TOO MANY DEMANDS AND UNREALISTIC EXPECTATIONS can make the holidays ho-ho-hum. The holiday season can be magical, filled with festive celebrations and special times with family and friends. But for many, it’s also a time of frantic activity. Fitting in extra tasks like shopping, decorating and entertaining as well as attending many social gatherings in just a few weeks can seem overwhelming. Here are five strategies to help put the joy back in the season.

Adults who are dealing with the challenges of AD/HD can feel even more pressure at holiday time.

See the full article at [Chadd.org]

Not everyday is going to be an ultra productive day. As I fought through this afternoon, I found myself worrying about not getting enough accomplished; and that what I was accomplishing might not be the most important.  Thank you ADHD, but I kept moving forward, doing things a little bit at a time, and taking a break when and if I needed one.

Then it dawned on me, that just by sitting down and working on something caused this to actually be a productive day.  I marked things off my to-do list and started to feel better about my day.

That’s when I realized that I was being productive, and that every day does not have to be a “perfect day” for me to feel good about it, and myself.

So rejoice in your ability to just move forward and give yourself the compassion that you always give to everyone else.

I ran across these statements when I was reading an article on the Psychcentral.com website  “Realize That Motivation is Needless” and “Do it Because You Can” are great ways to get past the ADHD boundary of starting a task.

Do something because you “can”, not because you have to; so many times it is the getting started that causes my issue. But once I start I can keep going. So drop the feeling of “life says I have to do this” and just do it because you can.

See the full article at [Psychcentral]

When I make the effort, and it can be an effort, to get myself to the gym and exercise for just 30 minutes, it makes a tremendous difference in my attitude and my ability to get things done.

I have found that exercising in the morning works best for me, but find a time that works best for you.  Afternoons have always been my most productive time, so doing some cardio exercises in the morning helps give me more focus in the afternoon.

According to WebMD, when you exercise, your brain releases chemicals called neurotransmitters, including dopamine, which helps with attention and clear thinking. People with ADHD often have less dopamine then usual in their brain.

Fitness can have the following benefits for adults with ADHD:

• Ease stress and anxiety
• Improve impulse control and reduce compulsive behavior
• Enhance working memory
• Improve executive function

Are you always late to work? Are you so distractible that you have trouble completing projects on time, or do you get bogged down for hours on some minor task? Maybe you can't find your phone under the mountain of paperwork on your desk.

From time to time, everyone confronts such things on the job and could use a little career advice. But for adults with attention deficit disorder (ADD ADHD), staying on top of details at work is an endless struggle — one that brings conflict with managers, missed promotions, and a stalled career.

On average, studies suggest, college graduates with ADD earn $4,300 less per year than their peers who don't have ADD. People with ADD change jobs frequently — often impulsively — and are more likely to be fired, to miss work, and to have troubled relationships with co-workers. It doesn't have to be that way: Adults with ADD frequently excel in the workplace, once they adapt to their disability and develop coping skills.

More at [ADDitude]

The symptoms of ADHD create special challenges for the adult in the workplace, just as they do for the child in school. To date, very little research has been conducted that provides adults with ADHD empirically-based approaches to understanding and coping with workplace issues. Until scientifically-based guidelines are available, it may prove useful to follow the procedures commonly used by career counselors to guide individuals in selecting a job and coping with ADHD on the job. This sheet will:

• offer tips for improving on-the-job functioning
• describe the rights of individuals under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
• provide guidelines for making career choices

The assistance of a career counselor or a psychologist, social worker, or other health care worker with career counseling training is extremely helpful in understanding and maximizing these factors. Some individuals, however, may be able to carry out the steps discussed in this sheet with the help of questionnaires, checklists, and suggestions given in the career counseling
books on the reference list.

Learn more at [National Resource Center on ADHD]

Executive Function (EF) refers to brain functions that activate, organize, integrate and manage other functions. It enables individuals to account for short and long term consequences of their actions and to plan for those results. It also allows individuals to make real time evaluations of their actions, and make necessary adjustments if those actions are not achieving the desired result.

There are differing models of executive function put forth by different researchers, but the above statements cover the basics that are common to most. Two of the major ADHD researchers involved in studying EF are Russell Barkley, PhD, and Tom Brown, PhD.

See how Barkley and Brown break down EF [National Resource Center on ADHD]