loving-gradditudeloving-gradditude
ADHD Life Coaching for Teens, and Parents of Teens with ADHD
Sessions via phone and Zoom
distance learning
Dealing with COVID-19

If We Aren’t Learning, We Aren’t Growing

May is my favorite month.  Our first son was born this month, school is close to ending and the beginning of summer is in grasp.  While we are still uncertain of what the actual summer holds, it will also mark the end or imminent end (Lord willing) of distance learning and the 2019-2020 school year.  

WHEW!  We made it through!  (Some of us just barely, but the goal was to just finish!)

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boundaries
Dealing with COVID-19

Creating a Home Work Space for All Family Members: Establishing Boundaries

I’m a tip kind of person so I’ve created a series of videos to help you reduce the stress, overwhelm, confusion and uncertainty of how you can adapt to the new logistics in your ADHD home and world due to COVID-19.

This first video focuses on establishing boundaries when your home is now a living space + office + classroom with many moving parts.

Spend 6 minutes to learn how you can set everyone up in your family to remain respectful, sane and succeed!

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own your ADHD
OWN Your ADHD

OWN Your ADHD

31 Days have elapsed in this new decade and I’m wondering how many of you are STILL sticking to your resolutions, intentions, goals, (whatever you’ve named it!) for 2020? Hands raised? Hands lowered? How’s it going?

 

I. AM. STILL. GOING. STRONG!

And it feels GREAT to commit to something every day so far!

 

I highly encourage you to NOT give up on something you’re wanting to do for yourself!

 

One of the things I say to my clients all the time is:

“Don’t let yourself down!”

 

Don’t do it! Stick to your guns and remember the importance of why you decided to want to do these things. Don’t allow yourself to be deterred (or get in your own head!) because it seems too high a goal or something that was just too far fetched.

If you’re reading this and you have challenges with ADHD and Executive Functions, I am here to share with you –> I am fully engaged this month on HOW to best support you! How to stay on task, How to get projects and to do lists done and NOT be beholden to all the negative stuff that comes into your thoughts that deter you from being awesome!

 

This month it’s all about OWNING your ADHD!

 

Yep! I’m making this the month to share how you can be more productive, accountable, and manage time all the while bringing an understanding of ADHD into your world as to WHY you may not be able to stay motivated.

 

Anyone bored with their goals yet?  Anyone not feeling motivated?

 

AHHH…I’ve got you! Stay with me and follow me on Social Media – INSTAGRAM OR FACEBOOK – so you don’t miss any of the goodness coming your way!

Make February YOUR month to OWN your ADHD..like the rock star that you are!

Kelly

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adhd organized
Organization

4 Steps to Get ADHD Organized

I love to clean, file, purge, fold, re-organize and create more space in our home.  My mind thrives in order and if things aren’t in place, I feel as if I’m not in MY place: my happy, calm and peaceful place, that is.   

(As I’m typing this and walking through in my mind how I organize, I realize my heart flutters a bit more and races when my house is not in order.  Anxiety over disorder? I suspect so!) 

So it’s inevitable that during the Christmas and New Year season you will find me reorganizing shelves, taking everything out of drawers or closets and making it all look nice again.  Maybe even re-doing something I just did so it fits better!  

In order to be successful and get into the “mood of organizing,” the following are a few steps I take to begin (and stay on) any organizing task!

1. Set the Mood / Atmosphere!

Why is this important?  I need to be mentally ready, interested, focused and determined to begin something or there is a high probability it will not get completed!  I can’t just start something on a whim (sometimes it takes me days or weeks to get my head around organizing – what takes me from thought to action is when  I “just can’t take it anymore!”). I have to be in the right mood and this begins with getting my atmosphere ready. 

What’s my atmosphere, you may ask?  

A cup of hot green tea, TV (hardly even watch it, just listen) or Alexa playing music in the background.  Or maybe I listen to a podcast… depends on the location of the room and the length of the task.

2. Tools, Glorious Tools!

I always, always, ALWAYS ensure I have all the tools I need before I even begin my organizing. 

Tools?  Yes, tools.  People with ADHD often start in the middle of a project without thinking through what they’ll need to complete the task at hand.  

And when the tools are not in place, the ADHD brain shuts down because the task at hand is too hard and long and they don’t know where to begin. (True?  Lightbulb moment here? Did you just have an “A-HA” moment?) 

Therefore, offices have even more piles on them, kitchens are aghast with containers covering the countertop, and closets are jammed and crammed, with nowhere to throw anything accept on top of the heaping pile of clothes already there!  (I won’t even address playrooms!)  

The result: very little gets accomplished when it needs to.  

So in order to begin a project, you must think through ALL you’ll need to complete the project.

Things like: Plastic bags for trash, files, folders, tabs, pens, pencils, hangers, paper, boxes, containers, stamps, iron, folding table, tape, etc.  

And yes, that may mean you need to take a quick run to Staples or Walmart or Target or The Container Store (my bff!) for supplies!  But do not let that deter you! Once all the tools are in place, you will be good to go and you won’t have an excuse to not get it done!   

3. Break it down!

Some organizing tasks take time and can be overwhelming.  Things like your dining room covered with bills needing to be sorted and filed and left there for days on end. Or a kitchen that has all the plastic containers out of the drawers because you cannot find the lids!!!   

To tackle these tasks, break them down and take small piles at a time.  Set reasonable and attainable stopping points so you don’t become weary and not complete all the filing.  Use timers if you have to!  

Figure out what is YOUR way to best accomplish the task from beginning to end! 

4. The End Game!

Taking the mindset that for everything there is a beginning, a middle and an end — what is your end game?  

Maybe you just want to organize your papers and put them in piles.  Maybe the end game is to put all the papers away in a file cabinet. Maybe your end game is to just hang clothing instead of folding them.  Know your end game and this will make the task at hand attainable!

Bonus: 5 Questions About Stuff in Your Space

Often one of the things that stop us from successfully organizing our SPACE is feeling overwhelmed with what to do with all the STUFF.

Now if you signed up for my Holiday Survival Guide last month, you know I break my thought process down into questions and bullet points as this is how my mind functions. 

So, in staying with true Kelly fashion, when I organize, I look at the whole space and ask myself a few questions:

  1. What is used most often? (think accessibility)

  2. What will fit here the best? (think best use of space)

  3. Can I condense something? (think add more space)

  4. What is the best use of this drawer, cabinet and shelf?  (think functionality)

  5. How much time am I committing to this and what can I reasonably get accomplished? (think succeed and complete project)

If you’d like to know more about me and keep up with me on Social Media, here is where you can find me and become a member of my community:

www.LovingGrADDitude.com

Kelly@LovingGrADDitude.com

IG: @lovinggradditude

FB: @lovingradditude

Here’s to a Happy Organizing New Year!

Kelly 

ADHD Life Coach, CALC

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#somethinggood2020
#somethinggood2020

#SomethingGood2020 – Join Me!

Happy New Decade!!

WOW!  Can you believe?  A new decade has begun!  Thank you for “ringing it in” with me!  So, what now? Do you make resolutions? Are you a goal setter?  Or is the New Year just another day in the life?  

I’m doing something I’ve never done before!  I’m challenging myself to share #somethinggood2020 every day for 365 days!  

“What? Are you crazy?” you ask.  

Yep, I’m going to share something in my life each day that is Good.  With you. 

Have you ever committed to something for an entire year?  Aside from eating, sleeping, breathing and taking care of my personal needs, I cannot raise my hand on this one, but that’s about to change!

What have you done each day every day for one year?  

Well, here’s your chance to join me!  5 minutes or LESS is what I will be spending on my “good” each day.  No excuses! Make it easy! We ALL have 5 minutes to share and maybe make someone’s day, right????    

Maybe it’s a campaign, maybe it’s a movement (that would be awesome!). There is NO right or wrong!  If you feel every day is too much, what about once a week? You could walk around your house or scroll through articles or find pictures, or know people you’d love to share – 53 things are not that difficult?  What about 365 things?

I could walk around my house and list 365 things that are good to me right now!  Don’t you think I’m not going to be sharing appliances! Where would I be without the ease of slow cookers!  (Oh dear, I just gave you one of my “goods”!)

Join me – it’s easy!  Here are the steps:

  1. Post on social media and use #somethinggood2020 

  2. FOLLOW The hashtag #somethinggood2020 (just like you would follow a person)

  3. Tag @LovingGrADDitude in your posts so I can see what you share

  4. Follow #LovingGrADDitude

Can’t we ALL use a little good each day?

Here’s to finding your #somethinggood2020, 

Kelly

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Parenting and ADHD

The Best Tool for Time Management and the ADHD Brain

“In 15 minutes we are leaving the house!”  Says every mom, every day!

Well, what happens when in 15 minutes your child is nowhere to be found and you find yourself stressed, being late, getting frustrated and upset knowing you will be running late because you find your child upstairs getting lost in legos, puzzles, games, etc…nowhere near ready to walk out the door?  What happens then? More importantly, what DIDN’T happen?

I can tell you:  your child didn’t understand how long 15 minutes was, lost track of time and forgot about it.

One of the biggest challenges with ADHD is time management – how to plan the day, how to stay on task, being on time and understanding how time elapses. You see, the ADHD brain thinks “differently”  and processes time in a very unique way, completely opposite of neurotypicals! Many who seek coaching are looking for tools and strategies for their child in this one very broad, all-encompassing topic.

Well, I put together a special video – The Best Tool for Time Management and the ADHD Brain – JUST for this reason.  Its premise is one of the most common topics my clients need help with: time management and their child. CLICK HERE TO ORDER IT.

In it, I share 4 concepts of “time” to an ADHD Brain to better understand how the brain processes and thinks about time.

But the BEST NEWS?  There is a TOOL that can be LIFE CHANGING for families and completely help their child succeed and self manage their time!!!  It saved our family and I swear by it!  I really do! (Well, not the actual swearing, but you know what I mean!). Our home became more peaceful and I wasn’t always nagging and being stressed and hurried leaving the house and anxious about transitioning from one task or event to the other… ALL that went away with the Time Timer.

I explain why I love this tool, why I couldn’t live without it and why I feel the Time Timer is the best tool available for ADHD kids and how it works.  I break it down to show how to help our children understand the device and I then wrap up the video with examples (lots of them!) for how to effectively use it to best support your child!!

It’s a goodie!!!  A video you won’t want to miss!!  Simply grab a snack, coffee or tea and click here to order this video and then watch how you can help your child succeed with time!


NOTE: I do not work for Time Timer, but I am an affiliate which means that if you click on the links shown and purchase one of their products, I may earn commission on the sale. However my comments and LOVE for this product started waaaaay before I ever heard the word affiliate so they are 100% authentic and uninfluenced.

 

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Raising Teenagers

5 Simple Steps to Get Your Children Out of the House in the Morning

Why does it feel like some mornings it takes an act of God to get your children out the door?   

Take the stress out of mornings with some very simple steps which will make a smooth transition from bed to bus stop!

  1. Pack backpacks the night before.  Once homework is done, place everything you need for the next day in it.  There should be a “set” place for them, too! This might sound silly, but how many times has your backpack grown legs and moved from one room to another unbeknownst to you and all of a sudden there’s an extra 3 minutes (and high stress) looking for the backpack?  Pick a spot!

  2. Prepare lunch boxes/snacks the night before.  Parents, this is for you!  You have enough on your plate (literally) in the mornings, don’t add to it.  Prepare all of this the night before so you and your child can grab and go in the morning.

  3. Breakfast is only served when your child is fully dressed.  MEANING: once your child leaves their bedroom in the morning, they do not return!   That means socks and shoes are on before they eat.  How much time is wasted putting socks and shoes on right before you walk out the door?  It will stop the yelling, arguments and stress. Enforce this and it will become a habit quite quickly…and you will have more peace in the mornings.

  4. After eating, the last thing they do is brush their teeth.  Good hygiene is important and that happens after they eat!  Yes, this may mean moving toothbrushes to a place closer to the kitchen and yes, buying a second set of them, but it is worth it!   The goal is to not have them return to their rooms or upstairs once they come to the kitchen.  Think about it like this – you are minimizing distractions!  

  5. Always have a timer in the kitchen.  I am a huge fan of the Time Timer.  It shows time elapsing – set it when they begin eating breakfast so they know how much time they have.  When it goes off, that’s when it’s time to leave the table and brush their teeth. If you need to set it again for the teeth brushing, you can do this as well, but I’m not sure how many children and teens are brushing more than 3 minutes!

Once teeth are brushed, they head to the door, grab their backpack, lunch box and off they go!

With Much GrADDitude (and more peace in the mornings!),

Kelly

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Raising Teenagers

Front Seat Fights with your Teens

“I call Shot Gun!”  

How many times a day/week do you hear this?  Countless, right?  Tired of it?

Use this technique and you will most assuredly have one less battle, one less nagging teen (yes I said nagging) on your hands.  It makes for a MUCH more peaceful entrance to the garage, driveway and car…AND, even better, your teenagers manage it. We implemented this when both our boys were able to sit in the front seat and we have never had arguments about the front seat…ever.

Here you go:  each child has one week in the front seat…then they switch the following week.  The week begins on Sunday. IF they happen to forget their week or fight about it (this has not happened with our boys), they both are in the back.

Enjoy the peace!

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Tiffany Schnur

So helpful! I always dread telling my son about a change in plans. Excellent approach.

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Kelly@LovingGrADDitude.com