#110

People with ADHD tend to get stressed out easily & this often leads to a mental/emotional shut/melt-down. One of the best ways to prevent this cycle is by having direction. If you have ADHD, ask your spouse/parent/teacher to help you prioritize. If you’re the spouse/parent/teacher, know the warning sighs & be prepared to step in with a plan.

Assuming that the ADHDer is open to being directed and has someone to “oversee” them, it all comes down to timing. People w/ADHD can go from 0-99 on the frustration scale very quickly and if you’re not paying attention to the cues, you’ll miss the window to steer them clear of a shut/melt-down. Not surprisingly recovering from the rapid downward spiral and getting back on track is much harder than preventing it in the first place.

#45

Two weeks of travel can wreak havoc on my “home schedule”. It takes me 3-4 days to readjust to home unless I plan ahead. Even though ADHDers tend to do well in fluid settings, we still need some structure to make getting and staying on task possible. Before going on a long trip, I write down where I left off on my top 2-3 projects and what needs to be done when I return. This is a great tool to help me get back on track with minimum drama.

If you’re a list-maker, it’s important to not make the list too long and expansive. A big to-do list will just overwhelm. Get your “sympathetic enforcer” to help with narrowing down the list to the most important and urgent items.