How I improved my ADHD!

Hey, my name is Frankie and I’m a founder with ADHD. I’m writing this article to encourage others that there is hope and an upside to having ADHD. Every stage of my life has been plagued with challenges from my ADHD, and I overcame each of them. Here are some quick examples:

• In middle school, I had detention every week for disturbing the classroom.
• In college, I struggled with studying because I couldn’t focus for more than 30mins.
• At my first job, I would ask “stupid” questions because I’d lose focus in meetings.
• As an entrepreneur, I’d procrastinate on my health and struggle to get the boring things done.

Ultimately, at each of the stages, the thing that was holding me back was my time management and ADHD. It took a while, but I overcame these things, and you can too. I’m here to share my struggles and solutions and encourage anyone being too hard on themselves that it’s possible. But first, you have to change your mindset.

Change your mindset, identify your problems, and build solutions

My mindset changed after my first post-grad job as a process engineer. My job was to identify problems in our factory and solve them through systems. I started seeing my ADHD as multiple small problems I had to solve rather than a permanent state. It gave me the belief that I could grow, and eventually, I developed a process to solve my problems systematically:

1. Track my problems by writing them down, so I wouldn’t forget them.
2. Set aside time daily to problem-solve
3. Ask me, “How can I prevent this from ever happening again”
4. Immediately implement these solutions
5. Iterate on my solution until the problem is solved
6. Use “5 whys” if I can’t find the root cause

My process allowed me to improve every day. As I problem-solved more, I’d make fewer mistakes, spend less time putting out fires, and become a better problem solver. My ADHD appeared in so many ways, and each of these things created time debt or delayed problems. It was imperative that I find solutions to reach my potential. Here are a couple of problems I faced and how I solved them:

• I’d double-book myself all the time leaving myself looking like a “flake” when I’d have to cancel. To solve this, I’d put everything in my calendar, check it before I’d make plans, and review it at night.
• I’m forgetful and have terrible short-term memory. Instead of improving my memory, I write everything down in a notebook, on my calendar, or my phone.
• I’d misplace my keys and wallet at home all the time, so I picked a location at the front door where my wallet and keys go.
• Most days, I’d create a to-do list and never get through even half of it. I’d miss the gym or not get enough sleep because I’d just keep working. To solve this, I started planning my day and timeboxing tasks. This stopped me from overworking on tasks and overestimating how much time I had in the day.
• Before bed, I used to scroll for hours and struggle falling asleep. To prevent this, I leave my phone in the bathroom and read in bed. The reading knocks me out within 15mins.
• I struggle to get out of bed in the morning because I want to just sit on my phone or sleep more. Now, I put my phone in my bathroom, so I have to get up to turn my alarm off instead of leaving it next to my bed.

Building systems has allowed me to stay organized, develop strong habits, and start my own business. I’m still problem-solving and updating my systems, but by doing this, I’ve gone from the friend that was always double-booking people to the planner friend who sends you calendar invites for all social events. So, there is hope and ways to improve, but you must put time and effort into solving your challenges. If you’re struggling with where to start or holding yourself accountable, come check us out here!