Did you know that procrastination is a common symptom of ADHD? Do you know why? Have you considered telling your colleagues or supervisor(s) about your ADHD diagnosis? Have you ever heard of body-doubling? Not the Hollywood kind... the "Hacking Your ADHD" kind. These are all things I've learned from listening to the podcasts outlined here.

1. EP: 22 ADHD And Procrastination With Dr. Christine Li (click to listen on Spotify) from ADHD for Smart Ass Women with Tracy Otsuka

2. Combat Negativity and Thrive with ADHD (click to listen on Spotify) ​from the ADHD Support Talk Radio Podcast

3. 253 | Self-Advocacy and Disclosure: LeDerick Horne (click to listen on spotify) from the ADHD reWired Podcast

4. Compassionate Ass-Kicking for the Win (click to listen on Spotify) from the Hacking Your ADHD Podcast

5. How to Prioritize with ADHD (click to listen on Spotify) from I Have ADHD Podcast with Kristen Carder

I've Taken This One Step Further > > >
I created a short Spotify playlist of just these 5 episodes in case you want to add them to your queue and have them all in one place, ready to press play, no search necessary! 

But if you don't have Spotify, or even if you do, I've also created a 5-day email series that doesn't just include the free Stitcher link to each episode, but also has tips for when to listen and other valuable nuggets of information!

Building community and encouraging others to speak their truth are two major reasons I started this blog. I luckily got to accomplish both with the creation of this post. ​

The inspiration for it originated from a post I read on  Reddit.com's r/ptsd subreddit. I often find myself on there, reading and commenting on posts that I feel especially connected to, partially as a way of building a sense of community. If you've never checked out Reddit, you need to. 

This particular post's title read: "Diagnosed with PTSD this week, Whats something you guys could share to help someone try to understand better what they are going through?" You can probably see why I felt compelled to read more and eventually leave my 3 cents. I remember first being diagnosed and immediately wondering, "What does this actually mean?"

I'll share the comment I wrote on that post at the very end here, but I wasn't only compelled to comment on the original post; I also felt strongly about another person's comment. Vasterian202 left a comment that was too well-written and too relatable for me to scroll past without giving it the proper applause it deserved. 

In my reply to Vasterian202's advice on this same post, I asked their permission to submit their comment as part of a guest post here on my blog, to which they kindly responded with the go-ahead almost immediately. 

​The following 8 pieces of advice were written by Vasterian202 (who wishes to remain anonymous):

(NOTE: this advice comes from the perspective of a trauma survivor who endured ongoing childhood abuse. It is important to acknowledge that not all survivors of trauma suffered their traumatic incidents at the hands of another person and such should be considered when reading these pieces of advice.)

​Sometimes, there is even another adult present, standing off to the side and turning her head the other direction, refusing to see what's happening right in front of her.

(NOTE: While writing this, I began experiencing an elevated heart rate [ 138 BPM--thanks Apple Watch ]; I had to stop for a moment of mindful breathing and a grounding exercise before continuing).

Check out the story highlights on my Instagram page to see the 5-5-5 grounding exercise I used here.

I don’t know what it’s going to take to get past that anger—or if it will always remain. I guess time will tell.

But waking up in the morning after having an emotional nightmare like that makes taking on the day that much more difficult.

It’s like it just stays with me and replays in my mind throughout the day whenever I find myself in a moment of quiet and/or rest. 

So what did I normally do to avoid that happening? 
I wouldn't let myself have a moment of quiet or rest.

This is what I wish my family and friends knew:

1. My on-the-go nature and constant movement and productivity is just me in survival mode. 

Because if I stop—if my brain has a minute to slow down—do you know what it does? It floods my consciousness with memories of betrayal and hurt and shame and guilt.

And in the past, before I made the decision to prioritize myself, it’s been a lot easier to avoid those feelings and push forward than to feel them, accept them, and move on. 

So, that's what some of we trauma survivors do: we carry on. Because we think any other option is too devastating.

So..

2.  If I communicate to you that I’m feeling a certain way, or that I had a bad nightmare and it’s affecting the way I’m going about my day, I’m not sharing that information because I want your sympathy or want you to fix my problems.

I’m sharing because I finally can. I’m sharing because it’s healthier than sweeping it under the rug.

I'm sharing because I've finally learned that I don't have to constantly try to make hard things look easy. I'm sharing so that I don't have to feel like I have to carry the burden alone.

Im sharing so that I can give myself a moment to feel those feelings, accept them, and make the conscious decision to not let them steer my ship anymore.

I’m sharing because shame can’t remain when it’s proclaimed. 

The Thought Process Behind Naming This Blog & How to Actually Say It

Hi! I'm Emilee, and my brain works in remarkable ways. Click to read my About Meee page. This is my 3rd or 4th day of adding content to this first, quintessential blog post. Mostly my ADD is to blame for that, as you might have guessed.

But I also had to stop writing mid-morning earlier today to make it to my therapy appointment on time. Still processing that ongoing childhood trauma on a weekly basis, so I guess we could blame my PTSD as well for the belabored click of the Publish-button.

I know it's definitely not PMDD's fault! I'm in a good week! And if you're a fellow lady of pre-menstrual dysphoria (or have a partner who is), you know exactly what I mean by that.

One remarkable thing that my brain does naturally is dissect everything to its simplest form; ​the origin...

the essence; the heart; the soul. I am a get-to-the-root-of-the-problem kind of person, and this mindset appears in many aspects of both my personal and professional lives.

Let me show you what I mean by analyzing the title of my blog for you. When I teach my students what it means to analyze something, I tell them that analyze means "to break into parts and explain each part."

Navigating Life With [dis]Order(s): there are two relevant parts of this title to analyze here: the first word and the last word(s).

Title Analysis Part 1: Navigating

'Navigating' is interesting word choice here, right? I'm all about the precise word choice! I could have chosen so many synonyms or alternatives instead of 'Navigating.' There are plenty of options: Living, Enjoying, Coping, Surviving, Managing, Doing...or nothing. Just like, remove 'Navigating' altogether and just be left with "Life with [dis]Order(s)." That was also a viable option.

But I chose 'Navigating' for a reason.

When I think of the word 'navigating,' my brain visualizes one of two scenes:

1. a white-capped captain steering some sort of sail-flapping vessel through somewhat predictable (and probably also white-capped) sea terrain (See? Word choice: I used a term typically used to describe land (terrain) as a way of referencing the sometimes rough waves of the ocean. Clever? Just wrong? Does it matter? Obviously I care about being judged for this in some way or else why would I dedicate, now going on, 4 lines of text and 5 minutes of deliberation with myself over it?), or..
2. a cross-country road trip where you sometimes have a co-captain, sometimes have a car-full (who can never agree on where to stop for food, but it doesn't matter anyway, because we passed that exit already, Karyn), and sometimes are driving alone--maybe without the music on because you're feeling your feelings, but definitely with GPS, and probably also while texting. (DO NOT ATTEMPT).

'Navigating' here was word choice perfection, and I'll tell you why.

That sea captain doesn't always have a grimacing face on as she shouts commands to her crew while gripping at the wheel, desperately exhausting everything she physically has to hold it steady.. She's not always fighting for her life throughout their entire journey while waves are crashing on deck and plates are breaking below. Some days she is but not always.

There are calm days at sea too. Where she can look out and see where the water touches the sky. Maybe even kick back and put her boots up while she sips her morning whiskey as the sun wakes up her slice of the Earth. Maybe, just maybe, she'll even have that annoying, eager Skipper take the reins of this sucker for a bit, at least while their path is clear and flat.

But just because there are days that aren't especially trying, with monstrous waves and sleepless nights, doesn't mean she isn't still navigating to their destination. Just because it isn't hard, doesn't mean she's not doing it. Some days there are just fewer turns-of-the-dials required at the helm; less energy needed for the challenge. Regardless of the weather, that captain is still navigating from the moment of disembarkation until they're tied off again.

But all the while, she has to have the wherewithal to know if it's time to call for back-up; she has to have her tools and tactics at the tips of her fingers at a moment's notice; she has to trust that she's trained her crew to perform daily like a well-lubed machine, because all of their lives and their mission depend on it.

And she does! She knows and does all of those things--even if sometimes she's a little late* with her request for back-up; or has an exaggerated startle response** to a horn blast that splays her tools all over the floor, delaying a solution; or she goes absolutely batshit, snapping*** at the crew for the smallest discrepancy that she totally would have overlooked any other day, and I'm sorry, but do you need me to retrieve your Diva Cup, Ma'am?
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*symptom of ADD/ADHD (poor time management and planning)
**symptom of PTSD/C-PTSD (jumpy, easily startled, bursts of emotion)
***symptom of PMDD (increased irritability, sudden mood changes, aggressive/out of character behavior)