Experiencing ADDvantages

Attention Adults With ADD: The ADD Management Guide eNewsletter Can Help!

Want to receive valuable ADD management tips and strategies via email? Sign up for the ADD Management Guide eNewsletter!

Name
Email

Year-end Inventory Clearance Sale: Save 15% on (almost) Everything!

If you feel like you could use a little help focusing on your theme for 2010, then this year-end inventory clearance sale is for you!

For 6 days only, we're discounting all our products by 15%! Use the coupon code '2010' to save 15% on everything listed below!

This sale expires at midnight EST on December 31st, 2009, and we won't be throwing another sale any time soon. So if you've been thinking about buying my book, or one of our toolkits, then you have my assurance that now is the best time to do it!

Use coupon code '2010' to save 15% on the following:

Odd One Out: The Maverick's Guide to Adult ADD. Developed through her own personal experience as an adult with ADD and her years as a professional ADD coach, Jennifer Koretsky isolates "The Five Essential Skills for Managing Adult ADD" and shows you exactly how to build and implement these skills in your own life. Read more.

$17 $14.45

Kiss Your Clutter Goodbye! Coaching Toolkit. Our most popular product! This breakthrough program has helped countless adults with ADD bust through clutter and keep it away for good! The kit includes a 55-minute audio CD and 26-page booklet. 110% guarantee. Read more.

$47 $39.95

Master the Art of Time Management Coaching Toolkit. This step-by-step program teaches you how to custom-design an ADD-friendly time management system that works with your ADD. The kit includes 2 audio CDs with over 100 minutes of content plus a 35-page booklet. 110% guarantee. Read more.

$67 $56.95

Taming the Family Circus Coaching Toolkit: Solutions for AD/HD Parents with AD/HD Kids. Specifically created for AD/HD parents with AD/HD kids, this unique program will help you ease stress and create structure in your AD/HD family. This kit includes a 58-minute audio CD and 20+page booklet. 110% guarantee. Read more.

$47 $39.95

 

Holistic Health Virtual Conference. Join me and some of the top names in health and wellness--like best selling authors Dr. Daniel Amen and Dr. Mark Hyman--to get the tools and resources you need to make the best health and wellness decisions for your family. Attend from your own home or office!

This virtual conference is not specifically about ADD, but because it's produced by out sister company, Virtual Health Partners, we're pleased to extend our 15% discount to this event! Read more.

 

Remember, you must use coupon code '2010' to receive your 15% discount at checkout.

Enjoy the rest of the holiday season! I hope 2010 is your best year yet!

Adults with ADD: Ditch Your New Year's Resolution

Season’s Greetings!

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, then you know that I’m not a fan of New Year’s Resolutions. You might be surprised to hear this from me, because I think my opinion differs from that of many other coaches. But as we approach 2010, I encourage you to forget about New Year’s Resolutions.

Have you already committed to going to the gym 3 times a week? Or to getting rid of all your clutter, or to never being late again? Maybe you committed to losing 20, 30, or 40 pounds?

Forget it.

That's right, forget your New Year's Resolutions! They don't work. Generally, people stick to their new behavior for 17 days before completely giving up. A drop in self-esteem always follows. You start telling yourself that it’s all your fault, you have no willpower, and you’ll never change.

Instead of making positive changes, you just end up beating yourself up. Again.

It’s not worth it! So why bother? There's a better way.

Instead of locking yourself into strict guidelines that you’ll eventually want to rebel against anyway, what if you resolved to focus on making improvements in one specific area that's important to you? I'm talking about creating a theme for the New Year.

When you have a theme in mind for yourself, you can continually focus on making improvements in that one area all year long. There are no rigid rules to follow, and no dents in self-esteem when you make a mistake--just a general commitment to remain focused on making improvements.

Taking it a step further, you can develop a simple question to use as your mantra throughout the year. This mantra will help you check in with yourself and ensure that you're focused on your theme.

Here are some examples of what I'm talking about. Feel free to use one of these for yourself in the New Year, or use the examples to help you create your own theme!

Theme: The Year of Self-care
Goal: To focus on taking really good care of myself, no matter what.
Mantra: Is what I am about to do in my BEST interest?

Theme: The Year of Time Management
Goal: To focus on improving my time management skills.
Mantra: Is this the BEST use of my time right now?

Theme: The Year of Declining Clutter
Goal: To focus on decreasing the clutter in my environment.
Mantra: Will this action (or purchase) DECREASE the clutter in life?

Theme: The Year of Better Health
Goal: To focus on making choices that will improve my general health and well being.
Mantra: Will this action lead to BETTER health or more happiness?

In all these examples, asking yourself a very simple 'yes or no' question will help you build awareness and make good decisions that are in line with your goals.

I've seen too many people damage their self-esteem by setting themselves up with unrealistic resolutions that they just couldn't follow through on. If you don't want to be one of them this year, consider ditching your New Year’s Resolution, and create a theme instead!

Would you like to share your theme for 2010? You can do so by leaving a comment below!

Announcing the Holistic Health Virtual Conference

Everywhere you look these days, people are debating the state of healthcare in America. Do you know what I think gets lost in this debate? I think that people like you and me are being forgotten about. In this discussion about public options, pharma regulations, and illness epidemics, the media seems to have lost sight of what matters most: people! Individual people like you and me, and our loved ones.

I think it’s time we start talking less about the state of the health care industry, and start talking more about the health of the actual people in this country, and all the other countries of the world.

You see, I believe that we have more power over our own health and well being than the media and some “experts” give us credit for.

Take, for example, ADD management. When I coach a client who has been diagnosed with ADD, or even a client who hasn’t been diagnosed with ADD, but has many of the same challenges, I always pay attention to that person’s self-care habits. I do so because I know that eating right, exercising, and getting proper sleep go a long way in managing the challenges of ADD. And whether a person takes ADD medication or not, I know that the better they take care of themselves, the easier it is to manage ADD.

In fact, this really applies to everyone. The better you take care of yourself, the better you feel, and the less you get sick. So much of our health and well being is really in our own hands!

Sometimes, however, it’s hard to know the best ways to go about taking good care of yourself and your family. The media reports aren’t always in agreement. (Just think about all the should you/shouldn’t you debate on the swine flu vaccine!) It can be really frustrating to have the best of intentions, but lack the knowledge and information you need to make good decisions.

That’s why I’m so excited to announce to you the launch of our newest virtual conference. This one is on the subject of holistic health!

Similar to our Virtual AD/HD Conference, which you’re probably familiar with, the Holistic Health Virtual Conference features top experts in the field of health and wellness who will give you the tools and resources you need to make the best health and wellness decisions for you and your family…and you won’t even have to leave home to connect with them!

The Holistic Health Virtual Conference  takes place January 26-27, 2010, in your own home or office. Visit http://www.holistichealthconference.com to join the mailing list and be one of the few people who are invited to save 50% when registration opens later this month.

So far we have some fantastic speakers lined up. Some you’ll be familiar with, like Dr. Daniel Amen and Dr. Charles Parker, and some you may be thrilled to discover for the first time. We’re actually lining up some really big names in the world of holistic health, and I’ll be happy to share those names with you once they’re confirmed.

In the meantime, if the Holistic Health Virtual Conference sounds even slightly interesting to you, then I encourage you to visit http://www.holistichealthconference.com to join the mailing list for some subscriber-only benefits.

Adults with ADD: My Top 3 Tips for Self-Care When the Holiday Pressure is On

Did you survive Thanksgiving? How about Black Friday? Do you already feel like you need a holiday away from all the holidays? :-)

I hate to say it, but this time of year can be quite a challenge for adults with ADD. Chances are your social calendar is filling up fast, and your list of holiday-related obligations is getting longer and longer.

And as you know, adults with ADD can get very easily overwhelmed, frustrated, and stressed out during the times when a lot is required of us.

So before things to get too crazy, take some time to slow down and get centered. Remember, you can't take care of your responsibilities--or the people around you--when you're running on empty.

So with this in mind, here are my top 3 tips for practicing excellent self-care when the pressure is on:

1. Wind down every night to destress and sleep well.

When the stress picks up, it's more important than ever to allow recharging time. Sleep is extremely important, and winding down before bed helps ensure restful sleep. Think of yourself as a cell phone. If you don't get charged, you won't work the next day!

2. Eat well.

Don't underestimate the power of food to make or break your mood and energy levels. If you use sugar and caffeine to keep you going, instead of nutritious whole foods, you're sure to crash. And crash hard!

3. Say "no."

You're the only one who knows what you can comfortably handle, and what's too much pressure, time, energy, or stress. If you push yourself too much (or allow yourself to be pushed to much) then you'll burn out and be no good to anyone!

These tips apply whether you're preparing for the holidays, traveling, or busy at work. Remember them!

How do you take care of yourself when the pressure is on? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Reminder: Let’s Talk Turkey Coaching Sale Ends Tomorrow!

This is a time of year when ADDers tend to focus on everyone but themselves.

It’s very easy to get caught up in holiday chaos, family drama and the pressure to get everything perfect. It's very difficult to manage your responsibilities under pressure, and stay sane in the process...

...especially when you have adult ADD!

Lately I've been hearing the same complaints from adults with ADD:

• I don't know how to manage my time! I'm always running late. Things take so much longer to complete than I think they will. And I have so many unfinished projects! There's so much to do right now and I have no time!
• I have so much clutter that it's driving me crazy! I can't have friends and relatives over when my house looks like this. I can't even find my keys, let alone remember where I stored the holiday decorations last year!
• How am I supposed to do my shopping, send out my cards, attend countless functions, clean up my house, decorate my house, and manage my ADD in the process?!?

I can help. Let's talk turkey...

If you can relate to the feelings of overwhelm, pressure, and general chaos that I described above, then The Let's Talk Turkey Coaching Package was designed for you.

This limited-time-offer coaching package equips you with our most popular coaching toolkits that show you exactly how to manage your time and bust through your clutter to organize your space. Here's what you get in the package...

1. Kiss Your Clutter Goodbye! Coaching Toolkit. This breakthrough program has helped countless adults with ADD bust through their clutter and keep it away for good! The kit includes a 55-minute audio CD and 26-page booklet. (Value: $47)

2. Master the Art of Time Management Coaching Toolkit. This step-by-step program teaches you how to custom-design an ADD-friendly time management system that works with your ADD. The kit includes 2 audio CDs with over 100 minutes of content plus a 35-page booklet. (Value: $67)

 

3. (Optional) Personal Coaching Session with Me. After you get to work with your toolkits, you might want to check in with me to ask a few questions or get some feedback on how you're applying your new systems. I'll meet with you for a 30-minute laser coaching session via phone.* You can use this time to ask me anything you want about clutter control, time management, or ADD management. (Value: $100)

*Please note that my coaching hours are Mondays from 5-7pm EST, Tuesdays from 1-4pm EST, and Thursdays from 12-3pm EST. You have through March 31, 2010 to schedule your appointment.

Right now--when the pressure is on and the overwhelm starts setting in--is the perfect opportunity to work on these challenges that make this time of year so difficult for adults with ADD.

You shop for everyone else this time of year, why not make a little room in the budget for you?

Let's Talk Turkey Coaching Package
What You Get:	Option 1: Coaching Tooklits	Option 2: Coaching Toolkits + Personal Coaching
Kiss Your Clutter Goodbye! Coaching Toolkit (Value: $47)
Master the Art of Time Management Coaching Toolkit (Value: $67)
Thanksgiving Package Discount PLUS Free Shipping Anywhere in the World!
30 Minute Laser Coaching Session with Me (Value: $100)
Register for Your Preferred Option	$115.90 $97 Save $22.90!	$215.90 $177 Save $42.90!

Offer expires at midnight EST on Sunday November 29th!

Remember, if you purchase Option #2 with personal coaching included, you don't have to use your session right away. You can book your session any time through the end of March!

So if you're feeling the pressure and you're really in need of a step-by-step plan to manage your time and stay organized, then Let's Talk Turkey!

Enjoy the rest of your Thanksgiving weekend!

P.S. Never underestimate the importance of taking care of yourself, especially around the holidays. Use this opportunity to start making positive changes in your life!

Announcing the "Let's Talk Turkey" Coaching Sale!

It seems like this year more than ever, people are getting inspired to make positive changes in their lives. As a coach, I'm thrilled to see so many people ready to take on their ADD challenges and begin to live out loud. So in honor of Thanksgiving, we're throwing a "Let's Talk Turkey" Coaching Sale!

The Let's Talk Turkey Coaching Package includes some of our most popular products:

1. Kiss Your Clutter Goodbye! Coaching Toolkit. This breakthrough program has helped countless adults with ADD bust through their clutter and keep it away for good! The kit includes a 55-minute audio CD and 26-page booklet.
(Value: $47)

2. Master the Art of Time Management Coaching Toolkit. This step-by-step program teaches you how to custom-design an ADD-friendly time management system that works with your ADD. The kit includes 2 audio CDs with over 100 minutes of content plus a 35-page booklet.
(Value: $67)

 

3. (Optional) Personal Coaching Session with Me. After you get to work with your toolkits, you might want to check in with me to ask a few questions or get some feedback on how you're applying your new systems. I'll meet with you for a 30-minute laser coaching session via phone.* You can use this time to ask me anything you want about clutter control, time management, or ADD management.
(Value: $100)

*Please note that my coaching hours are Mondays from 5-7pm EST, Tuesdays from 1-4pm EST, and Thursdays from 12-3pm EST. You have through March 31, 2010 to schedule your appointment.

 

If you're ready to make some positive changes in your life, then you won't want to miss out on this time-sensitive coaching package.

It's only available through this Sunday, November 29th, so you'll have to act quickly!

Let's Talk Turkey Coaching Package
What You Get:	Option 1: Coaching Tooklits	Option 2: Coaching Toolkits + Personal Coaching
Kiss Your Clutter Goodbye! Coaching Toolkit (Value: $47)
Master the Art of Time Management Coaching Toolkit (Value: $67)
Thanksgiving Package Discount PLUS Free Shipping Anywhere in the World!
30 Minute Laser Coaching Session with Me (Value: $100)
Register for Your Preferred Option	$115.90 $97 Save $22.90!	$215.90 $177 Save $42.90!

Offer expires at midnight EST on Sunday November 29th!

Remember, if you purchase Option #2 with personal coaching included, you'll have through the end of March to book your session!

This is a great opportunity to take advantage of our most popular coaching products at a generous discount. You're shopping for everyone else this week, why not make a little room in the budget for you?

I hope you and your family have a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Adults with ADD: Top 5 Ways to Have a Happy Thanksgiving

Well, the holiday season is officially upon us! And for some adults with ADD, this is the most stressful time of year.

I'm sure you're very busy this week, so here are a few quick and practical tips for managing your ADD this Thanksgiving (or any holiday.)

1. Know Your Own ADD and Plan Ahead to Deal with It

You know yourself better than anyone, so ask yourself "How does my ADD affect me on the holidays?" Make a list of all the things that tend to stress you out, and make a plan to deal with them.

Here are a few examples:

• Do you tend to say impulsive things that you later regret? Plan to take a deep breath before answering ANY questions so that you can think about your words before you speak them.
• Do hyper kids or too many people overwhelm you? Plan to excuse yourself and take a brief walk when things start feeling chaotic.
• Does a family member really make you mad when s/he starts nagging or becomes critical? Plan a simple response that won't fuel the fire, like "I'm sorry you feel that way. I'd rather talk about a great book I'm reading right now."
• Do you get antsy after a long day? Plan to end the day early, so that you don't reach the point of irritability.

2. Don't Expect Perfection

Accept that the day won't be perfect. Nothing is! Whether you're hosting the holiday, staying with family, or visiting a restaurant, realize that something is bound to go wrong. That's life. Don't hold it against yourself, or the people around you. Whatever it is, do your best to move on and let it go.

3. Ask For and Accept Help

Whatever your role is this holiday, you don't have to do it all on your own. If you're hosting the holiday, ask for help in the kitchen. This is perfectly acceptable, and most people are happy to help out where they can. If you're offered help, accept it with gratitude!

4. Remember That People Do The Best They Can

Long days with family members often end in frustration and hurt feelings. Try to remember that people do the best they can with the skills and tools they have. Hurtful comments probably aren't meant to be hurtful. Don't hold it against friends and family members who may not have the necessary skills to express themselves effectively.

5. Smile!

Set the tone for those around you by being positive, smiling often, and enjoying yourself!

Thanksgiving is only a few days away. Take some time to prepare yourself NOW so that you don't get overwhelmed later!

How do you handle Thanksgiving stress? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Delay Is Not Preferable to Error

Last week, I saw Thomas Jefferson's quote "Delay is preferable to error" running all around the Internet, and I had to cringe.

This "inspirational" quote is dangerous for adults with ADD, especially those who struggle with perfectionism. (And I haven't met a single adult with ADD who doesn't get stuck in perfectionist mode in at least one or two areas.) "Delay is preferable to error" could be adopted as a motto for perfectionists.

If you've ever coached with me, then you know that I can easily pick up on perfectionist tendencies, probably because I've struggled with them, myself, in the past (and still do in certain situations.) 

When I was going through my coach training, David Giwerc taught us, "Remember PPP!  Perfectionism Prevents Progress!" This really stuck with me, and I share it with clients often.

People mistakenly believe that perfectionists are, well...perfect. That their houses and offices are clean and sparkling, that everything is in its place, and that every project is right on schedule.

In reality, perfectionists often feel like failures. The mark of perfectionism is that nothing ever gets completed! There's always one more thing that could be made better. Nothing is good enough to be considered "done." And when all that unfinished business piles up, a perfectionist feels guilt and shame.

Three examples come to mind when I think about how adults with ADD can get stuck in thinking that delay is preferable to error:

1. Mindy, a former client and a grad student at an Ivy League University, failed a number of assignments because she didn't turn them in on time. They weren't incomplete, just not perfect. The thought of getting a B for a good job was not good enough. She preferred to get an F for a perfect, late paper than a B for an on time, imperfect paper. Her professors--and the university--disagreed. (I've found that many students--college age and adult--struggle with this form of perfectionism.)

2. Pete, also a former client, was frustrated by the outdated software programs in his office, so he created a software program that could be customized for sales people not just in his company, but in his entire industry. He delayed seeking out investors because he was constantly finding things to improve in his software program; it never felt finished. After tweaking the software for almost 2 years, someone else beat him to it with a similar program and made a small fortune.   

3. As I've been learning how to play guitar, I've been getting caught up in the idea that I need to learn how to do something exactly right before I learn how to do it quickly. Brett, my guitar teacher, has been trying to drill into my head the idea that timing is more important in music. If you get the timing right and miss a few notes, the vast majority of people won't even notice. But if you get the timing wrong, listeners will know it. Think about it: when's the last time you went to a concert and witnessed a musician say, "Wait, hold up, that wasn't right! Let me do it again."?? 

So if you happen to see Thomas Jefferson's "Delay is preferable to error" quote floating around the Internet, do yourself a favor and ignore it. No one's perfect.

Adults with ADD: Are You Feeling Blah?

Sometimes, there are weeks in which many of my clients seem to be dealing with a similar challenge. For the past week, that challenge can best be described as "The Blahs."

It's not that things are falling apart, but stress and overwhelm are kicking in for what seems like no particular reason. More than anything, people are feeling tired, bored, and just kinda "blah." Since this is a recurring theme in my coaching, and I have to admit I've felt it a bit myself, too, I can only conclude one thing: this inexplicable blah feeling is a result of season changes.

While not all of us suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (depression often brought on by winter), adults with ADD are more neurologically sensitive than most. So small changes in our environment can have big effects on our mood.

Since the start of Daylight Savings Time this past weekend, the days are already much shorter and, for many of us, the temperatures have dropped significantly. The loss of daylight hours alone is enough to make an ADDer feel sluggish, tired, and moody. In other words: blah.

Slowing down in fall and winter is actually quite normal and natural, just as it's natural to feel more energy in the spring and summer. Rather than beating yourself up over feeling "blah," why not give yourself permission to slow down a bit? If you don't feel up to going out as much, or taking on too many projects, don't push yourself. If you find yourself getting tired earlier in the evening, get some extra sleep.

Humans, like all animals, are programmed to take our cues from nature. So when the sun goes down early, the animals begin to hibernate, and many of the plants around us go dormant, it's natural for us to want to slow down, too. Of course, if at any point you find yourself wanting to sleep all the time or feel extreme sadness or hopelessness, then you may be depressed and it's important to talk to your doctor. For most of us, however, the seasonal blahs will visit us every year around this time.

Instead of pushing yourself to be productive and beating yourself up because you're not getting as much done as you were a month ago, try putting your energy into cooking nourishing meals, enjoying good books, and catching up on the movies you want to see. I'm willing to bet that when you take the pressure off, those seasonal blahs will begin to fade.

How do you manage the seasonal blahs? Share your thoughts in the comments!

The 4 Steps of Personal Change for Adults with ADD

First of all, I'd like to thank all of you who joined us for the 2nd Annual Virtual AD/HD Conference earlier this month! This year's conference was fun, educational, and inspiring, with over 500 people in attendance. So a big thanks to all of you for making it a fantastic event!

The conference inspired a lot of people to start making positive changes in their lives, and so today I'm going to talk about creating personal change when you have ADD.

I'll be the first to tell you that ADD offers many gifts. I've never met an adult with AD/HD who wasn't creative, compassionate, and driven, in one form or another. We hold in abundance many qualities that the rest of world sometimes seems to lack.

But while ADD has its upside, there is no denying that many of us often find ourselves out of sync with the rest of the world. Our time management skills are usually poor. Our abilities to prioritize and organize often need work. And a host of other challenges present themselves when an adult with ADD tries to thrive in a world full of non-ADDers.

Like everyone else, there are things about ourselves that we find we need to change. If it were easy to change old habits and thought patterns, there would be no need for therapists, coaches, or self-help books. Life would be simple. And it would be boring.

When positive, personal changes are made, like sharpening time management skills or adapting techniques for better focus, the result is a renewed sense of confidence and an increase in the options that are available to us. I've always thought of change as a 4-part process:

1. Education

It's information that inspires change. Becoming educated about ADD and the way it can affect adults is the first step to identifying changes that need to be made. This stage can last quite a long time before the next step is undertaken. Knowledge is like a seed, and the mind, all by itself, is a fertile garden.

2. Awareness

Self-awareness is key when making personal change. It's impossible to change that which we are not aware of. An adult with ADD must practice self-awareness in all areas of life to determine what's working, and what isn't. This is a time when one begins to realize that certain behaviors and actions have propelled you forward, and others have held you back.

3. Reframing

It's important to realize that every person always does the best they can. No one purposefully under-performs, under-achieves, or disappoints. When you give yourself enough credit to explore why you might do certain things the way you do, you can reframe your behaviors and actions with the understanding that they are there for a reason, and not because you are inadequate.

4. Action

The action step often happens on its own. When an adult with ADD gains knowledge, practices awareness, and realizes the positive reasons that change needs to take place, action will unconsciously follow.

Change is something that we will practice our entire lives. Real, lasting change takes time, and can't be rushed.

How have you created positive change in your life? Please share your thoughts in the comments!