I’m listening to…
Greg McKeown chat to Dr Gloria Mark about the negative impact of technology on attention and shares some practical things we can do about it (for instance, much of our self-interrupting is unconscious, so start to ask yourself why you feel the need to check Instagram right now). Here’s Podcast 171: "Protecting your peak attention window” (25 minute, audio with episode transcripts). Also on Spotify, Apple, or Google podcasts.
I’m smiling because…
I can relate to this so much! I discovered this profile on Instagram; @adhd_love (which I thought was appropriate for February). Watching this couple adds a smile to my day, purely based on the sheer honesty of their conversations, saying what many of us think… and giving words to some of the things we do we’d hardly ever want to admit to! A favourite: “Snaccident – when I go into the cupboard for a little snack, and then eating everything”. Now I can relate to that – and it is probably the reason my girls call me the “cookie monster”!
My hope is that honesty like this not only helps to normalise ADHD, but also especially in the context of relationships cultivate and deepen empathy and understanding, with a welcome shot of humour.
If you have a favourite inspiring or funny Instagram profile, please let me know.
I'm working on...
Journaling. As many of you will know, I both strongly advocate journaling and struggle a good deal with it. It’s the one habit I am consistently coming back to. I started using a journal as a tracking tool to search for patterns across days and weeks – what makes a good day good, and what trips me up on bad days.
There are many other good reasons to use a journal, and so many articles about the different benefits. I thought it would be fun, and faster, to turn to the AI driven chatbot, ChatGPT, for answers. Here is a snippet of our conversation:
