Meeting with an ADHD coach can be very helpful. It's another voice and mind helping you seek out ways to approach your goals. But the ADHD coach is not psychic, and they're very aware that what helps one person may not help the next. You have to fill the ADHD coach in on what you, specifically, are dealing with and how you've managed to help yourself work with what you have. When you first meet with the coach, you'll want to mention things that have and have not worked for you.
What Works for You Now
Any coping skills you have, especially if you've decided to try handling ADHD without medication, are things the coach should know about. You don't want to have the coach suddenly telling you to never do something that turns out to be on your list of coping skills, if those things are legal and not harmful to you. There may be skills that are better than what you've thought of, but the coach should understand what you've been able to do to work and live more effectively.
What Has You Yelling in Frustration When It Happens
Chances are there are specific things that make you yell in frustration (at least in your mind) when you realize they've happened again. Your quick check of Twitter after seeing a notification about an earthquake in another state may have turned into another hour-long session of random scrolling, for example, and when you see what time it is, you can't believe you got sucked into social media scrolling again. Or, you're about to start a work project, and your mind just feels like two fridge magnets with their magnetic sides facing each other and creating this blank space where neither will go. While these may be addressed more directly with medication, the coach should know about the specific issues that seem to pop up in your life again and again. That can influence how the coach approaches helping you.
What External Influences Seem to Make Things Better or Worse
While you can take certain actions to help yourself focus, such as trying to get more sleep (if sleep deprivation makes things worse for you), you're also subject to external influences that you can't control. And these influences can have a marked effect on how well you're doing at any given time. These examples are overly simple, but think about how your focus is affected by the weather. Maybe very humid days make it harder for you to focus, or maybe a crowded household in the morning makes it easier for you to forget to take your medication.
The coach can help you figure out additional strategies for ensuring that you encounter these situations as little as possible, such as addressing how your housemates intrude (consciously or subconsciously) on your morning routine or how you set up your daily schedule so that you're out of the humidity as much as possible. Coaching isn't just about grand goals; it also helps you work around those little things that can so easily frustrate you.
Whether or not you plan to take ADHD medication, you need to find ways to help your life advance while dealing with a brain that tends to fight against you. An ADHD coach is the right person to go to for help.
Contact an ADHD coach for more information.
