This month of October is Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, also known as ADHD, awareness month. However, the magazine ADDitude has also called this month “ADHD Empowerment Month.” This disorder, one that I happen to have, has impacted many adults in America today. This month is all about raising awareness about the condition and sharing words of encouragement to those going through it. However, because it’s a lifelong condition, some people often wonder not only how to manage it, but what they would tell their younger selves about it. If you’re one of many people coping with ADHD, here are some common life lessons many others like you have learned from living with the condition as an adult.
What is it Like Living with ADHD as an Adult?
Living with ADHD as an adult isn’t an easy life. Many people navigating ADHD as an adult have found themselves struggling with finishing important tasks on time, keeping appointments, being on time for their jobs or classes, or being excessively hyperactive. People coping with ADHD usually struggle with keeping jobs or staying in successful relationships.
ADHD could cause them to try to complete multiple tasks at the same time. Making important decisions in life without thinking them through is another common problem for adults with ADHD. Procrastination and disorganization are also big symptoms of the disorder. If you’ve experienced all or some of these symptoms like I have, you may feel a little ashamed about being different from everyone else. Your brain doesn’t work the same as everyone else. That’s why there are many other tools to help adults like you and me thrive in our regular lives. Let’s examine these tools that could help us to cope despite living with this disorder for the rest of our lives.
ADHD Coping Mechanisms for Thriving in Everyday Life
As you continue to manage ADHD throughout your life, you’ll start to learn different coping mechanisms for being organized, time management, and staying attentive. Many who have implemented these coping strategies in their daily life have been able to function better. Some examples of coping mechanisms for being more organized could be using daily or digital planners and calendars. For time management, people with ADHD have found using timers and task management apps such as Google Keep or Google Tasks to help them improve work productivity. The challenge of staying attentive is a common issue for people with ADHD and limiting distractions such as your phone could help you stay focused. Here are a few other coping mechanisms for hyperactivity, impulsivity, and procrastination:
- Shake your legs while sitting.
- Move your hands.
- Pause before you act.
- Consider what triggers your impulsive urges.
- Ask someone for help in reducing your procrastination.
- Use alarms and timers.
How You Could Leverage Your ADHD Strengths?
While there are some difficult symptoms people with ADHD have to deal with, they also have a lot of strengths they could leverage. They could play to their strengths in helping them be successful in their careers. People with ADHD are usually very creative, risk-takers, energetic, have a great sense of humor, and have problem-solving skills. If you have some of these qualities, it’s important to choose a line of work that brings out your strengths. Careers such as writers, artists, or graphic designers are great for people who have strong creative skills. Risk-takers might find careers such as journalism, entrepreneurship, and athleticism as being a good fit for them. For example, I leveraged my creative skills to develop my writing and graphic design skills. This has led me to start this blog, do some freelancing work, and create and start a digital printables online shop.
What You Could Tell Your 10-Year-Old Self about the Condition?
Along with harnessing your strengths to help you be productive and successful, you may start to develop some ADHD life lessons along the way. This comes from growing older and developing more wisdom and understanding of the disorder. You start to see more positive aspects of having ADHD and not just the negatives. I came across an interesting article from ADDitude magazine that shared several readers of the magazine with ADHD sharing what they would tell their 10-year-old selves about the condition. Some shared some words of affirmation, some shared some humor, and some shared some quick advice. This was them sharing their newfound perspective on ADHD. Some examples include:
“Bring a fidget everywhere.”
“You will be a great adult.” Hold on until you get there.”
“Find whatever sparks joy and live your dreams as fully you possibly can.”
It kind of makes you wonder what will you tell your 10-year-old self about ADHD. Think about what life lessons you’ve learned from living with ADHD as an adult. Which ones stood out, made you laugh, made you think, etc.? Try to go back in time when you were a child and think about what you would tell your younger, naive self about your condition. This is also a good way of imparting some self-love and helping you understand why you’re the way you are.
Learning to Accept ADHD as a Part of Your Life
ADHD is a disorder that starts in us as children and stays with us when we get older. So we must learn to practice self-compassion amongst ourselves. Sharing what you will tell your younger self about the disorder is a good way of accepting it as part of your life. Being kind to yourself and engaging in self-care such as exercise, sleeping, and healthy eating are great ways to practice self-compassion. It’s also important to realize that you’re going to experience some setbacks. But just view these setbacks as part of the learning process.
Adults coping with ADHD struggle with a lot of things in their lives such as being organized, struggling to keep jobs, being on time for things, or keeping appointments. However, there are plenty of coping mechanisms for ADHD in everyday life you can utilize. You can also leverage your ADHD strengths to help you succeed in your career or anything else you’re trying to achieve in life. Also, it’s important to embrace this condition as being a part of your life and to continue to show signs of growth as a person. Always remember that you’re not alone in this journey and be sure to tell your 10-year-old self words of encouragement in navigating this condition.
Do you have any life lessons learned from living with ADHD as an adult? What lessons you would tell your 10-year-old self about living with the disorder? Feel free to share this and your life lessons in the comments section below. As always, be sure to like or share this post with the next adult you know living with ADHD.
