023•36 min
Many adults with ADHD have a love hate relationship with their cell phones. While it can be a major distraction, a cell phone can be used to help you thrive with adult ADHD. There are many tools and apps that can help busy adults with ADHD in many areas of their lives. Many of these are Productivity Tools as well as alarms and timers but other helpful capabilities exist on a mobile phone such as utilizing dictation and other apps to keep you on track and even provide you with motivation. Dave ta...
Nov 11, 2023•20 min
If you have adult ADHD and you are a manager, working in a leadership role, in the C-Suite, or just working with others on projects, Dave talks about some of the core must-haves for managing the balance between leading and doing your own job. Dave talks about how important it is to claim your own time, communicate effectively, get what you need from others as well as one of Dave's favorite words, clarity! There's a lot more to managing teams and others in the workplace but Dave talks about the c...
Nov 08, 2023•17 min
If you are a busy adult with ADHD and you find yourself being late over and over again, Dave has some quick and street-smart tips to implement into your busy life. Some of them are probably obvious as he recognizes during this podcast but it bears reminding that sometimes the challenges we have as adults with ADHD can be minimized with simple strategies. Yes, setting alarms and timers is one of the strategies that Dave discusses but before the cynicism kicks in, ask yourself if you've really tri...
Oct 28, 2023•17 min
The thought of goal setting can be a turn off for many people including adults with ADHD. One of the reasons is that many adults with ADHD are not clear on what goals they would like to set, both personally and professionally. Goal setting does not have to be scary or overwhelming. Those of us with ADHD can set meaningful and achievable goals if we prepare properly and keep them attainable. Back on Overcoming Distractions is Sarah Reiff-Hekking, Ph.D. of True Focus Coaching, Inc. She takes us ri...
Oct 21, 2023•36 min
