Episode 330: Holiday People Pleasing + ADHD: Your Step-by-Step Survival Guide

✨ Get your free Executive Function Map here! Two things can be true at the same time with ADHD brains. No two of us are alike, and also, the minute we start talking with another ADHDer, we're saying, "NO WAY, me too! I thought I was the only one." In episode 377 of the I'm Busy Being Awesome podcast, we look at one of the reasons behind both experiences while building your executive function map in the process. By the end, you'll have a clearer picture of which areas come more easily for you right now, which ones take the most effort, and where a little more support would make the biggest difference. In Episode 377, You Will Discover: What executive functions are, why they matter for the ADHD brain, and why access to them changes from day to day The 10 executive function and self-regulation areas that shape our everyday functioning, and what each one looks like when it comes more easily How to narrow all ten down to the one or two areas that would benefit most from support right now The three questions that turn one area into a practical experiment you can actually run Work With Me: Learn more about private coaching here Join We're Busy Being Awesome (group coaching) Enroll in Overwhelm to Action - step by step course for ADHD Brains Resources From This Episode: Your Executive Function Map - Free Download Episode 325: ADHD Object Permanence & 3 Tips to Support Your Brain (working memory) Episode 363: The ADHD To-Do List Strategy You're Missing (the breadcrumb strategy More ADHD Resources: Discover Your ADHD Overwhelm Type - Free Quiz! Get the I'm Busy Being Awesome Podcast Roadmap Free course: ADHD Routine Revamp Learn my Top 10 Tips to Work With Your ADHD Brain Discover my favorite ADHD resources Access the I'm Busy Being Awesome Planning System Paula's Favorite Tools Many of the items below are affiliate links with discounts and free trials available. They are all products I personally use and love. I may earn a small commission if you make a purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you. Thanks for your support! Disclosure info here. Stay focused with brain.fm and get a 30-day free trial. Personalized music, backed by science, designed to help you get and stay in the zone. Speechify: my go-to text-to-speech app. One-month free trial plus $60 off a premium subscription if you decide to keep it. Todoist: my favorite task manager. Simple, easy to use, and incredible integration with other platforms. Get two months of premium free. No credit card required. Wispr Flow: The best tool for talk-to-text. Awesome for verbal processing and saving time. Free trial, no credit card required. Magnetic Tile System: My favorite tactile, visual planning approach for ADHD brains. Leave IBBA A Rating & Review! If you enjoy the podcast, would you be a rockstar and leave a review? Doing so helps others find the show and spreads these tools to even more people. Go to Apple Podcasts Click on the I'm Busy Being Awesome podcast Scroll down to the bottom of the page, where you see the reviews. Simply tap five stars; that's it! Bonus points if you're willing to leave a few sentences sharing what you enjoy about the podcast or a key takeaway from the episode you just heard. Thanks, friend! Chapter Outline 00:00 ADHD No Way Moment 01:03 Executive Function Paradox 02:52 What Executive Functions Do 06:38 ADHD And EF Variability 09:19 Core EF Frameworks 11:04 Build Your EF Map 13:20 EF 1-5 Quick Scan 20:24 EF 6-10 Deep Dive 26:32 Pick Your Friction Points 29:25 Ease Effort Support Questions 31:49 Email Example And Experiments 36:11 Wrap Up And Free Download

You did the thing everyone tells an ADHD brain to do with a big project: you broke it into steps. And instead of feeling calmer, your brain looked at the list and said, "There's no way I can get all of this done." If this experience sends you straight into avoidance, panic, or procrasti-working, episode 376 has one simple question that can shift you out of the spiral and into action. In Episode 376, You Will Discover: Why breaking a project into steps can trigger more ADHD overwhelm, not less The hidden assumption inside the thought "there's no way I can get this all done" One simple question that interrupts the spiral and how to use it throughout your life. Work With Me: Learn more about private coaching here Join We're Busy Being Awesome (group coaching) Enroll in Overwhelm to Action - step by step course for ADHD Brains More ADHD Resources: Discover Your ADHD Overwhelm Type - Free Quiz! Get the I'm Busy Being Awesome Podcast Roadmap Free course: ADHD Routine Revamp Learn my Top 10 Tips to Work With Your ADHD Brain Discover my favorite ADHD resources Access the I'm Busy Being Awesome Planning System Paula's Favorite Tools Many of the items below are affiliate links with discounts and free trials available. They are all products I personally use and love. I may earn a small commission if you make a purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you. Thanks for your support! Disclosure info here. Stay focused with brain.fm and get a 30-day free trial. Personalized music, backed by science, designed to help you get and stay in the zone. Speechify: my go-to text-to-speech app. One-month free trial plus $60 off a premium subscription if you decide to keep it. Todoist: my favorite task manager. Simple, easy to use, and incredible integration with other platforms. Get two months of premium free. No credit card required. Wispr Flow: The best tool for talk-to-text. Awesome for verbal processing and saving time. Free trial, no credit card required. Magnetic Tile System: My favorite tactile, visual planning approach for ADHD brains. Leave IBBA A Rating & Review! If you enjoy the podcast, would you be a rockstar and leave a review? Doing so helps others find the show and spreads these tools to even more people. Go to Apple Podcasts Click on the I'm Busy Being Awesome podcast Scroll down to the bottom of the page, where you see the reviews. Simply tap five stars; that's it! Bonus points if you're willing to leave a few sentences sharing what you enjoy about the podcast or a key takeaway from the episode you just heard. Thanks, friend! Chapter Outline 00:00 Overwhelm After Planning 02:07 Why ADHD Goes All or Nothing 03:38 How Avoidance Spirals Start 05:52 Check Your Full Body Yes 07:54 The One Grounding Question 09:24 Client Example SOPs 11:02 Home Declutter Example 12:16 When Deadlines Are Real 13:44 Nonnegotiables Versus Nice 17:59 Wrap Up & Next Steps

If you've ever set a goal at the start of a quarter and watched it fall apart by the end of week one, your ADHD brain has probably drawn some conclusions about you and goal setting. So when you sit down to plan something new, a thought might show up that sounds like "why even bother? I'll just feel disappointed anyway." In episode 375, we're borrowing a practice from the business world called a pre-mortem, where you imagine the project already fell apart and work backward from there. I've adapted it for ADHD brains so the exercise helps you feel prepared and capable. In Episode 375, You Will Discover: Why the six to eight week stretch in quarter four is such a useful window for one focused goal What a pre-mortem is, how it differs from a post-mortem, and a powerful modification for ADHD brains The five questions that help you plan for obstacles while keeping the exercise contained and supportive How to decide, ahead of time, what supporting yourself looks like on your lowest capacity days Work With Me: Learn more about private coaching here Join We're Busy Being Awesome (group coaching) Enroll in Overwhelm to Action - step by step course for ADHD Brains Resources From This Episode: Episode 360: Personal Retreat Guide for ADHD Brains Download the step-by-step quarterly retreat guide Overwhelm to Action LIVE More ADHD Resources: Discover Your ADHD Overwhelm Type - Free Quiz! Get the I'm Busy Being Awesome Podcast Roadmap Free course: ADHD Routine Revamp Learn my Top 10 Tips to Work With Your ADHD Brain Discover my favorite ADHD resources Access the I'm Busy Being Awesome Planning System Paula's Favorite Tools Many of the items below are affiliate links with discounts and free trials available. They are all products I personally use and love. I may earn a small commission if you make a purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you. Thanks for your support! Disclosure info here. Stay focused with brain.fm and get a 30-day free trial. Personalized music, backed by science, designed to help you get and stay in the zone. Speechify: my go-to text-to-speech app. One-month free trial plus $60 off a premium subscription if you decide to keep it. Todoist: my favorite task manager. Simple, easy to use, and incredible integration with other platforms. Get two months of premium free. No credit card required. Wispr Flow: The best tool for talk-to-text. Awesome for verbal processing and saving time. Free trial, no credit card required. Magnetic Tile System: My favorite tactile, visual planning approach for ADHD brains. Leave IBBA A Rating & Review! If you enjoy the podcast, would you be a rockstar and leave a review? Doing so helps others find the show and spreads these tools to even more people. Thanks for your support! Go to Apple Podcasts Click on the I'm Busy Being Awesome podcast Scroll down to the bottom of the page, where you see the reviews. Simply tap five stars; that's it! Bonus points if you're willing to leave a few sentences sharing what you enjoy about the podcast or a key takeaway from the episode you just heard. Thanks, friend! Chapter Outline 00:00 ADHD Premortem Intro 01:09 Q4 Sweet Spot Goals 03:38 Five Question Overview 04:22 Premortem Explained 05:29 Pick Your Project 06:02 Why ADHD Needs Tweaks 09:20 Question One Motivation 12:43 Question Two Obstacles 16:31 Question Three Plan Ahead 21:53 Question Four Low Capacity 24:12 Question Five Pride 25:33 Wrap Up Quick Start 26:34 Overwhelm To Action 27:22 Recap And Next Steps

👉 Enrollment for Overwhelm to Action LIVE closes Monday, October 5: Join us here! You open the doc, look at it, and close the doc. The project is enormous; every piece of it seems equally important, and there is no obvious way in. This week we're pulling four strategies for exactly that kind of ADHD project overwhelm, and they come from a rather unusual place: a 1500-piece Harry Potter puzzle on my dining room table. Turns out starting at the beginning isn't always the best place to start, and sometimes that's what's keeping us stuck in the first place. In Episode 374, You Will Discover: Why your usual approach to starting a big project might be keeping you stuck, and how cognitive inflexibility keeps us there How to sketch a "box lid" so your ADHD brain knows what done actually looks like before you take the first steps A question that helps you begin when your brain insists it doesn't know where to start Why the details of a project only become visible once you get close to one section, and why "just break it down" stalls out without that step Work With Me: Learn more about private coaching here Join We're Busy Being Awesome (group coaching) Enroll in Overwhelm to Action - step by step course for ADHD Brains Resources From This Episode: Overwhelm to Action LIVE Harry Potter Hogwarts Map 1500 Piece Puzzle Episode 371: 10 Things My ADHD Brain Can't Live Without Episode 364: 3 Questions to Get Unstuck from ADHD Indecision Episode 372: 7 ADHD Mindsets That Make Overwhelm Worse Episode 373: Life Admin: A Sneaky Culprit for ADHD Overwhelm More ADHD Resources: Discover Your ADHD Overwhelm Type - Free Quiz! Get the I'm Busy Being Awesome Podcast Roadmap Free course: ADHD Routine Revamp Learn my Top 10 Tips to Work With Your ADHD Brain Discover my favorite ADHD resources Access the I'm Busy Being Awesome Planning System Paula's Favorite Resources Many of the items below are affiliate links with discounts and free trials available. They are all products I personally use and love. I may earn a small commission if you make a purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you. Thanks for your support! Disclosure info here. Stay focused with brain.fm and get a 30-day free trial. Personalized music, backed by science, designed to help you get and stay in the zone. Speechify: my go-to text-to-speech app. One-month free trial plus $60 off a premium subscription if you decide to keep it. Todoist: my favorite task manager. Simple, easy to use, and incredible integration with other platforms. Get two months of premium free. No credit card required. Wispr Flow: The best tool for talk-to-text. Awesome for verbal processing and saving time. Free trial, no credit card required. Leave IBBA A Rating & Review! If you enjoy the podcast, would you be a rockstar and leave a review? Doing so helps others find the show and spreads these tools to even more people. Go to Apple Podcasts Click on the I'm Busy Being Awesome podcast Scroll down to the bottom of the page, where you see the reviews. Simply tap five stars; that's it! Bonus points if you're willing to leave a few sentences sharing what you enjoy about the podcast or a key takeaway from the episode you just heard. Thanks, friend! Chapter Outline 00:00 Puzzle To Project Overwhelm 01:23 Why Starting Is Hard 02:56 Harry Potter Puzzle Setup 05:18 Border Trap And Inflexibility 09:17 Tip One Easier Entry 10:26 Tip Two Sketch The Lid 15:11 Tip Three Start With Known 20:11 Tip Four Zoom Out Then In 26:50 Program Overwhelm To Action 28:30 Recap And Next Steps 29:54 Final Thanks

✨ Join Overwhelm to Action LIVE here Somewhere in your house there's probably a return you've been meaning to drop off, a form that needs signing, and an appointment you've been meaning to schedule. While individually, each task would likely table about ten minutes, together they add a surprising amount of chatter to an already busy brain. In episode 373 of I'm Busy Being Awesome, we're naming life admin as its own category of work, looking at what actually makes it so draining for ADHD brains, and building in the stopping point this category never gives us on its own. In Episode 373, You Will Discover: What life admin actually is, and why no single item in the category ever seems worth mentioning How one "simple" ten minute phone call stacks eight or nine executive functions on top of each other Why shame and isolation tend to show up around admin tasks, and why it isn't just you An actionable way to help lighten the load of life admin overall Work With Me: Learn more about private coaching here Join We're Busy Being Awesome (group coaching) Enroll in Overwhelm to Action - step by step course for ADHD Brains Resources From This Episode: Overwhelm to Action LIVE - 6 week live program for ADHD brains. Starts Thursday, October 8. Enrollment closes Monday, October 5. More ADHD Resources: Discover Your ADHD Overwhelm Type - Free Quiz! Get the I'm Busy Being Awesome Podcast Roadmap Free course: ADHD Routine Revamp Learn my Top 10 Tips to Work With Your ADHD Brain Discover my favorite ADHD resources Access the I'm Busy Being Awesome Planning System Paula's Favorite Resources Many of the items below are affiliate links with discounts and free trials available. They are all products I personally use and love. I may earn a small commission if you make a purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you. Thanks for your support! Disclosure info here. Stay focused with brain.fm and get a 30-day free trial. Personalized music, backed by science, designed to help you get and stay in the zone. Speechify: my go-to text-to-speech app. One-month free trial plus $60 off a premium subscription if you decide to keep it. Todoist: my favorite task manager. Simple, easy to use, and incredible integration with other platforms. Get two months of premium free. No credit card required. Wispr Flow: The best tool for talk-to-text. Awesome for verbal processing and saving time. Free trial, no credit card required. Leave IBBA A Rating & Review! If you enjoy the podcast, would you be a rockstar and leave a review? Doing so helps others find the show and spreads these tools to even more people. Go to Apple Podcasts Click on the I'm Busy Being Awesome podcast Scroll down to the bottom of the page, where you see the reviews. Simply tap five stars; that's it! Bonus points if you're willing to leave a few sentences sharing what you enjoy about the podcast or a key takeaway from the episode you just heard. Thanks, friend! Chapters 00:00 ADHD Open Loops 01:29 What Is Life Admin 05:21 Why It Drains Us 08:56 Shame And Resistance 11:11 No Finish Line Problem 12:27 Program Announcement 14:19 Create Time Containers 16:14 Recurring Tasks Rhythm 20:56 Admin Block For One Offs 25:19 Errand Block Strategy 27:47 Pick One Container 28:34 Wrap Up And Next Steps