Tips on handling ADHD as adults

I've had ADHD for as long as I can remember and this made its way into my adult life. I am an artist, so there are times I feel like ADHD is my superpower vs my struggle. As an artist and working person, I had to set boundaries for myself.

There are ways you can help yourself focus through your ADHD. It involves patience and practice.

Accept it. Don't fight it.

You having ADHD may not be the greatest thing to you, but the more you beat yourself up about it-it won't help your mental state. Instead, talk to yourself in a nicer way. Tell yourself that it's a challenge you WILL overcome and that is perfectly okay. You are dealing with ADHD you're MANAGING it.

I used to get really upset with myself because I wasn't organized or focused and just here and there every second of the day. Though I currently work in an office setting, it can be torture for me and I have to remind myself that my ADHD is acting up and that it's fine to take a deep breath and relax a little bit.

I am beyond hyper. I want to keep moving! What truly helps me in that matter in my office space is deep breaths. I have to ask myself do I have too many tabs open and if I do, focus on one tab at a time and practice that daily. Just saying, I'll get what's priority done first and on time. PRACTICE PRACTICE.

Priorities first then play or play first then priorities

Everyone's different. Some people find comfort in relaxing and doing what they want before studying or doing work. That was always a bad idea for ME so I put my priorities first or at least I try to.

Look this is the part that involves practice. Putting what's most important and getting it done as soon as you're able to. Please, when doing this and putting priorities first remember to reward yourself. Reward yourself with kindness. Do a hobby, paint a picture, go out with friends. Just reward yourself no matter how big or small.

After you reward yourself, go to the mirror and tell yourself you'll complete your next important task before anything else. The reason I'm saying tasks and priorities is because I know I used to do everything to avoid priorities and just did what I found useful in my mind. That can lead to a lot of things in your everyday life backing up. So, make sure you get your mindset in a routine and practice this as often as you can. Retrain your brain a little.

A List for the distracted

Believe it or not, creating a list for yourself on a daily basis will be the biggest help for yourself. Having ADHD, your mind struggles to stick to one thing. You might have a thousand things on your mind.

Write a list (in order) of what you plan to do that day. It could be from going to grab a coffee to pick up mail from a family member's house. Writing the list down not only gives your confidence that you'll get it done but it motivates you more than not having a list. Start off with small tasks and practice completing and checking off the tasks.

Schedule

You heard it a million times. This is my biggest weakness so I don't blame you if you skip this part. However, I realized at the time I did have a schedule, I got so much done. I encourage it.

This time, start off with small schedules. I had to start off with one thing. I scheduled myself to write 30 minutes a day and practiced that. Then I added in more things. It got better as the months passed by and I found my stuff sticking to it up until life-changing situations. So it can work!

Prepare for "work"

Here's a gold tip. Write down numbers, bank account numbers, your account numbers for important things regarding money and bills. Keep a memo book of passwords as well.

When you have to fill out applications and things to fill out online, bring your memo book to speed up the process. It makes things go by much faster.

Keep a trashcan around

This is so you can get rid of things that you don't need. I don't know about everyone else, but I constantly believe I'll need such and such when I don't realize it should have been thrown out ages ago.

Minimize on things and throw out some clutter!

Yoga and massages

You getting all tensed up can add a lot to your ADHD, making you feel that you need to get everything done. Sometimes you forget to breathe.

Mental health and Self-care and treating yourself right can help you stress less and improve in certain matters. Doing yoga and massing my head and face from time to time helps me loosen up. I find that being in a good state of mind and being less tense helps me focus better and I have less of a cloudy mind. I can think more clearly when I'm at peace vs stressed out.

Invest in Organization material

Invest in organizers for clothes, shoes, for your books, for everything. The more organized you feel EVEN if you aren't, you will feel more inclined to be organized and to get things done when they need to be. If you don't have a desk, consider one. If you a small dresser and find yourself constantly squeezing in stuff, invest in a bigger one to save time throughout your day. Don't clutter your room-organize and have things spaced out to create less anxiety for you.