Shankman’s offerings are far from a support group lamenting the difficulties of living with ADHD. Instead, this is a collection of inspiring ADHDs who have “learned to unlock the gifts of their ADD and ADHD diagnosis, and use them to their personal and professional benefit, to build businesses, become millionaires or just improve their lives ”. according to the podcast description on iTunes. Guests include the likes of Raven Baxter, aka Raven the Science Maven; Seth Godin; and Tony robbins.
Before the pandemic, Shankman had a windowless office where he worked without distraction, but now he juggles homeschooling with his 7-year-old daughter and working from his Manhattan living room. Shankman, like Schwartz, doesn’t take medication for his ADHD, but has figured out what works to boost his morning dopamine levels and get the best start.
Shankman wakes up before dawn, but thanks to smart bulbs, he wakes up to the simulated daylight. But this is only the beginning. Shankman also sleeps in bicycle shorts and socks and keeps his shoes attached to his Platoon pedals.
Within 30 seconds, he’s on the bike for his first dose of dopamine of the day. “Five minutes later, you can’t get me off the bike,” Shankman says. “I’m not a doctor, but I understand the basics of ADHD and I know what ADHD does both for and for me.”
What Shankman means – and what most people with ADHD understand – is that ADHD is not a diagnosis to be feared, but rather a gift to be accepted. Knowing what works for us is how we create a structure – and use the tools at our disposal – that allow us to live our best lives.
Use the game (no, really!)
Jeff Ditzell is a Manhattan psychiatrist specializing in the treatment of mood and anxiety disorders, including ADHD. “Our attention is often distracted,” Ditzell said on his podcast, Psychs in the city. “But we’re also doing a really good job of giving it away.” Ditzell suggests that we focus on what we can control as a way to manage symptoms and create lives that work with us, not against us.
People with ADHD often procrastinate, but then find that they are increasingly clear-headed and efficient as they approach their deadline. “Manufacturing lead times and creating an 11th hour strategy works,” says Ditzell. “And it addresses the part of the ADHD brain that craves novelty.”
When it comes to using gambling to relieve ADHD symptoms, it’s not a strategy that will work for everyone, warns Ditzell, as it requires both self-control and the desire to move on. next task. The game works for Schwartz, whose hectic, interesting and never the same career as a journalist is stimulating, and also because he figured out how many minutes to play the game before going into work mode.
Ditzell says any process can be turned into a game, but the most important component is creating a work situation that we love. “If we imbue our lives with meaning,” he says, “we naturally extract energy from it”.
Technology works
Technology helps ADHD by providing brain stimulation, but the technology can also help the brain slow down through meditation practices and applications such as Calm, Head space, and To open, which includes mindfulness movement. Do we need the technology to meditate? Absolutely not. But can it help get results? Absolutely.
Kristen willeumier, neuroscientist and author of Biohack your brain, understands the science behind increased adrenaline and dopamine surges and refers to the onset of a ball game when the music is pumping, the lights are on, and the intention – both for the crowd only for players – is to get pumped. On a smaller scale, individuals do this by creating playlists so that when they hear a certain song, it signals their mind and body that it’s time to go. But what about when we need to slow down?
