Springboard Clinic

In honour of ADHD Awareness Month this month, Canadians are being asked to take part in the "2016 ADHD Challenge."

Organized by the Centre for ADHD Awareness, Canada (CADDAC), this challenge involves two components:

What is self-compassion, and why is it something to strive for in our lives? In the video below, Kristin Neff, an Associate Professor at the University of Texas, talks about self-compassion, and what it is and isn't.

Self-compassion is about looking at yourself non-judgmentally and accepting yourself as-is. On the opposite end, we often think we need to be self-critical to motivate ourselves. We believe we should work to self-improve at all times to change into the person that we want to be. In reality, it is through self-compassion and self-acceptance that we get the clarity to make healthy changes in our lives. Check it out!

Do you tend to procrastinate? If so, check out Tim Urban's video: Inside the Mind of a Master Procrastinator.

In this video, Tim introduces several key characters. For one, you have the non-procrastinator side of our brains: The "Rational Decision-Maker." Then, you have the "Instant Gratification Monkey" who lives entirely in the present moment and only cares about what's easy and fun. Finally we have the "Panic Monster" - the only thing that terrifies the monkey.

Many ADHD adults have difficulty making decisions. It can be something small, like deciding what you're going to order for dinner. Or it could be bigger, like whether to pursue a new job opportunity.

Check out this article called ADHD Tip: How to Meal Plan in Minutes. It walks you through a simplified version of menu planning: Menu rotation. Rather than making a new plan every week, the idea is to plan meals for a certain period of time, and repeat. In theory, that means you do the planning once and you're done.

We love this idea - it seems to obvious, but many of us get so caught up in over-complicating things. Maybe it sounds nice to plan a new many every week, but is that realistic? So, why not keep it simple by picking a few go-to recipes to rotate? You still get some variety, particularly if you have a 3-week rotation of meals, but you keep it simple!

Disorganization is a common and often debilitating ADHD symptom. As part of this, many ADHD adults struggle to keep their physical space organized. Their home is messy, or they have giant piles of paperwork all over their desks. As you can imagine, this can waste a lot of time, and sometimes even money to deal with. Being chronically disorganized also takes up a lot of mental energy. A disorganized environment can fuel a disorganized mind.

Getting organized - and staying organized - is not always (or ever) a fun task. But, as difficult as it can be, ADHD adults thrive with structure and organization. It's a necessary - and beneficial - part of life.