As an adult, ADHD can make even the simplest tasks absolutely difficult. When coping with ADHD in adulthood, keep these important tips in mind.
Characterized by impulsiveness, restlessness, disorganization, and troubles with concentration, ADHD or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder can be truly debilitating to those who suffer from it. Affecting 4.4% of America’s adult population, it poses as an endless obstacle to affected individuals even to children diagnosed with ADHD.
However, this doesn’t mean ADHD has to control one’s life. There are a number of strategies ADHD victims can use to relieve its effects and make their life easier.
Below, we’re going to get into these strategies, explaining the best ways of coping with ADHD.
Tips for Coping With ADHD
The key to coping with adult ADHD is planning ahead. By planning ahead, you’ll keep impulsive moments to a minimum and will be able to think with a clear mind.
Combatting Disorganization
One of the biggest problems those with ADHD face is the problem of organization.
Fortunately, there are a few different ways that ADHD-diagnosed individuals can combat disorganization. They include the following.
1. Keep a Visible To-Do List
The reason that ADHD-diagnosed individuals have trouble with organizing is that they can’t keep their minds on the specific tasks for prolonged periods of time. They’re quickly moving onto the next task before ever even finishing the last one.
This is why, if you have ADHD, you should utilize a large and visible to-do list. Having a to-do list on-hand will alert you as to what you’ve completed and to what you still need to complete.
To ensure that you see it often, keep it posted in the most frequently visited area of your home.
2. Color Code
Colors can help those with ADHD to obtain a more efficient focus, allowing them to hone in on a specific task as quickly as possible. This is why, if you suffer from ADHD, you’re advised to utilize color coding.
For instance, you could segment different rooms of your home by color on a calendar or to-do list. Utilize a green marker for kitchen duties, an orange marker for bathroom duties, and so on and so forth.
3. Store Similar Items Together
Do you struggle to find specific items when trying to perform certain tasks? If so, you should try storing similar items together. This way, when they need to be used, you won’t have to scramble all over your home to find them.
For example, you could keep your phone, wallet, and keys in the same exact spot whenever you’re at home. That way, when you have to leave the house, you’ll be able to find and retrieve them all within a matter of seconds.
4. Establish a Routine
For those with ADHD, a routine is of utmost importance. Having a routine in place will not only combat impulsivity, but it will also promote organization and productivity.
This is because a routine requires you to perform specific tasks in specific timeslots.
As long as you stick to the routine, you’re sure to tend to all of your responsibilities on a consistent basis, keeping everything organized at all times.
Combatting Impulsivity
Impulsivity is one of the most prominent and severe effects coping with ADHD. Because of this, it can be difficult to combat. However, by utilizing the following tips, it is possible.
1. Practice Mindfulness
The key to combatting impulsivity is practicing mindfulness. Mindfulness involves being aware of the moment in which one is currently living, taking time to consider present thoughts, feelings, and atmospheres.
Those who practice mindfulness regularly are generally less anxious and less prone to acting irrationally. It’s important to practice mindfulness not only during scheduled meditation sessions but in the midst of everyday life as well.
2. Create an Anti-impulsivity Motto
You could also resist impulsivity by creating an anti-impulsivity motto. This motto should assist you in assessing situations that you encounter in life and should help you to determine whether or not you’re making the right decisions in the midst of these situations.
For instance, you could internally ask yourself a question before taking a specific action. Asking a question such as “Is this the right thing to do?” will help to slow down your mind, allowing you to think more carefully and more clearly.
3. Plan Thoroughly
In many cases, impulsive actions occur because there are no alternative actions. In other words, there is no plan in place. When there’s no plan in place, you’re constantly put in positions in which you must make decisions at a moment’s notice.
This is why you need to plan your days thoroughly. If you make a plan and you stick to it, you will greatly reduce the number of moments in which impulsive actions are able to take place.
4. Exercise!
Regular exercise improves impulse control. This is true for all individuals, regardless of whether or not they have ADHD. Running, walking, or weight training 3 to 5 days a week can have seismic effects, reducing hyperactivity and setting one’s mind at ease.
Promoting Productivity
Because they often struggle to keep their minds on one particular task, ADHD-diagnosed individuals also often struggle with getting things done. In other words, they have trouble with productivity.
If you have troubles with being productive, you can combat the problem by utilizing the tips below.
1. Create a Daily Schedule
Regardless of whether or not you have ADHD, keeping a schedule is vital to your productivity.
However, if you are coping with ADHD, this is doubly true, as a schedule will keep your thoughts directed to the appropriate priorities throughout each day.
2. Send Reminder Emails to Yourself
Most sufferers of ADHD find that their minds become overwhelmed with information.
Because of this, they’re often forgetful of important dates, thoughts, and responsibilities.
There are a few ways to get around this, but perhaps the best method is by sending emails to yourself.
Every time something important arises in your memory, type it out and send it to your inbox. These emails will serve as reminders to you and will help you to get things done in a timely fashion.
3. Keep a Calendar
Many ADHD-diagnosed individuals have trouble keeping track of the day-to-day. Because of this, they often fail to handle their responsibilities as needed.
How can you combat this problem? The answer is to keep a calendar. Filling out a calendar with important events and deadlines, and keeping it in a familiar spot will ensure that you’re well-acquainted with what needs to get done.
4. Maintain a Routine
As was noted above, establishing a routine is vital in order for an ADHD-diagnosed individual to remain organized. However, it’s not just organizing that is improved by a routine, but productivity as well.
Getting up and doing the same things at the same times every day will ensure that you’re tending to all of your basic responsibilities.
Promoting a Positive Mindset
ADHD-diagnosed individuals have exceedingly low tolerances for frustration and can become overwhelmed by the most mundane of stimuli. Because of this, they often struggle to maintain positive mindsets.
There are ways, however, to promote positive thinking. They include the following.
1. Accept Yourself
First and foremost, you must come to accept your diagnosis. Some sufferers coping with ADHD are ashamed of their condition and believe that by having it, they have failed themselves in some way.
It’s important to remember that you did not cause your ADHD. This is a condition which arises in individuals from all walks of life and which is spurred on by a number of uncontrollable factors. The quicker you come to terms with that, the sooner you’ll be able to live your life with a positive mindset.
2. Get Regular Sleep
Every human being needs regular and consistent sleep in order to function at a high level. For ADHD-diagnosed individuals, this is particularly true.
Those ADHD sufferers who fail to obtain adequate amounts of sleep often find that their symptoms are exacerbated. Not only do they have an even more difficult time concentrating, but in thinking rationally as well.
You’re advised to get 7 to 9 hours of sleep every night, ideally around the same time. Make sure that this sleep is constant, and not broken up by long periods of alertness.
3. Take Medication
Some ADHD sufferers are able to cope without the use of medication. Others are not.
Regardless of which camp you fit into, you need to know that medication is a legitimate option. There’s no shame in taking medicine for a condition as severe as ADHD.
There are all types of medications on the market today, including but not limited to Adderall, Ritalin, and Concerta. There are even natural options, such as these Natural Supplement For ADHD, for those who do not wish to take prescribed medication, but still would like to give themselves some relief each day.
4. Utilize the Services of a Therapist
Regardless of the severity of your ADHD, you’re advised to utilize the services of a therapist. Speaking with a professional about your thoughts, feelings, and concerns can work wonders in improving your comfort and self-esteem.
Plus, a therapist can help you to devise strategies with which to solve certain situations.
Find More Healthy Living Tips
Coping with ADHD isn’t always easy, but it is always possible. By utilizing the tips reviewed above, you stand a good chance of keeping your condition at bay and leading a happy, healthy life.
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