It’s been a few weeks. My last post was about the importance of physical Mise en Place. But I’ve always adapted the term and thought about mental Mise en Place. That is the idea of being mentally prepared for what’s coming and mentally organized. I guess, now that I think about it, it is sort of a combination of the executive functions of planning, organization, time management, and working memory along with mindfulness/ presence in the moment.  If I can continue the cooking analogy… when I was a chef, my shift really started at the end of the night the day before. I would do the ordering, make my own prep list, look at everyone else’s prep lists and start to mentally prepare for the next day. What time did I have to come in? Did I need to leave any notes for the morning guys? What do reservations look like for tomorrow? When I come in, what are my priorities for my station? What are the priorities for the kitchen? What’s the staff look like tomorrow and who’s going to need help?  I learned these lessons well in the kitchen. Perhaps I owe the choice of my first career for many of the skills I have. Regardless, I’ve taken those skills into the rest of my life, so I know it’s possible to strengthen those abilities. One obvious place I’ve utilized those skills is in my own kitchen. I’m always thinking about what’s for dinner tomorrow and for the rest of the week. I’m making sure I’m using up ingredients that need to get used. I’m adding things to the shopping list as I get low on them. (Essentially the rule of thumb is that when I no longer have enough of something to get through NEXT week, it…

According to Merriam Webster: a culinary process in which ingredients are prepared and organized (as in a restaurant kitchen) before cooking. As many of you know I was a professional chef for about a decade before I became a coach and an organizer. I learned many of the foundational principles of organizing while I was a chef. Actually, that learning process began while I was at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA.) They are serious about being organized and prepared. Mise en place is actually the school motto. For me it was a survival strategy. I need to be organized to be successful. But that doesn’t just apply to the kitchen, but to my whole life. Here are some organizational principles that I used in the kitchen that in one way or another translate. Keep the things you use most closest.  If you can achieve the same end goal with fewer steps, do that! Get rid of stuff you don’t use Clean up after yourself constantly so there isn’t big project clean up at the end.  Be 100% prepared with everything you need before starting a larger project. It will save you time and completion will be more likely. That’s off the top of my head. I’ll post more if I think of them. Next week I’m going to discuss “mental mise en place.”

I’ve always been underwhelmed by “sliced bread.” I have a knife. I can slice bread. But you want to talk about inventions that blow my ADHD mind. Let’s talk about individual flossers. These things are the best invention ever. I never flossed before these Bad Larry’s. Now I’ve flossed mostly every night for year. I don’t even keep them in the bathroom. I have them in my bedside table so I can floss while hanging out and watching TV with my wife. Tedious task made easy. Boring task made quick and able to be done while doing something else. Win. Win.  I suggest the store brand of the Plaquers brand. I suggest the actual floss, not the “slides.” Great for kids too. Wish I had these in my teens and twenties. I’d have less dental work.

I am going away this weekend. My wife’s friend is getting married in Chicago and we have found fabulous souls to take our children for 4 days, I got a sweet boutique hotel 100% with credit card points, and my wife got the airfare 100% with her credit card points. That’s all good news.  The other (though I won’t call it “bad”) news is how much planing this it taking. Next week I’ll post a redacted copy of the schedule and meds schedule that I wrote for both my kids to confirm all of their movements this weekend. Today I’m going to start really simple. We fly out on Friday at 11:29. I want to get my workout in before that, because sitting still in and Uber, at the airport, on a plane, in an Uber goes much better for me when the exercise happens first. We also need to drop off the kids bags at the houses of the families they are going home with on Friday. Oh… and we need to get the kids to school!  I don’t know about anyone else, but I can’t possibly know if I have time to do all that unless I write it down. So, I did: @5:40: Alarm for pills @6:00: Wife gets up to work out @6:30: I get up and do my morning stuff @7:00: I get kids up and get them showered -> 8:30: the rest of our normal morning routine @8:40: Drop kids off at school -> 9:45: I work out. My wife closes up the house, drops off the kids bags and does any final packing @9:45: She calls the Uber & checks in online @9:55: We depart the homestead 10:20 – 10:30 we arrive at the airport with an hour to get through security for our flight.…

I’ve probably written a similar post in the past, but I’ve recently had a thought that makes me feel it is worth revisiting. Can anyone think of a medical condition that doctors only treat sometimes? Is there anyone with diabetes who only monitors their blood sugar during the work day? Is there anyone who is epileptic who only takes their medication during the school week? Is there anyone with high blood pressure who takes a break from treatment over the summer. Is there anyone who wears glasses or contacts who doesn’t wear them on the weekends? Anyone with depression who stops dealing with that after 5pm? I’m better the answer is NO to all of those questions. So, why is that our societal approach to ADHD? Now, I understand that ADHD meds are complicated and some people can’t take them all the time. But what I see is that many doctors don’t even consider medicating kids and adults in the evening or in the morning before work. And many doctors give up way to easily when side effects get in the way. Again, I’m not saying that there is a 16 hour solution for everyone, but don’t prescribing doctors owe it to their patients to be aggressive in at least trying to find one before giving up? I have ADHD all the time. It has been my experience that other who have it, have it all the time too. We need to get past the notion of medicating for school or work only. I’m raising two kids and can tell you that parenting time and household time is just as demanding, if not more so than my work day. Keeping the house clean, getting dinner ready, staying on top of everyone’s schedules and activities, getting the oil changed, finding the time and…

So I started to write last week about exercise and ended up writing more about patience. Let’s get back to the exercise!  Here’s what I noticed when I had to stop doing any cardio: I wasn’t falling asleep as well or staying asleep as well. I was more on edge and generally cranky. I was far less patient with the kids. I struggled to muster the motivation and attention to do more administrative work. But I realized even more when I was able to work out again. There was a definite point in my slow work back up to my previous exercise when I crossed the 30 minute threshold of sprinting on the spin bike when things changed. It was like the clouds parted and sun began shining. All of the above things got almost instantly better. Though some of those things are somewhat nebulous, my sleep improved in a concrete manner and so did my anxiety. I don’t think I’ve take an ativan during the day more than once or twice in the last three weeks. One other really interesting thing that happened related to my learning the drums. I’m a late bloomer. I started taking lessons last year at 39. I am very much a novice. But I enjoy it and focus on getting a little better every week… which I usually think I do. But there was a time about 6 weeks ago when I actually contemplated quitting. I wasn’t making any progress and felt like I was actually regressing. I was struggling very simple counting exercises and basic rudiments. I realized that my attention was the main culprit. But I didn’t realize that it had to do with exercise.  My lesson 3 weeks ago, right before I hit my “feel good point” in my rehab was…

If you know me or read my blog regularly, you’ll know that I’m a huge proponent of exercise as an important part of the overall treatment plan for ADHD, anxiety, and depression. (All of which I deal with.) And, you would know that since I got myself back on the exercise wagon after a late 20’s/ early 30th that were taken up by illness, injury, and a brutal lifestyle in the restaurant industry, I have worked out pretty much every day for at least three or four years, since my last surgery on my left knee. I rely on that exercise to keep me focused, even, and as mellow as I ever get. About three or four months ago I started having pain in my right heel. To make a long story short, the pain got worse to the point that walking was hard the day after I ran. Then it got so that I couldn’t run without pain. Then I couldn’t ride the spin bike. I’m not a total idiot. I’d been experimenting with short periods of rest in terms of cardio and doing more lifting. I iced, toke ibuprofen. I went to PT. I did my exercises. I even had my PT “dry needle” my heel twice. It was worth a shot… but still the most excruciating pain I’ve ever felt in my life and didn’t fix the issue.  Eventually, my PT said that I probably needed a cortisone shot so I got a referral for a foot doctor. I met with him and he gave me the shot on July 12th. It was like a miracle. Sure the shot hurt, but after that I’ve had no pain at all. I guess my first takeaway is that being in pain was affecting my mental state, my attention, and my…

Hey y’all. Here’s a quick, light post for summer. I like to regularly post some of my favorite podcasts. You can find those in the “library.” Here are some more. There are a few podcast “networks” that I tend to like. Wondery is probably my favorite. I know I’ve mentioned some of their ongoing shows in the past, like Business Wars and American Innovations. I’ve also recommended some of their limited run true crime shows like, Hollywood & Crime, Young Charlie, Dirty John, The Wonderland Murders, and Accused. Here are a few more that I’ve recently blown through.  Dr. Death. About a neurosurgeon in TX who seems to have missed part about “first do no harm.” Fascinating study of a system that might be broken. I listened to most of these 7 or so episodes in one day of yard work and garage cleaning. Ironic that a story about insanity helped keep me same doing that boring “life stuff.”  I’m currently rocking “The Shrink Next Door.” Also fascinating so far. I’m only two episodes in, but it got me through my food prep for the week and cleaning the kitchen.  Up next I”m going to check out, Gladiator: Aaron Hernandez and Football Inc. Happy listening… and whatever you can get done while listening!

If you are a regular reader of my blog, you know that I often post my daily schedules as a way of showing how I make them and how helpful they are. I don’t actually make written schedules that often anymore. I’ve internalized the process to a large extent. But there is usually one day or so a month where I don’t have much on the calendar but need to get a ton done, when I do take the time to write out the schedule. I did exactly that on Tuesday. So when I post my schedules I tend to post ones that have gone according to plan. The goal isn’t to toot my own horn, but to demonstrate the power of consistently doing the schedule over time. You can get really, really good at it. But it has occured to me that always posting a schedule where I nail it may seem like an unattainable goal for some. Perhaps it might be equally as helpful to post one where things did not go as planned and talk about how I handled that. Because, yes, I’ve gotten really good at this. But the vast, vast majority of schedules I’ve made in my life have not gone according to plan. Half the battle in terms of progress is accepting that fact, but also recognizing that you’re still more productive with the schedule than you are without it. So, check out my schedule for Tuesday. It was 95’ish degrees and humid that day. And, unfortunately, most of what I wanted to do needed to be done outside. That is one of the main reasons that I made a schedule for Tuesday on Monday night. I new that I had to get outside and get some stuff done before the day got even…

I had a great moment yesterday with a relatively new client. We were talking about his To Do List and scheduling. I pointed something out by using myself as an example. I’m currently writing a book. By “currently” I mean that I’ve written about one third of it during one week in the late winter and haven’t had the time and/or focus to work on it since. I mentioned to the client that I have “work on book” on my To Do List, which is way to vague and that what I need to do is take a look at where I left off and break it down into specific goals on my list. To which he responded that I should put that step on my list. He was 100% correct. That is a change I will make today and maybe even get that thing done because it is now accounted for and actionable.  Standard Disclaimer:  In an effort to foil my own perfectionist tendencies, I do not edit my posts much… if at all. Please excuse and typos, mistakes, grammatical errors, or awkward phrasing. I focus on getting my content down. In my humble opinion, an imperfect post posted is infinitely better than a perfect post that goes unfinished.

I’ve recently written about how important it is to have the people in your life bring you energy rather than take it from you. By energy I don’t necessarily mean life force, chi, or something mystical. Although that could apply here. I mean the very practical, real life thing that we only have so much of. Let’s be honest, as ADHDers, our resources are finite and not always abundant in terms of energy and attention. Even those of us who have the “H” may have the physical energy but lack the mental energy at times.  If you’re with me in understanding that our resources are limited, we need to be extra careful about how we use those resources. It takes a lot of effort for me to get through the day. I guarantee it takes more than a neurotypical person. So my margin is much smaller. I don’t have the time and energy for people who are bad friends, bad to do business with or who cause me stress and anxiety. And make it a point not to have folks like that in my life.  I suggest you do the same. Of course it’s usually not so black and white. That person my be the father of your child or friend that you’ve had for years, but who’s never really been supportive. You have to weigh the good and the bad. I’ll be the first to acknowledge that nobody is perfect. But have boundaries. Know what lines people are not allowed to cross and hold strong in your conviction if they do. But in those gray areas talk to them. If someone who is important to you says or does something that you don’t care for, let them know in a respectful way. The vast majority of the time they…

If you have worked with me at all you probably know how I’m a fiend for my To Do List. I do it in a very specific way, and teach it in a very specific way that works great for how we ADHDers are wired. Well, there are rare occasions when the general To Do List isn’t enough. Very large and distinct projects may require their own To Do List. But applying the same skill to that projects lowers anxiety and increases efficiency.  Last week I had two-and-a-half days to flip a rental property for new tenants. I needed to paint the whole bathroom, including the ceiling, put in a new medicine cabinet, install a new ikea closet, touch up or paint all the rest of the rooms, and clean some stuff out among other small things. Plus it was 95 degrees that week and the unit isn’t air conditioned. Quite a big project. I knew the priority was the bathroom, so I started there and kept moving. Near the end of the first day I had accomplished a ton, but realized there was far more left to do. This kicked up my anxiety significantly. But, over the years I’ve learned to address and attach that anxiety instead of allowing it to rule me and force me into avoidance behavior. So, I took out a big fat pencil and made a list right on the ikea box. Then I estimated the time it would take to execute all of the steps.  Hopefully you are able to see in the pictures that the original list, not counting what I had already done added up to about seven-and-one-half hours of work left to do. So painting is not a thing I do regularly. Even with the data that I had accumulated from…