Navigating transitions can be tough, and if you have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), these changes can feel even more challenging. Whether shifting from work mode to home life or adjusting to new routines, transitions often leave us feeling scattered and drained. It’s like we have to leave behind the details of what we were doing, reconfigure how we thought our lives worked, and wrap our heads around what comes next!
And then there are the big seasonal transitions—like the start of the school year. After the leisurely summer days, we’re suddenly waking up early, juggling new responsibilities, and trying to keep up with unfamiliar routines. For those of us with ADHD, these giant shifts can throw us off balance and make it hard to keep our lives on track.
What Makes Transitioning So Challenging?
Individuals with ADHD struggle with:
These cognitive skills help us plan, prioritize, organize, and be flexible with tasks. As we move into the fall, we need these skills to help us navigate all the new changes. Difficulty with these skills can zap our energy and leave us exhausted.
• Placing unrealistic expectations on themselves
With ADHD, we tend to believe we should excel at everything and that we are never doing enough. When the focus is on taking on too much and beating ourselves up, it makes it difficult to problem-solve.
• Emotional regulation
Many experts believe emotional regulation is at the core of ADHD. Big changes are stressful, and emotional responses for folks with ADHD can be intense and escalate quickly. Not only does our physical body have to transition, but we must also shift into the season emotionally.
• Reacting without reflecting
We want to go full speed ahead, and it's not our nature to slow down, pause, and self-assess. We tend to be reactive and not always aware that we need support. As a result, we don’t plan or prepare for transitions.
6 Powerful Tips to Ease Transitions
Step 1: Build awareness
Recognize when you're in a transition. Identify what affects you most and how it makes you feel. Ask yourself how long the transition lasts and how it impacts your actions. Keep track of your discoveries in a transition journal.
Step 2: Embrace acceptance
Offer yourself compassion instead of beating yourself up. Understand that you have ADHD, and struggling during a time of change is okay. They're temporary, and you'll regain your balance.
Step 3: Seek support
Getting help does not make you weak! It lifts us and raises our energy. Seek friends or family to delegate to or body double with. Enlist an ADHD coach to help you create a stellar plan or a psychologist to support you in managing the stress of all the newness.
Step 4: Focus on self-care
Find the elements that help you navigate transitions with greater ease and peace; this will vary for each of us. Maybe it's making exercise a priority in your schedule, time for being social, or starting your day with things you enjoy.
Step 5: Pause and Plan
Identify one impactful task from your to-do list that you want to tackle daily and focus on it first thing in the morning. Write "Pause and Plan" on a Post-it note and place it where you'll see it, like your bathroom mirror. This approach reduces overwhelm and brings more clarity and calm.
Step 6: Prepare for Next Year
Use everything you learned about yourself as an opportunity to plan for next year. Keep a reminder on your calendar before next fall to revisit your journal. Proper planning will enable you to prepare for support and enter the season more calmly and confidently!
Remember, giving yourself self-care during significant changes starts with recognizing what you need to stay centered and in control and knowing when to reach out for support. It's okay to seek help, even in those areas you thought you should master. You're not alone in this. Transitions may be challenging, but you have the power to navigate them successfully!
You've got this!
P.S. To achieve more success with your brain wiring, click here for a FREE 15-minute coaching chat with Julie.
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