ADHD comes with life-long challenges that require life-long strategy implementation. Recognizing that your diagnosis of ADHD is a condition that can be managed is an important factor in being able to live a meaningful, fulfilling and successful life.
Strong traits of those diagnosed with ADHD include:
- Being energetic
- Being spontaneous
- Being creative and inventive
- Being hyper-focused
In order to really glean the gifts of ADHD there are some helpful tips that you can employ starting today to help yourself manage the challenges and difficulties that also come along with this organic condition.
7 Life-long Strategies
1.) Follow a daily mindfulness practice
Choose a practice that allows you to build your concentration skills. Mindfulness is based on concentration. For example, resolve to do a body scan each and every day. Maybe even twice per day, morning and night.
2.) Get used to setting and following an itinerary
The ADHD brain naturally loves to "slip". Slips include, heading the the garage to find a mop but ending up spending 4 hours looking through a box of old photographs. An itinerary helps keep us on track. Reduced sleep and exercise increase the likelihood of slips.
This also helps with getting over the threshold to get a task done. ADHD is an implementation issue, meaning there are tasks in front of you that need to get done but you cannot seem to motivate yourself to do them: school work, dusting your lamp shades, filling out the paperwork, buying groceries for the week etc.
3.) Do 45 minutes per day of intense exercise
Your body and mind will thrive off of intense exercise. You will find that your focus improves along with reduced anxiety and better sleep.
4.) Learn to walk through your Time Blindness
Being 'time blind' is a big issue for those diagnosed with ADHD. It relates to slips but there is another element to this. Planning ahead is thought of, but not executed. The ADHD brain thinks things through well, but often fails to implement a plan. This is a learned skill overtime.
5.) Master the ability to Pause
Impulsivity is a huge issue for those diagnosed with ADHD. Whether we are talking about words or actions. This impulsivity is often the culprit to feelings of shame after an impulsive action or comment.
6.) Explore ways to boost your system with Dopamine
Dopamine is a chemical messenger in your brain. Those diagnosed with ADHD have low dopamine levels which result in reduced motivation, reward, learning, movement, memory. This may lead to risk taking or impulsive behaviours. To increase dopamine one would want to follow all the suggestions in this article because all the elements that increase dopamine are related to these.
Get enough sleep, eat a healthy well-balanced diet, exercise every day, engage in daily mindfulness and reduce stressors from your life as best you can.
7.) Take medication if you need to
Taking medication is not a bad move. Many of us have beliefs that conditions can be managed naturally. This is true to an extent. Depending on the impulsivity and/or situation you find yourself in, you may function more efficiently with the right ADHD med. Every body is different therefore it is very important to work with your doctor to find the right one for you.
If you are diagnosed with ADHD and would like to learn more about how to manage this condition call today. Shauna is part of the Canadian ADHD Resource Alliance. There is a difference between females and males when it comes to the presentation of ADHD, click here to discover what these differences are based on the most current research.
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