ADHD Tool Tip: Use Humor as Your Hammer

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ADHD brings on negative emotions of guilt, shame, and overwhelm. The cloak of these emotions can feel suffocating. These negative emotions cause stress and diminished perception of agency, control, and effectiveness.

It’s important to identify positive methods of coping that can help take a break, breath in brain stimulating oxygen, and get back on track. I notice that when a coaching client finds genuine humor in herself or her situation, it breaks down resistance and opens her up to change and growth. Humor doesn’t solve her problems, but it creates the space for identifying productive possibilities.

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A sassy tee is a fun way to wear your emotions on your sleeve and leaning into how your brain works. It says, “I know who I am and I see how whacky it looks to outsiders,” with a grin and a giggle.

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ADHD challenges our working memory and can make it hard for us to call to mind a source for laughter. Stickers on laptops, water bottles, even walls, can maintain the visibility of stimuli for positive emotions. Anything that brings a smile to your face triggers the release of stress relieving endorphins in the brain.

Getting the brain engaged in reading material that is quick and easy to digest while also entertaining will enable it to

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decompress so it can return to work with more energy and focus. Take a break, reas a book, and enjoy some nuggets of humor that make you laugh but also validate you and affirm that you’re not “the only one” experiencing the world the way you do.

Combine ADHD humor with a

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coloring book for adults for a double cup of stress relief. Coloring also promotes mindfulness and concentration, creativity, and relaxation in adults. What a great way to manage guilt, shame, and overwhelm!

Indulge in whatever makes you laugh and helps you accept yourself more. If any of the items pictured in this post do that for you, you can click on the bolded text or the picture to purchase it on Amazon. As an Amazon Affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Another little sticker to leave you with a smile, a grin, a laugh, a giggle, a guffaw:

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ADHD Tool Tip: Activate Your Brain with Peppermint

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When I taught primary school, secondary school, and college students, I treated them to peppermints before each test. I had read the research regarding the positive effects of peppermint on stress, focus, memory, and other brain functions. It also made test day a little more pleasant.

For people with ADHD, maintaining focus, managing distractions, and staying mentally alert can be daily challenges. Scientific studies have demonstrated peppermint’s positive impact on attention, memory, and mood. Peppermint contains menthol, a compound known to stimulate the central nervous system. Research suggests that peppermint can increase alertness and mental clarity, enhance working memory and cognitive function, and reduce mental fatigue and stress.

Peppermint and ADHD Symptoms

1. Improving Focus and Attention

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Many people with ADHD experience brain fog and difficulty sustaining attention. Peppermint’s stimulating properties may help by increasing oxygen to the brain and promoting wakefulness. chewing peppermint gum, drinking peppermint tea, or using peppermint essential oil may provide a natural way to regain focus during tasks that require concentration

2. Reducing Hyperactivity and Restlessness

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ADHD often comes with hyperactivity or an inability to sit still. While peppermint is known for increasing alertness, it also has calming effects. Aromatherapy studies suggest that peppermint can reduce stress and anxiety, which can be beneficial for individuals who experience restlessness or nervous energy.

 

3. Enhancing Memory and Mental Organization

People with ADHD frequently struggle with working memory, such as remembering tasks, instructions, or where they left their keys. Since peppermint has been shown to support memory retention, incorporating it into daily routines might help with mental organization and recall.

4. Managing Overwhelm and Sensory Overload

ADHD brains are often highly sensitive to sensory input, leading

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to feelings of overwhelm. Peppermint’s cooling and calming properties can provide a sensory reset, helping to refocus and reduce frustration. Simply inhaling peppermint oil or using a peppermint-infused lotion can provide a moment of relief.

 

Ways to Use Peppermint for ADHD

If you want to experiment with peppermint as a natural tool for focus and mental clarity, here are a few easy ways to incorporate it into your routine:

Chew peppermint gum during tasks that require sustained attention.

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Drink peppermint tea before studying or working.

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Use peppermint essential oil in a diffuser to create a stimulating workspace.

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Apply diluted peppermint oil to your wrists or temples for an on-the-go focus boost.

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Keep peppermint candies or lozenges handy for a quick mental refresher.

If you’d like to try using products in this post, clicking on any of the highlighted words or the picture will take you to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate, I earn on qualifying purchases.

 

ADHD Tool Tip: Release Excess Energy to Focus Better

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When the general public thinks about ADHD, they probably picture the behaviorally hyperactive male child who can’t sit still or respect the personal space of others. What is less often acknowledged is that adults with ADHD must also contend with excess energy, and hyperactivity can apply to behaviors, like nail biting, and to thoughts, like ideas flooding the brain. In all cases, the pent up excess energy inhibits the ability to focus and contributes to distractibility.

How can we effectively manage this excess energy as adults without annoying the people around us or feeling shame about ourselves? It’s important to find a way to appropriately dissipate the energy. Fidget toys designed for adults can help.

As stated previously, this is an entry in a series of articles I’m publishing to share my recommendations of ADHD tools. Not every tool I share will work for every person. You are a unique individual in a unique situation with your own unique experience of the world. Nonetheless, it can help to have the choices of various tools narrowed down for you, and I encourage experimentation.

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The Fube Fidget Cube pictured here has multiple sensory stimulating sides. If the brain gets bored with one type of motion, you can choose another side to manipulate. It easily fits discreetly in a pocket or hand. It’s also quiet, so it can be used during a meeting that requires your concentration or in a public space to relieve anxiety.

 

This Ono Roller is also a quiet ADHD fidget toy to release excess energy and improve concentration whether

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alone or in a group. It fits in a pocket or one hand so it can be used discreetly. It comes in a junior size for smaller hands and a full size. One of the things I really love about is that you can order the roller material (plastic, aluminum, silicone) that is most satisfying to your sensory needs.

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This Magnet Rings fidget toy is so satisfying and provides multiple ways to quietly manipulate them with one hand. Like the other fidget toys listed above, they fit into a pocket and can be used discreetly. There are options for ordering sets of more than three so you can change things up when your brain gets bored.

If you want to try any of these ADHD fidget toys for adults, click on the picture or the highlighted words to view them on Amazon. Full transparency, as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Only purchase my recommended ADHD products if you believe they fit your needs.

 

ADHD Tool Tip: Keep a Running To-Do List

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The ADHD tool I’m sharing in this post is a very simple, basic item: a 3″x5″ pocket journal with a pen. As I’ve stated previously, tools that work for one person do not work for everyone. Choose the tools that best support your unique brain and your unique executive function challenges.

Something that works for me and my brain is a running to-do list. I keep it in a small journal that tucks neatly into my pocket or my purse or, if I’m traveling, my backpack. (I like this one because it comes with a pen, which is very convenient and reduces the chance that my thought might escape while I hunt down something to write with.) At the beginning of the year, I turn to a new page, write the year on it, and continue my list.

As various things I want to remember enter my thoughts, whether something major or something trivial, I add each to my running to-do list. Sometimes, I’m very diligent about keeping my journal with me to write in, and, other times, I lose track of it altogether. When I find it again, I keep going with my list. This running to-do list in my pocket journal ensures that the fleeting thought I had about that very important thing that I keep forgetting will be recorded and available when I’m ready to act on it.

Sometimes I use the list to inform my plans for a day or a week. Sometimes, I go through it and cross off things I’ve completed without even realizing I did. Sometimes, I review the list from the current year and past years to see how much I’ve accomplished.

Not everything I put on the list gets completed. There are things that I’ve written in it that became less important or even irrelevant as time passed and situations changed. That’s okay. In a way it tells a story of my life and its phases and what was important in a particular period of time. The point of the list is to support working memory, decrease anxiety, and evidence successes along the way.

Yes, you can accomplish the same thing using the notes app on your phone or a Google doc on your computer, but don’t underestimate the powerful brain-body connection that occurs when handwriting something. The simple act of handwriting something you want to remember increases the likelihood that you will, even if you lose what you wrote it on, far greater than if you type it into a digital format.

If you’d like to try using a pocket journal to record a running to-do list, clicking on any of the highlighted words or the picture will take you to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate, I earn on qualifying purchases. I like this journal because of the size and convenience of it. If there’s another journal that gets you excited about keeping a running to-do list, get it.

ADHD Tool Tip: Use a Meeting Notebook

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So many of my coaching clients work in roles and industries that require them to attend frequent meetings inside and outside of their departments and teams. Several have shared with me that having a dedicated meeting notebook with prompts has enabled them to walk away from meetings sure that they recorded the key information they need to effectively follow through with action items.

As stated throughout this ADHD tools series, products I’m sharing are only recommendations based on the experience of my clients and myself. There is no one tool that works for everyone. That said, there are so many ADHD tools and products to choose from, I recognize that it does help to have the choices narrowed down.

This Lemare Meeting Notebook for Work Organization is my recommendation for keeping up with work meetings, because working memory challenges and overwhelm posed by ADHD can interfere with recalling key points and assigned tasks after the meeting wraps. The spiral binding lets the pages lie flat and the two-page spread provides lots of room for pre-thinking about an upcoming meeting, writing notes during the meeting, and doodling (for those who doodle to concentrate).

I like that this notebook has prompts for

the meeting objective, the key discussion points, the action items with due dates, and the date and time of the next meeting. There’s a separate page for writing down other details. Pages for creating an index are located at the front of the notebook for easy meeting look-up. And, yes, there are apps for this, but don’t underestimate the power of handwriting information to support working memory and promote recall.

If you’d like to experiment with this meeting notebook, click on the highlighted text or on either of the images to purchase it from Amazon. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualified purchases.

ADHD Tool Tip: Use a Weekly Planner to Assign Priorities to Each Day

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As I continue in this series on my recommendations of ADHD tools, please remember that these recommendations are based on my personal success with various tools and those of my clients. This series of posts is in response to the frequent question of what do I think is the best tool to use to solve a particular ADHD challenge.

I am generally resistant to giving my opinion on that and instead encourage inquirers to do their own research. Yet, I understand that research sometimes returns an overwhelming amount of information that either causes analysis paralysis or a hyperfocused deep dive in search of the most perfect tool, neither of which results in actually acquiring a tool to assist with moving forward. So, this series of posts is designed to narrow the choices and give some useful information.

I have found that a weekly planner, such as the one pictured here, goes a long way in helping me get my head wrapped around a busy week or around a multistep project.

 

This planner has tear-off sheets that I can post on my fridge, my cork board, or tuck into my purse and take on-the-go. Sized like a standard sheet of notebook paper, it doesn’t easily disappear on my desk. Plus, the simple design ensures that what I’ve written isn’t lost in a  flashy background.

The undated pages allow me the flexibility to use it when I need it and set it aside on weeks that I don’t. The structured layout aids me in organizing my thoughts and creating a plan for execution. I particularly love the brain-dump column on the left side of the page. Once I get the brain dump complete (or at least started and added to as I go), I can assign tasks in a meaningful stepwise order to the days of my week.

And while, yes, all of these things can be accomplished digitally, don’t underestimated the power of handwriting information to support the brain’s working memory. Ample research supports this. Thus, even if you use a planner like this to map out your week then misplace it, you’re still more likely to remember and accomplish key tasks than if you don’t use it.

To read more specifics about this weekly planner or to purchase it from Amazon to experiment with, click on the highlighted words or any of the pictures. Full transparency, as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Only purchase this planner if you believe it may meet your needs.

ADHD Tool Tip: Use a Simple Daily Planner

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This post is the second in my series on helpful ADHD tools. As I previously said, I’m sharing tools that I like and that I and/or my coaching clients have had success with. There are lots of different planners on the market, and no single version is the right one for everyone. Nonetheless, it can be useful to have the options narrowed down for you

The left side of the page provides space for a daily brain dump. The right side of the page provides prompts and space for pulling out and organizing the most important brain dump items. It comes in a variety of background colors, but I like the ones shown here because they are neutral so that what I write on the page is more visible than the page itself.

ADHD Tool Tip: Use an Analog Timer

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Coaching clients frequently ask for recommendations of ADHD tools, apps, worksheets, planners, and products that they can use to improve productivity, time management, memory, focus, and other executive function skills. I generally balk at telling clients to use specific products because everyone is different and no one thing works for every person. The products that make my life easier may not be helpful to you.

Nonetheless, I recognize that the abundance of product options available can be overwhelming and potentially either cause paralysis or hyperfocus and rabbit-hole diving. Having someone narrow the field for you can be useful. So I am beginning a series of posts in which I share an ADHD product that I really like and provide informational bullet points on it.

I’m beginning the series with a tool for time management and productivity: a timer. You may be familiar with the Pomodoro Method, in which you break focused work into timed intervals separated by short breaks. A timer is a key tool for this strategy.

Most Pomodoro timers are digital, like the one pictured here.

 

This one is simple to use. You can change the interval time or the break time just by turning the cube over so that the desired time is on the top side.It vibrates to indicate that the interval has expired. It can be very useful for people who judge the passage of time well.

 

For those who don’t, though, it’s important to make the passage of time visible, to give time a spatial dimension. That’s what analog clocks and timers do for us. They show us how much time has passed and how much time remains so that our brain doesn’t have to struggle to guess.

This timer is visually simple and color-coded to aid the brain in determining how long you have worked and how long you have before stopping work to take a break. Likewise, it gives visual information regarding how much time remains in a break. It has lighted face and it’s easy to set by turning the knob.

It helps the brain process and understand time better. The body becomes familiar with what the passage of time feels like. Combined, this leads to better productivity and improved time blindness overall.

Either of these timers can be purchased from Amazon by clicking on the image or the the highlighted descriptive words. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. I am not implying that the timer method will solve issues with time blindness, focus, or productivity for every person with ADHD. If, however, you think you might benefit, I encourage you to experiment with using a timer.

Emotions Are Not Data

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Emotions happen. We don’t control them. We experience them. Emotions provide us with information about our internal state and our interpretation of our external environment, but they are not data.

In certain circumstances, it makes sense to act in response to an emotion. For example, if you’re walking alone in a dark alley and you feel fear, trust it and choose to leave the dark alley in favor of walking on a populated, brightly lit street. 

It’s important to recognize, however, tha

t our brain can fool us. It can use negative emotionsto erroneously warn us thatwe are in danger of becoming prey or being ostracized, two things humans evolutionarily avoid. In its effort to protect us from death bypredators and from loss of a support system, the brain has developed a negativity bias. We are thus sensitive to and very aware of ournegative emotions and allow them to influence our decisions, our personal boundaries, and our relationships.

Karen, a recent client, came to coachingwanting to improve her work-life balance. One of the challenges she identified was her inability to set boundaries around her work day. When she transitioned from working in an office to remote work, this became especially difficult. Through our sessions together, she determined that she wanted to clearly define her work hours for herself and for her colleagues and upper management. As a result, she began declining meetings outside of her defined work hours.

In a follow-up session, I checked in with Karen on how holding this boundary around her work hours was impacting her goal of improved work-life balance. Her face dropped, and she lamented, “It isn’t working.”

I probed, “What part of the strategy isn’t working?”

She said, “It isn’t workingbecause I feel bad about declining meetings.” She wanted to drop the whole strategy and try to findsome other way to “feel like” she had work-life balance.

As we explored this deeper, she acknowledged that she in fact was enjoying more time with her family and keeping up better with household tasks as a result of setting boundaries around her work hours. She reported that tension between her and her husband over her work had also decreased. Furthermore, she could not name any concrete negative repercussions at work. Nonetheless, Karen was using her negative emotion as the sole criteria for judging the effectiveness of her strategy.

Do you recognize yourself in this account? Do you make critical life decisions based on emotional feedback? How can these negative emotions be processed in a meaningful way? What’s a better way to get at useful data points for determining whether what you’re doing is working?


 

First, take some steps to evaluate and manage the emotion itself:

  1. Pause –
    Pausing provides time for your emotional brain to cool down and your logical brain to heat up.
  2. Reflect – Create self-awareness by objectively considering how the emotion influences your physical state, your cognitive state, and your behavioral state. It may enhance your self-awareness to journal your observations.
  3. Name It – Naming an emotion can tame it. Naming it takes away its power over you.
  4. Respond – Choose your response with intention. You can choose to do something in response or to do nothing in response. Choosing is the action in both cases. 

Next, ask yourself two questions about your strategy to collect information beyond your emotion:

  1. Did I do the behavior I committedto?
  2. What observable outcomes did I get as a result?

Together, Karen and I employed these tools to take a 360-degree view of her strategy for improving her work-life balance. She ultimately chose to stick with her boundaries around work hours. She says that she sometimes still feels bad when declining a meeting outside of her work hours, but she uses her new tools to slow down, examine her emotion, and gather accurate data. 

How can you use these tools to achieve your goals?

The Good Life v. The Should Life

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Melanie came to coaching with her brain brimming with tasks, projects, appointments, ideas, and commitments. She also came to coaching shouldering an abundance of shame for how she had not followed through with these things or accomplished them in the way she believed she should. The slump of her shoulders signaled defeat. She felt it in her brain and her body. “I should be on top of this stuff,” she said. “I should just make myself do it. Other people don’t have any trouble getting life done.”

Melanie shared a multitude of “shoulds” with me in that session: she should follow a set daily schedule, she should have a morning routine, she should exercise more, she should manage her email better, she should be like her co-workers who make everything look so easy. Her list was long and varied.

Interestingly, Melanie did not notice the pattern of her chosen words. When I brought to her attention how many times she had used the word “should,” she was genuinely surprised.

We spent a few minutes exploring the impact of “should” on her body, mind, and emotions. She discovered that her belief in “should” was blocking her from moving forward on her tasks, projects, appointments, ideas, and commitments. She realized that “should” was at the root of her feelings of overwhelm, paralysis,and shame.

I asked Melanie, “What do you want?”

She grew very quiet and looked away as she struggled to untangle what she really wanted from what shethought she should want. As we talked it through, she allowed herself to get curious about how she moves through the world and the value in her way of doing things.

At last, she found a thread to pull at. She said, “I want to live a good life.” Over the next few sessions we unpacked and definedwhat “a good life” looks like for Melanie, without any shoulds attached to it. In fact, she determined that a good life for her has no shoulds.

How about you? What kind of life are you living? What kind of life do you want to live?

Are you enjoying The Good Life? Or are you mired in The Should Life?