Welcome to the third episode in Entrepreneurs with ADHD series.  In this  solo episode, I address the all too common challenge of having trouble getting our brain to focus on the task at hand and initiate taking action on it. 

The secret is understanding that there are really only four things that stimulate focus and action for the ADHD brain,  called drivers, and they are interest, challenge, novelty, and urgency. 

Each of us responds to these drivers in unique ways, but with just a little effort, we can create an effective strategy for how to use each of them to create and sustain momentum in our business, on demand. 

Here’s a sneak peek of what you’ll learn:

1. **Interest Driver**: Discover how to tap into activities that genuinely excite you and how this can jump-start your productivity.

2. **Challenge Driver**: Learn to set personal milestones that push your limits and keep you engaged.

3. **Novelty Driver**: Implement new and novel changes to keep your ADHD brain stimulated and avoid boredom.

4. **Urgency Driver**: Understand how to harness the power of deadlines and time constraints for last-minute productivity pushes.  I explain the downside of overutilizing this one and why you want to avoid it. 

This episode is full of real-life examples from my coaching business, as well as practical tips on how to implement these strategies yourself.

Mic drop moment:

"It's a really bad idea to only use urgency to get things done. Like anything else that becomes habitual, it’s a lot less effective over time while still doing plenty of damage to our bodies, minds and brains, and probably to our business and our relationships as well."  

Mentioned in this episode:

• Front Row VIP Accountability Challenges 
• SMART Goals 
• Pomodoro Timer 

Companion episodes from the Entrepreneurs with ADHD series to check out::

Ep # 210 What the Research Has to Say About ADHD and Entrepreneurship with Johan Wiklund PhD

Ep #211 Do All Entrepreneurs Have ADHD? - a solo episode with Diann Wingert 

Word of mouth is still the very best way to get a podcast into the ears of the people who most want to hear it, so if this episode gave you an “ah ha” moment,  please share it with your entrepreneurial friends who struggle with to focus and take action. 

If you’re ready to make your business more ADHD-friendly, especially if you struggle to be consistent, tend to procrastinate or have trouble getting into and staying in momentum,  book a free consultation here.  Let’s talk about how I can help.

Friend, and welcome back to the Driven Woman Entrepreneur podcast. Thank you for joining me for this solo episode in the entrepreneurs with ADHD series. One of the questions I get asked by almost every single one of my clients on a regular basis is how do I get myself to focus and take action when I may not be feeling like it. And I think this is really important. It takes some basic understanding of how the ADHD brain works a little differently than a neurotypical brain. And by the end of this short episode, you are going to have some very clear ideas about how to leverage the way your brain works to get the job done.

Okay, you know, being an entrepreneur with ADHD can be challenging. I don't deny it, especially when it comes to getting yourself to do something that you might not feel like at the time it needs to get done. So the key to mastering this particular challenge lies in understanding and leveraging the fact that there are 4 primary drivers that stimulate your ADHD brain for focus and action. They are interest, challenge, novelty, and urgency. And I'm gonna unpack each of them, give you an example, and then talk about how you can implement this strategically in your business and life. So starting with the interest driver, this one revolves around engaging in activities that you find stimulating, fascinating, or exciting, even a little bit. Now for people with ADHD, we absolutely have to find ways to tap into things that genuinely interest us in order to get us to focus and be productive. This is not a negotiable, it is a necessity.

Now that could mean anything from a hobby to a professional interest. But to get us focused and taking action, we have got to be interested. An example of this would be my client, Janet, who is a marketing consultant with ADHD. Now Janet often finds herself really distracted when she's working on things that she feels are mundane or boring, but is deeply passionate about data and analytics. So to get her interest driver leveraged, we have Janet start her day by diving into the latest marketing data trends and insights. This helps fire up her brain to get her day started off in a productive way, and then she can shift that focus to other tasks that are maybe not quite as exciting because her brain is fully charged. Now how might you do this in your business?

Well, it starts with understanding what your interests are. This may seem obvious, but you'd be surprised how many people can't really name them. So the strategy works like this, identify your interest. And I mean, don't just think about them because you won't remember when the time comes. Write them down, make a list. It could be analog or digital, but a list of the topics, activities, tasks that you find genuinely exciting, that evoke your curiosity, your creativity, that just draw you in and hold you there. These are things that naturally capture your attention, enthusiasm, and you gotta know what they are to be able to use this strategy.

Then the next step is integrating those interest into your work. Now whenever possible, I want my clients to align tasks or projects with things they're interested in. So for example, let's say you're a business owner who enjoys graphic design. You're not a graphic designer, but you enjoy graphic design. Find ways to incorporate it into your day even though that's not your primary responsibility. Now here's a caveat, you do have to make sure you don't get too carried away, or you will end up wasting time on something that maybe sparks interest in your brain, but doesn't actually move the needle in your business. I find a timer can be really helpful so that I don't get sucked in too much to something that engages my interest driver, but it's really not the most productive or high leveraged work I could be doing.

Then regularly revisit your interest. I mean, it shouldn't be a surprise to you that your interest evolve over time. So it's a really smart thing to do to periodically review and update your interest list so that whatever you have on this list will absolutely be relevant and engaging. It's no surprise that most people with ADHD have a multitude of interests, and we just keep adding more. So if what you were borderline obsessed with last year no longer rings your bell, take it off the list. Some of us can recycle our interest after taking them out of circulation for a while, but others of us can never go back to something once it's lost our power to captivate. It's really important that you know which of those categories you're in. No blame. No shame.

Because if you think you're a recycler, but you're a you're dead to me after I'm done with you kind of person, that's really good to know. Some of my clients tend to hyperfocus on their business so much that all they do is work. They justify it by saying they're self employed but the truth is, all work and no play makes Jack or Jill a dull person. So I encourage all of my clients and myself to regularly update their interest list to remind them that they don't have to invest all of their time and energy in their business, and that there are lots of ways to stimulate their brains outside of work.

Are you ready for the next one? Okay, the challenge driver. The challenge driver is all about setting goals that push your limits and stimulate your competitive spirit. Even if you don't think of yourself as a competitive person, you can still compare yourself to yourself. This driver is really effective for those who thrive on overcoming obstacles and achieving personal milestones. This doesn't have to be about comparing yourself to anybody else. 1 of my clients, Alex, is a software developer who loves to stay motivated on routine coding tasks. Doesn't sound interesting to me, but Alex loves them. So in to engage the challenge driver, Alex sets a personal goal to learn a new programming language in 3 months or less. What does he do to make this happen? Joins an online coding challenge community where he can track his progress, compete with others, and get recognition and praise for his accomplishments.

This competitive but friendly environment, I consider it like a friendly competition, keeps Alex motivated and focused, and stimulating the challenge driver in this way has direct benefits for his SaaS company. Easy to see, right? So how would you use this strategy in your business? It starts with setting specific goals, clear, measurable goals. I know you're probably thinking, oh, here we go with the SMART goals again. But you know what, SMART goals work because our brains lose focus when things are less than clear. Decision fatigue is a real thing, so SMART goals or don't even call them smart goals. Just make them clear, specific, and measurable.

You don't have to call them smart if you don't want to, I realize for some people that's kinda triggering. But when you eliminate doubt, when you eliminate confusion, you eliminate decision fatigue and you're able to focus on goals that are very clear and concise. They also need to be achievable, but with regular effort and dedication. If it's already within your reach, it's not going to challenge you. If it's a really hard goal, that's like way too far out of your current capacity, that's not a stretch goal. That is a stress goal, it will not inspire you. It will cost you anxiety and stress.

So make it a little bit outside what you think you can do, and you can also set a time limit on it so that you remain focused. If it's a big goal, like you wanna start a new program, create a new offer, grow your company, you gotta break that down. The brain cannot compute when things are really big and hairy. So we need to divide those bigger goals into smaller manageable ones, especially if the goal is gonna require your sustained effort over time. This makes the challenge less overwhelming and actually gives you the opportunity to celebrate small victories along the way.

Now I've noticed that a lot of entrepreneurs with ADHD don't think they need to celebrate until they're done, if at all. But I have learned the hard way that if you don't celebrate as you go along, which by the way, gives you more dopamine downloads that make you want to keep going, you probably won't make it all the way till the end. Now this is just sort of a work ethic that really doesn't serve us when we think I'll celebrate when I'm done. It's kind of like I'll rest when I'm dead. I think we need to have measurable goals and times where we celebrate on the way to the big goal. It's one of the best ways I know to keep us motivated and keep us in momentum. I think it's also really important to seek external challenges by participating in competitions, accountability challenges, or other events that give external validation to our motivation.

Alright, driver number 3, novelty. This one is, very popular with folks with ADHD, and it is why we constantly hear the term shiny object syndrome. I mean, who doesn't like something shiny? The human brain is naturally attracted to new, novel, or different, and people with ADHD are famous for its hold over us. The novelty driver leverages the human brain's natural inclination towards something that's new and exciting. I mean, if you think about all the sales materials that you've seen over your lifetime that have the word new in them in big bold print, we naturally turn our heads even to look in a store window that has stuff we're not even interested in buying.

New novel is exciting, and especially for entrepreneurs with ADHD. We have a real hard time managing boredom and tend to have a lower threshold for boredom than other folks. So our need to maintain higher levels of dopamine allow us to persist longer, and novelty is one of the best and most reliable ways for us to get it. My client, Samantha, is a B to B consultant and trainer who tends to get very bored when she's creating slides for her presentations. To keep things interested and to keep her engaged, she looks for new ways to incorporate new training methods into her workshops.

Like, every 2 or 3 times she gives a workshop, she brings a new technique or training method into the workshop, such as an interactive digital platform or hands on experiments, which are, by the way, much more engaging for the people she's working with. This not only keeps Samantha engaged, but it also enhances her clients' experience and engagement. So her referrals and repeat business continue to grow. This is a great example of what I call what's good for me is good for them. So how to incorporate the novelty strategy in your business? Well, you gotta introduce new things. Duh, right? Regularly add new elements to your routine or environment. You would be surprised at how something as simple as rearranging your workspace or adding a little bit of color can make you feel like there's more novelty here.

Your brain is more stimulated. I learned this myself when I started working from home. Because for me to stay highly engaged, stimulated, and to prevent boredom and fatigue, I move around throughout the house during my workday. I regularly and routinely move from one room to another, and I switch between sitting and standing and walking on my treadmill desk at regular intervals. I know my brain, and I know how prone to boredom, fatigue, disinterest, and distractibility that is. So I have to get ahead of that and move my body, mind, and brain around to give it a little bit of novelty just from going from one room to the other. You wouldn't think it would work because after all, I know the inside of my house really well. But this is one of the ways that I outsmart my ADHD brain.

Now one of my clients does this by collecting objects from nature. She loves to go on nature walks and is always collecting all kinds of little stones and interesting little pieces of nature. She adds them in different collections on her desk, in her workspace, because it's just enough novelty to give her another boost of dopamine. Changing the lighting, facing a window instead of a wall, adding a candle or a fragrance diffuser to your desk, or bringing a pet into your workspace when you don't normally do so can refresh your brain. It doesn't have to be a big change, so try experimenting with little ones and create a game out of it. The trick with the ADHD brain is always to keep things fresh and fun.

Another strategy is rotating your tasks. Switch between different kinds of tasks at different times of day to prevent monotony and to keep things feeling novel. Now I am a big fan of theme days and batching my work because, frankly, they cured me of a lifetime addiction to multitasking and helped me become more efficient in the process. Explore new interests. I gotta say, this is a must for the neurodivergent business owner. We have an absolute necessity to explore new hobbies, interest, or activities outside of our usual ones. This can provide both a mental break and a creativity boost.

My clients outside of their businesses engage in activities ranging from horseback riding lessons to art classes, riding music and performing in a band, and being part of an improv troupe. Doesn't that sound fun? I mean, it is easy to see how these interests stimulate their brains, give them novelty experiences, and then those benefits can be brought back and invested in their businesses, which is exactly how it works and why I'm such a fan. I encourage my clients to carve out time to develop other interests and remind them what's good for them is also good for their customers or clients. Because when your novelty driver is engaged, you do better, more exciting, more creative, and more innovative work. Everybody wins.

Last of all is the urgency driver. The urgency driver is triggered by time constraint and nonnegotiable deadlines. So creating a sense of urgency on purpose can help prioritize tasks and prompt us to take immediate action. It's a very effective strategy, especially if you're a Major League procrastinator like so many of us are. However, I do have to give a word of caution here when it comes to the urgency driver. The urgency driver tends to be the one that nearly all of us with ADHD will default to and become overly reliant on when we don't take the effort to develop these other strategies in the other three categories.

I mean, it takes a little bit of effort, a little bit of forethought, a little bit of commitment to develop the strategies for interest, for challenge, and for novelty. Urgency is kind of what we default to when we're flying by the seat of our pants. We're not planning our day, and we're letting other people's insistence that they want something from us dictate what we work on and when we get it done. So it's very easy to slide into the habit of becoming overly dependent on urgency to get us to do much of anything. And folks who find themselves in this situation, there's usually a lot of shame involved because if we feel like we're basically lazy and the only time we can get anything done is when we are literally staring down, you know, the 11th hour deadline, that does not feel good.

And the more we use urgency to drive our ability to focus and take action, the more stress and strain we are causing our body, minds, and brains. And if I haven't already convinced you, it's a really bad idea to only use urgency to get things done. Like anything else that is so habitual, it becomes a lot less effective over time while still doing plenty of damage to our bodies, minds and brains, and probably to our business and our relationships as well. If you love telling people that you work best under pressure and that you need a deadline pressing down on your neck to get you into the starting blocks, you might need someone like me to help you craft your interest, challenge, and novelty drivers into genuine strategies, just saying.

So with the urgency driver, an example would be let's say, okay. How about my client, Mark, who is a conversion copywriter and a writing coach and loves procrastinating till the last minute on almost everything. And when I first met Mark, he said, I know I'm putting my reputation at risk because sometimes I can't pull it out at the last minute, and I end up missing a deadline or have to deliver less than stellar results, but I'm totally hooked on it, can you help? Well, before he worked with me, he had tried setting strict deadlines for himself using a timer, using the Pomodoro, all in attempts to create a sense of urgency. And it did work some of the time, but not reliably enough that he should have been relying on it as much as he did.

What really made the biggest difference for Mark was joining a writer's accountability group. In this group, other writers share their deadlines, share their progress, and this adds a layer of social pressure, which was what Mark really needed. In addition to working with me to create other strategies, he really needed this pure pressure from other writers to meet his goals because he knew for a fact, it wasn't just about having ADHD. A lot of the other writers in the group also had ADHD. So he knew if they can do it, he can do it. Not to mention, people who do best when they have some form of accountability, nobody wants to be the slacker. Nobody wants to be the loser. Nobody wants to be the person who's holding back the group. So there is absolutely nothing wrong with this form of accountability, and plenty of people rely on it, even those who don't have ADHD.

So how will this look in your business? Well, you gotta have deadlines, this is an absolute nonnegotiable. If we don't assign deadlines to tasks, even though, okay, your brain knows they're self imposed, but you gotta train yourself to treat these deadlines as seriously as external ones. Now this requires you to be really honest with yourself. I have a client who says this wouldn't work for me. I will just lie to myself every single time. Okay. Then this is not part of her strategies because she knows she won't do it.

Assigning deadlines to herself and telling herself they're external deadlines, she knows they're not. She's not gonna respect them. Hey, no shame if that's you too. So what you might need to do is add consequences. So I'm not saying don't put in deadlines. you gotta put in the deadlines. You know, you've heard many productivity people say if it's not on the calendar, it's not gonna happen and I absolutely agree. Calendars, deadlines are anchoring tasks. If you've got big ideas and a busy brain, your mind is going 10 different directions. It's an anchoring strategy that most of us, I would say all of us really need. But some of us have to have consequences too. Because if you set a deadline and you just blow right past it, that's not working for you. Okay, no shame.

Assign a consequence if you miss a deadline, maybe that consequence is you have to do something you dislike, or you miss out on a desired reward. If you mean it, it'll work, so make sure you mean it. And the most reliable way to take advantage of the urgency driver, and I've mentioned this before, get an accountability partner. Someone who can hold you accountable to honoring your commitments. It could be a friend. It could be a colleague, or it could be a coach like me. Generally speaking, an accountability partner that you live with or are in a romantic relationship with, some people can do it. I am not a fan because that tends to and a lot of partners will volunteer. I wouldn't take the bait.

They mean well, but what I have discovered is when your partner is your accountability partner, The relationship begins to take on a little bit of a parent child dynamic that is anything but sexy. So I'm not a fan, get someone else. Okay, now if you're still with me, you know there's always next level right? Because I'm kind of a next level person. Combining drivers for maximum benefit. How might that look? Well, each of these drivers is absolutely powerful on its own. And if you really think about what gets you to pay attention and take action, it is 1 or more of these drivers if you have an ADHD brain, and maybe even if you don't. So combining them can create a really effective strategy for not only getting you focused, but maintaining that focus and momentum all the way till the end of the goal post.

So here are a couple of examples to get you thinking. Lisa is an entrepreneur with ADHD, and, she needs to develop a business plan. She's getting in front of some very important people and without a business plan, Lisa knows she's gonna look like an amateur. But she finds the whole process totally uninteresting and, frankly, quite daunting. So to overcome this, we had Lisa combine all 4 of the drivers. Now pump the brakes, that is not as difficult as it sounds. To bring in the interest driver, she focused on the aspects of the business plan that she does find intriguing, and in her case, market research. The challenge driver was employed when she set a challenging goal to complete the plan within 2 weeks, which was definitely a stretch goal as it had been something Lisa had been ignoring and kicking the can down the road for months.

The novelty driver came into play because she used a specific business planning software that someone recommended to her to make the entire process more engaging. And I think it was a lot more fun for her that way. And urgency came in when she committed to presenting the new business plan at an upcoming investor meeting, which was a nonnegotiable deadline because the last thing she wanted to do was to reschedule that meeting. So you see how combining all 4 of the drivers in a simple way that really helps Lisa work with the brain she's got, The ADHD brain she's got makes so much sense, and I'm happy to say she got her business plan done and on time.

So here's the bottom line, managing ADHD as an entrepreneur requires skill and a mindset necessary to create and sustain focus and effort on demand. It's not enough to create focus and effort, but to be able to do it on demand and sustain it as long as it needs to be sustained. So by understanding and leveraging the drivers of interest, challenge, novelty, and urgency, and incorporating them into our schedule, into our business in a strategic way, we have a much better chance as entrepreneurs with ADHD to get past the inevitable slumps and hurdles that stress us out and slow us down. At the end of the day, it's about finding what works best for you by experimenting and then adapting the strategies to fit your evolving needs and circumstances over time.

Hey, if these concepts resonate with you and you don't wanna figure it out on your own, you don't wanna figure out how to create them and implement them on your own, I've dropped a link in the show notes so you can book a free consultation with me. I would love to help you create a more strategic and ADHD friendly approach to getting things done in your business. Okay, that's all for this one. I look forward to joining you here again next week with the next episode in our entrepreneurs with ADHD series. Bye for now.