12 Must Haves
Ahhh, the sweet sweet taste of executive dysfunction, peppered with a little overwhelm, salted with some open mental tabs, and drizzled with some dopamine seeking 😈.
After spending significant time with others in my neurodivergent tribe, learning from ADHD communities and just tossing ideas off the wall with my closest, I came up with a few pillars for the optimal ADHD functioning experience.
My hope is that the majority of you feel that these things can be transferred seamlessly between life & work → let's keep it simple!
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Optimal Tools, Tips & Ideas for the ADHD Brain
Tangible timer is excellent for myriad reasons, but the biggest for me is keeping my rabbit holes + hyperfocus in check. I often forget to eat or drink, so by following something like the pomodoro technique or simply alloting yourself an amount of time for something can be supportive in keeping you on task. Also, the visual aspect of the timer is veryyyyy pleasing.
Post its are simple, yet staple items that tend to work well for many in the neurodiverse community. Multi colored & sized make them perfect whether they sit on your laptop keyboard, on walls, on your desk, in planners, and you get the idea!
A mug warmer is such a luxurious feeling addition to the desk. If you're anything like me, I make my single indulgent cup of coffee before 0900 and it tends to last me well into the afternoon. Not sure what to tell ya, but I'm a slowwwww sipper. The electric warmer that my mug sits on has changed the absolute game and now that I'm typing this, I realize I've been finishing my coffee earlier as well!
Loop earplugs are perfect for my audio sensitivity hunnies [like myself] who tend to struggled with a variety of sounds, whether everyday sounds detract from your ability to focus or blocking out most sounds is simply soothing, these are for you.
Adjustables are the absolute ticket for anyone that works from home or honestly, just in a typically seated position. Those of us with neurodivergence tend to move around restlessly, or literally not one muscle for hours. By having adjustable items, it allows us the novelty and control of adjusting our energy from simply adjusting our body position.
Seat [if you're tall, I suggest finding an ergonomic chair that has adjustable arm rests in addition to everything else. Trust me.]
Whiteboards are simply heavenly gifts. There's something deeply satisfying by mindmapping, brain dumping, or writing everything down in a place that I can wipe clean later on. I have several, unashamedly, and they're on my walls, they stand alone, they sit on my desk, and I have one as a notebook.
Music is of top tier importance, even if it's 432 hertz frequency only. There's quite of research on the benefits of listening to certain frequencies during certain types of work. A few of my favorites are brown noise, binaural beats, and classical music. I have several playlists that you can glom on to via Spotify here.
Well, with all the starting at devices that we do, it's no shocker that most of us [humans] have the dryest eyes [cue that late 90s commercial dryyyy eeyyyyeess; IYKYK]. Thus, I keep some eye drops at my desk and blue light glasses at the ready.
There has been nothing better when working from home amongst other humans, than the On Air Sign.
Lately, I've realized that directly after grocery shopping, I must immediatley prep my food for snacking or meal prepping. Otherwise, I probably won't eat well throughout the week [like, hyperfocusing and eating nothing for hours]. So this often looks like, chopping bell peppers, instant potting rice, cooking lentils, buying snacking cheese, overnight oats for 3 days, and so on. So no products to share here, just an observation that may be supportive!
If it's tough to drink more water, aim for some delicious tea in a french press. Make it a little ritual!
I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the RezKit! A labor of love that I created in early 2024 with the aim of supporting people with a variety of ways to build their resilience incrementally; we're talking physical, emotional and spiritual. Give it a shot!
Hopefully you found something useful, impactful, resonant or entertaining in this list! As always, my wish is that you find ways that you can set yourself up for success in a world where the status quo doesn't include very many of us anymore.
Hey, I’m Viki; a lass of many facets. The quick version is, I’m a resilience coach empowering people from living in states of TENSION to living in a state of INTENTION. As a neuro friendly & trauma informed practitioner, I support people through coaching, somatics and communal events.
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