Caitlin Kindred: 0:28

Okay. So last week we talked about how ADHD entrepreneurs are basically business superheroes. We're idea machines, hyper-focused warriors. We're the masters of turning wait, that's a thing or hey, that's not fair into a whole business model. But today we're getting real, because if running a business with ADHD was all sunshine and spontaneous brilliance, we wouldn't be crying about billing and unread emails. So if you missed part one, go listen. It's like the before montage in a makeover movie, where we're all shiny and full of hope. But this episode is the part where the music gets dramatic and the heroine realizes oh crap, I actually have to do the things. So we're talking. Why just set a calendar alert is a complete lie. The unique pain of your own messed up energy rhythm and my personal favorite, when your brain treats urgent deadline and mildly interesting Wikipedia page with the exact same level of priority. So grab your emotional support. Coffee, water bottle and energy beverage, because they all have a different purpose. Yes, even the coffee and energy beverage. And let's get to it.

Ariella Monti: 1:48

So those are our strengths and it would be very easy to just like focus on those things, but I think it's important that we validate the challenges that we have, because ADHD is considered a disability for a reason, and especially in the workplace it there's a lot that can.

Ariella Monti: 2:10

There's a lot about our ADHD that can be disabling and that, like, doesn't go away when we own our own business. We can manage them more appropriately when we have our own business, but they don't disappear. So we have to acknowledge the weaknesses and make accommodations for them. So I'm going to go through the most common challenges that people with ADHD face, not just as business owners but like in the workplace, because they're kind of intertwined and then provide some suggestions for how to make accommodations for those challenges. And some of these came from the Attitude Magazine article that I put in the that will be in the show notes, and others are what I have found. Others are things that I do that I have found personally helpful and, as always, remember that when it comes to recommendations, your mileage will vary Take what works, leave what doesn't.

Caitlin Kindred: 3:21

And we are not doctors or ADHD coaches.

Ariella Monti: 3:25

No.

Caitlin Kindred: 3:26

No, no, no. In fact, I need an ADHD coach. If you're willing, hit me up Right, yes, okay. Hit me up Right, yes, okay, I'm excited for these. Let's hear it.

Ariella Monti: 3:37

So first one, distractibility I mean Hi.

Caitlin Kindred: 3:40

Obviously, hallmark of ADHD. Obviously.

Ariella Monti: 3:46

Right, great, yes, so noise canceling headphones are really great for that, even if you're working like alone at home, if you pair them with some. You know ambient music I like using bilateral nature sounds. So that's when the sound kind of goes from like one ear to the other and there is quite a bit of clinical evidence that it's a benefit to the brain, though I am not qualified to talk about that at all yeah, if you go to the attitude magazine they'll tell you like you can look up best sounds for adhd, like work time, and they'll recommend.

Caitlin Kindred: 4:35

Like brown noise is a common one I've heard, of which you know we've heard of white noise, but there's brown noise. Green noise is another one that I often will use um but the they're the bilateral nature sounds thing.

Caitlin Kindred: 4:49

You've recommended that to me and I find that to be incredibly calming. So when I am like uber stressed, I will put on that playlist that you recommended, which I can also find and link here. It's the one that you sent me, and I've also found this kind of works with music, too. There are some songs that I think ADHD people fixate on incredibly intensely, and I think it's something to do with the way it hits one ear and then the other. It's a weird sort of thing, but I find that the songs I love the most are ones that do that to my brain. So interesting. Yeah, I think there's something to that.

Ariella Monti: 5:30

And the thing is with those bilateral sounds is that you're not going to get them if you just have them playing over a speaker.

Caitlin Kindred: 5:37

Right, you have to put on headphones.

Ariella Monti: 5:39

Yeah, you have to put on headphones. And I will make all the audiologists out there happy when I say please watch your volume, Protect your ears. Yes, this way you're not doing what I have been doing lately and I'm like what?

Caitlin Kindred: 5:58

And then answering the question later. Anyway.

Ariella Monti: 6:00

Right, right right.

Caitlin Kindred: 6:01

Exactly.

Ariella Monti: 6:02

If you do have employees, you know you can't and you have the flex and you have a flexible schedule you could start your workday before they come in or end it after you leave. So you have like a block of time where you know there aren't people there, kind of adding to that distraction. I am annoyingly social in a workplace. I'm constantly seeking out talking to people. I know now that's probably because of my ADHD, but that also means that if I had employees it would probably best for me to maybe start my day a little bit early. So at least I've got a block of time where I know I'm going to get stuff done, in case I do have a very distracted day. Yeah.

Caitlin Kindred: 6:56

Yeah, have you seen those signs that like people? They're like these images of people. Put those signs on the door that says, like please don't talk to me because I will talk to you for an hour and I have so much stuff to do that, like, yeah, you need to, you need to not knock on my door.

Ariella Monti: 7:15

Now that's how I totally, totally get out of your office and go someplace like the library. Now, if you go to someplace like a coffee shop or something like that, like make sure you bring your noise canceling headphones, um, because that can be incredibly distracting. They're like they're we'll talk about it later with, like the boredom piece of it. But being in a place like a, like a coffee shop, can be good for it can be good for to keep the motivation for working, but can also be really distracting, cause if you have, like what happened to me the past couple of times I've worked out of the house is there will be people kind of talking really close to us and their voices carry just enough that I can hear their conversation and then my brain can't turn it off. Now I'm hearing all about how your fiance's house got struck, parents' house got struck by lightning. So you're working.

Caitlin Kindred: 8:17

Oh man, I'm such a nosy chismosa too that I'm going to like listen and I'm going to be live texting this conversation to probably you, but telling everyone this is what I'm doing right now and I will not be yeah, right, right yeah, I have a job to where I spend a big part of my day writing, as you do too, and if someone else is talking, I cannot write and listen to. Like. I can't listen to podcasts when I'm working. No, I can't even listen to songs that have lyrics in them.

Caitlin Kindred: 8:58

Same, because it's too distracting and I'll either listen to the song or I'll do the work and miss stuff. So yeah, I mean I have a friend who was like, well, you know, you just listen to, like the audio behind the song that you like, and I was like, no, because then it's a karaoke session and I'm going to start singing that too. So no, it has to be like nothing that has anything related to someone else's words.

Ariella Monti: 9:23

Right, absolutely. And that's, I think, where the library is really helpful, because they usually have a quiet study area so you can always go in there. So you do know that people are supposed to be quiet in there and I think just generally the library tends to be a quiet place there might be.

Ariella Monti: 9:44

I think the loudest the library I go to gets is when it's kids story time and then it's like adorable children singing skin and marinky dinky do oh and yeah, and it's not like and it's only for like an hour, but again, that's where the like, the headphones could come in, but the library could be that nice balance between having kind of people around so you're feeling a little bit more motivated to work, while limiting not just the distractions of like other people but like the distractions that are just around you if you work from home. Yeah, you know your dishes in the sink, the laundry, the dog who wants to go outside and then come back in, and then go outside and come back in, the cat who sits in front of your keyboard. You know.

Ariella Monti: 10:32

Yeah stuff like that, and putting your phone away or putting it on do not disturb. Yes, that is, yeah, it's like this.

Ariella Monti: 10:43

This it's the most simple one and somehow, like sometimes, the hardest to do but, I have um one focus setting for the do not disturb it's it's author and that is what I use. Yeah, that is what I use when I'm doing like work as an author, because it allows me to go on any of the social media apps that I need if I'm doing marketing stuff, but I don't get the notifications for like anything yeah so there's less distraction in that I'm if I'm getting a text, I'm not getting the notification for it and I'm not picking up the phone, and now that I have the phone in my hand, it like now I'm gonna get lost 30 minutes.

Ariella Monti: 11:33

Yeah, exactly yeah.

Caitlin Kindred: 11:36

I um, I have several settings for do not disturb. I have like a general do not disturb where nothing goes off, but I also have one for recording, where, if you know something goes wrong, certain people can text me through, like you, and Jenny can send me messages through that, and I'll receive them, because we record together. I have ones where they're just for work and the only notifications I can get are from school, like from my son's school, so only his stuff comes in, so I know nothing else. If it comes through, it's an emergency. So there are lots of great ways to do this. My favorite thing to do, though, is just put my phone in the other room, and because I don't? I have a computer for work and I have one for personal, and I don't allow any notifications from personal stuff to come through on my work computer, because otherwise it becomes a text fest or whatever. So there are lots of ways to manage that, but if you know your phone is a distraction, put it away, put it somewhere else, right?

Ariella Monti: 12:42

Different room yeah.

Caitlin Kindred: 12:43

Whatever?

Ariella Monti: 12:44

Absolutely. That is a good segue in transition into time management which is another challenge that us ADHD people have. And the reason why I don't put my phone someplace else is because one of the time management tools I found really helpful is the Forest app and technically I think there's like a Chrome extension for it or something, but it sucks. So I use the app and the Forest app, combined with Do Not Disturb, does quite a bit to keep me focused.

Ariella Monti: 13:19

So the Forest app it's either a countdown or like a stopwatch, so if you want to work for a certain amount of time, like you, can set it for that or you can just track how long you are working and it grows a little tree or a little bush or some flowers, and you pick, like, okay, I'm writing and so I'm gonna grow a little oak tree and, depending on how long you work, you get the oak tree in like a certain phase, or or you get multiple of them and it adds trees to this little forest that you know, you track, and you get coins and stuff when you you know, or points or whatever that you get when you you know, when you use it, and then what I've been doing is each month I will use those points to buy a new plant for my little forest.

Caitlin Kindred: 14:16

Oh my gosh, you're such a gardener nature nerd that you get dopamine hits from fake trees on an app.

Ariella Monti: 14:25

I love it so much. It makes me angry that a lot of these plants are not native to my area you're annoyed by the app not having native. I know, I know I'm so man dork you yeah I mean, you're talking about an app that has like the trees are like cat tree and there's like a cat face in it, and yet I'm sitting here, irritated that oh, bless you I know, I know I have a problem I like that, I also.

Caitlin Kindred: 15:00

There's a few other apps like that that you can find there. Yes, there are chrome extensions and all those, and attitude magazine has some great suggestions for what ones you can use. I personally am am just I? If I look, see a tree little thing growing, I'm gonna be like, oh my gosh, so cute. It's like a little Tamagotchi and I need to like pay attention to it. So I use be focused, and I actually bought be focused pro so that I wouldn't have to deal with the ads anymore.

Caitlin Kindred: 15:27

But yes, it's a Pomodoro timer. If you haven't heard of that, it's exactly what Ariel is talking about. It's a you work for a certain amount of time. It counts down for you. It gives me a little alarm. When 25 minutes have gone off, I get a five minute break and I use that five minutes to either, you know, put laundry in the washing machine or go make some tea or both, or look at my phone for five minutes, and then the timer goes off again. My five minutes are up and I'm supposed to get back to work. So something like that is really helpful, and I also find that I can use that timer to make myself sit down and stand up during the day so that, because I work from home at a desk, I get the variation of I, you know, sit for an hour, an hour and a half, and then I have to stand up for the next 25, 30 minutes or more.

Caitlin Kindred: 16:12

To you know it helps for an hour an hour and a half and then I have to stand up for the next 25, 30 minutes or more. To you know it helps. So good, good things to consider there. There's all kinds of palm apps you can take a look at. So tomato timer they're all super easy to find.

Ariella Monti: 16:24

Yes, definitely, even with. So with the timers is I will set a timer for like 30, 40 minutes or something. I will work for that and then I will take a break to do some of my physical therapy exercises and that gets me like up out of the out of my chair, adds a little bit of energy and then my physical therapist doesn't yell at me for not doing my exercises. So another thing you can do for time management on like a longer term scale is have someone give you a deadline, and it doesn't necessarily have to be a meaningful deadline, it could be realistic, but also like it doesn't matter, kind of at the end. But your brain is like our ADHD brain is like, oh, I've got a deadline, I've got it. Like, now I've got to do something about it.

Ariella Monti: 17:27

I did this with my book revisions Because I'm a self published author. Like I don't have an agent breathing down my neck. I don't have an editor breathing down my neck, like it's just me. So I asked one of my critique partners who does project management for a living. I was like, give me a deadline, like just give me a deadline. And because she was going to beta read the manuscript when it was done.

Ariella Monti: 17:55

And she was like I want to read this book. So, yeah, you, you have to get this deadline. It doesn't have to necessarily be you know somebody that you work with. It could just be like a friend who is invested in whatever projects that you're that you're working on.

Caitlin Kindred: 18:30

Yeah, like a body double or an accountability or whatever.

Ariella Monti: 18:34

Right, right, and that's actually the second thing I was going to talk about is body doubling or working in groups, and it's amazing how just having somebody working beside you can be motivating. And a lot of us who freelance, we work by work by ourselves, like we are sole proprietors that don't have any co workers, and just kind of having somebody around, even if it's a stranger, like at the coffee shop, is super helpful, and it doesn't have to be in person either, so. So with Discord, I'm in a few writing Discords and we use a writing sprint bot. Somebody runs the sprint and they put like 30 minutes into it and then we have 30 minutes to write and there's like two, three, four of us kind of all working at the same time doing these writing sprints, and these could be people that are all over the country, so we're all writing together but we're not even in the same room, and that can be really, really helpful for getting these tasks done.

Caitlin Kindred: 19:48

There are. I'm trying to think of the name of it, but I can't right now. There is a actual program where you can sign up to body double with someone, and I can't remember the name of it, but that does exist outside of these smaller networks. So if you're a sole provider, you're, you know, you work on you no co-workers and you don't have any groups like this that you belong to with someone who could do that, there are ways to to do that and I think you just have to search like adhd body double, and I think this will, this thing will come right up and you can.

Caitlin Kindred: 20:23

You can join with that, and I've heard people talk about how incredibly effective it is for them because all you're doing the way that I understand it is all you're doing is you're signing on. Someone else is on the screen, they don't talk to you or they might say like, hi, and then you both get to work and it's just helpful to have someone doing that.

Ariella Monti: 20:41

Yeah, and I know there's people too on. They do like TikTok lives and Instagram lives, where, or and even on like YouTube, where the whole point is just body doubling for a project and so like they'll go live and just like do whatever project they're working on and you can just sign up and like sign up. You could just like join the live.

Caitlin Kindred: 21:06

Are you just join the live? Yeah, yeah. If that's all content creators, that's brilliant. If you're an adhc creator, like, why wouldn't you just?

Ariella Monti: 21:20

oh, that's so brilliant, oh my goodness I've thought about this like being like oh, I'm gonna work, I'm gonna write at x time, like you know, if you want to write, to join this live. And then I'm like oh god, but then people are gonna see my face while I'm writing and why do you think that I have mascara on right now?

Caitlin Kindred: 21:40

because I don't know what I'm going to do if I even publish this video. But that's the reason.

Ariella Monti: 21:48

I get it. I've come a long way with self-esteem, but I have not reached the point where I can have people watch me looking at the screen like this.

Caitlin Kindred: 22:02

You know so Sometimes I have a face for podcasting, so I completely understand what you're talking about Totally.

Ariella Monti: 22:12

Yeah. So body doubling, I love it.

Caitlin Kindred: 22:14

Working groups yeah, totally so good Okay.

Ariella Monti: 22:18

So my last tip is kind of a two-parter. So either block off certain parts of the day to do specific tasks related to your business, based on kind of where you have the most energy and motivation. Some people like to do the creative stuff in the morning and do the boring stuff in the afternoon. Some people switch that. My schedule, my day-to-day schedule, is too unpredictable to do that. I have tried that and it doesn't work for me. So I block off entire days for certain tasks.

Ariella Monti: 22:58

So I'll do admin and marketing on Monday, thursday and Friday and then I write the other days and this kind of keeps me from neglecting a project for too long, because my brain will kind of latch onto it. Like I don't know, there's some kind of like book marketing trend happening on threads and now I'm like, oh my god, that's amazing, I have to jump on that, but it's. But it's Tuesday, it's like no, this, this will be around for two more days. Like I can wait to do this, because otherwise I'm going to take that entire day on Tuesday to work on this stupid image or whatever the trend is, and I'm not writing. You know. So you can kind of decide what works for you in that. But if you have, you know, it's basically creating a routine and a structure where you know what you're going to do each part of either the day or the week, and it kind of helps you manage your workflow a little bit better.

Caitlin Kindred: 24:10

Yeah, I do this with certain clients, like I have a rule that I will only work on this one client that tends to take a lot of my attention after I finish everything else for another client for the day or, if it's a bigger project, for other clients.

Caitlin Kindred: 24:30

I'll say okay, not until after noon will I work on that other client. They get my attention the second half of the day, but other clients get my attention the first half of the day and then on Fridays when we have a lighter workday, that client the big attention client gets all of my attention that day and I use it just for their social content that whole time. So Friday the only thing I do is that client's social content and I know that once I'm done with that I can either be done for the day or I can move on to something else. But that has to be what happens first with that.

Caitlin Kindred: 25:03

And I find that to be very helpful, especially as someone coming from the teaching world where I did have a specific time of day where certain things had to get done. I had to teach first, second, you know, fourth, fifth and then seventh, so I knew those times were taken. But that meant that third period I was working on writing content for our advisory classes, and then, like sixth and eighth period, I was working on planning for the next day and then anything if I, once I got those things done, then I could start grading the papers, and that was having that structure in place was very helpful for me. So something like that, if you need to build like a class schedule for yourself, do something like that. That might be really effective for you. You might find it to be something that sounds silly, but there is something very helpful about something so regimented like that for people with ADHD.

Ariella Monti: 25:55

Yes, absolutely, absolutely. The next big challenge is disorganization and memory. We are actually talked about this before. Where decluttering your digital life.

Caitlin Kindred: 26:23

I'll find that episode and put it in the blog post here and link it, but it's. There was a whole section on why folders for your folders for your folders doesn't work. You can't do that.

Caitlin Kindred: 26:34

I have found that like having a. If I had a folder just for graphics for a client, then I would have to have folders inside of that for each campaign. So instead of doing it that way now I've shifted towards everything for the campaign in one folder and then inside that campaign folder. Then there's a space for graphics because it just. Otherwise it's. I can't find anything anymore. Yep, it's too.

Ariella Monti: 26:59

Yeah, I over complicated, it was ridiculous, was ridiculous, absolutely yeah. So trying to find systems that are like that, where they kind of simplify, simplify everything and that might require the help of somebody else who can like look at it a little bit more objectively, because I might be like, no, I gotta put a to put a folder and a folder and a folder and somebody else is like, well, why don't you just do this? And like when somebody else says it, it's like, oh well, yeah, of course that makes sense. Other things to do, especially from memory, is to just keep a notebook nearby and write everything down or use voice notes. Just accept the fact that you will not remember later. Just, you're gonna forget.

Caitlin Kindred: 27:49

Yeah.

Ariella Monti: 27:51

Let's just. Let's just accept it. I now have a stack of post-its in my car so that when I get into my car, if I have to remember to say, like go to the pharmacy to pick something up, I will write down you know, pick up RX and I will slap it on my infotainment screen yeah.

Ariella Monti: 28:11

Yeah, or I might be driving around and come up with like a great idea for a scene, idea for a scene and I will either voice note it to myself or I will write it down on that sticky note. Just write it down. Just accept that you're going to forget.

Caitlin Kindred: 28:32

I think this is hard for me, because I will write it down but then I won't remember where I put it, or I will write it down and then I will close that notebook up.

Caitlin Kindred: 28:43

So I would say, not only write it down but put it in a place where you won't be tempted to move it. It always sits right there. It's a running list. You don't put a paperclip over something and keep pages together, because otherwise you won't see them. Something like that, otherwise you won't see them. Something like that, otherwise you won't. You you won't see if it again out of sight, out of mind make it be a place.

Caitlin Kindred: 29:08

That's obvious. And if it, if you do happen to put it on something like a sticky note and it needs to be then added to another to your running list of things, take your sticky note with you over to the place where you write everything down and then write the thing down in the in the other place, then get rid of the sticky note yeah, don't yeah, and don't just stick the sticky note on top of the things, because if there's something underneath the sticky note, you won't see it.

Caitlin Kindred: 29:37

So just things like that where you have to think about your own habits and how you survive stuff like that? Yeah, absolutely.

Ariella Monti: 29:51

Follow up with clients via email to ensure that you're on the same page, that you have all the dates and assignments correct, correct. This is kind of something that I sort of started doing when I freelance, to just make sure I understand the assignment that I was given, because a lot of times I might read something and I think I understand it, and then when I turn in the assignment, it's like this is not what I wanted. So it takes nothing to just email back and say just so we're on the same page, and if you are the, I lost my train of thought.

Caitlin Kindred: 30:38

I will say you've done this with me before, where you yes, you freelanced for the company that I work for and you have sent, and I've assigned you a task and you've sent me back a message that says, just so we're clear, this is what you're asking for and I have. It's forced me, as someone who doesn't always, who sometimes assumes people understand what I'm talking about and I skipped steps because it's in my head but I didn't tell someone. It's forced me to be very clear about what I'm asking for here. It also prevents me from doing the thing where it's like I know what I, I kind of know what I want, but I definitely know what I don't want.

Caitlin Kindred: 31:14

Um so you know, there there is that, and I also think there's something to not just doing this but asking what the priority is. So if you have multiple tasks for a client, saying which one would you prefer, I prioritize, so that I don't, because I'm someone who sees 15 things on the list and I think everything has to be done at the same time.

Caitlin Kindred: 31:35

So something that I've done for myself is say to a client and it's taken me a long time to do this I'm now three years into this job and I'm only just saying what would you prefer I work on first, but asking that question which ones, which one would you prefer I prioritize so that I can offer, I can give you the deliverable that you're asking for right away.

Ariella Monti: 31:57

Yep, yep, and then asking for a deadline if you haven't been given one or if you've been given like a vague deadline, Like if. It's like, oh, by the end of the month. It's like no, no, no, Give me a day Right.

Caitlin Kindred: 32:10

If it's by the end of the month, say May 31st, Otherwise say, you know, May 20th, whatever it is, give me an actual day, not by the end of the month, because that to me means it doesn't matter to you when you get it Right.

Ariella Monti: 32:25

Exactly, exactly. And in doing that, what is wrong with me? My brain, I have ADHD. That's what's wrong with me.

Caitlin Kindred: 32:35

Did you take your meds today?

Ariella Monti: 32:37

I did not take my medication this morning, me too. I did. I had a good thought related to that, but now it's gone.

Caitlin Kindred: 32:48

You talked about okay, so we said follow up with clients via email. Oh, I like this one. I see this one on your list, brain dumps.

Ariella Monti: 32:57

Yes so brain dumps are.

Ariella Monti: 32:59

Yeah, so brain dumps are basically like just what they sound like.

Ariella Monti: 33:05

It's like all the stuff that's in our head, like whether it has to do with work or not, or just the most random thing Like I don't know, like what color robe does the Pope wear on Tuesdays? I don't know. Like those could be like the weird questions that, like, we hyper fixate on. Just take all of those thoughts and just write them down, like just write them on a piece of paper, like my brain dumps will be a mix of work stuff, a mix of personal stuff, a mix of like yeah, those like weird things that I just like can't stop thinking about. And it's like, once they're on the sheet of paper, it does feel like okay, now I don't have to try to keep all of these things in my head anymore, because they are here, like they live here now. They don't need to live in my head. And from that brain dump you can start to prioritize the things that you know that are important and then the things that are not, like the color of the Pope's robe on Tuesdays.

Caitlin Kindred: 34:21

So so the other thing I want to add to this is sometimes people turn brain dumps into to-do lists and there's a couple of problems with that. That. I that I see one if. If an ADHD person writes down literally everything inside their head, it takes up an entire page. Or you write nothing down because you're like I don't know what's in my head, because we struggle with metacognition, I think um a lot.

Caitlin Kindred: 34:43

So when I've done these and I write down tasks that need to get done, I get overwhelmed by it. I mentioned this creator last week in the episode Coaching with Brooke and I mentioned that she had a fantastic tip for how to tackle that list of overwhelm. And next to the brain dump, I will write down, I'll draw an arrow and I'll write down the single next step that needs to happen in order for me to tackle that test so for example okay if it's, I have to write a landing page or a writing copy for a client for a specific web page that I might already have a draft, and so I have that on.

Caitlin Kindred: 35:30

You know, my draft is is there, and then the next step is revise paragraph one.

Ariella Monti: 35:38

Right, yeah, yeah.

Caitlin Kindred: 35:39

It's not make edits, it's optimize title. It's just one single tiny step, because sometimes even just looking at that the next day and being like, okay, the only thing I have to do right here is optimize the title and then it might get you on a roll to tackle whatever's next on the list. But just make sure your brain dump doesn't put you in a state of overwhelm. So if you see tasks and you start to get panicky, just maybe consider that hack and thank you to Coaching with Brooke for that one, because that was so brilliant. Yeah, yeah, that's a good idea.

Ariella Monti: 36:15

That's a really, really good idea. And the last one, for time disorganization, is starting your day by organizing everything or ending your day by organizing your space, or both, so at least you're getting off on the right foot and you're not like walking into your workspace and it is like an absolute. You know disaster zone. Like an absolute, you know disaster zone, Just if you have the ability to do it.

Ariella Monti: 36:49

I used to do this when I worked in an office and I didn't really realize it was probably related to my ADHD, but I would take like the last like 45 minutes of the day and because I was already burnt out, what doing, whatever I was doing. So if I wasn't on like a hard deadline or something, I would take like the last 45 minutes and I would just organize my space. I would do little bits of research and so when I walked in the next day I was not overwhelmed by everything that I had to start doing. So kind of like set yourself up for success, whatever really that means for you. Like it might mean that you ease into the day by cleaning up the disaster zone. You know that might be super helpful, but whatever it is to set yourself up for success, do it.

Caitlin Kindred: 37:40

Yeah, I tend to do this at the end of the day because I don't? Because in the morning it'll distract me. If I try to tidy in the morning, I will spend all of my time doing that and I'll be like oh, but now I need to reorganize the entire office instead of just clearing my space. So I tend to do this at the end of the day, when I'm a little bit more tired and don't have it in me to become hyper fixated on everything around me in that space.

Caitlin Kindred: 38:11

So it helps me there and you know it kind of it feels good at the end of the day to cross a few things off your list and and then walk into the next day knowing these are the things that need to get done right away and I planned for myself and I took care of later Caitlin or whatever. It is right, yeah, so Totally.

Ariella Monti: 38:33

And the last challenge that we deal with is boredom Things that are boring, getting bored. Even when we enjoy things, sometimes we get bored, and that is, you know, that is a tricky one. This is where body doubling is really helpful Just kind of working with others. It makes that boring task more fun. I have had to do boring admin stuff and I'll hop into my writers group and I'll be like does anybody want to do a writing sprint? This way I can do a I don't know data entry or something like. Having somebody near you to do that boring thing is really helpful. Follow your natural energy rhythm over the course of the day. Energy rhythm over the course of the day. People with ADHD have an internal clock that would be considered wonky by neurotypical people. We might be more energized and motivated later in the day as opposed to earlier in the day. We might work better in the evening. We might work better overnight.

Caitlin Kindred: 39:42

You think that's deadline related? Like think about the end of the day and how things are supposed to get done at the end of the day.

Ariella Monti: 39:48

Like by the end of the day I said I would do this.

Caitlin Kindred: 39:51

I feel like that's a big part of it for me. I really do.

Ariella Monti: 39:54

Yeah, I'm sure that's part of it, or it could be part of it, like depending on your job. But I also know that, like if I have the ability to kind of work whenever I wanted throughout the day, I wouldn't get started working until 11 in the morning and I would take a break in the mid-afternoon, but then I would work like well into the night. I would work like until 1. Completely.

Caitlin Kindred: 40:27

Wow, I find that I will say to myself I'm only going to work until you know 4.15, and then I'm going to stop, and then it'll be 4.45 and I'm still working, and it's because I've I had this like this internal pressure to get something else crossed off my list, or whatever it is. So I wonder if that's part of it. For me anyway, but I feel like I'm sure I'm not the only one who day to kind of adjust when you work or when you do certain tasks, do it, you know.

Ariella Monti: 41:12

Don't do the boring things necessarily when you're feeling the most low energy, because if you don't have the dopamine to basically do things, even things that you enjoy, you're not going to have the dopamine to do the things that you don't.

Caitlin Kindred: 41:30

So that is where you kind of play with your day.

Ariella Monti: 41:37

It's okay if you don't get started at 8am and your workday ends at six. I mean, maybe that's what you have to do, you know. So that's why I'm saying, like, if you have the flexibility for it, you know, if you don't have the flexibility for it, you got to do what you got to do. But if you have the flexibility to kind of mess with your schedule a little bit, figuring out when you are the most energized and when you are the most depleted will really help with staying away from when you have to do the boring stuff.

Caitlin Kindred: 42:12

It's true, yeah.

Ariella Monti: 42:14

And the last one is change your environment, if you can. If you have an office, but you can also work someplace else, do it. That can be really helpful. I have, you know, an office in my guest room and then there are days where I will go down to the kitchen table because the kitchen gets a lot more sunlight. So there are days where I just need more sun and I will go there. I have a picnic table outside, so I will work outside, go to the coffee shop, the library. Sometimes just changing your environment can add that variety that we need, that we talked about earlier, that ADHD. People love variety and that variety keeps us from getting bored.

Caitlin Kindred: 42:57

Yeah.

Ariella Monti: 42:57

I love it yeah that was a lot.

Caitlin Kindred: 42:59

It was a lot Of stuff, but I feel like it's super helpful to have all that in one place. Is there any other tips that you have before we move on for today?

Ariella Monti: 43:12

I think the last one would just be to ask for help when you need it. Outsource something when you can. If you can, if you're a business owner that can afford to outsource something to a personal assistant or a freelancer, just do it. You know, especially if it's something that you can't stand doing, give it to somebody else. And you know, in some respects that's what we call the ADHD tax. You know where we end up spending a little bit more money to get things done. But if it helps your mental health, if it helps you have the capacity and the bandwidth to do the things that you really, really enjoy and the reason why you are a business owner, then that it's worth it.

Caitlin Kindred: 44:02

So I agree and I mean mean we've talked about this. I talked about it with deborah dolaner a few weeks ago about outsourcing tasks for parents. Um, if it means you as the, the entrepreneur, the solopreneur, need to focus explicitly on the business that needs to take every bit of your attention, and you need to outsource other tasks like gift wrapping and picking up groceries and things like that, there are services available. I'm going to give a shout out to Tula Life Balanced again, and if you're in one of the cities that Tula operates in, there's a promo code GrownUp20. You can go and sign up and get 20 off of outsourcing services for moms. So put that out there too. It's not just outsourcing things for your business, but it's also outsourcing things that are taxing at home.

Ariella Monti: 44:54

So yeah, absolutely out there, absolutely yeah, that's all I got, okay?

Caitlin Kindred: 44:59

well, we've got all of these resources in the blog post for the episode. Make sure that you check that out and we will be right back. Hey y'all. Pov you find a diary exposing forbidden magic and the hot museum caretaker's life depends on you burning it. Roots Ink. The debut novel by Ariella Monti is the fantasy romance for rebels. Use promo code CKANDGK to get 20% off your copy at AriellaMonticom. Again, that's all caps C-K-A-N-D-G-K for 20% off on AriellaMonticom. Get your copy for 20% off today. All right, so, in the spirit of ADHD stuff, we're back and we're not talking about obsessions.

Caitlin Kindred: 46:01

We're talking about hyperfixations, so do you have any right now that I need to know about and also be hyper fixated on Tiny puzzles.

Ariella Monti: 46:07

Tiny puzzles, I. Tiny puzzles. Going back to puzzles, yeah, going back to puzzles. Yes, to loop it back, to circle, back to puzzles.

Caitlin Kindred: 46:20

Oh no, don't say circle back. Oh no, no, so corporate.

Ariella Monti: 46:23

Oh no, no, so corporate oh, no, no, no, no, no, no. Circling back, let's circle back to tiny puzzles. Um, yeah, impulse bought this. I can't remember the name of it, I'll have to to. You'll have to put it in the show notes later, but it's like a. It was a. It was at the, the place where it was, at the mailing place, where I like have a PO box and drop off, oh, like, drop off the books that I'm sending out Post office. No, it's like a private, like a private place. So it's not the post office.

Ariella Monti: 46:59

Ok, so yeah, it's like a, like a small business, but they're like these little tubes right like these little plastic tubes with this like little puzzles inside, and the puzzles themselves end up being like five by seven or four by six or whatever, and it was ten dollars, so my impulse bought it and I like it because it's so little that I can put it on this like little wooden tray and it doesn't take up a whole bunch of space, and it's just been like sitting on the kitchen table and I just keep like playing with it and try.

Ariella Monti: 47:33

It's so freaking hard though, like, but it'll be cute when it's done. It's like a little bookshelf with like little black cats in the bookshelf and I'm gonna frame it. When I'm, whenever I'm done with it, I'm gonna frame it and put it in my living room nice, okay, yeah, tiny puzzles all right?

Caitlin Kindred: 47:53

uh, mine is. I've been doing my own nails again, oh and because I was getting my gel x nails done and really loved them. But but they were lifting a lot and it was lifting. If you're not a nail person, it means that, like, whatever the tips are or the extension on your nail is coming up in the back or lifting around the edges and it would get caught in my hair and it would make me crazy. So I got tired of going back to the nail place and making them fix it. So I started doing my own again.

Caitlin Kindred: 48:27

And there's when you're getting, when you have gel on your nails, you need to kind of file off the top. And the fastest, most efficient way to do that is to use a drill. And I have a little baby nail drill and I love this freaking thing. I'm terrified to use it, but it's so satisfying to watch all the like nail bits come off. I don't know what it is, but like I don't need to do my nails every week, but I've been like I want to drill this up, like I just so dumb, um, but it's, it's a thing and I it just is.

Caitlin Kindred: 48:58

So it's so satisfying to watch all the like, all the stuff just come off and you have to go outside because there's so much dust that comes out of it uh, where you can get one of those like dust vacuum things, but it's yeah, I was sitting outside on my porch last week and I'm like and like all this stuff is going everywhere and I was all happy, amazing so happy, it was so dumb anyway, that's my, that's. My fixation at the moment is watching the. The satisfying dust come off my fingernail nice dumb, I love it. But true, all right. Did you get anything done this week that you didn't need to body double?

Ariella Monti: 49:33

you just got it done, yes I finally called my eye doctor to order contacts.

Caitlin Kindred: 49:42

Nice down, well like yeah, you need them too, so I don't know what you would right, I right, I know well what.

Ariella Monti: 49:51

What made things a little bit take a little bit longer was that I was trialing like a new pair, like a new brand of contacts usually I would just order them like before I leave, like after my appointment, but because I had to trial a new pair that I wasn't like there to to purchase them, and so they're like. Yeah, you know, like, once you decide if you like them or not, like, just call and we'll put in the order.

Caitlin Kindred: 50:19

And you know, like, just call weeks and weeks, just call just call weeks and weeks and bye, I'm sure right, right, and so I'm on like the like.

Ariella Monti: 50:34

Contacts in my eyes are, I think, the only like full set I have. So if something happens to the one contact I don't know if it's my right or left If something happens to that, I have to wear my glasses, which is not a crisis, but I have some eye conditions that make wearing contacts I see better with them. So I'm, I'm, I don't want to wear my glasses. If I can help it, understood, but yeah, I can help it. Understood, but yeah.

Caitlin Kindred: 51:06

I finally ordered contacts.

Caitlin Kindred: 51:08

Good job, that's amazing. Thank you, yeah, congratulations. I'm legitimately happy about that. Mine was. I did something similar. I finally made my follow-up mammogram appointment Nice. Got the order inmber to make the appointment, all right, yeah, made it this week so nice, so good job. Because just call is not okay and I will do it if it's online, like I, that right I'm, it's still the same thing. I'm going to delay it, but I'm more likely to do it if I don't have to call and they have an online option. Except they were like nope, you actually do have to call because you have a specific type of order from your doctor that you have to go get it done.

Caitlin Kindred: 51:57

So nightmare fuel, but it got finished.

Ariella Monti: 52:02

Yay.

Caitlin Kindred: 52:03

Good.

Ariella Monti: 52:04

I'm happy for both you and your boobs thanks.

Caitlin Kindred: 52:09

They're gonna be happy too, I'm sure, after the pancakeification of them is complete so that's all that we have for today.

Caitlin Kindred: 52:17

Thank you. You did a great job. So thank you for all of that helpful information. I'm gonna once more make a request that you vote for me. If you're listening to this, in May of 2025, I still need votes. Voting goes until the end of the month, so May 31st is your last day to vote for me for the Women Podcasters Awards in the Education Podcast category. The link to my page is in the show notes. You just scroll down and click vote, and you're not signing up for anything. You're just putting in your email for verification purposes and then all you have to do is scroll down to where I'm at and choose me. That's it. It takes a minute and a half, very quick, super simple.

Caitlin Kindred: 52:58

That's my call to you. I really need your help, I really need your votes. Please help me and validate me. I need validation, as Jenny would say. Make good choices and vote for me and I'm going to do the millennial Bye, bye.