Hi and Welcome to the podcast where we talk about how to embrace our neurodiversity and use it to excel and achieve fulfillment and success in this wild and wondrous thing we call life. 

I’m not a doctor or clinically trained in any thing neurodivergent. I’m here to share stories that you may find entertaining, informational and EVEN educational. So buckle up and let's get this show on the road.

I’m Aileen,... you can call me, Ai and I’m…That ADHD Chick! [

00:40

How are you beautiful peeps and gorgeous souls out there in podcast land. It’s ya friend, Ai, That ADHD chick coming to you from sunny at the moment Northern California.

00:53

Okay this is not part of my  notes, but a couple of months ago my husband and I joined up as members at the Davis Estates winery, excellent winery by the way, if you ever make it to Napa Valley California, ya gotta hit that place. Anyway they gave us these wine glass markers. It’s basically wineglass jewelry so at a dinner party, you don’t accidentally take someone elses drink. LOL. You can easily do the red solo cup sharpie pen method, but this makes it a little more elegant, hahaha. I’m not elegant, i’m just sayin’.  Anyway, being an ADHDer thinkin out of the box, I thought wow, these wouldn’t be too bad as people jewelry as well. So at this moment, i’m actually wearing wineglass markers as earrings. LOL. I’ll post on my show notes on my website later at thatadhdchick.com if you wanna check them out. They’re super cute. Anyways i just thought I’d share that with you guys and give you guys ideas if you happen to run across some really cool wine glass markers.

Alright let’s start this thing…

2:07

I wanna preface this episode by saying it’s not just for the ADHDer, this is also for you who’s listening, who tends to take on more than you can handle, because you fool yourself into thinking you can actually handle it. Don’t get riled, I’m not throwing a jab at you… we all freakin do this.  I mean, No one likes to think they can’t handle something, right? So we take it on. We’re like “Yah sure!” We’re yes-men, y’know? Or yes-women…we’re yes-people! 

2:40

That’s why we often have days that are complete shit-shows regarding anything getting done. Ok, having said that…. If you didn’t know this already, people with ADHD sometimes have issues using executive functions. In fact we often do have issues using executive functions. It’s not that we CAN’T use them, it’s that we have a harder time tapping into that skill. So we really gotta practice. Since i’ve been dealing with this for awhile, I’ve done tons of personal development to learn the skills I need to be able to utilize at least some of the executive functions that I need on a day-to-day basis...in my business or for personal reasons. And there are more than one. Go check it out on my website show notes. https://thatadhdchick.com

03:39

Here’s a general definition I pulled from an article by  Dr. Russell Barkley, Ph.D on ADDitudemag.com, I’ll post the link to the article as soon as possible on my show notes at www.thatadhdchick.com  if you’re interested in reading about the 7 Executive functions linked to ADHD. 

04:03

It says, Executive function is the cognitive process that organizes thoughts and activities, prioritizes tasks, manages time efficiently, and makes decisions. Executive function skills are the skills that help us establish structures and strategies for managing projects and determine the actions required to move each project forward. Individuals with executive dysfunction often struggle to analyze….plan….organize…schedule, and complete tasks at all — OR on deadline. They misplace materials, prioritize the wrong things, and get overwhelmed by big projects.

04:46

I’m sure some of that sounds familiar to some of your out there.  I know it does for me.

Which brings me to my story…

We all have things we do on a daily basis and as mundane as they may be, they’re just things that are required tasks, so we’ve made them part of our so-called routine. 

05:05

It’s funny, I actually cringe a little bit when I say “routine” coz having ADHD means, it’s quite difficult to do ANYTHING routinely… but it’s not impossible, you’ve just gotta put in the work to create a stone cold habit, like brushing your teeth or making yourself a cuppa coffee every morning. I’ll have a WHOLE podcast episode covering habit creation and routine at a later date.

05:31

Now there’s one thing that I do quite often, not on the daily, but definitely on a weekly basis. First of all, Who out there is a frequent Amazon shopper. One of the known ADHD traits is impulsivity, which includes impulsive spending or impulsive shopping or even impulsive window shopping. We’re basically impulsive people.

06:05

Impulsive spending has definitely been one of my personal ADHD struggles, not COMpulsive, thank God, but IMpulsive. I’m better than I was before, but still stumble.  Like just the other day, the Bass player in my band says “You should try out these in-ear monitors, so you can hear yourself or any individual instrument a lot better, blah blah this and that” 

06:29

So there I am, that very minute, picking up my phone (damn those things) but there I am buying the exact the exact product on Amazon. No questions asked. I just trust the guy, so…. I bought ‘em.

$245 later, an earpiece is on it’s way to me because of that spending impulse. That’s why the delivery guy and my dogs such great friends. 

06:55

Anyway, I digress… if you shop Amazon or any online store every week, then you probably accumulate loads of cardboard boxes. I know I do. I even order from Costco through Instacart and those groceries arrive in these ridiculously bulky and rigid boxes, that farmers load their produce in to get trucked across the country. Heavy duty stuff.  

07:19

So, with all the boxes plus all the recycling (and we recycle a lot of things) I find myself with more than can fit in our bin, and we have the 64 gallon bin.  But I’ve got a system and I learned it from my mom, who I think I got my OCD from. LOL, That’s a story for another episode as well.

07:42

So, one day a few years ago, my mom’s visiting right? And you know moms, they like to help you around the house, even if sometimes it drives you nuts. I look out the kitchen window, and I see her out there dealing with the recycling, But she had one of those 10 inch Cutco serrated knives. You know which ones I’m taking about. Those ones that can saw through a tin can and then effortlessly slice through a tomato immediately after. Lmao! I think we’ve all sat through that demo at one point in our lives.  If you haven’t, you will.

08:13

So then I’m like, “What in tarnations is Mama up to?”

Well, she’s definitely is not folding boxes big and small. She’s meticulously cutting them in smaller pieces and strategically placing them into the bin. I don’t mean tiny pieces, i mean like one and a half foot pieces.  And no lie, she easily fit ALL our damn recycling in the bin, when normally, we would’ve had to wait for the next week to fit the rest of it. Or… 

08:48

wake up at 3AM and start loading our neighbors recycling bins with all our shit. Lol JUST kidding …. Don’t worry, I ask for permission first.

Now you’re thinking, cut boxes into little pieces?? That’ll take forever!! Well, first of all, It’s totally worth it, coz if you’re like me, it drives you nuts when the side of the house looks like a junkyard because you’ve got piles of boxes and other recycling that didn’t fit in the bin. Also, if you’re like me it’s satisfying to see all this stuff fit nice and neatly inside a bin. It’s amazing! You should see it.

09:34

Secondly, after a couple of times, you get really good at it and you get faster and faster. You can also cut ‘em up as soon as they arrive and not wait til the last day to break down every box you received that week.

09:49

Lastly, I found that when I’m out there doing this, it’s a fricking workout. I’d be sweatin’ 10 mins into slicing.  it’s also meditative. See, you can’t really think of anything else that’ll distract you, otherwise you may literally slice your fingers off.  Contrary to popular belief, meditation is not clearing your mind of everything, it’s clearing your mind, so you can focus on ONE thing.

10:27

AHHH, I am so glad I finally got that Recycling story out to you.  Everytime I was out there, I felt like, wow, I got meditation and a workout checked off my list at the same time. I gotta tell the world about this!

Now you’re asking, C’mon Ai,seriously? what’s the Moral of the story?

10:45

Ok here it is, Sometimes we gotta cut each item on our TO-DO pile into little pieces, so we can fit them all into our “DONE” bin. You like that one? I thought that one up all by myself :) 

11:01

This is what we call “thin-slicing”  It’s an ADHDers dream to be able to check off items on a task list, right?

If you don’t know the answer to that, it’ YESS, yes it is!! 

So lemme give you a practical example, I know we ADHDers LOVE practical examples…

11:18

I would change the task “Do the Laundry” into smaller thin-sliced tasks, like…

1.) sort laundry into colors, whites, towels, sheets & delicates

Yes, ya gotta be super-specific.  Coz If you’re not, you’ll cause yourself unwanted overwhelm. Trust me!! This is 52 years of realizations talking to you right now! 

2.) wash colors

3.) wash whites

4.) wash the towels…  and so on, and so on, you get the picture…

11:56

If you are a todo list maker, this will be amazing for you, coz you will begin to check way more things off your list than you ever did before

And it’ll make you feel so freakin great and accomplished at the end of the day.

And that’s just for stuff at home!  If you’re an entrepreneur, Imagine doing that in your business.  If you’re an overwhelmed entrepreneur working way more hours than you’d like to and not reaping the benefits of having no boss.  You need to check yo’self… or you’re gonna be checkin’ yo’self into a hospital with a nervous breakdown. It’s happened to the best of ‘em. It happened to a friend of mine.  Our health is our priority.  Our self is our most important asset.  We’ve gotta take care of it.

12:59

And that’s it, thanks for staying with me til the end, but before you go on with your day, let’s do a quick summary…

13:07

First, think before deciding to take on new projects at home or at work. Strive for less and for the things where you can make the most impact. 

Second, delete all shopping apps off your phone. LOL. Just joking… not jokingThird and last, ThinSlice your individual tasks whenever it’s possible and be sure to be specific in those task descriptions.

13:34

And That concludes this episode.  If you got some value from this today or if I elicited a smile from you at any point in these past 12mins. Please subscribe or follow my podcast, so you don’t miss any future episodes. 

13:49

And remember, hit my website https://www.thatadhdchick.com  It’s kinda under construction right now, but I’m gonna try to add all these notes from today and my last episode asap. So bookmark that website.

14:05

And to help this podcast reach other ADHDers or others who this content could help, please take a minute to leave me a review or rating on the podcast platform you’re using to listen to this. It’ll help me spread this podcast out to others who may need it.  

14:20

And finally, feel free to share this with any one you may know that may need it or may get a kick out of the occasional genx reference and my attempts at being witty.  LOL

I hope YOU enjoyed your short time with me, I most definitely enjoyed my time with you.  I’ll Talk atcha later  on my next episode, where we’ll be talking about Multi-tasking.  Oooh fun times! 

Ok my friend, until next time, stay safe, stay well, live abundantly and keep on truckin! This is Ai, That ADHD chick, signing off!