Hello Brains! Happy New Year!!!
:::noise maker:::
This time of year everyone is talking about their New Year's resolutions.
Next year, I'm going to start exercising, save money, read, lists full of habits they'd like to create.
It's also the time of year when those of us with ADHD are
reminded of how hard it is to stick to the ones we already have. Don't worry I got-ch you!
:::intro music:::
This is a habit, a habit is a behavior that's become easier or automatic through practice.
Most of us have a lot of these like... taking out the trash.
Most of us have done this enough that we don't really have to think about it while we're doing it...
which means, yay!!! Our brains are free to think about more interesting things than, you know... the trash...
but, even if a behavior is automatic, we still have to prioritize that behavior.
Initiate it and then, transition to the next thing and while those might come naturally to a neurotypical brain,
each one of those is an executive function that's impaired in the ADHD brain. Which means, for us, they naturally... don't...
I should probably... yes! I did the thing!!! Woot!!
I'm gonna do so many... wait. What was I doing? Oh?
Ah... Let me see.
What's over here?
Ooooooooohh!
I'm......I'ma.....I'ma..... I'm bored!
Hey, can I help knock down your dominoes? Your dominoes look cooler than my dominoes!
You can see how this might be challenging.
So what's a brain to do? Hack the system.
Instead of having a bunch of habits scattered all over the place, line them up.
When you regularly do things in a certain order while you're knocking one task down,
your brain automatically starts transitioning to the next one.
This is called a routine,
and just like habits make behavior automatic,
routines make doing those habits automatic.
Which means, you don't need to rely on our executive function system to get stuff done.
This is why routines work so well for those of us with ADHD,
and why things tend to go off the rails when they get interrupted.
I know, I know routine sounds super boring. Yep, been there.
Yep, totally agree...
but it doesn't have to be.
Routines are just a tool to help you build the life you want to have...
while freeing up your brain to think about more interesting things than, you know... remembering the trash...
and just because some people have routines that we would find boring, doesn't mean ours have to be.
If you want to know how someone with ADHD can put out a YouTube video, week after week, for two years,
This is how. I built it into my routine.
So... how do you create a routine? The easiest way to do it is one habit at a time.
Just take one habit that you'd like to get better about doing and stick it with something that you do every day.
I walk the dog, then I take out the trash.
If you can't think of anything you do every day... don't worry, waking up totally counts.
So, maybe after you wake up, you wash your face. At first, you might need a reminder...
or an alarm... or a second alarm for when you ignore the first one.
There are even apps that can help... but once you wake up and wash your face enough times,
as soon as you wake up, your brain will naturally tug at you to go wash your face,
and it'll actually feel weirder to not do it, than to do it!
Congratulations...you've just hacked your brain!
You've built a habit into a routine and now, you're ready to add another one.
Why just one at a time though?
I want to do all the things!!! Nowwwwwww!
You can, but the less you change it once, the better chance those changes have of sticking,
and once you have routines that stick, you'll have a much easier time plugging new habits into them,
like New Year's resolutions and getting them to stick too.
Of course, even once you have awesome routines that help you get stuff done, life.... changes.
So, what do you do if the routines you built get messed up because you graduated high school?
...or you broke up with your boyfriend?
...or you moved across the country? ...or you quit your day job? ...or all of this at once?
What if everything changes?! :::Dramatic Music:::
We will rebuild!! If you like me, are going through a big life change?
Next week will cover how to re-build those routines. That's it for this week.
If you like this wacky video, subscribe!
And if you loved it and you want to help us make more? Consider supporting us on the Patreon page like these brains did.
I can promise you at least some of the money will go toward craft supplies. :::Ding:::
Thank you to all my Patreon brains for making helping people, and having fun doing, it my day job
I'll see you in the new year.
(attempts at blowing noise maker)
Broken... there you go! Bye, Brains!
:::outro music:::