September 19, 2024 • 19 mins
Today I'm sharing some of the ways that being an ADHDer is a strength for me as a business owner, and a few ways it makes things challenging.
If you're listening on my Exploring Neurodiversity Podcast, and you'd like to learn more from me in my 'other hat' where I support Neurodivergent Business owners, here's how you can find me:
- Subscribe to the Differently Aligned Podcast
- Follow me on Instagram @neurodivergent.business
- Through Play. Learn. Chat., my course for Speech Therapists 'Affirming Communication for Autistic Children': https://playlearnchat.com/acac-course/
- Grab 20% off my already-low-cost workbook - The Aligned Business Workbook for Neurodivergent Business Owners. Use code POD20 here: https://courses.ndbusiness.co/offers/kdZKBFa3?coupon_code=POD20
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:07):
Welcome to the ExploringNeurodiversity Podcast for adults
who support Neurodivergent children.
Whether you're an allied healthprofessional, medical professional,
education professional or aparent of a Neurodivergent
child, you are welcome here.
This podcast is recorded on the Aboriginallands of the Gadigal and Bidjigal people.
I acknowledge the traditional ownerselders past and present, and I extend
(00:28):
my acknowledgement to any Aboriginalfirst nations people listening in.
I'm Adina from Play.
Learn.
Chat.
I'm an autistic ADHDer, a speechtherapist, professional educator
speaker, and I also supportNeurodivergent Business owners in
my other business, neurodivergentBusiness Coaching and Consulting.
I'm obsessed with creating a world whenNeurodivergent people are understood,
(00:48):
embraced, supported, and celebrated.
A world where we Neurodivergentpeople can understand ourselves and
thrive in a life aligned with ourindividual strengths, wants and needs.
On the Exploring NeurodiversityPodcast, you'll get my
perspectives and conversationswith my Neurodivergent friends.
All about how adults can best supportNeurodivergent children in our lives.
(01:09):
I bring a NeurodiversityAffirming approach and indeed a
human affirming approach to thesupport that we all provide for
Neurodivergent kids in our lives.
Let's dive in.
If you listen to my recent podcastepisode, I was sharing my strengths
as an autistic business owner.
Basically how the artisticside of me informs and
supports my business practices.
(01:29):
And also some of the challenges ofbeing autistic in business as well.
So this is the companion episode.
This is my ADHD episode.
I am an autistic ADHD,also known as an audio HDR.
My brain and my experience is not quiteas simple as carving it up into two parts,
autistic and ADHD, but sometimes I do findit quite useful to consider how these two.
(01:52):
Neurotypes do impact on my life.
And often it's in positive ways,especially the way that I've been
shaping my life over the last few years.
So that my.
Life is more aligned.
With what my brain needs andwith what I'm really good at.
This episode is recorded for mydifferently aligned podcast for
Neurodivergent Business owners.
But you might also be listening toit on my other podcast, which is
(02:15):
called exploring neurodiversity.
I have two businesses.
You'll hear a little bit aboutthat in this episode where
I talk about being an ADHD.
And business owner.
Each business has a podcast, but Idid feel that what I'm sharing, even
though it's specifically about meas a Neurodivergent Business owner.
I think it can really help.
You if you're.
(02:35):
Change.
If you are listening onexploring your diversity podcast.
And you're an adult who supportsNeurodivergent children.
I think this could be a helpfulthing for you to hear one story,
just my own personal story.
About what life as aNeurodivergent adult can look like.
And zooming out a little, ratherthan just seeing it as my own
brain and my experience equals mylife, but you might also take some.
(02:58):
Things about creating a life for anindividual or supporting an individual
to create a life for themselves thatis most aligned with what they're good
at the way that their brain works,the way that their body works, the
way that they want to live their life.
So that's why I decided to sharethis episode across both podcasts.
And if you are listening to this onthe exploring neuro-diversity podcast,
you might also want to head over tomy other podcast, differently aligned,
(03:21):
and on that one, actually much morespecific information for Neurodivergent
Business owners to support you.
To have a business that is different,but aligned with you, what you need,
your passion, your brain, your,everything, everything about you and
your individual version of business.
Okay.
So let's head into some of the waysthat being an ADHD is a strength for
(03:42):
me as a business owner, but also someof the challenges that it brings me.
One of my ADHD strengths is that Iget incredibly, deeply passionate
and enthusiastic about novel things,meaning new things, new ideas,
new approaches, new tech tools,new strategies, new directions,
new innovations, and new programs.
Something new pops into my brain.
(04:04):
And it feels immediately exciting.
Wonderful.
And just, you know,something I must, must do.
Most of the time.
This is a strength.
This has allowed me to create awhole lot of interesting different.
I mean predominantly differentto what other people are doing.
Activities and.
Initiatives throughout my businesses.
(04:25):
I find that this enthusiasm for new ideascome through really with my marketing
efforts, my social media efforts,things like podcast episodes, and so on.
Especially when I actually have adecent amount of time to create the
things that my brain has ideas about.
When I'm able to create the thingthat has popped into my brain quite
close to the time of having that idea.
(04:46):
It's amazing.
I go all in my brain is there.
I deliver, I create something brilliant.
There's two ways that this is a challenge.
One is where I have thisreally, really big idea.
And I don't have thetime to execute the ID.
Anywhere near the time when I had it.
When this happens, I mightlose interest and momentum.
By the time I actually go to dothe work to create the thing.
(05:09):
That's one challenge.
The other challenge is that sometimesit can lead me down the garden path.
Sometimes I can get distracted withinitiatives that are not the core
business or not the best idea ornot the most important, stable, good
idea for my business at that time.
But I took a lot about businessbeing a series of experiments.
(05:31):
And with that perspective,with the mindset of approaching
different ideas initiatives.
, directions.
Approaching these as experiments.
This is turning it back into a strength.
It means that when I pursue a new idea,I can then have a new piece of data, a
new bit of information to see how thatexperiment has panned out and then decide
whether I pursue it further or go downthat direction more or leave it move on.
(05:54):
It takes quite a lot of focus andcommitment for me to actually look
back at the previous experiments.
And I guess this is part of thechallenge of me being in ADHD as well.
Once I've done a thing.
Let's say, for example, launchingmy cost for speech therapists,
which is called Affirmingcommunication for autistic children.
Once I do the big launch and I throwmyself all in and I support lots of
(06:16):
people to get lots of free content.
I make sure that lots of peoplealso have information about how
they can keep learning with me.
I go through that whole process.
I go all in and by the time I'm done.
My momentum has gone.
My focus has gone.
My squirrel brain has probably movedon to thinking about something else.
It takes quite a lot of self-controlfor me to actually go back and do the
review that I know is super, superimportant for me to do as a business
(06:39):
practice so that I can actually seewhether my experiments are working or not.
I will say in the last, probably couple ofmonths started trialing ADHD medication.
One of the benefits that I've foundthat brings me is that I can sometimes.
Kind of not make myself, butI can help myself do work.
That seems otherwise boring orless inspiring or less exciting.
(07:00):
So when I do recognize that there'ssomething that is very important to do
in my business, but maybe not as fun.
So it could be dealing with finances.
It could be reviewing a launchthat is now in the past and wanting
to be forgotten from my brain.
Taking the meds does help me approachthose tasks that feel a little less
exciting, but I just kind of decide it'simportant and I get on with it and do it.
(07:22):
So my ability to initiate tasksis actually quite heightened at
the moment, which is fantasticoutcome for me, for the medication.
Your mileage may vary.
Side note, if you are an ADHD andyou're considering medication, please
speak to a medical professional.
Don't take my story.
As you know, the only way.
An op shop of all of thisis when I am able to.
(07:43):
Spend time working on somethingthat my brain has just thought
about and got excited about.
I can go into deep, deep hyper-focus.
I can do some incredibly deep, complicatedwork that, you know, connecting the dots.
And it's almost like that GIFif you've ever seen that image.
I think it's Julia Roberts, perhaps Idon't even know what maybe it's from, but
she sort of looking at a glass pane, likemoving numbers around something like that.
(08:04):
I'd love to know what maybeit's from, let me know.
Um, yeah, I kind of feel like thatthis sort of deep intensity and adjust.
Do create connect act, take action.
And then I love that feeling.
I don't get it often enough in my life,but want to have the space to do that
and to work on deep, deep projects.
It's so fulfilling for me.
Again, there's a shadow side of thatdeep hyper-focus, which is things like.
(08:26):
Forgetting to go to the bathroomfor getting to have lunch, skipping
exercise or a walk that day becauseI'm just so deep in the thing.
And it's not even necessarilythat I feel I have to do it.
It's more that I just deeply deeply wantto keep working on that thing while the
loop is open and the task is unfinished.
That kind of work is really fun, but Ido need to watch that I don't do it all
the time and then forget to actually lookafter my body and other parts of my life.
(08:48):
One of the other strengths of beingan ADHD business owner is a little
element of risk taking, I think.
I wouldn't say that I'm a massiverisk taker in life in general.
I'm quite cautious.
I have quite a decentlevel of anxiety possibly.
Thanks to my autistic side.
Or maybe that's a separate thing.
But I have created thesetwo businesses that I have.
(09:09):
Play learn chat and NeurodivergentBusiness coaching and consulting.
I've made sure that I allow forwhat I call like the bread and
butter in both of the businesses.
So there's some stable things that keephappening and keep bringing in money in my
businesses and a pretty predictable and.
Reliable ways of doing business.
And once I have those in place, Ithen give myself the freedom to take
(09:32):
some of those risks, to do some ofthose experiments, to try new things.
And if I don't.
Exactly go.
How I'd hoped.
Then that's okay.
I can learn from it and Ican try the next new thing.
I feel like without my ADHD side,like if I could somehow imagine myself
as autistic only, and not ADHD or.
I don't think I wouldbe open to taking risks.
(09:53):
I think.
That I would probably be employed.
And wanting something that's very kindof samey day to day, week to week.
And reliable and safe and allof those things that my autistic
brain would probably really want.
So, I guess this is the dynamic betweenthe two neuro types in my brain.
And I try as often as possibleto turn it into a strength.
(10:14):
Noticing that ADHD meet, wants totake some risks, try new things.
Put myself out there.
Do interesting stuff.
That drives me forward.
And that helps me help more peoplein more different ways that are more
responsive to what people are asking for.
Autistic me.
I feel holds that back just alittle, like in a way that I
(10:35):
think mostly keeps me safe enough.
We'll call it.
So that I'm not taking such wildrisks, that I'm going to put myself
out of business or go into deep debt.
Things like that would not work for me.
So, you know, perhaps it's almostlike a tug of war between my two neuro
types, sort of taking a little bitof risk, but not too much risk and
backing myself up just a little bit.
So that if the risk doesn't turnout to be spot on, then that's okay.
(10:58):
I've still got backup plans.
That dynamic.
Yeah, it happens every day in mybusinesses, but it's actually part of that
experimentation part of that interplay.
And that for life I've createdfor myself to allow that.
Dynamic to happen.
Now some of the challenges ofbeing an ADHD, a business owner.
These are heavy.
They might be talked about a lot.
I just have to bring them up.
I don't want to go into them toomuch because they're my reality.
(11:20):
And I deal with them all the time.
Time management and estimation of time.
Is it complete disaster for me?
I just do not have the ability to do that.
And even though I sometimesget quite analytical track time
reflect on how long things took me.
So that next time I can be more accuratein guessing how long it will take me.
I still cannot get anywherenear correct time estimations.
(11:44):
I just can't.
And so where this really falls apart forme is when I'm approaching, let's say a
big clear Workday, and I've got my to-dolist of all the things I'd love to do.
And then I even spend time honingit and going, okay, here are the.
Few things that I really,really need to get done today.
And here are a few things thatI really want to get done today.
I still don't even scratch thesurface of those things because.
(12:07):
I have absolutely no ideahow long things will take me.
Sometimes I get into a task and I godeeper than I ever thought, and it's
great work and I can't step away from it.
So I just have to go with it.
And other times,
Pretty much like right now, Ithink a podcast episode that might
end up being 15 ish minutes long.
I think I go, that'll takeme 15 minutes to record.
That's not true.
(12:28):
I know that time and time again.
But yeah, I still make that mistake.
I think that I'm improvingover time ever so slightly.
But mainly to address this, whatI'm doing is just deciding that.
I want to remove.
Time pressure from mylife as much as possible.
I think rather than trying to fix mybrain and get better at estimating
time, I'm trying to roll with it.
(12:49):
And structure my days more loosely and myoverall volume of things that I attempt
to do or things that I plan to do, orthe pace at which I plan to do things.
I try to slow that down sothat I have more space for.
When I miss estimate time.
So I keep my calendar very, very spacious.
I'm trying to get better at spacingout things like big launches or big
(13:10):
events within my two businesses, sothat there's more space between them.
And that generally allows me to notfeel too much time pressure because I
inevitably know I will still over-scheduleand over-commit myself regardless.
And so on this over-committing, this iswhere I have talked about my June of 2024.
Very near miss with burnout.
There's a phrase that I've heard.
(13:31):
I don't know who to creditit to, but I love it.
It's my ADHD brain writes checksthat my autistic brain can't cash.
What that means is ADHD me gets veryexcited about all kinds of interesting
opportunities and ideas and thingsthat I might commit to in the future.
So I basically signed myself upfor future me to do all these
different things down the line.
(13:51):
When it comes time for thosethings to actually occur.
I've signed myself up for way too much.
That was a big mistake Idid in June, specifically.
And that overcommitment is somethingI have a tendency to want to do.
And now I'm just so, so much morecautious about saying yes to anything.
So the number of clients that Itake on for business coaching is
(14:12):
much smaller than it used to be.
The number of project I'm doingat any one moment is just way less
than my ADHD inclination would be.
am a part of me feels kind ofnervous with that thinking.
Oh no, I've got to do more.
I've got to do more.
I'm reminding myself with the evidence.
When I look at the stats, the numbers,the dollars, the results, the feedback
I get from people that when I doless, I can do it with more quality.
(14:32):
I can impact more peopleand help more people.
Well, continuing to be a happyhuman without burning out.
But this is a really conscious effort.
It is far from natural for me.
So I'm working on consciously,under committing now.
Maybe I'll talk more about that in awhile after I've practiced it for a little
bit longer and see how I go with it.
(14:53):
The last challenge thatI'll share is about.
The risk of coming across as inconsistent.
There are a lot more ideas I have thanwhat I actually follow through one.
And most of the time I try.
To run my ideas through a carefulfilter to figure out is it actually
aligned with what that business does?
With what people are needing withwhat people are asking for, or is it
(15:13):
just something that I had as a shinynew ID that I can sort of put on a
shelf and come back to later, maybe.
There is a risk for you.
The listener, the audience,customers, clients.
I think if I allowed my ADHD brainto basically take the helm and
run both of my businesses fully.
The risk would be that mybusinesses would not be consistent.
(15:34):
And that.
My audience clients, customerswouldn't know from week to week.
What I offer,.
What I do.
It's kind of been the case in Playlandchat where I originally supported
parents of Neurodivergent children.
In fact, at the very, very beginning, Iwas directly seeing clients in my office.
And then online.
Then I shifted to parents support model.
And then from there I started working.
(15:55):
With more and more professionalsto support them in your
diversity of farming practices.
I now no longer offer anydirect services for parents.
If you are a parent listening to thispodcast or some, I am so glad you're here.
And I know that you'revery well supported.
Well, I hope so.
With all the professionals outthere, including some that I
have provided training full.
But that's a big shift.
I still get inquiries about.
(16:16):
Services that I just don't offer anymore.
Now, anytime I have cut off apart of my service provision, I've
done that very, very thoughtfully.
But this morphing over time, surelydoes come with a bit of a risk that
it might feel to you as a listener,as somebody watching my business.
You know, wondering whatam I going to do next?
And honestly, I don't know the answer,but I do aim to consistently provide high
(16:38):
quality in your diversity of framing.
Uh, support information and education.
Whether that is for adultswho support children.
Or whether it is for business owners whoare supporting themselves, there is this
big umbrella theme of me providing yourdiversity affirming approaches to life.
So that's where I feel really solidand consistent and passionate.
(17:00):
And it's almost like the littlecontainers within that big bucket.
Those are my specific offers and businessactivities and podcasts courses, webinars,
my membership for business owners.
Those are the pieces that canmorph and change over time.
But me the heart of me, the soulof me, I hope that this is what's
coming through as consistent.
So I guess the overarching idea forhow I deal with my challenges is to
(17:22):
recognize them, to understand them.
To give myself some grace forthe fact that these challenges
exist and to understand themas part of my ADHD profile.
And then to create a way ofsupporting myself with those things,
or basically removing the need forthose things to be an issue at all.
These are some of the things thatI hope that you take for yourself
, if you are an NeurodivergentBusiness or for the Neurodivergent
(17:45):
kids that you're supporting.
And I think it's the way that we shouldapproach all of life, understand the
individual that you're thinking about.
Understand what works for them.
What's hard for them.
Help them craft a life with moreof what they are passionate about.
More of what's easy for them cancome through and shine and exist.
And a life where those challenges.
Don't impact things as negatively.
(18:07):
Those challenges are supported more.
Well, those challenges in some casescan be flipped to become a strength.
I am going to leave it there.
Don't forget that if you'relistening to me on my exploring
neuro-diversity podcast, head overto the differently aligned podcast.
If you're a Neurodivergent Business owner.
The link is in the show notes.
So you can go over there and tap itand head on over and press subscribe.
(18:28):
So you can hear me chat more about mebeing Neurodivergent in business and
how you can support yourself better.
And I've also got 20% off my alreadylow cost workbook for Neurodivergent
Business owners, it's calledthe aligned business workbook.
It is a thing of beauty.
It is a thing I am so deeply proud of.
It's got pages of activities,a little bit of information.
(18:48):
It's mostly about you.
Understanding yourself as a NeurodivergentBusiness owner and as a human and what you
want in your life and from your businessand figuring out how you can create that
business that is more aligned for you.
So you can get 20% off that usingthe code POD20 P O D two zero.
The link is in the show notes as well.
So don't think about rememberingthat that is all good.
(19:11):
Thank you so much for listeningand I can't wait to catch
you on the next episode.
Thank you so much for sharingthis space and time with me.
Thank you for being open tolearning and unlearning and to
listening to the perspectives andexperiences of Neurodivergent folks.
If you found this episode helpful,please share it with a friend, share a
screenshot on Instagram, pop a five starrating and a review in your favorite app.
(19:32):
And join me on Instagram and Facebook.
I'm @play.Learn.chat.
Have a spectacular day!
Welcome to the ExploringNeurodiversity Podcast for adults
who support Neurodivergent children.
Whether you're an allied healthprofessional, medical professional,
education professional or aparent of a Neurodivergent
child, you are welcome here.
This podcast is recorded on the Aboriginallands of the Gadigal and Bidjigal people.
I acknowledge the traditional ownerselders past and present, and I extend
(00:28):
my acknowledgement to any Aboriginalfirst nations people listening in.
I'm Adina from Play.
Learn.
Chat.
I'm an autistic ADHDer, a speechtherapist, professional educator
speaker, and I also supportNeurodivergent Business owners in
my other business, neurodivergentBusiness Coaching and Consulting.
I'm obsessed with creating a world whenNeurodivergent people are understood,
(00:48):
embraced, supported, and celebrated.
A world where we Neurodivergentpeople can understand ourselves and
thrive in a life aligned with ourindividual strengths, wants and needs.
On the Exploring NeurodiversityPodcast, you'll get my
perspectives and conversationswith my Neurodivergent friends.
All about how adults can best supportNeurodivergent children in our lives.
(01:09):
I bring a NeurodiversityAffirming approach and indeed a
human affirming approach to thesupport that we all provide for
Neurodivergent kids in our lives.
Let's dive in.
If you listen to my recent podcastepisode, I was sharing my strengths
as an autistic business owner.
Basically how the artisticside of me informs and
supports my business practices.
(01:29):
And also some of the challenges ofbeing autistic in business as well.
So this is the companion episode.
This is my ADHD episode.
I am an autistic ADHD,also known as an audio HDR.
My brain and my experience is not quiteas simple as carving it up into two parts,
autistic and ADHD, but sometimes I do findit quite useful to consider how these two.
(01:52):
Neurotypes do impact on my life.
And often it's in positive ways,especially the way that I've been
shaping my life over the last few years.
So that my.
Life is more aligned.
With what my brain needs andwith what I'm really good at.
This episode is recorded for mydifferently aligned podcast for
Neurodivergent Business owners.
But you might also be listening toit on my other podcast, which is
(02:15):
called exploring neurodiversity.
I have two businesses.
You'll hear a little bit aboutthat in this episode where
I talk about being an ADHD.
And business owner.
Each business has a podcast, but Idid feel that what I'm sharing, even
though it's specifically about meas a Neurodivergent Business owner.
I think it can really help.
You if you're.
(02:35):
Change.
If you are listening onexploring your diversity podcast.
And you're an adult who supportsNeurodivergent children.
I think this could be a helpfulthing for you to hear one story,
just my own personal story.
About what life as aNeurodivergent adult can look like.
And zooming out a little, ratherthan just seeing it as my own
brain and my experience equals mylife, but you might also take some.
(02:58):
Things about creating a life for anindividual or supporting an individual
to create a life for themselves thatis most aligned with what they're good
at the way that their brain works,the way that their body works, the
way that they want to live their life.
So that's why I decided to sharethis episode across both podcasts.
And if you are listening to this onthe exploring neuro-diversity podcast,
you might also want to head over tomy other podcast, differently aligned,
(03:21):
and on that one, actually much morespecific information for Neurodivergent
Business owners to support you.
To have a business that is different,but aligned with you, what you need,
your passion, your brain, your,everything, everything about you and
your individual version of business.
Okay.
So let's head into some of the waysthat being an ADHD is a strength for
(03:42):
me as a business owner, but also someof the challenges that it brings me.
One of my ADHD strengths is that Iget incredibly, deeply passionate
and enthusiastic about novel things,meaning new things, new ideas,
new approaches, new tech tools,new strategies, new directions,
new innovations, and new programs.
Something new pops into my brain.
(04:04):
And it feels immediately exciting.
Wonderful.
And just, you know,something I must, must do.
Most of the time.
This is a strength.
This has allowed me to create awhole lot of interesting different.
I mean predominantly differentto what other people are doing.
Activities and.
Initiatives throughout my businesses.
(04:25):
I find that this enthusiasm for new ideascome through really with my marketing
efforts, my social media efforts,things like podcast episodes, and so on.
Especially when I actually have adecent amount of time to create the
things that my brain has ideas about.
When I'm able to create the thingthat has popped into my brain quite
close to the time of having that idea.
(04:46):
It's amazing.
I go all in my brain is there.
I deliver, I create something brilliant.
There's two ways that this is a challenge.
One is where I have thisreally, really big idea.
And I don't have thetime to execute the ID.
Anywhere near the time when I had it.
When this happens, I mightlose interest and momentum.
By the time I actually go to dothe work to create the thing.
(05:09):
That's one challenge.
The other challenge is that sometimesit can lead me down the garden path.
Sometimes I can get distracted withinitiatives that are not the core
business or not the best idea ornot the most important, stable, good
idea for my business at that time.
But I took a lot about businessbeing a series of experiments.
(05:31):
And with that perspective,with the mindset of approaching
different ideas initiatives.
, directions.
Approaching these as experiments.
This is turning it back into a strength.
It means that when I pursue a new idea,I can then have a new piece of data, a
new bit of information to see how thatexperiment has panned out and then decide
whether I pursue it further or go downthat direction more or leave it move on.
(05:54):
It takes quite a lot of focus andcommitment for me to actually look
back at the previous experiments.
And I guess this is part of thechallenge of me being in ADHD as well.
Once I've done a thing.
Let's say, for example, launchingmy cost for speech therapists,
which is called Affirmingcommunication for autistic children.
Once I do the big launch and I throwmyself all in and I support lots of
(06:16):
people to get lots of free content.
I make sure that lots of peoplealso have information about how
they can keep learning with me.
I go through that whole process.
I go all in and by the time I'm done.
My momentum has gone.
My focus has gone.
My squirrel brain has probably movedon to thinking about something else.
It takes quite a lot of self-controlfor me to actually go back and do the
review that I know is super, superimportant for me to do as a business
(06:39):
practice so that I can actually seewhether my experiments are working or not.
I will say in the last, probably couple ofmonths started trialing ADHD medication.
One of the benefits that I've foundthat brings me is that I can sometimes.
Kind of not make myself, butI can help myself do work.
That seems otherwise boring orless inspiring or less exciting.
(07:00):
So when I do recognize that there'ssomething that is very important to do
in my business, but maybe not as fun.
So it could be dealing with finances.
It could be reviewing a launchthat is now in the past and wanting
to be forgotten from my brain.
Taking the meds does help me approachthose tasks that feel a little less
exciting, but I just kind of decide it'simportant and I get on with it and do it.
(07:22):
So my ability to initiate tasksis actually quite heightened at
the moment, which is fantasticoutcome for me, for the medication.
Your mileage may vary.
Side note, if you are an ADHD andyou're considering medication, please
speak to a medical professional.
Don't take my story.
As you know, the only way.
An op shop of all of thisis when I am able to.
(07:43):
Spend time working on somethingthat my brain has just thought
about and got excited about.
I can go into deep, deep hyper-focus.
I can do some incredibly deep, complicatedwork that, you know, connecting the dots.
And it's almost like that GIFif you've ever seen that image.
I think it's Julia Roberts, perhaps Idon't even know what maybe it's from, but
she sort of looking at a glass pane, likemoving numbers around something like that.
(08:04):
I'd love to know what maybeit's from, let me know.
Um, yeah, I kind of feel like thatthis sort of deep intensity and adjust.
Do create connect act, take action.
And then I love that feeling.
I don't get it often enough in my life,but want to have the space to do that
and to work on deep, deep projects.
It's so fulfilling for me.
Again, there's a shadow side of thatdeep hyper-focus, which is things like.
(08:26):
Forgetting to go to the bathroomfor getting to have lunch, skipping
exercise or a walk that day becauseI'm just so deep in the thing.
And it's not even necessarilythat I feel I have to do it.
It's more that I just deeply deeply wantto keep working on that thing while the
loop is open and the task is unfinished.
That kind of work is really fun, but Ido need to watch that I don't do it all
the time and then forget to actually lookafter my body and other parts of my life.
(08:48):
One of the other strengths of beingan ADHD business owner is a little
element of risk taking, I think.
I wouldn't say that I'm a massiverisk taker in life in general.
I'm quite cautious.
I have quite a decentlevel of anxiety possibly.
Thanks to my autistic side.
Or maybe that's a separate thing.
But I have created thesetwo businesses that I have.
(09:09):
Play learn chat and NeurodivergentBusiness coaching and consulting.
I've made sure that I allow forwhat I call like the bread and
butter in both of the businesses.
So there's some stable things that keephappening and keep bringing in money in my
businesses and a pretty predictable and.
Reliable ways of doing business.
And once I have those in place, Ithen give myself the freedom to take
(09:32):
some of those risks, to do some ofthose experiments, to try new things.
And if I don't.
Exactly go.
How I'd hoped.
Then that's okay.
I can learn from it and Ican try the next new thing.
I feel like without my ADHD side,like if I could somehow imagine myself
as autistic only, and not ADHD or.
I don't think I wouldbe open to taking risks.
(09:53):
I think.
That I would probably be employed.
And wanting something that's very kindof samey day to day, week to week.
And reliable and safe and allof those things that my autistic
brain would probably really want.
So, I guess this is the dynamic betweenthe two neuro types in my brain.
And I try as often as possibleto turn it into a strength.
(10:14):
Noticing that ADHD meet, wants totake some risks, try new things.
Put myself out there.
Do interesting stuff.
That drives me forward.
And that helps me help more peoplein more different ways that are more
responsive to what people are asking for.
Autistic me.
I feel holds that back just alittle, like in a way that I
(10:35):
think mostly keeps me safe enough.
We'll call it.
So that I'm not taking such wildrisks, that I'm going to put myself
out of business or go into deep debt.
Things like that would not work for me.
So, you know, perhaps it's almostlike a tug of war between my two neuro
types, sort of taking a little bitof risk, but not too much risk and
backing myself up just a little bit.
So that if the risk doesn't turnout to be spot on, then that's okay.
(10:58):
I've still got backup plans.
That dynamic.
Yeah, it happens every day in mybusinesses, but it's actually part of that
experimentation part of that interplay.
And that for life I've createdfor myself to allow that.
Dynamic to happen.
Now some of the challenges ofbeing an ADHD, a business owner.
These are heavy.
They might be talked about a lot.
I just have to bring them up.
I don't want to go into them toomuch because they're my reality.
(11:20):
And I deal with them all the time.
Time management and estimation of time.
Is it complete disaster for me?
I just do not have the ability to do that.
And even though I sometimesget quite analytical track time
reflect on how long things took me.
So that next time I can be more accuratein guessing how long it will take me.
I still cannot get anywherenear correct time estimations.
(11:44):
I just can't.
And so where this really falls apart forme is when I'm approaching, let's say a
big clear Workday, and I've got my to-dolist of all the things I'd love to do.
And then I even spend time honingit and going, okay, here are the.
Few things that I really,really need to get done today.
And here are a few things thatI really want to get done today.
I still don't even scratch thesurface of those things because.
(12:07):
I have absolutely no ideahow long things will take me.
Sometimes I get into a task and I godeeper than I ever thought, and it's
great work and I can't step away from it.
So I just have to go with it.
And other times,
Pretty much like right now, Ithink a podcast episode that might
end up being 15 ish minutes long.
I think I go, that'll takeme 15 minutes to record.
That's not true.
(12:28):
I know that time and time again.
But yeah, I still make that mistake.
I think that I'm improvingover time ever so slightly.
But mainly to address this, whatI'm doing is just deciding that.
I want to remove.
Time pressure from mylife as much as possible.
I think rather than trying to fix mybrain and get better at estimating
time, I'm trying to roll with it.
(12:49):
And structure my days more loosely and myoverall volume of things that I attempt
to do or things that I plan to do, orthe pace at which I plan to do things.
I try to slow that down sothat I have more space for.
When I miss estimate time.
So I keep my calendar very, very spacious.
I'm trying to get better at spacingout things like big launches or big
(13:10):
events within my two businesses, sothat there's more space between them.
And that generally allows me to notfeel too much time pressure because I
inevitably know I will still over-scheduleand over-commit myself regardless.
And so on this over-committing, this iswhere I have talked about my June of 2024.
Very near miss with burnout.
There's a phrase that I've heard.
(13:31):
I don't know who to creditit to, but I love it.
It's my ADHD brain writes checksthat my autistic brain can't cash.
What that means is ADHD me gets veryexcited about all kinds of interesting
opportunities and ideas and thingsthat I might commit to in the future.
So I basically signed myself upfor future me to do all these
different things down the line.
(13:51):
When it comes time for thosethings to actually occur.
I've signed myself up for way too much.
That was a big mistake Idid in June, specifically.
And that overcommitment is somethingI have a tendency to want to do.
And now I'm just so, so much morecautious about saying yes to anything.
So the number of clients that Itake on for business coaching is
(14:12):
much smaller than it used to be.
The number of project I'm doingat any one moment is just way less
than my ADHD inclination would be.
am a part of me feels kind ofnervous with that thinking.
Oh no, I've got to do more.
I've got to do more.
I'm reminding myself with the evidence.
When I look at the stats, the numbers,the dollars, the results, the feedback
I get from people that when I doless, I can do it with more quality.
(14:32):
I can impact more peopleand help more people.
Well, continuing to be a happyhuman without burning out.
But this is a really conscious effort.
It is far from natural for me.
So I'm working on consciously,under committing now.
Maybe I'll talk more about that in awhile after I've practiced it for a little
bit longer and see how I go with it.
(14:53):
The last challenge thatI'll share is about.
The risk of coming across as inconsistent.
There are a lot more ideas I have thanwhat I actually follow through one.
And most of the time I try.
To run my ideas through a carefulfilter to figure out is it actually
aligned with what that business does?
With what people are needing withwhat people are asking for, or is it
(15:13):
just something that I had as a shinynew ID that I can sort of put on a
shelf and come back to later, maybe.
There is a risk for you.
The listener, the audience,customers, clients.
I think if I allowed my ADHD brainto basically take the helm and
run both of my businesses fully.
The risk would be that mybusinesses would not be consistent.
(15:34):
And that.
My audience clients, customerswouldn't know from week to week.
What I offer,.
What I do.
It's kind of been the case in Playlandchat where I originally supported
parents of Neurodivergent children.
In fact, at the very, very beginning, Iwas directly seeing clients in my office.
And then online.
Then I shifted to parents support model.
And then from there I started working.
(15:55):
With more and more professionalsto support them in your
diversity of farming practices.
I now no longer offer anydirect services for parents.
If you are a parent listening to thispodcast or some, I am so glad you're here.
And I know that you'revery well supported.
Well, I hope so.
With all the professionals outthere, including some that I
have provided training full.
But that's a big shift.
I still get inquiries about.
(16:16):
Services that I just don't offer anymore.
Now, anytime I have cut off apart of my service provision, I've
done that very, very thoughtfully.
But this morphing over time, surelydoes come with a bit of a risk that
it might feel to you as a listener,as somebody watching my business.
You know, wondering whatam I going to do next?
And honestly, I don't know the answer,but I do aim to consistently provide high
(16:38):
quality in your diversity of framing.
Uh, support information and education.
Whether that is for adultswho support children.
Or whether it is for business owners whoare supporting themselves, there is this
big umbrella theme of me providing yourdiversity affirming approaches to life.
So that's where I feel really solidand consistent and passionate.
(17:00):
And it's almost like the littlecontainers within that big bucket.
Those are my specific offers and businessactivities and podcasts courses, webinars,
my membership for business owners.
Those are the pieces that canmorph and change over time.
But me the heart of me, the soulof me, I hope that this is what's
coming through as consistent.
So I guess the overarching idea forhow I deal with my challenges is to
(17:22):
recognize them, to understand them.
To give myself some grace forthe fact that these challenges
exist and to understand themas part of my ADHD profile.
And then to create a way ofsupporting myself with those things,
or basically removing the need forthose things to be an issue at all.
These are some of the things thatI hope that you take for yourself
, if you are an NeurodivergentBusiness or for the Neurodivergent
(17:45):
kids that you're supporting.
And I think it's the way that we shouldapproach all of life, understand the
individual that you're thinking about.
Understand what works for them.
What's hard for them.
Help them craft a life with moreof what they are passionate about.
More of what's easy for them cancome through and shine and exist.
And a life where those challenges.
Don't impact things as negatively.
(18:07):
Those challenges are supported more.
Well, those challenges in some casescan be flipped to become a strength.
I am going to leave it there.
Don't forget that if you'relistening to me on my exploring
neuro-diversity podcast, head overto the differently aligned podcast.
If you're a Neurodivergent Business owner.
The link is in the show notes.
So you can go over there and tap itand head on over and press subscribe.
(18:28):
So you can hear me chat more about mebeing Neurodivergent in business and
how you can support yourself better.
And I've also got 20% off my alreadylow cost workbook for Neurodivergent
Business owners, it's calledthe aligned business workbook.
It is a thing of beauty.
It is a thing I am so deeply proud of.
It's got pages of activities,a little bit of information.
(18:48):
It's mostly about you.
Understanding yourself as a NeurodivergentBusiness owner and as a human and what you
want in your life and from your businessand figuring out how you can create that
business that is more aligned for you.
So you can get 20% off that usingthe code POD20 P O D two zero.
The link is in the show notes as well.
So don't think about rememberingthat that is all good.
(19:11):
Thank you so much for listeningand I can't wait to catch
you on the next episode.
Thank you so much for sharingthis space and time with me.
Thank you for being open tolearning and unlearning and to
listening to the perspectives andexperiences of Neurodivergent folks.
If you found this episode helpful,please share it with a friend, share a
screenshot on Instagram, pop a five starrating and a review in your favorite app.
(19:32):
And join me on Instagram and Facebook.
I'm @play.Learn.chat.
Have a spectacular day!
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