Optimizing These 9 Areas Is The Ultimate Key to Productivity With ADHD

DESCRIPTION:

Tending to and upgrading, if necessary, these 9 environments can help you reach your goals more easily.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• The Nine Environments include relationships, financial, physical, network, nature, your body, self, spiritual and mimetics/beliefs.
• Working harder longer and faster is not the best way to reach your goals.
• Tending to and upgrading your environments, if necessary, can help you do what is meaningful to you with greater ease.

TRANSCRIPT:

00:01:

I know you want to be productive, but just trying to work harder, longer, or faster is probably not going to get you there. You may need to also upgrade one or more of your environments.

(00:15):

You’ve tuned into Scattered Focus, Done Re-Imagining Productivity with ADHD, a podcast for ADHD adults like you who want to learn how to adopt the best strategies, tools, and skills to get your essential work done in a way that works with the way your brain is wired. I’m Marla Cummins and I’m glad you’re joining me today on this journey to reimagining productivity with ADHD. So you can get what is important to you done without trying to do it like everyone else.

(00:51):

When you are not as productive as you would like to be, you may believe you just need to exert, well, more willpower. You may have internalized this belief because this is what you’ve been told your whole life. Sure, working hard is an important part of reaching your goals. But, like everyone else, you have a limited capacity.

An alternative to just redoubling your efforts is to explore how your environments are supporting you or not. And, if they are not, thinking about how you might upgrade one or more of your environments to help you in reaching your goals.

These environments, based on Thomas Leonard’s model, The Nine Environments of You include relationships, financial, physical, network, nature, your body, self, spiritual and mimetics or beliefs.

(01:50):

I’m sure it makes sense to you that the first one to start with is, well, your body including your brain. Because, of course, like a car without fuel, you’re not going to get very far if you’re not getting enough sleep, eating well, drinking enough water, exercising and whatever else you may need to do to be healthy. In part this is because when you’re not taking care of yourself, your ADHD symptoms are also exacerbated. You probably already know this. So when you don’t get enough sleep, for example, you have a harder time regulating your emotions, processing information, and focusing your attention, which are also challenges related to your ADHD. I know this relationship between productivity, ADHD, and taking care of your physical body isn’t news to you. But do you need to upgrade your body environment to better support yourself in reaching your goals?

(02:52):

Another environment self is one that we need to look at because you know it is easier to reach your goals when you’re in alignment with your values and operating in areas that leverage your passions and talents. But, like many who struggle with their ADHD, you may be spending too much time shoring up your weaknesses.

For example, let’s take the hypothetical example of Josh, who is a small business owner and is naturally talented in having engaging conversations with people he doesn’t know. So he enjoys going to networking events. There’s no pressure for him at all. All he needs to do is schmooze. At the same time he knows his follow through skills are, well, a little lacking. Thank you, ADHD. But, rather than deciding not to go to networking events because he doesn’t follow up as well as he would like, he could decide to lean into his natural talents. And then, perhaps, hire someone to help him do the follow up. He gets to do what he’s naturally good at and enjoys and gets support for the challenging part of networking.

So how do you need to upgrade upgrades your self environment to better support your efforts in reaching your goals?

(04:25):

The third environment is spiritual. If you’re already thinking, that’s too woowoo for me and it’s just not your jam, hang with me for just a little bit. Because, first, spirituality as the way I’m defining it, is a time when you are not thinking about practical concerns related to your personal and professional life that stress and overwhelm you.

(04:50):

Rather, it’s a time to connect with something beyond what you can see, touch, and really know. It’s a time when you’re filled with peace, awe, and wonder. These moments might happen for you when you’re out in nature and seeing a beautiful sunset or majestic mountaintop, or maybe it’s when you’re with your community in your place of worship. And it could be just taking time to slow down and just breathe, maybe meditate. It may include a belief in a higher power or not.

And when you’re in this place of peace, awe and wonder, which I’m sure you’ve already experienced, some of the benefits are, you may see that you’re feeling less stressed and overwhelmed. You have space to connect with what brings you meaning and purpose. Maybe you’re rejuvenated and better able to address your challenges, including those related to your ADHD. And then perhaps you’re feeling more love, gratitude, and positive energies in your life.

So if you want to experience these benefits more often, what could you do to upgrade your spiritual environment?

(06:08):

This next environment is your ideas or beliefs about yourself and the world around you. These ideas and beliefs affect the other eight areas and impact the way you design your life. So it’s important to bring them to light and examine them. Are your beliefs supporting you in reaching your goals or getting in the way?

For example, like other ADHD adults, you may have internalized beliefs such as, I can’t follow through on my commitments, or I’m just not good at making decisions, or maybe it’s, it’s not possible for me to stay organized. In addition to these all being common ADHD challenges, notice these beliefs suggest that these states are permanent. So, presumably, there’s nothing you can do to change them.

But, of course, I know that’s not true. So to start to change these beliefs and build your sense of self-efficacy, you could, for example, replace the belief I can’t get places on time with I have a difficult time getting places on time. Similarly, you might say, decision making is challenging for me and I often waffle instead of I’m just not good at making decisions.

By working on changing your belief that this is a permanent condition, you can also start to think about what you could do to change these.

(07:46):

The next environment I encourage you to explore is literally the natural environment, the great outdoors. Well, it might make sense to you that being outdoors can be restorative for your physical and mental health, you may not yet have viewed it as a way to manage your ADHD. But it can. Both anecdotal evidence and some research shows that spending time in nature can help you increase your ability to pay attention, as well as lower your stress and anxiety, And this can support you in doing what’s most meaningful to you. How do you think spending time out in nature on a regular basis might help you?

(08:32):

The sixth environment is your physical environment. For example, the tipping point when it comes to clutter varies from person to person, no doubt. Some people operate just fine with a certain amount and are able to screen it out. But, if clutter, as an example, is getting in the way of your wellbeing, including your ability to do what’s important to you, then that’s the point probably at which you might want to upgrade this environment.

Aside from clutter, you might want to explore how the way your environment is decorated and organized supports you. Is your immediate environment energizing or does it drain your energy? The point is not to have a perfectly organized and clean environment. After all, Einstein’s cluttered environment seemed to work just fine for him. Everyone is different in this regard. Your environment just needs to be good enough to support you in doing what’s meaningful to you.

If your physical environment is not working for you right now, what could you do to upgrade it?

(09:47):

The seventh and next environment is finances, which might include a budget, maybe a financial advisor, insurance or various types of savings accounts, such as retirement and emergency accounts. If you are not handling your finances as well as you would like right now, it could be in part because your AADHD, which might be getting in your way.

For example, it might be you have challenges making decisions, spending impulsively not following through on the tasks related to finances, which are just some of your ADHD challenges. As a result, you might pay what some refer to as the ADHD tax, which is the price you pay for mistakes due to your ADHD symptoms. These might include late fees, low credit score, credit card debt, or something else. If this is true for you, what do you need to do to upgrade this environment? It might be you need both support, for example, in learning how to use an application to create a budget and an accountability partner or body double to follow through in using it.

If your finance environment is not the way you would like right now, what could you do to start upgrading it?

(11:22):

The next environment to explore is your relationship environment, which includes close family, friends, and colleagues. In fact, making sure you keep up regular contact with a few good friends is on ADHD expert, Dr. Ned Hollowell’s list of the Seven Habits of Highly Effective ADHD Adults, I’ve included a link to this list with the podcast on my website.

Anyway, you know the off repeated phrase, you are who you associate with. As you consider the people who are currently in your close circle, ask yourself, do they inspire enough and uplift you to continue to grow and learn and be who you want to be?

If not, what can you do to change that? Maybe you’ll want to change the relationship with the people in your circles now, or perhaps you’ll want to cultivate other relationships that can be more supportive.

(12:26):

And that brings us to the ninth and last environment for you to consider, which is your network. The people in your network might include your religious community, work associates, hiking buddies, or maybe the people you volunteer with. Well there might be some overlap with your relationship environment, the people in your network are not necessarily your closest buds. But they can still play an important role in supporting you to be who you want to be.

And this comes from the synergy that arises when you connect with like-minded people who have similar goals as well as engender a sense of belonging. Whether it’s supporting a political candidate, mastering a climbing wall, learning to meditate, or whatever it is that you want to achieve. So think about it. Are the people in your current network providing value to you and are you providing value to your network?

If not, or if you haven’t found the right networks to support you, what might you do to upgrade this environment?

(13:46):

When your environments are working for you, it’s just easier to do what’s most important and meaningful to you, as well as address your challenges. When you upgrade if you were to choose one environment to do this right now, what would it be? Would it be your financial one, your physical environment? Maybe it’s spending more time in nature. Is it taking care of your body, getting in touch with yourself and your strengths and passions? Or is it finding more opportunities to be in a spiritual place? Do you need to upgrade your relationships or your network?

(14:33):

That’s it for now. I’m really glad you joined me and stayed until the very end. If you’re interested in learning more about my work with adults with ADHD, I hope you’ll check out my website, marlacummins.com. Of course, if you’ve learned a thing or two from today’s podcast, which I hope you have, please also pass along the link to anyone else in your circles you think might benefit. And, until next time, this has been Scattered, Focused, Done. And I’m Marla Cummins wishing you all the very best on your journey to reimagining productivity with ADHD.