Getting It Done with ADHD!

Do you see your child struggling with it, too?

It’s probably painful, bringing back memories of how you struggled when you were a kid… how you still struggle.

You know your little one is smart and can do their schoolwork, but you might be getting notes from their teacher about how they “refuse to do their work,” are “lazy,” “zone out” in class, or “won’t stop talking.”

Everyone talks about the importance of “giving consequences,” but you know first-hand how the punishments never work and how their self-esteem continues to tank.

When the topic of school comes up, they just hang their head. The older they get, the less effort they put in because, after a while, they just give up trying to please.

You wish they could have a safe space with someone they trusted who could understand.

You CAN make changes and get it done!

Whether you’re a struggling student, a slightly disorganized professional, or a parent concerned about their child, we can help. We’re very familiar with the struggles associated with ADHD and its variants across the lifespan.

We’ll address each of the challenges ADHD can bring, such as…

Initiation

Getting started can be the hardest part. For kids, it’s transitioning from something as simple as an after-school snack to homework without getting hooked by a screen of some kind. Or stopping video games to get that chore done that got left behind as they made a beeline to the living room.

We ask A LOT of questions about these struggles. We want to get to know you. Most parents tell us they’ve tried sticker charts, reward and punishment systems, and “nothing works.”

The novelty of reward systems quickly wears off after a while. It becomes mundane, or one failure, and they’re done with it. We go beyond that. We get to the roots of demand avoidance (common with neurodivergence) and collaborate with parents and the child. We experiment, see what works, and get to the foundation of structure and consistent routines that will give your child a floor and ceiling they can live with.

Perhaps you’re an adult who feels overwhelmed with everything you have to do. Phone calls, work, taking out the trash, paying the bills on time, doing laundry, doing home projects, keeping in touch with family and friends… on and on.

Making time can feel difficult, and procrastination comes easily because how much of this stuff is an emergency anyway? We all need downtime, but you can easily get seduced by those screens. “Just one episode,” you said to yourself as you turned on Netflix. Before you knew it, you’d watched the whole season! Then the regret kicks in, the self-shaming, the “I’ll make it up another time” promises you made last week, too.

Execution

You made the transition. You got all your stuff together. Now you just have to sit down and get it done. For anyone with ADHD, the process of initiation and organization can be the longest part.

But executing until you get to that perfect “hyperfocus” moment where nothing else matters can also be challenging. You’re subject to distractions, a text message that took your attention, a dog barking, or the Amazon delivery guy bringing that package you were expecting (or didn’t remember ordering!).

Being mindful, minimizing distractions, figuring out whether you need background music, a podcast, or complete silence… these are all things we get into and more.

Prioritizing

Let’s start this area out with a true story. A 12-year-old is prompted by his dad to go rake leaves. He gets him off the video games and sends him outside. This kid goes through the garage, past the rake, assesses the situation with the leaves, and starts looking at the tree. He remembers how he used to climb it, and now bigger, he can probably go higher this time. He starts climbing, getting as high as the branches will let him. He’s forgotten the rake, the leaves, and the Fortnite game he was playing. All that matters is how high he can go in this tree.

ADHD brains seek novelty, fun, and excitement. They don’t do monotonous chores or tasks very well. For kids, prioritizing is a skill that must be taught, but we also see this struggle with adults.

Maybe you have a report due at work, but you’re also under pressure to keep on top of emails, so you’re constantly derailing yourself when you’re in the zone to check them. You’re feeling burned out because everything is due now, everything is important, and nothing can wait, so you know something will get dropped. You just hope you can scrape together enough time to finish the work (or take it home again) before everything falls apart.

At Nurtured Hope, we get the struggle. We’ve felt it ourselves. Sometimes it’s as simple as sorting what’s urgent and important from what’s important but not urgent and what’s just flat-out a waste of time.