Antonia Bowring, principal ABstrategies LLC, MBA. Top Ranked Executive Coach in New York, Author and Speaker.
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Have you ever felt completely unsure of how to resolve a big, thorny problem at work or at home? We've all been there, and it can be uncomfortable. But a big challenge for a neurotypical person can sometimes feel next to impossible for someone with ADHD—too big, too undefined, and too hard to manage with time blindness.
I have an adult diagnosis of ADHD and recently faced such a challenge: figuring out a PR/marketing strategy for my first book, which will be published in the second half of 2023. PR and marketing are not areas in which I have great expertise. I felt lost, confused and paralyzed.
Below are the steps I used to break down my seemingly overwhelming challenge into something “doable.” And while these steps are helpful for anyone—neurotypical or neurodiverse—my focus here is on my ADHD community.
1. Reframe The Challenge
My first step was to reframe the challenge and make it more manageable, even though it was still a big challenge in my eyes. In my case, I didn’t need to figure out the entire PR/marketing strategy. I just needed to hire someone to help me figure it out.
2. Make Time For Reflection
Next, I blocked reflection time on my calendar for 30 minutes, twice a week to think about this challenge, reflect on what I needed to do and jot down creative ideas about my PR goals and how to achieve them. This was in addition to the conversations and research I did.
3. Break It Down
Third, I broke down the challenge into smaller goals and prioritized them. I also kept track of people I connected with and their thoughts in a tracking document (I use Notion, but this could be done in any app or even on paper). The mind is calmer when it knows where to find information.
4. View It As A Puzzle
My next step was to gamify the research; I reframed it as a puzzle to solve. I thought about people I like and respect who have experience in the marketing/PR realm and how enjoyable it would be to reconnect with them. I wanted to have a conversation to catch up and further my learning agenda so I’d be in a better position to decide. And when it was a connection via someone else, I challenged myself to be curious and open rather than to give in to my anxiety and confusion about getting to the right answer as quickly as possible.
Research is critical for most challenges that we need to solve. Ask yourself how you do your best research. Some folks like online searches (watch out for rabbit holes); others like articles and books. I learn best by talking to others. And so that is what I did. In all, I probably spoke to 20 people—the contacts who made recommendations and, eventually, the short-list of agencies and PR/marketing consultants.
5. Embrace Discomfort
Recognize that discomfort is OK. In fact, it’s more than OK. Discomfort is an indispensable part of the process. The key here is distinguishing between the discomfort of not knowing how to get to the right solution but trusting your process and the discomfort of not making progress because ADHD symptoms such as procrastinating or not maintaining focus are impeding your process. If it’s the latter, think about what other scaffolding you need to move forward.
6. Set Realistic Timelines
My final step was to time-box the challenge. I gave myself a realistic deadline for coming to a decision. I kept this process very secondary until I submitted my final book draft. Then, I ramped up my research process and gave myself one month to make a decision and be in the contract phase. I had to trust the process, and having a firm deadline for a decision helped me co-exist with the self-doubt and uncertainty along the way.
These are the steps that I used, and I have worked with clients with ADHD who have successfully used these steps to resolve their own challenges. While they may seem obvious, for someone with ADHD, having a generic recipe like this that can be personalized can ease some of the discomfort of approaching a big challenge, particularly when it is in unknown territory.
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