I mentioned in my check-in yesterday that I'd be discussing strategy this morning, yet when I started this micro-blog, I stated I'd be writing and sharing about what was on my mind at the moment. Well - if you have ADHD or know someone with ADHD, you know that having only one thought at a time actually occurs can be a crap shoot 😅
Strategy and what it means has been on my mind for a good part of the last couple of weeks, so I wanted to go ahead and let some of those thoughts out.
One of the things that frustrate me as someone with late(r) diagnosed ADHD is that what I thought was regular daily functioning is actually what most people considered "strategic thinking." I look at almost everything in my personal and professional life, and there's a strategic plan and/or reasoning behind it.
Take, for example, the information I added to LinkedIn yesterday. Rather than add this information to my profile when we have a logo and finished website, I added it when I got the paperwork back from the state after filing the LLC earlier this month. Do I actually have a new job/role with a guaranteed income, benefits, and W2? No, but from previous experience, I know that many people will see that additional info in their feed and respond as if I've received some sort of new role or funding to start a business and am financially stable. Hahaha - no. I've invested my own money to start an LLC so that if/when I and/or my husband don't get a "regular" job in the next few months, we have had much time under our belt for the minimum two-year proof of income needed from I-9 work status in order to buy a house. If I had known about such a rule before, I would've filed an LLC and kept regular freelance jobs on the side long ago despite not really having the time for it. But the addition of the information specifically to LinkedIn yesterday was because I did not want to be overwhelmed with the announcement of The Clark Collective on the platform at the same time as dealing with any potential bugs/issues with launching the website.
Pacing is a strategic tactic I utilize both personally and professionally because I can get overwhelmed rather easily, thanks to the highway of thoughts coming and going in my brain.
Sometimes even the smallest action can keep those thoughts in their respective lanes, and I can concentrate on what I need to when I want/need to.
Sometimes it takes several actions to make this happen, and that can be more time-consuming.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, one tiny action can completely derail the concentration and organization of a thought or even multiple thoughts, and there's a giant thought pileup on the highway that is my brain - that is called overwhelm.
Sometimes it takes several actions to break down the barrier and cause a "overwhelm pileup".
These pileups can be overcome, but sometimes not so easily.
As you can see, there are lots of factors that can positively or negatively impact my ADHD, and many I can have control over (like taking my ADHD meds, exercising, eating a healthy diet, drinking plenty of water, and not over-consuming caffeine for example). Others, many others, are outside of my control (like my health insurance taking my ADHD medication off their formulary because the generic is supposed to come out this year but has continually been delayed therefore costing me $400 a month out of pocket the last several months because no one told me I could request my doctor put in for a preauthorization form so I could access this medication at a reasonable price, and this coinciding with being laid off, so having to take another medication since I can no longer afford the $400 out of pocket cost, but having to compensate in other areas of my life because this ADHD medication doesn't help with anxiety like the $400 medication I was on because I've had anxiety since as far back as I can remember really).
So being strategic is not just a work skill I possess to be attentive to detail for a successful campaign or to move up in my career and industry; strategy is how I've had to get through basic daily functions.
Instead of hiring personnel, recruiters, leadership, etc., looking at a candidate with ADHD has flighty, absentminded, not reliable, etc. I believe more people need to understand the intricacies and lengths that individuals with ADHD have to go to to "fit in" to the society that's been created for neurotypical individuals.
Because every day can be completely different from the next based on a variety of factors outside my control that impact how I function, I adopted a motto from my grandfather's army unit for a while - "Always Ready." However, it's exhausting and not realistic when so much is out of your control. I do bring it up in conversation and here, for example, to help show the complexity and work it can take to get through what others may not have to even think about. I've also been told that it's not necessarily something I should take so seriously because it was adopted from a military motto, and my life isn't exactly on the line. However, I rebuttal that unless you've ever had to ration food, medication, and/or money in order to live, then yes, my livelihood and life can be on the line. The first question I asked when I was laid off was if, as part of the severance package, my healthcare would continue as well, and I was told yes. This was a major relief to me because my husband is a Type 1 Diabetic and is insulin dependent. I found out the following week that what was meant by "continued healthcare coverage" was that I would be offered COBRA. Those are two VERY different things, and because of the timing of the layoff being one day before the end of the month and now being in a new month, I had no healthcare coverage, and even signing up for ACA that day, our coverage wouldn't start until the following month.
So yeah, I'm not just strategically managing work ideas, campaigns, tasks, and duties, but I'm having to manage that in conjunction with the strategic complexities of being neurodivergent, having endometriosis, and having celiac is a LOT. Add in being married to someone who, as I mentioned, is Type 1 Diabetic and also has ADHD, and there's a lot to plan, manage, and strategize - and we haven't even gotten to the family or friend aspect of life!
It can be a lot, and it can bring up a lot of emotions, but one element that I've added to my strategic practices and way of thinking is that of aligning them with a more stoic thought process. My husband started reading and learning about stoicism about this time last year and has shared some ideas and thought processes with me that have been incredibly helpful not only in being strategic with work and life but being more accepting of the things out of our control.
So there's a few of my thoughts around strategy off my chest 🤓 Since I knew that's what I was wanting to address this morning, I treated myself to a half-caff coffee with cool whip rather than frothed milk. I'm also treating myself to a bit more caffeine lately until I get back to my regular ADHD medication. I'm on a lower dose of the current one, so it doesn't spike my anxiety too much, but it's not quite enough for me in terms of my ADHD needs, so I've been supplementing a little more caffeine to help as a natural energy booster when needed (and still not in the afternoon cause I do like to sleep - again, so much strategy). So grateful for options like Nespresso's Half- Caffeinato to keep me balanced right now!!
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