Impulsive and hyperactive behaviours as well as inattention and distractibility can really impact your focus. So in this post I will be talking about 3 Easy Habits Which Help Me To Focus With My ADHD!

Because asking questions like…

What’s the best allocation of my time?

Where does my attention go?

Are some important reflective questions

Unfortunately, you can be on the go so often that these questions don’t really get the attention they need

Or at least don’t answer these questions from a grounded place

As you know when you manage your attention & energy you become your own manager of focus

So, what actually has your attention right now?

What causes you to…

• Become doubtful?

• Become distracted?

• Become disruptive?

Let’s face it, doubt, distraction, and disruption are traits that are synonym with ADHD

Neuroscience, brain imaging, and clinical research tell us a few important things: ADHD is not a behaviour disorder. ADHD is not a mental illness. ADHD is not a specific learning disability. ADHD is, instead, a developmental impairment of the brain’s self-management system,  its executive function.

additudemag.com

So in order to self-manage, we need to create supportive habits

I’ve spoken about this before, but the 3 E’s of habits are

• Environment
• Enjoyment
• Ease

When these things are part of our habits, success almost guaranteed, on the flip side when these are missing, chaos is sure to follow

Does ADHD make it hard to form habits?

No

Using the word hard will make it hard

Language can imprison us if we allow it to

And as many with ADHD have challenges with emotional contagion, it’s wise to stay away from words that control us

What is emotional contagion?

I am glad you asked…

Emotional contagion our tendency to unconsciously mirror and take on the emotions of those around us.

Through years of ADHD masking, this is unconscious

It’s when I felt sad even though moments ago I was joyful

It’s part of having rejection sensitivity dysphoria and being emotionally deregulated

The bottom line is that it is a maladaptive (unhelpful) trauma response to not feeling accepted

In the case of taking on helpful habits

The best way is to make it easy, set up your environment and make it enjoyable

So take what others remark as hard & instead make the habit easy

If one is unaware of an unpleasant fact or situation, one cannot be troubled by it.

Thomas Gray

How?

It’s better to do something badly than not at all

Using hypnotherapy

Visible automation

This is how it works

Automate your to-do list

And create a to done list

And monitor I ain’t doing that sis list

ADHD time blindness can be a factor when it comes to our ability to focus

That is why I always recommend RescueTime to anyone that will listen

The way our brains are wired means we should honour them by working with it, not against it

So in this post I will share some of the easy habits that help me focus with different ways to implement them

There is no transformation, from information without implementation

1. Exercise

There are times when I cannot focus when I sit down to work, so I exercise to aid my focus.

My cue/trigger: Get out of bed

My craving: To be a little more nicer to my kids

My response: Change to get out of the door

My reward: Space to think

To prepare, I don’t overthink

I make it EASY I lay the clothes out the night before as part of my evening routine

Sometimes admit I just don’t do this

Occasionally, I am not in the mood

So, that’s why I always have outfits available in the closet to wear

Because I know s*** happens

But I know that is not always enough so

When I have my gear on

I start walking and…

I listen to YouTube playlist to keep me focus on other things

If you can’t measure it, it’s going to be hard to effin remember what you did lol

1. Zombie Run App

Then I turn on 5K Training or Zombie Run when I get to the park

@theruthellen

Let me know in comments what app you’re going to try ##adhdtiktok ##smallbusiness ##adhdtips ##adhdwomen ##fyp

♬ History – One Direction

After exercising, I am less irritable, and I am more focused, which helps me to concentrate throughout the day.

2. Workout Trainer

Which helps me to…

3. Focus By Demanding Clarity

A person with ADHD needs an environment that is very different to a neurotypical

Out of sight generally means out of mind

That is why brain dumping is essential

Many of my clients with ADHD are overthinkers

Which means when our brain is in a relaxed state we tend to have a torrential rain of thoughts all at once

Cue laying down and relaxing for bed and a bunch of thoughts ?

A mental and physical decluttering practice is essential below are a couple of ways to do that

1. Mindmapping

Using mindmaps to do the mental decluttering is helpful

Yes Mindmaping

That and sketching at work

Will change your life

This helps me to then…

2. Process hacking

As I now want to focus my scattered thinking I need to create a process so that I can get there, without feeling like s*** when I get there

Because we have been taught to create goals that are outcome orientated without always having clear process

it’s not based on outcome being achieved as a hope goal

But a way for me to achieve by DOING something

I like to use D.R.E.A.M.S.S which is an acronym for…

• Destination
• Remarkable
• Environment
• Attitude
• Method
• Swinging
• Singing

This is what a process hacking looks like when it comes to gaining more clarity using my D.R.E.A.M.S.S technique that is part of my Rituals for ADHD Bootcamp

1. DESTINATION: Create a routine and stick to it sidenote: a routine doesn’t get broken because you miss a day or even a week, give yourself compassion

2. Remarkable: Use lists to stay organized will help me to get the dopamine I need to continue
3. Environment: Make sure your bedroom is conducive for sleep
4. Attitude: Stay away from electronics before bedtime
5. Method: Exercise regularly
6. Swing: Eat healthy foods and drink lots of water
7. Sing: Listen to Jonathan McReynolds Cycles track

Having an attitude of gratitude and checking in with my intuition are key to this process too, something I will be diving into on another post

3. Focus By Emotionally Regulating!

To get clarity, you need to work on emotionally regulating yourself.

As you know, many ADHD symptoms are problems with executive function.

Executive function can be divided into two groups:

Organization: Gathering information and structuring it for evaluation
Regulation: Taking stock of your surroundings and changing behaviour in response to it

Self-regulation is a skill that you can learn and improve with practice.

Emotional regulation is learning to respond to that information in a way that helps you achieve your goals.

I always emphasise that “Emotion is information.”

Allocating your rumination time is key when you have ADHD, because you can overthink at a exponential rate, practising EFT is your rumination time.

Rumination leads to emotional dysregulation and leads to maladaptive outcomes

Emotional dysregulation is often related to issues of attachment.

Maladaptive for a person with ADHD is masking

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A post shared by Ruth-Ellen | Consultant (@theruthellen)

So how do you emotionally regulate, below are a few ways I emotionally regulate

1. Emotional Freedom Technique [EFT]

I used to struggle with emotional regulation for a long time, and nothing seemed to help me as much as EFT.

I did not know what was “wrong with me” or “how to fix it”.

Living in this state wasn’t easy; it left me feeling numb, like something inside me was missing.

One day I heard about EFT, decided to google it then I went down the rabbit hole of buying a course on it, then certifying it – turns out EFT deals specifically with emotional regulation!

This was when I realised I was asking the wrong questions

Instead of asking what’s wrong with me I started asking what happened to me

You can’t heal what you refuse to reveal

Ruth-Ellen danquah

So how do you practice EFT?

The technique is simple: you tap on certain points of your body while saying statements that are directed at your trauma experience (for example “Even though I feel so scared right now, deep down I am safe”). It sounds strange but after just one round of tapping, my chest feels lighter than before…

Well, as soon as I finished the session of tapping on myself and saying “even though I am feeling _ [feeling] right now, this is just an old habit,” my feelings from my last relationship came up. And before long, they subsided into a more neutral state. This is why it is ideal for people with ADHD

1. Instant gratification – it works in less than 5 minutes
2. Validation – It acknowledges your feeling which in turn validates your feelings (which is a massive part of healing)
3. Movement – You get to move instead of having to stay still
4. Shift – You clear limiting beliefs that don’t serve you and start to reinforce new ones
5. Connection – you can suffer with disassociation this is a somatic pr

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPlDRATvEY8

Join me on Insight Timer so when I go live you can tap with me

2. DBT/CBT

Dialectical Behavioural Therapy primarily focuses on regulating emotions through mindfulness, distress tolerance, acceptance processes, self-monitoring, and interpersonal effectiveness.

By engaging in these modalities of behavioural therapies, an individual with emotional dysregulation can learn how to better manage their emotions so that they can lead healthier lives.

Above I mentioned Woebot as a great tool if you aren’t ready to invest in one of my training programs

3. Yoga Nidra

Yoga and meditation are wonderful ways to develop the ability to stay in the now.

Studies have shown that when one is present, they can filter out distractions more easily.

This allows YOU a better chance of focusing on what’s important instead of worrying about everything else going on around you.

Meditation has become hugely popular because of the ability it has to help those focus during stressful situations such as work or life in general!

Yoga Nidra means yogic or psychic sleep. It is a state of consciousness between waking and sleeping, induced by a guided meditation

Yoga Nidra is a meditative state that is achieved through specific procedures.

Through Yoga Nidra, one can transcend the mind and experience a state of deep relaxation and complete awareness.

Yoga Nidra is a form of meditation where you are asked to visualize a word or a sound. It is an ancient sanskrit practice that has been used for centuries. Yoga Nidra is not just another meditation type, but it is a healing practice and it can help you to relieve stress and to experience many benefits.

Yoga Nidra is a way of practising self-discovery.

It can help you learn about your own self and it can help you heal past traumas and negative thoughts.

It can help you get rid of stress and it can help you feel more relaxed and peaceful.

Yoga nidra is a practice where you are fully awake but in a state of relaxation.

It is commonly used as a form of meditation, but it can be used for much more.

Yoga nidra can be used to focus your attention on one area of your body or your surroundings.

The practice is commonly used by people with ADHD, so that they can learn to focus their attention on one area.

Yoga nidra can be an effective way to meditate, increase your focus, and learn to control your attention.

Yoga nidra has been shown to be an effective tool for treating psychological disorders such as anxiety, depression, insomnia, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

As a Yoga nidra facilitator & meditation teacher I can testify to the benefits of both

Which then brings us onto obstacles which generally are in the form of beliefs, thoughts that don’t serve us

4. Hypnotherapy

Sometimes as a hypnotherapist I take hypnotherapy for granted

But whenever I see someone transform their life in an instant I quickly remember the benefits

Hypnotherapy works on the subconscious plane

The subconscious will reveal why you do what you do

Hypnotherapy will not only reveal your limiting beliefs, but also reprogram them

Three things are at the root of all of our beliefs:

• Lack of self-worth

• Lack of self-love

• Lack of self-confidence

Hypnotherapy is evidential, there are numerous studies that showcase the effectiveness of it

Results showed trends toward faster healing for the hypnosis group through week 9 following injury.

So here’s the great news for people with ADHD

When you are ADHD you are more suggestible

Which means getting into the right state to make lasting change is easy

Here are the states which make up the brain waves in healing:

1) Beta (14-40Hz) – The Waking Consciousness and Reasoning Wave

While Beta brain waves are important for effective functioning throughout the day, they also can translate into stress, anxiety and restlessness. The voice of Beta can be described as the voice in our head or our constant stream of thought.

2) Alpha (7.5-14Hz) – The Deep Relaxation Wave

When you are relaxed and your eyes are closed, your brain is sending out alpha waves.

This is a great time to learn and to imagine and to remember and to concentrate.

Alpha brain waves are present in deep relaxation and usually when the eyes are closed, when you’re slipping into a lovely daydream or during light meditation.

It is an optimal time to program the mind for success and it also heightens your imagination, visualization, memory, learning and concentration.

The voice of Alpha is your intuition. It’s the voice you hear when you are daydreaming or when you are thinking about something that really interests you. The voice of Alpha gets clearer the closer you get to 7.5Hz. This is an optimal state for hypnotherapy. This is a time when you are relaxed and your subconscious mind is open to suggestion.

3) Theta (4-7.5Hz) – The Light Meditation And Sleeping Wave

It’s at the Alpha – Theta border, from 7 Hz to 8 Hz that visualization and hypnosis or other reprogramming of the mind begins. This is the optimal range for visualization and hypnosis because you can visualize your reality so clearly. At this frequency you are conscious of your surroundings, but your body is in deep relaxation.

So this is the mental state which you consciously create your reality so lock into it! You are aware of who, where and what you are thinking yet your body is deeply relaxed.

This helps slow activity incrementally until it reaches a point where time seems to stand still. Thereby allowing visualization to occur with clarity which helps create new ideas calmly without distraction or worry that makes it difficult to work on big projects because they can seem overwhelming at times after having been presented with too many things all at once making it hard to be able to think clearly about them or what you need do.

4) Delta (0.5-4Hz) – The Deep Sleep Wave

The Delta state is the slowest of the brainwave frequencies. It’s also called delta wave sleep. This state creates slow, rolling waves of electrical activity in the brain which are associated with deep relaxation and restorative properties, as well as some creativity. As this stage comes closer to waking consciousness, it becomes slower still – often causing your thoughts to become disjointed and difficult to understand (this is known as sleep talking). Sleepwalkers can be found in this state. Delta is also closely tied up with our memories which is why children tend to remember their dreams more than adults do; they are more likely to be in a true delta state during their dream (Budzynski, 1997)

Regeneration is at its peak during the deepest stage of sleep. When people don’t get sufficient sleep, it can negatively influence their health in more ways than one. If you happen to not get enough deep sleep, you could develop certain conditions including weight gain and also become more prone to developing illnesses. This is because your body needs adequate time to heal properly while you are asleep. This is when rejuvenation occurs at its peak, which minimizes the negative impacts that can be caused by lack of sleep.

5) Gamma (above 40Hz) – The Insight Wave

This range is the purest and most powerful of them all. It has been shown to increase memory retention by over 200% compared to the Theta state, while also strengthening one’s ability to perform two tasks at once on par with alpha waves without the side effects of your mind wandering or feeling overly distracted.

Gamma brainwaves are experienced in states of expanded consciousness. This frequency range is above 40Hz and known for connecting the right and left hemispheres of the brain, enhancing creative analytical abilities, remote viewing, and parallel processing.

Getting into the right state will shift these beliefs so that you can form helpful habits

This is the way it works:

The subconscious wants to keep you safe

Healing helps you to get into the state where I am able to access the subconscious

When I speak to the part of you that is ‘the smoker’ we can raise our consciousness then reframe and replace the old habit with a more helpful habit like ‘sipping water’

It’s really important that

Here are a few hypnotherapy tracks that I recommend:

When you lack clarity – My Next Steps Hypnosis

If you’re ready to see transformations, then I recommend 8 sessions for long-term change, book your session here

5. Journal

1. Why should you be journaling?

You should be journaling because it’s an effective and simple way to boost productivity and find clarity in life. Journaling can be done in a few easy steps.

• Start by writing down your big objective for the day and the next day and the next!
• You can also write down things you’d like to remember, such as ideas for a project or an article like this one!

Journaling is also a great way to relieve stress and relax your mind.

It’s a great feeling to be able to reflect on your day and see that you feel accomplished and accomplished about what you’ve achieved!

If you’re a business owner, journaling is a great tool for goal setting! It’s a great way to see what has been achieved and what has been failed. It’s a good way to have a bird’s eye view of an entire project or business!

2. How to build a habit to do daily journaling

In order to build a habit, it must be a goal. This particular habit will have to be a short-term goal you have in mind.

Make sure it’s something you enjoy doing, so it won’t be a chore to do daily!

Journaling is a positive thing to do for yourself, because it improves your thinking and gives you a glimpse into how your mind works.

It’s great for writers who have a hard time seeing what they have through their words.

It’s also a great way to get your ideas down on paper, before you forget them.

Regular journaling will make you feel more at peace and improve your cognitive abilities, which will make you more successful in your career and life!

This is you scheduling your rumination time too, which is a healthy habit that stops overthinking in it’s tracks

3. How to start journaling

What I have learnt in my years of getting really poor ADHD & neurodivergent support in general is that whether the person was asking the right questions

That’s why I created The Rejection Sensitivity Journal for ADHD …

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There are many emotions that we feel, and many days that we need to be able to take stock of. When you journal you are not only taking stock of the day, you are processing your emotions and building your brain health.

6. Theta

The ThetaHealing Technique works by training you to replace negative self-beliefs and emotions with positive and healthy ones and is a deceptively simple method for healing both yourself and others.

It is a mental, physical and spiritual process which involves improving your quality of life through the adoption of healthier habits, an attitude towards serious self-study, meditation and prayer; creating a deeper sense of inner harmony; learning how to understand the true purpose of our incarnation into this material world (the living classroom) – tapping into Universal Consciousness or

• Realization; learning how to become fully responsible for our own thoughts and actions so we do not blame anyone but ourselves for the things we do; knowing how to use ThetaHealing in conjunction with other spiritual and energy techniques such as Reiki, Law of Attraction, etc.

Theta Healing addresses what is causing your illness by making you aware of your limitations and debilitations.

When I do shadow work I can dip into the dark night of the soul

So muscle testing and then using Theta means that I can be instantaneously healed

Final thoughts: When you are having a hard time focusing, it is a sign of low emotional regulation.

In order to improve focus, you need to intentionally gain clarity and get your emotions in check so that you have the mental capacity to concentrate on the task at hand.

When you are feeling overwhelmed with life and the stress, it becomes easy to ignore the fact that you are feeling this way.

That is until you start to have difficulty focusing on the very tasks that are causing you to feel anxious.

This is when you need to take a step back and figure out what is going on.

I hope this blog post has helped you get clarity and emotionally regulate so that you can focus.

Remember to join me on Octobers monthly training, 5 ADHD emotional regulation hacks to get your life on track

This will help you regain the peace of mind that you deserve.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me

https://newdirectionspgh.com/adhd

https://www.eftuniverse.com/research-studies/eft-research#anxiety

https://gulfnews.com/lifestyle/health-fitness/yoga-for-adhd-1.1673266

I am blessed to coach people who are ADHD and neurodivergent like myself on a daily basis, but I have noticed authenticity is one of the biggest challenges.

Here’s why..

Being authentic means that you act in ways that show your true self and how you feel. Rather than showing people only a particular side of yourself, you express your whole self genuinely. That means to succeed in being authentic, you first have to know who your true self actually is. And this requires self-awareness, mindfulness, and self-acceptance.

Psychology Today

And so here lies the challenge…

1. Self-Acceptance is not something that comes easy “

Because self acceptance to a person with ADHD includes being ok with being different, which is different.

 And being different has somehow been taught as something to be ashamed about

Because being different comes with labels which often accompanies being ridiculed 

And it’s not just a “limiting belief” 🤦‍♀️

Different pots of society have actually a person with ADHD like they don’t belong

That their lived experiences are not valid

Acceptance is a word that they just don’t see modelled on a daily basis

This causes many ADHD people to be inauthentic

Not because they are fake

But because they just grow tired of conflict from not being accepted

And they just want to get on with it 

So they wear ADHD masks of protection

These masks create maladaptive beahviours that actually keep you in the box of shame

 2. They can be hyper-vigilant, be avoidant and have a need for control because the world has taken so much of their power away.

This in turn means that they judge self, others and circumstances

Below I have shared a couple of the way this plays out.

😓 Always anxious, with chronic doubts about self and others.

😓Extraordinary sensitivity, with traits of rejection sensitivity.

😓 The constant expectation of mishap or danger.Suspicious of what others are up to.

😓 Might seek reassurance and guidance in procedures, rules, authorities, institutions.

😓 Avoids conflict and says yes to things one wouldn’t want.

😓 Downplays the importance of real problems and tries to deflect others.

😓 Has difficulty saying no.

😓 Resists others through passive-aggressive means rather than directly.

😓 Loses self in comforting routines and habits; procrastinates on unpleasant tasks.

😓Strong energy and the need to control and take charge.

😓 Connect with others through competition, challenge, physicality, or conflict rather than softer emotions.

😓 Willful, confrontational, straight talker.Comes alive when doing the impossible and beating the odds.

😓 Stimulated by and connects through conflict.

😓 In-your-face communication interpreted by others as anger or criticism.

You get the idea…

3. They self-sabotage themselves subconsciously  

The function of your subconscious mind is to store and retrieve data. 

It’s job is to ensure that you respond exactly the way you are programmed. 

Your subconscious mind makes everything you say and do fit a pattern consistent with your self-concept.

If your self-concept AKA what you believe about yourself is negative then you’re setting yourself up to lose, time and time again

This is why habits don’t stick if you don’t address the pattern

Why?
It’s the subconscious that needs rewiring in order to achieve your goals.
The more aware you are of your subconscious beliefs, the better you will become at accessing them.

Because your subconscious beliefs can sabotage your conscious efforts.

Do I know all this from reading about this online?… well yes and…over 10 years of working in this space, plus coaching people through it as well my lived experience

So what is the solution?

Reprogram your subconscious mind
How do you start?

By using science & psychology

1. Intercept your subconscious before the event so you plan for sabotage and nip it in the bud before it happens

2. Use meditation to reprogram your subconscious

3. Make it a habit that is easy to measure

I have found a way to combine all of this 👆 based on cognitive & positive psychology, neuroscience & performance science

It’s called Positive Intelligence

And it increases your mental fitness

What Is Mental Fitness?

It’s your capacity to respond to life’s challenges with a positive rather than a negative mindset.

The impact of increasing your mental fitness…

💥  Improved Performance💥 Improved Relationships💥 Improved Well-Being

If you want to know more visit this link for the ADHD  Mental Fitness program

#becelebrated

Ruth-Ellen ‘Mental Fitness is the factor’ Danquah 

P.S My Authentic & Aligned connections bundle helps you to…

👉 Discover your authenticity code so that you can create intentional & empowering connections

👉 Learn how to powerfully identify the subconscious drivers which are keeping at the most shallow end of the friendship pool & how to shift this !

👉 Discover my simple 3 step system to psychologically attract, retain & cultivate authentic friendships on a daily basis

👉 Grab the authentic & aligned workbook to help you to follow along

👉 Plus be guided through a powerful visualisation so that you can create new neural pathways towards authentic & aligned connections