In this episode I address the common challenge that many of us with ADHD have – Mornings. While I wouldn’t go so far as to call myself a morning person, I’ve fugured out a number of tricks that have helped me with my morning. Here are some of the key takeaways that you will hear in this episode.
1. Speed up morning routine by doing things that are predictable and regular. Allow this to become a function of autopilot and muscle memory.
2. Set things up the night before. Have a predictable & Methodical way of doing things. Don’t try thinking or making decisions in the morning. It’s best for everyone, especially you.
3. Keurig – K Cups are the most ADHD friendly way to make coffee. I love my Keurig. I had to replace my first one because I didn’t use the filter. While it’s not the cheepest method to making coffee, it is certainly the most convient. Check out the Keurig that I use.
4. Getting out of bed. Set Multiple Alarms. Have actual backups… not just multiple alarms on your phone. Be smart about your alarms.
5, Use the intelligent alarm function on apps like Sleep Cycle. Because this app is able to detect our phases of sleep based on our movement, it knows the ideal time to wake you within a 30 minute window.
6. What’s important to you? What’s your “why” for waking up? What do you want to go after? How are you going to make a difference in the world? Who is depending on you?
7. Batch activities together – Use a pill organizer, then place that in your coffee cup you will use next.
8. Work Backwards – A behaviorist might call this backwards chaining a task analysis. What time do you need to be at work? How long does it take you to get from your car to your workspace? How long does it take you to get to work? (Not best case, realisticly, and add some time) How long does it take from the time you leave your house to the time you are actually driving? Keep drilling down until you’ve gotten to the task of getting out of bed.
9. What are your distractions? Know them and create rules around them. Do you ever say, “oh, I’ll just check Facebook for 5 minutes.” (20 minutes passes)… “Crap, I’m gonna be late!” Once you figure out what distracts you, create reminders that you will see, where you need to see them.
Tech Tip of the Week
Never oversleep again!
Apps
1. Wake N Shake – Wake N Shake improves brain function. Seriously. The only way to shut the alarm off is to shake it… vigorously. And what does that do? It increases your heart rate, which increases blood flow to the brain. Good morning.
This app allows you to choose from a number of unique sounds, or you can import audio from your iTunes music library.
2. Sleep Cycle – This is an app that I use everyday, and I love it for 2 reasons. It tracks my sleep and allows me to add notes to I can see what variables are having a positive or negative impact on my sleep. The other reason is, when you set the alarm, the alarm goes of within a 30 minute window of your lightest phase of sleep. One of the reasons it can be so hard to get out of be when the alarm goes off, is you were in a deep phase of sleep. Sleep Cycle’s intelligent alarm uses your body’s motion to detect your sleep phase, and will gently wake you at the optimal time.