I am not a doctor. But I have tremendous experience with taking medication and with working with my clients to help them understand how their meds are working… or not working. What I have found is that individuals often experience effects or side effects that are not listed in the literature. Some doctors poho-pooh these unreported side effects. But, my experience has been that, unless you are a legit hypochondriac, you’re probably right if you think you’re having a specific effect. And, over time, it’s pretty easy to figure out if it is related to the meds. But sometimes it’s hard to tell until you change dosages, take the med for a period of time, or go change. It’s also tough if you are a person who is not particularly attuned to you how your body works on a daily basis.  I’m lucky that I’ve got a pretty good level of self awareness. Always have. It was a real benefit when I was first trying meds at age 10. And, it continues to be as I continue to manage my brain chemistry with my amazing doctor. I’m going to use my current antidepressant as an example. It is called Trintellix (Vortioxetine.) It’s a pretty new drug. As far as I know it is in it’s own category. It is not a trycyclic, SSRI, or SNRI. The following the latest chapter in my antidepressant journey.  My most recent depressive episode began about 3 1/2 years ago. It was my third and I caught it quickly. I had had success with Zoloft (Sertraline) in the past. But this time it actually made me worse. That is strange thing number one. Just because something worked once, doesn’t mean it will now. My doctor wanted to go right to Trintellix after that, but the insurance…

I’ve posted before about the idea that we sometimes work better doing more than one thing than we do doing a single thing. And that we can use that as a strategy to get through boring stuff. I listen to music, podcasts, or sports radio… in the shower, doing chores, cooking dinner, getting the kids ready in the morning, doing dishes, working in the garden, driving, laundry, and pretty much whatever else you can think of.  Having something stimulating to occupy my mind while I’m doing something boring or routine help me get through it. Podcasts in particular have been a great resource for me in the last half dozen years. I’m using them more than anything else lately. So, I like to post once in a while about my current favorites. Here are some of them. I’ll try not to include ones that I’ve mentioned before. If you like true crime/mysteries: Casefile True Crime. This is my all time favorite. Great story telling with no fluff. Isn’t too graphic about the details. Accused. Season one and two are very different but both are excellent. Done by an actual newspaper reporter. Great reporting. Hollywood & Crime. Great series about Hollywood murders. Young Charlie (by Hollywood & Crime) All about Manson.  Dirty John (by Hollywood & Crime) Story of a master manipulator.  Up and Vanished. Amazing story of woman gone missing. Shit town. Is he crazy or not? If you are into less crime-y stuff… Business wars. Nike vs. Adidas, Netflix vs. Blockbuster, Sony vs. Nintendo. Great stuff American innovators. Really interesting and new. Currently the history of DNA. Stuff you should know. A bit rambley sometimes. Full disclosure. The rest of my family hates it and refers to it as, “the boring podcast.” But it’s safe for kids. Episodes vary. Try…

I like problem solving. It pisses me off when something I want to work doesn’t. It brings me great satisfaction when I figure out how to make it work. So maybe I get an inherent dopamine buzz when I solve a problem? Either way, it has served me well. Here’s a small example that happened recently to use as a template. I have a huge garden. It is my primary hobby, brings me great enjoyment, but is a lot of work. And, by definition, is a seasonal endeavor. This is my fifth year doing it. When I started, I had read a few books and knew, essentially, nothing about gardening. Five years later, I know slightly more than nothing. But it is an improvement. The problem is that what I do know, I tend to forget over the winter. When do I start the seeds indoors? When should I transplant? How much do I harden them off first? What diseases happen and when? What do I need to order? How long will it take for everything to germinate? How much yield am I getting? How many of each plants should I plant? Since I don’t necessarily remember the answers to all of these questions… or any of them, I need to take notes. I’ve always had a nice little 4x6ish leather notebook that I keep in my gardening dry sink (see picture) on the porch. The problem is that I basically never used it. This year I asked myself why I never used it. The best answer I could come up with was that it wasn’t visual enough and felt like it was way too much work to find the info I was looking for. Really it was just a blank book that I wrote a date on the top…

Hey. I’m doubling up on my ADHD wisdom today. (I’m posting them for different dates so it looks like I faithfully post every Friday. Shhhh. Don’t tell anyone.) While printing my copy of the mind map in the last post, I ran out of black ink in my printer. Yet, since I’m near the ball, if not on it, there was a backup cartridge in my in my office closet. And, endeavoring to be present in the moment, I checked to see if this was my last black cartridge. It was. So, ‘buy new black ink’ went directly onto my to do list. I happened to be at my computer, so I ordered 3 new ones right away. But putting it on the list is key. That way it would have happened no matter what before I ran through this cartridge in the next few months. This sort of ordering a backup before I’m out of something is very much a skill mastered in the restaurant industry where you just can run out of stuff… but also can’ have too much of the perishable stuff. But I promise that it is worth doing in your everyday life. 

As usual my garden has presented me with many challenges, lots of work, some serious figuring out to do, and not a ton of time or attention with which to do it. But, when times are most overwhelming, it is always the best time to fall back on our systems. So, I made a mind map. Check it out. Now everything is organized. My next step is to assign time estimations to everything and start plugging tasks into my schedule

First one is tonight! Sorry for the late notice. Dr. McDonnell is one of my most referred to. She’s great. Here’s a link to the flyer:

If you can look past the silliness of the title, you’ll see this post is about daily schedules. I know that I have posted daily schedules before. But, sometimes it can be a pain in the neck to find older posts. So, I try to post these once in a while for people to be able to use as a current resource.  I made this schedule the afternoon/evening of 3 It was a client-free friday, but it was my wife’s day off and I wanted to let her sleep. It was shower morning for the kids, which always adds a degree of difficulty. I had to get Delia to school in Quincy Then I had to get Elliot to my parent’s house in Newton with him being prepared to spend the day with my Dad. Then I had to drive back to Mattapan to drop of our car for exhaust work. I had to work in a workout. And, it would be nice to actually see my wife on her day off for a least a bit. So, my “day off” wasn’t so much a day off. There was much to accomplish.  I will admit that it didn’t go exactly to plan, but basically everything got done in a non-stressful way. There is no way I would have been that efficient without the schedule… and I probably wouldn’t have slept well the night before being anxious about how to fit it all in to that one day. Key: On the left side where the times are, if there is just a time, that is a time that something happens that doesn’t really have a duration. Most of the times are preceded by an arrow. In my scheduling shorthand that means that the item to the right of that arrow then time…

I am loathe to give my clients homework. I generally feel that working on the things we are talking about is enough. However, one of the few things I often suggest to my clients is to keep a medication journal. The harsh reality of the world is that ADHD meds are all about trial and error. There is no way to know what drugs you will respond to until you try them.  Combine that with the fact that we are often not so present in the moment, may be forgetful, and sometimes lack self monitoring skills… and it is really easy to forget, or not even be aware of how a change in medication or dosage is affecting us. This is particularly the case when we are first trying meds and our attention is not great.  In my experience it can be invaluable to: When you started a new medication, What other meds you were taking at the time, What time of day you took it, If you were consistent with taking it, Was it name brand or generic (even what generic producer,) When you may have changed dosages, How your attention and/or mood were affected, Any feedback you may get from other people in your life. Trying to remember what you took three years ago and how if made you feel can be really tough. It is a great resource to have an actual log of the details. And, it doesn’t have to be too extensive. Just note the change dates and check in with yourself two or three times a week about how you feel. 

I find that it can be very hard for us to build momentum with things that are new. Working out is no exception. Actually, it may be one of the hardest areas in which to build a routine if it doesn’t feel great at first. Even for me, as an athlete who loves to be active, it has been very difficult to restart exercise routines after periods of inactivity in my life. You will have to “suffer” through a period of time during which you probably can’t push yourself hard enough or long enough to get the physiological benefits that will eventually be there. I’ve found that keeping a visual log on a calendar is a great way to build momentum, confidence, and a sense of success during the beginning stages. I still log my workouts. I have a separate calendar on my Google Calendar that at is gold and I put abbreviations for all my workouts to track what I did and when. I still draw a tremendous amount of self empowerment when I look at my month or my week and see how much I’ve worked out. I suggest using a month view calendar and simply putting a big red X on any day you worked out. At first don’t worry if it’s a 20 minute quickie or an intense 45 minutes. The momentum is build by doing it, period. Then at the end of the week or the month you will have a record of what you did. Check out the example I posted. You will see that it incorporates previous tips by using the weekend and not missing two days in a row. (Except where I X’d the wrong days on the second week…) To me, that looks great. In reality it is only 4 workouts…

Because I’m a little bit vain and really proud of myself I’ll post what my workout calendar would look like so far this month if I still did it on a paper calendar. As a side note, I’m currently battling some depression and some really stressful circumstances. So, I’m really doubling down on self care like exercising, meditation, eating well (if not a reasonable amount,) not drinking, getting enough sleep etc. If only I could not “stress eat” the exercise might do even more good. Under normal circumstances I don’t regularly to do two-a-days. I should probably do a post on the self-care double down… Standard Disclaimer:  In an effort to foil my own perfectionist tendencies, I do not edit my posts much… if at all. Please and typos, mistakes, grammatical errors, or awkward phrasing. I focus on getting my content down. An imperfect post completed is better than a perfect post that goes unposted.

One might think that as an ADHDer I would agree with Tom Petty that “Waiting is the hardest part.” I certainly won’t make the argument that waiting is easy. It is probably in the top five hardest parts. But I would argue that the planning is actually the hardest part. Planning requires extensive executive function. It requires attention, follow through, initiation, and is particularly heavy on working memory. Bottom line: it’s really hard for us. So, mostly we try to avoid it. We might… Try to pack at the last minute without a packing list, Write a long paper without making any sort of outline, Go to the grocery store without a shopping list, Start a home improvement project without figuring out time, materials, and tools, Or promise an outcome without thinking about how we’ll achieve it. But, even though it is hard for us to do the planning, it can be done. And it usually results in better results and lower stress. I suggest taking a deep breath and sitting down and making a detailed written plan well enough in advance that there isn’t substantial pressure. Identify action steps. Estimate how long they will take. Plan when and how those steps will be achieved to build toward the desired result. As one example in my life, I’ve built a huge suburban garden over the past 4 years that consists of 13 raised bed of various sized, a fence row of sunflowers, 12 fruit and nut trees, 4 window boxes, grape trellises, and several herb planters. Sounds overwhelming, right. At times it was. But every time I got overwhelmed, I’d (take an ativan, work out, or meditate, and…) make a plan! I don’t have any big building or improvement projects for the garden this year. But, I’ve got to get…

I was and am a punk rock kid at heart. Well, really a 3rd Wave Ska-Punk kid. (But that’s probably a bit esoteric for most folks.) I am also a bundle contradictions. More about that in another post tentatively titled “owning it.” But my style has always been a blend of establishment hipster and anti-establishment punk. At one point, I had my ear, tongue, eyebrow, and labret pierced. Not to mention the orange hair twisted up in spikes with old-school flat top wax. Needless to say, I’ve always wanted a tattoo. But, I also know my own limitations. So I instituted a rule. If I loved something enough to put on my body, I had to wait five years. If I still loved it that much after five years I would get it. But through my twenties everything seemed fleeting. I didn’t want to end up with a sports logo, or a band, or an ultimate frisbee related tattoo that I would outgrow. Which was a good idea because I’ve more or less outgrown most of those things. But I had an idea when my son was born in 2009. I loved him. I would alway love him. So I set to thinking about what I wanted the tattoo to be… and took five years doing it. By the time he turned five I had the idea nailed down. I wanted: His name in a cursive script that reminded my of my grandmother, who he was partly named after, In the form of a punk rock patch (that looks like real stitching) that is an ode my my punk rock ethos and esthetic In blue and white that also reminds me of my grandmothers wedgewood china On my left forearm, where I’ve always wanted it so it can be my…