Following on from an earlier post of how I deal with the anxiety of being late I am started to factor in being early. After years of teaching children to swim in a 30min lesson I have been "forced" to adapt and then working in an appointment based role I have adapted to being early. This has provided me with much more security and ease and I love it! However: I have noticed more and more recently that I am unable to go anywhere without "just in case" items. As an ADHD I always have the note books (1 for reflection, 1 for work, 1 for gratitude etc). But I feel I am also adding in extra things like more food, 2 pens, extra lip gloss, book, tampons I could go on. It is almost like by being early I feel I now have spare time I don't want to waste or what if suddenly someone cancels I want to use that time well. I have lots of starts and stops in my days due to drop of and pick up etc. I think due to my past ability to time waste I have gone too much to the other side as well as still not mastering how long something will actually take. Also if there is room in a bag I need to fill it. I have been experimenting with smaller bags. Some examples would be. -My day job where I get a 30min break. I will take my journal in case there is time for a self reflection (never time) - I am heading out for the day shopping. In my bag is always spare food in case as well as a journal, ear buds, drink bottle. Thinking ahead but I could also just wing it. - I run an outdoor cycling program and have extra clothes, food, book in case there is a cancellation I could go on but curious about other people response to this.

Let's get the positive energy flowing inside our Thriving community! Do you know we have brain connections called "mirror neurons?" 🧠 Scientists accidentally discovered that we have neurons that mirror the reactions and feelings of other people - even if we don't experience them ourselves. 🤯 That's one of the reasons why we squint and almost feel pain when we see someone get poked by a needle (injections anyone? 💉💉💉) So, let's activate our mirror neurons with our wins! What's your win for today? How did it feel? How are you celebrating your win? The more description... using any or all of your 5 senses...the better!!! Because that's how our mirror neurons experience and relate to your wins. Let's do this!!!! I can't wait to hear your wins for today. 🥰

Hi, my Thriving members! You've likely heard me say this like a broken record... Celebrate your wins - big and small! To encourage our ADHD brains to do that... I created this new category dedicated to our "Wins!" So when you write a post about your wins, you can select it so we can easily find it when we filter posts for "wins!" _________________________________________ Why is it important to celebrate wins? Brain plasticity (neuroplasticity) --> Neuroplasticity is our brain's ability to learn and change our behaviors. This is backed by thousands of scientific studies. By acknowledging our wins (big and small)... We create new brain connections telling our brains and body: "What we just did was great! It made me feel good. I want to do more of that. Let's do that again!" So, the very FIRST step in creating new brain connections of positive habits and feelings is to ***acknowledge*** our wins!!! Yes, it's that simple. But everyone else makes it complicated. 🤪 _________________________________________ I'll start! My win for today is: I made a pot of coffee this morning!!! 🥳 We used to have a Keurig that made one cup of coffee...you know, the fast and easy kind. But it felt wasteful for the plastic Keurig cups. So we decided to switch to a coffee machine that makes more coffee using ground coffee. BUT...I didn't anticipate the friction it caused my ADHD brain! Ever since we bought that coffee machine, my ADHD brain has been avoiding using it. So, my husband ends up making coffee all the time. When I stopped to figure out what was causing my friction, it was because using that coffee machine was a lot for my ADHD brain's executive function. What do I mean? Because there were too many steps to perform to make a pot of coffee. Yes, they're simple steps, but for our ADHD brains, that alone causes overwhelm. And because I haven't paused and taken the time to understand what's happening with me, my ADHD brain was suffering from overwhelm whenever I saw that empty coffee machine.

This week, I'll highlight 5 ADHD Mompreneurs Struggles + Realistic Solutions so we can stop spinning and start simplifying. 🥰 One pitfall to progress each day. After all, "SIMPLIFY, SIMPLIFY, SIMPLIFY" is my mantra! Pitfall #1: ⏰ Time blindness turns simple tasks into all-day marathons. You sit down to do “just one thing”... and suddenly it’s 3 pm! The laundry’s still in the washer, your kiddo is asking for a snack, and the thing you planned to finish is only halfway done. You constantly underestimate how long things take—or hyperfocus on the wrong thing for hours—leaving your to-do list overflowing and your confidence drained. Everything takes longer than expected. Let's change that. ✅ Realistic Solution: Visual Timer + Anchoring Use a visual countdown timer (like an app or this $10 Visual Timer on Amazon—see screenshot). Since our ADHD brains cannot see and feel time passing, we must use a timer that we can actually see time. It sounds obvious and simple - but our ADHD brains don't think that way sometimes. Depending on the tasks you're using it for, the visual timer might not be enough. That's when we can help our ADHD brains with an "anchor." An anchor is a thing, action, or habit that you can pair with what you must get done. Pair your action with real & time-based habits or even people. For example: "I'll do X until the laundry timer goes off." "I'll put my medication next to my bed and take them once I wake up and before I get out of bed, specifically before I set my feet on my bedroom floor." "I'll finish this section of my Landing Page before the mailman arrives." 🚨 REMEMBER:🚨 🔸Our ADHD brains must "see" time to move through it. 🔸Our ADHD brains "see" time differently than neurotypical brains. 🔸And that's okay. It doesn't mean we're broken. Our ADHD brains are just wired differently. Does Pitfall #1 resonate with you?

What’s your biggest challenge right now as a mom with ADHD, building your business? (Pick the one draining you most this week — I’m creating a solution just for this when I get back from vacation!) ✅ Poll Options: 1. Too many ideas, hard to take action or finish things 2. Can’t stick to a routine — everything feels all over the place 3. Phone/social media keeps eating my time (and energy) 4. Struggling with motivation — I know what to do, but can’t do it 5. Overwhelmed by parenting + business — I don’t know where to start 6. I second-guess everything I do (hello, RSD and perfectionism) 7. Other (comment below!) 💭 Feel free to share more in the comments if your challenge didn’t fit one of the options above…or you want to elaborate on your response. I’m reading every response to create something that meets you exactly where you are.💕