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Inattention and Adult ADHD
From time to time, every adult may experience inattention. However, adults diagnosed with an inattentive ADHD presentation tend to experience persistent interference with functioning in two or more spaces. This can be particularly debilitating in the workspace and often presents as difficulty focusing, paying attention/listening, staying on task; being disorganised and/or misplacing work product or tools. There are a variety of strategies that can be helpful, some of which are set out below.
Organisation and Time Management Strategies
How we plan, manage and organise our time is important. When we procrastinate, we can encounter time slippage and reduced efficiency. This blog post sets out strategies to address good organisation and time management practices, the benefits of which are numerous and include increased efficiency and productivity, a positive reputation as there is a perception you can be relied upon, better career prospects, less fatigue and less stress. The major bonus being more personal time which translates into better work/life balance.
Impulsivity and Adult ADHD
Impulsivity in adult ADHD can manifest as self-control issues, addictive tendencies, behaving in socially inappropriate ways, acting without thinking, interrupting others, not following through with tasks or having difficulty waiting in queues for example. It can have consequences across multiple domains including career, interpersonal relationships and mental well-being. There are however strategies that can help with impulsivity, some of which are set out in this blog post.
Alcohol Consumption
How has consuming alcohol been impacting you? If you believe it is time to manage your consumption, this blog post contains some strategies that might assist with that.
Perfectionism vs Adult ADHD
Perfectionism and ADHD can manifest in similar ways including distractibility, burnout, poor focus and procrastination. It is the overlapping symptoms of concentration difficulty, procrastination and feeling overwhelmed that might make a perfectionist think they have ADHD.
Workplace Bullying
Person centred inhumanity to man and nature seems to be infinite. A classic example of which is workplace bullying. Workplace bullying can occur across all levels of an organisation. It is neither welcome nor solicited and it is also often an escalating process rather than a single event.[i] If left unchecked lack of respect, lack of professionalism and toxicity can permeate the organisation. The environment can become unhealthy, hostile and unproductive.
Journal Prompts
In addition to questions posed in the blog post on Ikigai, these are questions to consider asking yourself in a journal when you are trying to figure out: what you want to do; what gives you a sense of purpose or meaning; what you want to do with your time, when you have more time on your hands; or what might help you to shake your life up in some way, if that’s what you feel is needed.
IKIGAI - Reason For Being
It is common at some point in time across the individual lifespan to question one’s sense of meaning and purpose; one’s reason for existence. Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles in their book, “Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life,” explore the concept and its embodiment in a long and happy life.
The Importance of Mattering
We all want to have a sense of purpose and meaning; a sense that we matter. At its core, mattering is a sense of feeling significant and valued by others. It is a sense that we make a difference in the world; that we are visible and heard. When we have this sense of connectedness, social acceptance and personal significance, we flourish.
The Warrior in You: Resilience
We live in a world that encapsulates the VUCA acronym: Volatile; Unknown; Complex; Ambiguous. Successfully navigating this requires a psychological fitness the foundation of which is resilience.
The Warrior in You: Problem Solving
It is a given that there will be obstacles and problems in life. When this occurs, we are challenged to look at our perception of control. How we perceive control will impact our stress levels positively or negatively either progressing or delaying our return to baseline.
Low Frustration Tolerance
Low Frustration Tolerance (LFT) occurs when we get frustrated easily. It is characterised by an inability to emotionally regulate responses to stressors and is sometimes referred to as “can’t-stand -itis” as people who experience LFT can complain about not being able to stand this or that.
The Warrior in You: Courage
Warrior Psychotherapy draws on the core elements of courage, morality, honour, problem solving, excellence, communication, flexibility and adaptability, toughness and situational awareness to optimise performance, resilience, wellbeing and mental strength
Values and stress
How you view stress matters. It will impact your thinking and your actions. Where stress is perceived as harmful common responses include avoidance or reduction/numbing e.g., alcohol/substances or some other form of distraction.
Inspiration
Sometimes who we are can get lost in the busyness of what we do or what we need to do. At times like these it is important to step back and review how we are living our lives. Are we just going through the motions? Or, are we engaged and inspired?
grit
Life is complicated. The very busyness of it can create time famine and render us overwhelmed. That’s where grit or mental strength comes in. It involves resilience, willpower, skill, hard work, consistency, passion, perseverance and commitment. It is a key factor in achieving goals and is the foundation of long-term success. Can you develop mental strength? Absolutely. Here’s some strategies to help with just that:
resilience
Resilience is the ability to bounce back from difficult experiences. It is the ability to readily recover from the experience of tragedy, significant sources of stress, illness, depression and adversity. It is the ability to find solutions in a crisis. It is about seeing what has occurred as an opportunity and not a disaster .
Managing Workoad
Restructuring and downsizing in government and private sectors has led to fewer human resources, increased workloads, longer working hours, time famine, information overload and increased stress levels. Strategies for managing this include:
Some Strategies to Reduce the negative Effects of Technology and Social Media
Jean-Paul Sartre said, “We are our choices.” Existentialists believe that who we are and how we live our lives is the result of our choices. Embracing that freedom also requires that we accept responsibility for directing our lives. How does this view factor in with technology and social media? Here are some suggestions: