“This week has been crazy!  But, I accomplished my most important goal!  I filed my tax return! Well, I filed my already extended tax return. I even get money back.  I wish I had known that before. Oh well.  I made an appointment with the accountant on Friday so I had a firm deadline and was sure to have enough time this week to get them done.  All I had left was to finish up the last two months of 2010 and they would be complete…better late than never…it should have taken me only a few hours.”

Next week, October 16-22, 2011 is ADHD Awareness Week here in the United States. For those of us living with ADHD, care about someone with ADHD or work with people who have ADHD, this is a huge deal!

One of the most effective management strategies for minimizing the challenges and symptoms of ADHD is medication. This might not be the most popular statement I have ever made, but research over and over again has shown that ADHD medications can “level the playing field” for adults with ADHD. Medications can be effective in helping adults with ADHD increase their focus on less interesting tasks, reduce impulsivity of actions and words and calm inner restlessness. I often hear clients describe the experience of being on the right medication as similar to having “the fog clearing”, “the water globe settling” or a “light switch being turned on”. They feel more focused, energetic, calm and productive. However, many adults never have the chance to experience the full benefits of ADHD medication due to three problem areas that I call “ADHD medication pitfalls”…taking the wrong medication, the wrong dose or taking medications at the wrong time.

This week I’m going to get a little more personal. This past weekend I attended a business development workshop. Every six weeks or so I bravely head off for these two day intensives, knowing that at the end I will have gained some great ideas to apply in my work and also that I will be somewhat changed as a person when I leave. This past weekend was no different as I was reminded that once again, I am my own worst enemy.

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead I believe we all dream of making a positive difference in the world. I am lucky enough to say that one of my dreams is about to come true. In about two weeks, The ADHD Awareness Book Project: 365 Ways to Succeed with ADHD will be published! As an ADHD Life Coach, I help people living with ADHD understand their disorder, reduce their challenges, get things done and find hope. For the past nine years, I have individually done my best. However, having worked in the mental health field for over 25 years, I also know that, proportionately, not that much has changed in the overall awareness of ADHD. I meet clients every day from age seven to

My 16 year old daughter told me that I had better use my office organization tips myself if I wanted to help people with ADHD be better organized. Teenagers can be so to the point! Her comment started me thinking about how the ADHD-friendly structure and systems I use in my coaching business might be helpful for any adult with ADHD. Whether we have ADHD or not, there seem to be specific areas that consistently need organizational attention lest they turn into unmanageable chaos.

As an ADHD life coach, I get to work with some of the most amazingly creative adults living with ADHD every day. This week, I met with a new client to talk about how ADHD was impacting her life and began helping her design initial ADHD coaching strategies to better manage these challenges.

Thirteen years ago, I was a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner by day and the mother of a son newly diagnosed with ADHD by night. Despite my experience and education in the psychiatric field, I felt helpless as to how to help him manage and overcome his challenges. Little did I realize just how much ADHD would impact his life, my personal life and professional life. In the years to come, I would discover ADHD Coaching and see what a difference it made to help him overcome his struggles. I would learn that my husband and older son also struggled with the disorder and that I myself, although never officially diagnosed, had many ADD/ADHD tendencies, characteristics and traits.