Learn to Thrive with ADHD Podcast

Have you ever gotten a ton done one day, and then a day or two later you couldn't get started on the exact same thing? It's so frustrating, because you know you can do it. You already did it.

In this episode, I talk about why performance can be so inconsistent with ADHD, and why that doesn't mean something is wrong with you. Something changed. I'll walk you through how to notice what was different on the easier days, how to stop usi...

Coach Mande John got on a coaching call last week feeling mentally and physically exhausted - a high-energy new puppy, big projects in motion, and the sense that everything was taking more out of her than she had to give. She got off that call with more energy and a clearer head. Nothing in her life had changed. The puppy was still there. The projects were still there. So what shifted?

This episode is about ADHD mental energy: the d...

Big projects can feel especially heavy with ADHD — not because you can't do hard things, but because a "big project" usually isn't one task. It's 20 to 100 of them, and a lot of those steps aren't even visible until you've finished the ones before them.

In this episode, Coach Mande John shares how she's currently moving six big projects forward at once, using a simple framework: Plan, Build, Run. She breaks down the difference...

Have you ever read about ADHD and thought, "That's me" - then immediately talked yourself out of it because "doesn't everybody do that sometimes"? This episode is for you.

Coach Mande John separates ordinary distraction - the kind driven by notifications, stress, and a world built to pull your attention in a hundred directions - from what ADHD actually looks like. She walks through executive function, the DSM-5-TR criteria clinician...

Is ADHD really a superpower? Coach Mande John has mixed feelings about that word - and this episode explains why.

Using Peter Shankman's book Faster Than Normal as a jumping-off point, Mande explores the real strengths that often come with ADHD: fast thinking, creativity, risk-taking, hyperfocus, curiosity, and the willingness to do things other people wouldn't consider. But she's also honest about the flip side — the same tra...

This week's episode is a rebroadcast of a fan-favorite: How to Create a Great Week. Coach Mande revisits her go-to process for ADHD weekly planning — one that goes way beyond typical time management advice.

Before diving back in, Mande shares what she now understands even more clearly: your great week isn't a contract you have to prove you can follow. It's a draft — your best guess based on what matters to you, your resp...

You know exactly what to do. So why aren't you doing it?

This gap between what you know and what you do is called the knowing-doing gap. And for those of us with ADHD, it's not just frustrating - it's painful.

Because we're smart enough to see the gap. We're aware enough to know we're not bridging it.

But here's what most people don't realize: The gap isn't about lack of knowledge. It's about your beliefs.

In Episode 133 (rebroadcast),...

🎯 REBROADCAST This important episode is back because it deserves another listen.

"You cannot fit what's important to you into the cracks of time that you have."

In this episode, Mande breaks down her personal time management system—the one that transformed her from someone who thought she couldn't manage time to someone who uses these tools daily to run multiple businesses, show up for family, and actually get things done.

What...

You're not short on information. You're buried in it. And if you're a professional or entrepreneur with ADHD, you probably take in information all day long- messages, email, podcasts, saved posts - and it's all useful. That's exactly what makes it hard to notice when it becomes too much.

In this episode, Coach Mande John explores why constant input can leave an ADHD brain feeling unfocused, even when nothing is technically wrong wit...

 Can you handle a massive project with a million moving parts, but still can't answer one simple email for three weeks? You might already be a high performer — and this episode is for you. 

Coach Mande John speaks directly to ADHD adults who create impressive results, but only through pressure, urgency, and last-minute effort. From the outside, everything looks successful. On the inside, it can feel like barely holdi...

If a goal falls apart and your brain immediately says "see, I knew I couldn't trust myself" — this episode is about breaking that cycle.

Coach Mande John explores one of the most painful, least-discussed parts of ADHD: what happens to your self-trust after years of starting, stopping, forgetting, and not following through the way you meant to. She makes the case that self-trust was never supposed to mean perfect consistency &m...

Do you look at your unfinished projects, abandoned systems, and half-followed-through plans as proof that you're falling short of your potential?

In this episode, Coach Mande John challenges that story. The problem usually isn't discipline, desire, or capability - it's that most success advice assumes a brain that doesn't work the way ADHD brains do. Decisions don't always stay top of mind. Motivation fades. A perfectly good plan on...

We all have a "someday" list — the things we keep telling ourselves we'll get to once life calms down, once we're more confident, once we finally get our act together. But what if that perfect time never actually comes?

In this episode, Coach Mande John explores the Someday Trap and why it's so convincing for ADHD brains. Someday feels safe. It doesn't ask anything of us today. But the longer we wait, the more life keeps movin...

Today we're talking about Feeling Good by Dr. David Burns — the book that changed my life in my 20s, and one I've gifted over 100 times. It's not just for depression and anxiety; the concepts in it are now central to how I coach people with ADHD.

ADHD doesn't just affect what we do — it affects how we feel about what we do, and the stories we tell ourselves when we forget something, procrastinate, or fall off a routine. ...

Starting goals isn't the problem for ADHD brains — sustaining them is. The excitement fades, life gets busy, and suddenly we're asking ourselves why we can never stay consistent. Sound familiar?

In this episode of the executive function series, Coach Mande John breaks down the real reason goals fade for ADHD adults — and how to build systems that actually last.

This isn't about becoming more disciplined. It's about buildi...

There are six words and phrases that ADHDers use every single day — and they're quietly making your ADHD worse. Not because they're bad words, but because every time you say them, you're reinforcing shame, overwhelm, and limitation without even realizing it.

In this episode, Coach Mande John shares the exact words she's worked hard to remove from her own vocabulary and what she's replaced them with instead. These small languag...

Does your brain have a story it loves to prove?

"I'm behind." "I never finish anything." "I can't stay consistent." "I'm not disciplined."

For ADHD brains, these thoughts don't just show up - they collect evidence. Your brain scans for proof, finds it fast, and builds a case so convincing that the story starts to feel like fact.

In this solo episode, Coach Mande John breaks down ADHD negative thought loops - how they form, why they fe...

Have you ever been incredibly busy - cleaning, answering emails, reorganizing your to-do list - and still somehow avoided the one thing that mattered most?

That's not laziness. That's procrastination wearing a productivity costume.

In this episode, Coach Mande John breaks down Paul Graham's essay "Good and Bad Procrastination" and applies it directly to the ADHD brain - helping you understand why you avoid big work, how to recognize ...

Are your feelings so raw lately that even small things feel like the weight of the world? Do you spiral from "this is hard" to "I can't handle my life" in about three seconds? What if the problem isn't that you have too many feelings - it's that you don't know what to do with them once they show up?

In this episode of Learn to Thrive with ADHD, Coach Mande John shares the mental models from CBT and coaching that help her navigate ra...