Dear Coach,
When spring is in the air, It’s impossible to concentrate. Help I’m falling behind!
Signed,
Sunny

Dear Sunny,
There’s no denying it. Everyone feels like goofing off on a warm, sunny day. Unfortunately responsibilities of school, work and home don’t stop when the weather gets nice. Here are some ideas you can use to keep yourself on track:

Work with your urge to procrastinate

• Work at night when the call to be outdoors and playing isn’t so compelling.
• Do a moderate amount of vigorous outdoor exercise, then study.
• Take your studying outdoors - some of the time. It’s not as efficient, but at least you’re working rather than looking out the window.
• And next year, plan for spring fever by taking a heavy load in the winter and a lighter load in the spring.

Be accountable

• Get a study buddy and make an agreement that you’ll each get so much done in the next few hours. Knowing you’ve made a commitment to someone else really helps. It’s the power of accountability.

• Whatever you do not take a incomplete. Do whatever you have to do to finish a course. Or you may never finish it at all.

Schedule your study time

• Apply the principal of exercise intervals to studying. Instead of alternating sprinting and walking, alternate study and play. Set a timer and work hard for 30 or 60 minutes then play for the next interval of minutes. Then do it again. Just be sure you quit playing as readily as you quit working!

• Plan to procrastinate. Know when your deadlines are and how much time the tasks will take, and then do them when nothing else on the list is more important to get done because the deadline is NOW.

Study smarter not harder

• Know which classes will cut you slack so you can put energy into the ones that won’t.
• Know when you’ve hit the point of diminishing returns. If you’ve worked for 5 hours and know that’s enough to get an A- on the paper and it will take 5 more hours to get an A but there’s other work that needs to be done, move on!

If you have a question you’d like our resident ADHD coach to answer, feel free to add it to the comments and we’ll try to answer it in a future post.

There’s been so much attention the past few  days about whether Ritalin is effective for treating ADHD, you may have missed the news that fidgeting can help manage ADHD.  That’s right, fidgeting actually helps kids with ADHD stay alert.  Time Magazine reported last week that a new University of Central Florida study shows that ADHD kids move around in order to help them stay focused.  In fact kids with ADHD may actually learn better when they are fidgeting!

Teachers in Minnesota and Wisconsin have been experimenting with flexible desks that allow children the option to either stand or sit at them.  The New York Times reported that researchers from the University of Minnesota have been studying the impact of these flexible desks on the academic outcomes of children using them.

Finally, a study published in the journal of Applied Cognitive Psychology shows that doodling actually improves your ability to remember details, rather than indicating your mind is wandering.

Here at Edge, we know that fidgeting can be used successfully to help manage ADHD symptoms.  In 2005 our Executive Director, Sarah Wright, co-authored, Fidget to Focus:  Outwit Your Boredom: Sensory Strategies for Living with ADD.  Next month we’ll tell you more about this book that started it all! In the meantime, take a look at these reports - perhaps they’ll give you ideas of things to do at school or work to improve your focus.  An ADHD coach can also help you discover which strategies work best for you.

Did you already know that fidgeting was a way that helped you focus?  Tell us about it.  We’d love hearing from you about how you keep your edge!

Over the past several months, we’ve been focusing on anxiety and ADHD.

In January we introduced the topic of ADHD and anxiety with a report of how common forms of anxiety are much more common in people who have ADHD than the general population.  We also gave you a list of physical and psychological symptoms associated with anxiety.    Last month, we outlined the 4 most common axiety disorders associated with ADHD.  Remember half (52%) of adults with ADHD will experience general anxiety disorder during their lifetimes.

This month we’ll teach you a few things you can do to control anxiety.  Of course we need to start by saying that if your anxiety feels overwhelming or gets worse over time, you should begin by seeking the help of a professional, who might possibly prescribe therapy and/or medication.  There are, however,  easy, everyday things you can do to help control anxiety without taking another pill - that you can start right now!

1. Exercise
2. Eat right
3. Get enough sleep
4. Practice relaxation

Exercise Exercise Exercise

If you’re a regular Edge Foundation subscriber, you’ll have seen our review of John Ratey’s book, Spark: the revolutionary new science of exercise and the brain.

In it Ratey explains that regular exercise alone can dramatically reduce symptoms of anxiety:

• Exercise releases neurochemicals that help you feel better (serotonin, the “feel good” neurochemical, and GABA, an important inhibitory neurochemical that basically gives the command to “stand down”. )
• Exercise helps relax your body, reducing the resting tension of your muscles and thus interrupting the anxiety feedback loop to your brain.
• Exercise teaches you that you have control over the symptoms of racing heart, sweating, and elevated breathing. That feeling this way physically is not the same thing as a panic attack.
• Exercise even helps you unlearn the habit of anxiety.

Diet

We are going to sound like your mother, but she was right.  Be sure to remember to eat regular meals.  You may be able to get by and skip a meal with a little help from caffeine or sugar, but did you know that both of these foods can mimic the sensation of an anxiety attack - and actually trigger one!

Sleep

Irregular sleep habits can actually increase your anxiety symptoms!  Stress and anxiety may cause the body to produce a “no sleep” signal in the brain that heightens arousal and makes sleep difficult. This alerting effect is a cause of more anxiety and may set in motion a cycle of sleeplessness and stress.

Sleep is such a big issue for many people with ADHD that we are planning a future post on the topic.  In the meantime, there is a lot of information on the web about sleep, sleep problems, and how to develop better sleep patterns. Here are a few places to start.

• http://www.sleepfoundation.org
• http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/brain_basics/understanding_sleep.htm
• http://science.education.nih.gov/supplements/nih3/sleep/guide/info-sleep.htm

Relax Your Mind

Take a time out and pause to let your mind and body relax. When you are stressing, do something distracting and fun. Take a deep breath.  Or fill your mind with a challenging task like a Sudoku or crossword puzzle and you won’t have room to think about your anxiety

Relax Your Body

Relax your body and your mind will follow - we call this the relaxation response.   Relax your body and your

• heart rate decreases
• breathing becomes slower and deeper
• blood pressure drops or stabilizes
• muscles relax
• and your anxiety level decreases

Did we mention exercise?

Exercise can be a great way to release tension in your body.  There are non-strenuous ways to invite your body to relax as well.

• yoga
• medication
• relaxation excecises
• biofeedback
• and don’t forget to breathe.

Anxiety is a real and serious problem, but you don’t have to let it put you on the sidelines or eat you up inside.  It just takes self-awareness that your anxiety is getting the best of you and self-discipline to take steps every day to keep your anxiety at bay.  An ADHD coach can help you figure out which techniques are best for you and put a plan in place to help you stay on top of your anxiety.

Have you found any of these everyday habits have helped your anxiety levels?  Please share your experience in the comments.  We’d love to hear from you.

Overspending during the holidays is hard for everyone - the average American family is carrying almost $10K in debt.  Impulse shopping is a major reason for credit card debt and is a common problem for people with ADHD.  

During the holidays it’s especially hard to keep impulse shopping urges under control.  Here are five steps to keep your spending from taking over during the holiday rush and giving you a debt hangover in January!

1.  Make a budget:  Decide how much you have to spend now - before you start shopping.  
2. Make a list:  Write down the names of the people you want to buy for and what you want to get them.
3. Prioritize:  Add up how much the items on your list cost.  If your list costs more than you have, brainstorm less expensive gifts to give so you keep within your budget.
4. Keep it in cash:  Take only the cash you plan to spend when you go shopping.  That means leaving your debit and credit cards at home.  Put your holiday cash in separate compartment in your wallet.  When the money is gone, you are done shopping.  Period.  Don’t be tempted to use layaway plans to buy things you can’t afford.
5. Avoid the mall:  If you stay away from where things are being sold, you won’t be as tempted to buy them!

 Do you have other tricks you use to curb your shopping urges?  Please share them here.  Consider it your gift to helping someone else end the holiday season without a debt hangover.

A follow-up to a Washington Post article.

The transition from high school to college is a big step for everyone.  When you have ADHD, however, going to college can feel like stepping off a cliff without a safety net.  A recent Washington Post articleby Susan Kunzle (10/25/08) chronicled one family’s journey to assuring that their son, who has ADHD, will continue building a successful life after leaving the support of home.

The family in the article was thinking ahead — their son hadn’t left for college yet — but they were anticipating some of the challenges he’d face.  College is a big step towards adulthood.  This new independence, combined with the academic demands of college life, is tough for most students.  But for students with ADHD, these challenges can feel overwhelming.

For the first time, students are completely responsible for how they use their time.  They are expected to attend classes and study each day without a teacher or parent to help them stay on track.  They organize their own schedules, choose friends and social activities, and figure out when, how much, and even how to study.

Many parents fear that without being able to keep a close eye on their student, they won’t know when a problem has arisen until after he or she has started failing classes.  At that point it can be difficult to turn things around.

Here at the Edge Foundation, we applaud families who proactively support their children to ensure their success.  We are often asked to recommend ADHD-friendly colleges.  What we can tell you is that any school can be ADHD friendly when a student has the support of a coach.

Sign up here to learn more about finding a coach for your child.

A coach provides steady guidance during a time when a young person’s job is to break away from their parents’ support and forge out on their own.  The same young adult that won’t listen to their parents’ advice, may be able to hear what they need to do from an ADHD coach. And an ADHD coach can provide feedback and support to build effective skills in the following areas:

• scheduling
• goal setting
• confidence building
• organizing
• focusing
• prioritizing
• persisting at tasks

Coaching strategies tailored to individual needs make the most of a student’s strengths.  A coach is not a doctor or teacher but rather an advocate who works with you to help you manage life to the fullest.

• Students and their coaches talk regularly and check in about academic and personal pursuits.
• Coaches can help identify strategies to stay organized, utilize your time well, and stay on track in your classes.
• A coach can help remind you to make good choices and take care of yourself emotionally and physically.
• A coach also can help you improve the relationships in your life with friends, peers, professors, and family members.
• Your coach is there to talk to, strategize with, and advocate for you as long as you need.

Are you ready to find out more about how an Edge Coach can help you be your best?  Click here for more information.

If you search the web, you’ll find several schoold out there have designed their programs around serving children with ADHD.  There are also colleges and universities that have incorporate academic coaching into their program.  Duke University, Landmark College, and the University of North Carolina, for example, offer on-campus coaching to students.

In the end, we believe that children with ADHD can be successful at any school and do any profession that they are inspired to pursue.  An ADHD coach can make the journey a lot easier.

To find out more about ADHD coaching please complete our information request form and one of our staff will contact you with the answers to your questions.

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As the days grow shorter, it’s easy for all of us to get less active.  If you think about it, how much more time do you spend on-line or watching TV during the winter, when in the summer you would be out riding your bike or at the beach.

For people ADHD, keeping active year-round isn’t just a good idea, it’s key in reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression and is also known to help with symptoms of ADHD.  It’s no surprise that Michael Phelps is able to manage his ADHD without medication – the man’s life is built around exercise. 

Studies reveal exercise treats ADHD 

There are multiple studies that show exercise is critical to brain functioning:

Spark:  The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain by John Ratey – was published earlier this year is filled with case studies which demonstrate the connection between exercise and brain functioning including ADHD.  (Click the link above to purchase the book and support the Edge Foundation.)

Inactive Teens More at Risk for Behavioral Problems,  Health Day, October 14, 2008.  A recent study of teenagers in Finland revealed that inactive boys and girls were more likely to have attention problems than their active peers.  It asserts that exercise is a highly effective method in easing depression and anxiety and urges teens to build regular exercise as a lifelong health habit. 

ADHD Coaching Keeps Your Exercise Program on Track 

It’s hard to start and exercise program, and even more difficult to make it a long-term habit.  ADHD coaching can help you stay on track with your exercise goals.  Checking in with someone about your weekly exercise goals, can be a way to set goals you can keep over time, stay on track and problem solve when you aren’t able to meet your goals. 

The Edge Foundation offers coaches who are specifically trained and experience in working with high school and college students.  Sign up and get your EDGE today! 

And while your at it, consider exercising outdoors.  This week another study shows that a walk in the park is also highly beneficial to improving attention in children with ADHD.

Now it’s your turn, what do you do to keep on track with your exercise goals?  Leave a comment and share your success or struggles with other Edge readers.

Recently I was waiting with three young boys for a table at a busy restaurant. The crowd had spilled outside during the long wait, and the boys inevitably got in trouble by throwing berries at the windows of the restaurant.  When confronted by their mother, they each had a different excuse for their behavior:  “I only did it once,”  “He made me,” and “I didn’t do it.”

It’s easy to come up with excuses for letting your impulses get in your way.  Everyone uses excuses to get out of a jam now and then.  But you can end up fooling yourself into believing your own story.  “I only did it once.” Doesn’t sound so bad does it?  But sometimes only one time is all it takes to make an irreparable mistake.  Consider drinking and driving.  You might get away with it once.  But on the other hand, you could end up killing someone.

 “He made me.”  It’s easy to fool ourselves into believing that someone else is responsible for our actions.  But, short of having someone holding a gun to your head, the only person who makes you do something is yourself.  Sure it might have been the first boy’s idea to throw the berries in the first place, but the second child threw that berry all by himself.  Does, “he made me,” stand up as a defense for shoplifting?

Which brings us to “I didn’t do it.”  Standing around and not acting when other people are doing the wrong thing, is doing the wrong thing.  Each of us has the responsibility to take a stand and say stop.  We call people heroes when they step in to help someone who is being victimized in a crime.  “I didn’t do it” stands hand-in-hand with “it’s not my fault.”  Taking personal responsibility is looking at ourselves honestly and owning our actions.  If you know that a crime is going to occur and you do nothing about it, you can be held accountable in a court of law.

Everyone makes mistakes.Sure it’s hard to stand up to an angry mother and say, “It was my idea,” or “I felt embarrassed to say ‘no’.”  It’s even harder to stand up to our friends and say, “I don’t want to do this; I’m outta here.”  Thankfully, most of life your mother won’t be there to make excuses to.  The only one you need to fess up to if yourself.  Some days with ADHD can feel like a series of impulsive disasters.  You don’t make them better by shoving mistakes under the carpet with lame excuses.  The key to successfully living with ADHD is facing your mistakes and working to avoid them in the future.

What kind of mistakes do you use white lies to cover up for?  Lateness?  Forgetting to pay a bill?  Missing appointments?  Getting homework in on time?  Most of the time the only person fooled by your excuses is yourself.  Consider your friend who is always late.  You know they just can’t get it together, regardless of their story.

If you’re in the habit of making excuses, it can be hard to change.  Be easy on yourself, and pick one thing to practice being honest about.  Next time you are late say, “I intended to be here on time, but I scheduled my appointments too close together.”  Or, “I cut it too close when I left home this morning and didn’t allow for traffic.”   When you start giving honest explanations for your behavior instead of excuses, you give yourself the information you need to avoid that problem in the future.  Who’s more likely to be on time?  The person who says, “I got stuck in traffic.”  Or the person who says, “I didn’t allow time for traffic.”

You don’t have to make excuses for ADHD.  You just need to be honest with yourself and work to keep on track.  When you make mistakes, fess up, forgive yourself and move on.  It’s what everyone else does, and you can too.  

 You may have noticed that there are a lot of web sites out there that mention ADHD.  Here at the Edge Foundation, we like to think we have some of the best information about ADHD to be found on the web.  But of course we know there are other great sites out there as well. Here are our current top 5 favorite ADHD web sites (listed alphabetically).

1.      ADDitude Magazine
This magazine offers tons of on-line resources for families and people with ADHD.  They offer an on-line newsletter as well as a well written and content rich periodical.

2.      Attention Deficit Disorder Resources
A non-profit organization dedicated to providing everything you might want to know about ADHD including articles, links, a national directory, teleclasses, podcasts, e-news, and more.

3.      Bryan L. Hutchinson Blog
Bryan has recently gained media attention for publishing his memoire, One Boy’s Struggle: A Memoire:  Surviving Life with Undiagnosed ADD.  The book has been described as providing new insight into what it’s like to live with ADHD.  The blog is aimed at promoting his book, but does give you a glimpse into Bryan’s perspective and current concerns.

4.      CHADD Leadership Blog
This must-read blog is written by E. Clark Ross, the CEO of CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.)  You’ve probably already heard of CHADD’s amazing work to educate the nation, and Congress, about the special needs of people with ADHD.  But you probably haven’t run across this blog.  It’s a great source for up-to-the minute, scientific facts about ADHD.  It also includes moving personal stories by the people who are spearheading the ADHD movement.

5.      National Resource Center on AD/HD
An invaluable program of CHADD, The National Resource Center on AD/HD is the nation’s clearinghouse for science-based information about all aspects of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD).  Funded through a cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the NRC provides information on this disorder which affects how millions of children and adults function on a daily basis. Don’t see your favorite listed here?  Post a comment and let others know about it.

Do you always seem to be running out of money? Are you one of the reasons banks can afford to give away free checking?  (You bounce a lot of checks!)  Do you often leave the house with great intentions, but get swept away in the moment and spend more than you had planned?  There are simple things you can do to get your spending under control.  A budget helps you think about what you want to spend when you are in the space to use your best judgment.  Then there are things you can do to help keep your impulses under control and stick with your plan.You don’t have to make a complicated budget to get started.  Here’s a simple way to create an budget for your “fun” money.

• Figure out how much money you spend each week on things like eating out, gas, coffee, concerts, downloads, and more.  It might look something like this:  lunch $50, gas $40, coffee $30, Friday/Saturday night out $50, incidentals $30.  Total:  $200.  This is your “Spending Money Budget.”
•  Make a commitment to yourself to stick with your budget.  Ask yourself honestly:  Do I have this much money to spend each week?  Does it cover everything I like to spend money on?  Does this leave me enough money for essentials like rent, cell phone, cable, and groceries?  Am I able to set any money aside for something unexpected, like a forgotten birthday or a flat tire repair?  If you can answer “yes” to these questions, go to the next step.  If not, go back and adjust your Spending Money Budget accordingly.  (Remember, no one has enough money to buy everything they want, all the time!)
• Withdraw your spending money for the week from your bank.  Make just one withdrawal for the total amount, to last the entire week.  Withdraw the same amount each week on the same day.  Don’t let yourself make any more withdrawals until the next week.  Don’t use a credit card if you fall short.  And don’t borrow any money from friends to cover your expenses!
• Stick to your plan.  You might decide you want to carry only a couple of day’s cash with you at a time.  That way, you are less likely to spend it on an impulse.  Or keep it all you’re your wallet, but put some aside in a different pocket for later in the week.  Don’t pay for downloads with your debit or credit card.  Instead, buy a download gift certificate from a store like Safeway.  Think ahead about what you are planning for the weekend, so you’ll have enough money.  If you start to run short, you might need to change your plans.
• Make a spending list before you leave the house:  Think about what you might spend money on and make a list of the things you need.  Make another list of things you’ll be tempted to spend money on as an impulse.  Figure out what are you going to do when you are tempted to make an unplanned purchase.  And stick to your list!

Wrap up your ATM card!  Leave your card in your wallet, but wrap it up and write a note to yourself that you are sticking to your plan.
Ask your friends to help you.
Rubber band your wallet with another note that says “do I really need this?”
Be creative and come up with your own ideas

• Evaluate how you did and make small adjustments to your budget.  Were you able to stick with your budget?  Did you run out of money early?  Did you underestimate how much money you really needed for something like gas?  Is there something you can cut that you don’t really need?  Think about how you did and adjust your budget if you need to.  The point is not to have an inflexible plan, instead get one that works for you!This blog entry showed you an easy way to make a budget and gave you some ideas of how to stick with it.  If you have other creative ideas of what you do to keep your spending under control, please share them with others as a comment on this page. 

For many people, medication is a powerful aid in helping alleviate the symptoms of ADHD. But before you take it, it’s difficult to stay focused, and when you aren’t focused it’s hard to remember to take it! Developing a morning routine can make it easy for you to get your medicine on board every day. And there are lots of simple tricks you can add to your morning routine to make sure you don’t forget. Below are five simple ideas you can try.

If you don’t see an idea you like, make up your own! When you find one that works, stick to it! Do it every day. You’ll have a new routine in place, and be sure to have your medicine working for you. Five Simple Ideas – choose the one that works for you!

1. Set an alarm.
   Most people use an alarm clock to wake up every day, why not use one to remind you to take your medication? Most cell phones come with built in alarms. Set yours to go off every day at the same time. Then take your pill as soon as you shut off the alarm.
2. Post a to-do list.
   Lots of people with ADHD have a to-do list that they put on their front door to help them remember the things they need to take with them when they leave the house. Add “medicine” to the list you’re already using and you’re on your way.
3. Put it in your shoes!
   Do you wear the same pair of shoes every day? Put your pill bottle in your shoe. You’ll have to take it out to put them on. When you take the bottle out, take out a pill right then and you’ve got your medication on board for the day.
4. Ask your friend or family to help.
   Does it seem like mom is always nagging you about something? Give her permission to nag you about your pill! This doesn’t mean you can count on her to remember for you, but it does help ensure that you have one more reminder in place to take it.
5. Keep an emergency back up on hand.
   Do you sometimes remember you forgot to take your meds after you left the house? Keep one back-up pill hidden in your wallet, desk or locker so you have it at hand when you forget it at home. Don’t over rely on this to work every day, because you’ll need to add a step to remember to replace the pill you used. Much easier to remember to take it before you leave home!

Now that you have a few tricks at hand, make a plan and stick to it. Hint! You might get bored with your system after a few weeks or months, but don’t change it if it’s working. A routine is by nature boring because you do it over and over. But because you do it over and over, it’s also the reason it works. Do you already have a failsafe system to remember to take your medication? We’d love to hear about it. Post it as a comment and share your success with other Edge Foundation readers.