The 6 Strategies ADHD Adults Use to Make Transitions Easier

DESCRIPTION: Transitions are hard for ADHD adults. There’s a reason for that related to your ADHD. And here’s what you can do to make transitions throughout your day easier. KEY TAKEAWAYS: * Transitions are hard for ADHD adults. * The first step to make it easier is identify those transitions you find challenging. * Then you can adopt strategies to manage these transitions and decrease your stress and overwhelm. RESOURCES: * 7 Techniques You Can Use to Make Starting Easier(podcast) * 7 Steps ADHD Adults Use to Be Productive Every Day (blog post) * Are You Allowing Interruptions at Work to Run Your Day?(blog post) * ADHD and Meetings: How to Take and Use Your Notes (blog post) * CrazyBusy: Overstretched, Overbooked, and About to Snap! Strategies for Handling Your Fast- Paced Life by Edward M. Hallowell M.D. TRANSCRIPT: 00:02: Transitions are hard for ADHD adults. There is a reason for that related to your ADHD. And thankfully, there’s something you can do to make transitions throughout your day easier. You’ve tuned into Scattered, Focused, Done –  Reimagining Productivity with ADHD, a podcast for ADHD adults like you, who want to learn how to adopt the best strategies, tools, and skills to be able to get your such a work done in a way that works with the way your brain is wired. I’m Marla Cummins. And I’m really glad you decided to join me today on this journey to re-imagining productivity with ADHD. So you can get what is important to you done without trying to do it like everyone else. 00.53: So, what are transitions? Simply put, any time you go from one state of being, place or task, you’re transitioning. When you go from sleeping to wakefulness or vice-a-versa, you’re transitioning. And, if you’re switching from one task to another, again, you’re transitioning. Likewise, if you’re going from work to home, home to work, that’s also a transition. Think about these moments. What are the challenges you have at various transition points throughout your day? If you’re like many ADHD adults, your transitions can be fraught with pitfalls, unless you’re aware of these pitfalls and learn how to manage that better. There are many reasons why transitions may be hard for you. To illustrate the struggles, let’s look at the challenges Kiara had last week, Tuesday. While this is all fictional, of course, I’m sure it’ll resonate with you, nonetheless. When Kiara first gets to work, she needs to disengage from what’s going on at home as much as she can so she can switch her attention to her work. 02:08: But on this particular day, she had a hard time doing this. They had just gotten a new sailboat and she was really excited to pick out new fabric for the seats, which proved to be harder than she anticipated because there were so many choices. Her Pinterest board was packed full of possibilities. She really wanted to choose a fabric by the end of the week. She was also really worried about her son, Sam, how he was doing in school. She often found herself ruminating about Sam’s troubles at school, not knowing what the solution might be. And because of that, her emotions were coming out sideways in ways that she didn’t want, both at home and at work. So once she got to work, not only was she having a time disengaging from what was happening at home,