ADHD Tip 2: Master Time with the Pomodoro Technique

The Challenge of Time and Tasks

Individuals with ADHD often face significant hurdles when it comes to starting tasks (procrastination or feeling stuck, sometimes called ADHD paralysis), maintaining focus amidst distractions, accurately perceiving the passage of time (time blindness or time agnosia), and seeing tasks through to completion. Large projects can feel overwhelming, leading to avoidance, while even simple tasks can be hard to initiate without a clear structure or sense of urgency.

Introducing the Pomodoro Technique

Developed by Francesco Cirillo in the 1980s, the Pomodoro Technique is a time management method designed to break work into focused intervals. The classic structure involves:

1. Working on a single task for a timed interval, typically 25 minutes (one "Pomodoro").

2. Taking a short break, usually 5 minutes, when the timer goes off.

3. Repeating this work/break cycle.

4. After completing four Pomodoros, take a longer break of 15-30 minutes.

This technique acts as an externalized executive function support system. It provides the structure, time awareness cues, task initiation prompts, and break regulation that the ADHD brain often struggles to generate internally.

Why Pomodoro Works for ADHD Brains

This simple structure offers numerous benefits tailored to common ADHD challenges:

1. Combats Overwhelm and Paralysis: The Pomodoro Technique makes large, daunting tasks feel less overwhelming and much easier to start by breaking them down into small, timed chunks. The focus is just on the next 25 minutes, not the entire project.

2. Addresses Time Blindness: The ticking timer provides a constant, external, and concrete awareness of time passing, directly counteracting time agnosia. Over time, tracking how many Pomodoros tasks take can also improve time estimation skills.

3. Boosts Focus through Monotasking: The technique encourages dedicating focus to one specific task during the work interval, discouraging counterproductive multitasking and reducing susceptibility to distractions. The relatively short duration aligns well with the ADHD brain's potential ability to hyperfocus intensely for limited periods.

4. Provides Structure and Urgency: The timed intervals impose a clear structure on the work period and create a gentle sense of urgency, prompting focused effort within the allotted time.

5. Manages Energy and Prevents Burnout: The mandatory short and long breaks are crucial. They provide necessary mental resets, prevent the buildup of mental fatigue, and combat boredom, helping to sustain effort over longer periods without leading to burnout, which can often follow periods of intense hyperfocus.

6. Creates Motivation and Reward: Successfully completing each Pomodoro interval provides an immediate sense of accomplishment. Tracking completed Pomodoros offers visible proof of progress, acting as an external motivator and potentially providing small dopamine boosts.

Implementation Steps and Tips

1. Choose Your Task: Select one specific task to work on. If it's large, break it down into smaller steps that might fit within one or more Pomodoros.

2. Set Your Timer: Use a kitchen timer, phone app, or dedicated Pomodoro website/app (see resources below). Visual timers can be particularly helpful.

3. Work with Focus: Work only on the chosen task until the timer rings. Actively minimize distractions: turn off phone notifications, close unnecessary browser tabs, consider website blockers, or use noise-canceling headphones. If you have unrelated thoughts or tasks, you can quickly jot them down on a separate list to address later, then immediately return focus to the Pomodoro task.

4. Take Your Short Break: When the timer rings, stop working immediately. Use the 5-minute break to completely step away from the task. Stretch, get a drink of water, and look out the window. Avoid activities that can easily suck one in, like checking email or scrolling social media, as the goal is to refresh, not drain, mental energy.

5. Repeat and Take Longer Breaks: After completing four Pomodoros, take a more substantial break (15-30 minutes) to rest and recharge more fully before starting the next cycle.

6. Track Your Progress: Consider keeping a simple tally of completed Pomodoros. This visual tracking can be motivating.

7. Adapt and Experiment: The 25/5 cycle is just a starting point. The technique's effectiveness often hinges on its adaptability. Experiment with different work/break intervals (e.g., 15/3, 30/5, 50/10) to find what best suits one's focus patterns, energy levels, and task type. Starting with just a few Pomodoros per day can prevent overwhelm.

Potential Challenges and Solutions

• Distractions: If focus consistently breaks before the timer ends, try further reducing environmental distractions or consider shorter work intervals.

• Forgetting the Timer: Use phone alarms or app notifications as reminders to start/stop timers.

• Waning Motivation: If the technique starts to feel stale, try adjusting interval times, changing the type of timer used, or incorporating a small reward after completing a set number of Pomodoros.

• Overlong Breaks: Set a timer for breaks. Getting up and moving during the break can help reset focus better than passive activities. When the alarm goes off, you can transition back into productive activities.

• Breaking Flow: Sometimes, the timer might interrupt a period of deep focus. While it is generally advised to respect the timer to prevent burnout, some find it helpful to occasionally finish a thought or small step before breaking. Experimentation and self-awareness are key. Be kind to oneself if a session doesn't go perfectly.

Pomodoro Resources:

• Choosing Therapy - Pomodoro for ADHD Guide: https://www.choosingtherapy.com/pomodoro-technique-adhd/

• Deepwrk - Pomodoro for ADHD Explanation: https://www.deepwrk.io/blog/pomodoro-technique-adhd

• Boardmix - Pomodoro Benefits & Implementation: https://boardmix.com/tips/pomodoro-technique-adhd/ (Boardmix also offers a tool with a built-in timer)

• ADDitude Magazine - Expert Using Pomodoro: https://www.additudemag.com/its-about-time-2/

• UTC CPE Blog - Detailed Steps, Pros/Cons, App List: https://blog.utc.edu/center-professional-education/2020/07/02/how-can-the-pomodoro-technique-help-me-finding-power-through-productivity/

• Timer Apps : TomatoTimer (https://tomato-timer.com/), Marinara Timer (https://www.marinaratimer.com/), FocusKeeper (iOS), Focus To-Do (iOS/Android).

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If ADHD is hindering your productivity, working with an executive coach could help you build the habits, routines, and skills you need to focus and follow through more consistently. If you are interested in learning more, schedule a discovery call. We can discuss how we can help you better manage your ADHD.

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Time Management Tips for Small Business Owners

What is keeping you up at night? Are concerns around rising costs due to tariffs, the disruptive force of AI, or pressure to attract and retain talent causing you stress? When you own a business, you must be able to keep track of the changing macro-environment and make small pivots to ensure you are growing profits while taking care of the changing needs of various stakeholders. When faced with competing priorities, you need frameworks to help you evaluate which path you should take. The business schools and consulting experts will say you need foundational documents like a company mission, vision, and core values to inform your strategy, but how do you convert ambiguous documents into a practical strategy?

Your Path to Time Management

Your company's mission, vision, and core values are the compass that guides you when you are faced with multiple decisions and are not sure which direction you should go. Using these three foundational concepts can help you evaluate your to-do list and determine which tactics align most with your business aspirations. Business strategy is more about what you choose not to do than what you do. Staying committed to your values, knowing why your business exists, and working towards your long-term goals will give you confidence and certainty. 

Conduct a brain dump to identify key tasks.

As you start your day, list all your potential actions. Think as broadly as possible. Consider what you could do to attract more customers, develop your employees, expand partnerships with key partners, and implement other strategic initiatives that could help you grow your business. By emptying your mind and getting it all on paper, you will have clarity about all the possibilities in front of you. With this clarity, you can prioritize what actions you want to take to move towards your long-term goals. 

Set your priorities for key tasks.

Once you have made this list, you must begin evaluating how these potential actions align with your company's mission, vision, and core values. Analyzing these tasks against these foundational documents can help you determine their relative importance. Determining their relative importance will make it easier to prioritize what tasks you should do today versus those you should put off for tomorrow. Planning future tasks can be an effective tactic for reducing the stress and anxiety of a large to-do list. 

Determine the urgency of key tasks.

Now that you have evaluated the tasks based on relative importance, you can consider them based on urgency. If you determine a task is urgent and important, then you know that this task should be prioritized and completed as soon as possible. If you determine a task is urgent but unimportant, you should look for someone to whom you can delegate the task. The delegated task can go to employees, contractors, or vendors. When you identify that a task is not urgent, then you have an easy decision. You can either delete it from your to-do list or schedule to tackle it in the future. Correctly classifying tasks based on urgency and importance can help you with prioritization. 

Bring it all together.

As a small business owner, your most limited asset is time, which makes time management vital to business success. It is also the one thing you can never get back. Taking the time to prioritize your to-do list can help reduce the stress and anxiety of owning a business. Will you make mistakes? Of course you will, but that is part of the learning process. What is important is not that you are error-free, but that you learn from each experience. By documenting your potential actions, making decisions based on your foundational documents, and evaluating the impact of your decisions, you will learn, grow, and get better every day. Running a business is a journey. Enjoy the ride. 

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If you have read this far, thank you for taking the time to review this blog. Running a small business is one of the most challenging and rewarding things you can do. If you would benefit from additional support and guidance running your small business, please email Executive Coach Dorian Cunion at dcunion@yourpathexecutivesolutions.com or book a session to learn more about our services.

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Navigating ADHD with Compassion:

8 Practical Strategies to Reclaim Your Focus and Thrive

Living with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) often involves navigating a world that doesn't always feel designed for how one's brain works. It can mean facing daily frustrations – feeling overwhelmed by tasks, misunderstood by others, or falling short despite putting in immense effort. Challenges with managing time (sometimes called time blindness), difficulties with executive functions like planning and organization, and intense emotional responses are common experiences. These struggles can lead to significant internal battles with self-doubt and exhaustion.

However, managing ADHD isn't about trying to "fix" a broken part of oneself. Instead, it's a journey towards understanding one's unique neurological wiring and discovering strategies that work with it, not against it. It's about building a personalized toolkit with practical approaches grounded in self-awareness and compassion.

This 8-week article series explores eight such strategies: letting go of shame, mastering time with the Pomodoro Technique, finding focus with body doubling, making calendars an ally, designing personalized trackers, conquering big projects with milestones, fueling motivation with rewards, and lightening the load through delegation and automation. These aren't overnight cures, but sustainable practices that can empower individuals with ADHD to navigate challenges more effectively.

Tip 1: Let Go of Shame, Embrace Self-Compassion

The Weight of Shame in ADHD

For many individuals with ADHD, feelings of shame, inadequacy, and low self-esteem can become persistent companions. This heavy burden often stems from the chronic frustration of grappling with ADHD symptoms daily. Perceived failures in areas like organization, time management, or emotional regulation can lead to harsh self-judgment. Furthermore, societal stigma and misunderstanding surrounding ADHD can exacerbate these feelings. When others misinterpret symptoms as laziness, lack of intelligence, or carelessness, or when individuals face constant criticism from teachers, parents, or even themselves, it's easy to internalize these negative messages.

This is particularly true when ADHD goes undiagnosed or is misunderstood, as is often the case for women, whose symptoms may present differently from the stereotypical hyperactive boy model. Women may internalize their struggles with societal expectations around organization or multitasking, leading to feelings of inadequacy rather than recognizing the neurological basis for their challenges. The feelings of shame often associated with ADHD aren't inherent to the condition itself. Rather, they frequently arise from the friction between the unique ways the ADHD brain works—like challenges with executive functions or emotional regulation—and an environment that may not understand or accommodate these differences. Persistent frustration, societal stigma, or criticism can lead to internalizing these struggles as personal failings.

The Antidote: Cultivating Self-Compassion

The most powerful antidote to this cycle of shame and self-criticism is self-compassion. This means treating oneself with the same kindness, understanding, and patience that would be offered to a dear friend facing similar struggles. It's not about making excuses for difficulties but about acknowledging the reality of ADHD challenges without resorting to harsh self-judgment. It involves recognizing that ADHD is a valid neurodevelopmental disorder and that the associated struggles are not a reflection of one's inherent worth.

Embracing self-compassion is an active process. It involves offering oneself kindness during difficult moments, consciously working to reframe negative self-talk, and seeking out supportive connections where experiences are validated.

Actionable Steps Towards Self-Compassion:

• Acknowledge and Validate Feelings: When frustration or overwhelm hits, pause and recognize the feeling without judgment. Speak kindly to that struggling part of oneself, validating the difficulty. For instance, one might think, "I see that starting this task feels overwhelming right now, and that must be stressful. Let's just try one small step".

• Challenge the Inner Critic: Become aware of negative self-talk patterns, such as thoughts like "I'm not good at this," "I always mess up," or "Why am I like this?" Understand that multiple positive affirmations can neutralize the impact of a single negative thought. Actively challenge these critical thoughts by reframing them in a more realistic, balanced, and positive light.

• Celebrate Progress, Not Perfection: Shift the focus away from achieving flawless outcomes, which can be an unrealistic and damaging standard given the variability often inherent in ADHD functioning. Instead, acknowledge and take pride in forward movement, no matter how small. Value the effort invested and the steps accomplished correctly, even if the end result isn't perfect. Focusing only on missteps can be incredibly demoralizing. This focus on progress aligns better with the nature of ADHD and helps break the cycle where inconsistent performance leads to feelings of failure and shame.

• Practice Mindfulness: Pay attention to thoughts and feelings as they arise, without harsh judgment or criticism. This practice can cultivate greater self-awareness and acceptance.

• Find Your Tribe: Connect with others who understand the ADHD experience. Joining support groups (like those offered by CHADD) or online communities (such as ADDitude's ADHD-related groups) can provide a safe space for acceptance and understanding. Sharing struggles openly with empathetic peers can be a powerful antidote to shame and isolation.

• Prioritize Needs: Recognize that basic physical, emotional, and cognitive needs – like adequate sleep, rest, nutrition, and time for self-care – are not luxuries or rewards to be earned only after achieving productivity goals. They are fundamental necessities for well-being and effective functioning. Denying these needs often hinders performance rather than helping to push through tasks. Everyone is worthy of having their basic needs met.

  
  

Resources for Self-Compassion:

• ADDitude Magazine - Shame Spiral & Self-Compassion Strategies: https://www.additudemag.com/shame-spiral-adhd-stigma-self-worth/

• ADDitude Magazine - Rules for Life (Progress, Praise, Inner Critic): https://www.additudemag.com/25-rules-life-how-to-be-successful-with-adhd/

• GoblinX ADHD - Understanding ADHD and Self-Esteem: https://www.goblinxadhd.com/blog/living-with-adhd-and-navigating-the-impact-on-self/

• Psychology Today - Understanding ADHD in Women and Feelings of Inadequacy: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/reports-from-the-front-lines/202401/the-unseen-spectrum-understanding-adhd-in-women , https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/empowered-with-adhd/202501/how-adhd-manifests-differently-in-women

This is the first of eight articles on this topic. Please follow this newsletter on LinkedIn and share comments and questions.