Healthy Habits for Adults with ADHD: How to Make Meaningful Changes Stick (w/ Michele Novotni, PhD)

Why are you tired all the time? The mental energy it requires to live with ADHD leads to fatigue and exhaustion for many adults. The solution? Building better routines by habit stacking - because the more we automate tasks, the more bandwidth we have to tackle everything else. In this hour-long ADDitude webinar with Michelle Novotni, Ph.D., learn how to make meaningful changes actually stick.
Download the slides associated with this webinar here: www.additudemag.com/webinar/h...
Related Resources:
1. The Antidote to ADHD Fatigue and Exhaustion? Stacking Habits (and Spoons)
www.additudemag.com/fatigue-a...
2. These 6 Healthy Habits Can Improve Memory & Focus www.additudemag.com/healthy-h...
3. Download: Get Control of Your Life and Schedule www.additudemag.com/healthy-h...
4. eBook: "Getting Things Done with Adult ADHD" www.additudemag.com/healthy-h...
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[@kanishk7267]

Here ya go, ADD fam: 1. You have limited amount of mental energy as someone with Executive dysfunction. 2. Reduce non-automated behaviors and automate good behaviors. 3. You can pre-plan morning routine, meals, meals, etc. 3. Start with one new good behavior that you are 80% likely to succeed 4. Use habit stacking. i.e., tie the new good behavior to a cue. This is how we automate behaviors 5. Track winning streaks and reward yourself 6. You try 3 new habits at a time 7. New research suggests it takes about 90 days (not 3 weeks) to establish a good habit 8. Focus a time to create a new habit. Great time to start is during holiday because your usual cues are all messed up 9. Have a backup plan for failures. Plan for failure. Don’t expect perfection

[@HenkjanDeKaasboer]

Hey mate. If I could add onto your amazing summary; If I'm not mistaken; everyone has a limited amount of mental energy, it's just that a lot of 'boring' tasks that are recurring commonly can be automated (for neurotypical brains) whereas they require active thought for the ADHD-crowd. Active thought coming both from persuading yourself to begin in the first place and forcing yourself through it while fighting the urge to drop it and do something else. What works for a lot of people, is either body doubling or listening to engaging podcasts. Basically, something that engages the mind so the body can do the monotonous tasks while the mind is busy elsewhere. It keeps the overactive mind from convincing the body that this thing sucks and that we need to find engaging stuff to do

[@jessl1934]

On the matter of making the desired habits more accessible and the undesired ones less accessible (e.g. fruit vs chips) one thing that can make a huge difference to people, especially ones with ADHD is visibility. I have an open fruit bowl which I can see into at all times (in my bedroom 😂) and that means that I am _constantly_ seeing the fruit in the bowl; I don't need to open anything or go looking anywhere because it's literally right in front of my face all the time and there is nothing obscuring my view of it like the solid walls of a wooden fruit bowl. It's also in the place where I'm most likely to grab something as I rush out the door because, of course, I'm late again and there's no time for breakfast. It's in the most likely place for night time when I am most likely to want a late night snack too. If I had a solid fruit bowl, I would see the fruit less and I think that would have a major influence on how much fruit I eat. My advice is to try to put things in the most visible of places using clear containers and open baskets etc. so you can _always_ see inside which reduces the load on your working memory and executive function. Also don't be afraid to double-up. Maybe you like the idea of a bedroom fruit bowl but you would also benefit from one in your living space. There is absolutely no rule saying that you are only allowed one fruit bowl per house. Get two if you think it might be helpful to you. Get more if you would use more. If you spend a lot of time at your computer, put one there. If you tend to watch a lot of TV and that's where you snack most often, put a fruit bowl directly in front of the TV. Likewise, put the "bad" stuff in containers that are obscured and difficult to access. If you have reduced working memory, you can also leverage that to your own benefit if you use it properly. This includes using containers that are difficult to open for your chips or putting the container of chips _beneath_ the fruit bowl (if you have enough self-control.) Doing this makes it a lot easier to just grab an apple than it is to move the fruit bowl, open an annoying container, and get to your chips; your desired habit (eating fruit) can literally become a roadblock in the way of your undesired habit (eating chips) if you set it up in the right way.

[@L8yMeg314]

As an ADHDer who has felt like a miserable and complete failure since I was diagnosed 15 years ago, let me assure some others that the habit stacking does indeed help. For me, it's make my bed and race the electric kettle for hot lemon water (I wish I was a coffee drinker lol). I may slip on other habits weekly, but making my bed and hot lemon water are literally the only things that make me feel like I'm capable of actually sticking through with something (borderline neurotic fear but whatever lol). Going on 2 years now, and accepting other habits will fall short or be sporadic is actually making me keep them. Slowly. For whatever reason I visualize myself building a pyramid and I know that it'll take some time. I also suggest taking advantage of the screen time function on phones. You can set timers for specifics apps before the screen goes black and white, etc. This may seem ridiculous to most, but I invested in "thinking cups" for every day of the week (Concentration cups sounds too much like something else for my brain to accept that). I cant function unless I have a specific mug /bottle covered in specific vinyl stickers for that day. This could be my autism?? Either way the physical objects help lol I've desperately sought help for my adhd. It's been agony, mostly gutting and lots of crying in my car. I can't stand the one dimensional and generic "make a list😀 set a goal 😀 do the thing 😀 don't stress!😀" they're maddening to me lol. But this vid is actually pretty solid and makes me feel validated and acknowledged. It feels more realistic to me. It deserves more views. Michele Novotni, *Thank you!!*❤❤

[@AlexiHolford]

Thank you for sharing your experience. I am 52 and just diagnosed 6 months ago. I am glad to finally know what has been causing me so much trouble my whole life! But it is certainly a challenge to function well. I too appreciate this presentation. Best of luck to you! 😊

[@karlagunnell9404]

@@AlexiHolford Got diagnosed last year at 52 too! I have so many tools, videos, social media influencers with ADHD tips and now I'm overwhelmed. Need to stick to a few item but mainly struggling at work. Here's to new adventures with our neurodivergent brains!

[@AlexiHolford]

@@karlagunnell9404 same for me! Books, videos, and more are a lot to absorb all at once. I have to pace myself. Work is especially hard. I am so relieved and blessed to now be working somewhere that I can disclose my ADHD. Feeling supported is amazing. At 53 now, this is the first time I have felt accepted and appreciated at work. I hope you will find a way to thrive at work. I know it is hard.

[@karlagunnell9404]

@@AlexiHolford we will bet there! I love these groups and convos where I feel support not angst. I needed to find my "people" where being an average neurodivergent is awesome!

[@HenkjanDeKaasboer]

Ayo, if you were a complete failure, you'd be (not) doing all that WITHOUT the ADHD diagnosis. So not quite the complete failure there, eh? Also, ADHD comes with some highly person-specific sides that are pretty positive. The main thing is that you're going to have to actively search for them.

[@missfeliss3628]

the problem with me is that organizing my days ahead of time makes me feel like im this soulless robot.... thats why i often cant write down my schedules two weeks in a row... it also feels like my life is reduced to just crossing off tasks and days...and the weeks dont feel like im experiencing them but just erasing them as the end of the week to write down a new week on the fridge white board.

[@g.m.9180]

I feel like she's optimisic when she says we already have habits... "you have tea/coffee in the morning" can't stick with that, even though I love it and grew up in a house that made tea like clockwork every morning religiously. The problem is 1- I'm always late in the morning, so the only thing I do consistently is dress, eat something and brush teeth, and don't have time to stack anything else 2- I get bored as soon as I do a thing more than twice, unless it's deeply interesting to me and even then I usually lack time to do it consistently

[@rickydanielson7953]

thank you for this

[@anotherday10]

Thank you for this

[@findingbalance3566]

Any chance you could bullet point the "housekeeping" in the beginning and offer details after or written? I have given up on about 6 videos.

[@menarussell]

❤Great video. Thank you.

[@gypsypath1]

I’m screwed: I have ADHD, fibromyalgia, and ME/CFS. I think I start off with about five spoons. 😂🤔😳😱

[@AllThingsConsidered333]

Just diagnosed ADHD at 44, my daughter too at 15. It’s just the 2 of us and our 3 cats.. Been dealing with chronic tick diseases for decades but only diagnosed & treating since 2016 when another tick bite nearly killed me. Chronic pain, chronic fatigue, trying to work enough to keep the basic bills paid.. I get it. You might look into b1 mega dosing for chronic fatigue/fibromyalgia.. it has helped many. Elliot Overton on KZbin (EONutrition channel) goes in depth on this. I megadosed for several months earlier this year and it helped tremendously. Then I stopped and regressed so have ramped up again on TTFD form of thiamine and again it’s helping tremendously with the pain & fatigue. He has some shorter videos about this but also longer ones that are golden & very informative. We also learned about kryptopyrroluria, tested, positive, and been treating with specific nutrients and it has also given lots of improvement. Dr Mensa from Menasha medical (I think this is right) talks about this as does Dr Dietrich Klinghardt. Also a few good articles written describing what the condition is, risk factors, treatments, etc…

[@elitecoaching4927]

I am really curious if anything can be a habit or what we do is systems and then doing our best to stick with those systems. Really, anyone with ADHD do you have any unconscious habits?

[@AlexiHolford]

We probably all have unconscious habits. If they are unconscious, it would be hard to identify them though.

[@exerciserelax8719]

I know what you mean. I feel like not much, if anything, is "automatic" for me. Everything has to be deliberate or it doesn't happen at all.

[@assata5174]

I have habits, they are just mostly negative/harmful ones because its extremely difficult for me to build habits with intention. It’s easier to develop habits to pleasurable things for me because I hyper focus more on them in comparison to negative things, so it’s hard for me to pull myself away from them deliberately. That combined with inattentiveness that makes me lose self awareness in doing something makes it automatic. Nicotine addiction, social media, maladaptive daydreaming, etc.. As for good habits, the easiest way for us is for it be driven by anxiety. For example, dressing well everyday because of social anxiety. But anxiety is not healthy. So I personally don’t think I have any good habits. But the existence of the bad ones convinced me that I could have good ones that aren’t motivated by anxiety. And I have more thoughts on this as well as how I carry this out, but I don’t want this to be any longer. Hope this was insightful.

[@AllThingsConsidered333]

Unconscious habit for me is scraping my teeth constantly when I am bored or forced to be still like when I am driving. Automatic habit is getting out of bed, pouring my coffee (coffee pot with a timer so it’s ready when I get up at 5am every day), feeding my cats. Other habits have become easy because I have to do them nearly every day, like work laundry (I’m a massage therapist/bodyworker), brushing teeth, doing my hair, etc. Habits I’m working on: reading Bible in morning, stretching in morning, listening to Fabulous app coaching at morning & bedtime. Habits I’m struggling with: putting things away as I see them out of place, working on one small area of house/clutter every day, incorporating some kind of resistance training to my day, daily walk. It’s hard to really get good routines bcs my work schedule fluctuates a bit and I typically work 10-7pm and so I’m gone from home from about 845am to 8pm and totally exhausted when I get home (chronic illness from tick diseases). I also sleep like crap my whole life so am chronically tired and depend on a lot of caffeine daily to function. It’s a vicious cycle!

[@jilleubanks4504]

What about a habit that if I miss a few days (like after vacation) I completely forget the habit?

[@AllThingsConsidered333]

I use apps for habits.. currently using Fabulous which is $36/yr but an amazing app.. but there are tons of other ones out there that have decent free options or much lower subscription fees. Also using Tody for chores for me and trying out Privelege Points for my daughter. I just typed ADHD in the App Store to see what would come up and looks like a lot of options for people to try. Good luck!

[@highercallingtreeservices8300]

Please, for the love of God and humanity, learn how to use the word "fewer" versus the word "less".

[@AllThingsConsidered333]

Omg I thought I was the only one who noticed this lol! My mom was very particular about proper grammar (she’s English-Canadian) and I correct my daughter regularly as well as correcting everyone else in my head when they use the incorrect word for the topic/statement) Less is for things that can’t be counted, like liquid, time (general) Fewer is for things that can be counted, like spoons, habits, minutes, etc