Bird has a mid-season show coming up with her music school, and there are only six people in her band compared to 20 kids in previous seasons. She’s been assigned eight new songs of a genre she’s not accustomed to, learning new instruments like the guitar and bass guitar, along with her usual vocal and keyboard songs. She’s also ADHD. She showed great frustration when these songs were first assigned to her, feeling overwhelmed and stuck. It’s my job to teach her how to push through, but how do I do that when I’m not succeeding in this space myself?
I explained to her that we have to program our brains and muscles through a little bit of practice every day. In the beginning, it’s going to feel horrible and sound terrible, but we have to train our brains to slow down and focus enough to help us get through it, even if only for 15 minutes at a time. We’ve been chunking the practice, celebrating the completion of each set, and tracking her confidence. Yesterday, in the fifth week of the new season, her teacher told me, “Bird crushed it! For real! She freaking crushed it today.” What a joy! Bird was beaming, and I felt inspired.
I’ve invoked a personal challenge: I want to work with my brain, not despite it and not against it. How do you program a bouncy brain that just wants to chase the dopamine? You make it fun!
I need to create a recurring, predictable structure that’s natural for my schedule. I need to find a time frame when my brain is at its best and activities I enjoy. My goal is to not feel overwhelmed when faced with a task that requires three to four hours of focus. Whatever the solution is, it cannot incite anxiety.
This is what I’ve come up with:
- Obsession for the best dopamine: PUZZLES!
- Risks: I’m competitive and try to race, which induces anxiety. I should avoid easy puzzles and only select ones that take a minimum of 30 minutes to solve.
- Options: Extra hard sudoku, logic puzzles, organization projects for the home, Lego puzzles, multi-layered wax seal stamping, and traditional puzzles.
- Timing: My brain works best in the morning, so something that will help me set the tone for my workday. I must select periods where I will not engage with anyone else so before the workday. If I select it during the workday, I’ll make a rule to ignore incoming requests and get out of sight and hearing to avoid anxiety.
- Setting: I need focus music to help ease my internal vibrations. I have a favorite classical music focus list, some cool funk jams, and also my favorite bands, The Dirty Heads and Tribe Divine! I’ll use these options and tie the most appropriate to the puzzle of choice at that moment. For puzzles requiring reading or internal dialogue, I won’t blast music with lyrics due to my Audio Processing Disorder, which causes additional tension. However, if I want to prevent internal dialogue, lyric songs that overtake the internal voice help keep my body moving.
- Wardrobe: Must be comfortable. If I need to dedicate 3 to 4 hours to something eventually, I can’t imagine constantly overriding thoughts of discomfort from an annoying tag or too much heat.
- Company: I will prioritize puzzles I can complete on my own without company. However, some tasks are better with a body double present. The company during puzzle time would encourage interruptions, so I’ll do this for myself.
- Recurrence: I will commit to doing this at least once a day between 7 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. when I’m the only person awake and before my work starts time.
By incorporating a new daily routine, I am hopeful I can find a sense of balance and control in my busy life. I need to train my brain back to my focused glory days. Adding structure and pairing it with activities I enjoy may be the key to staying focused and productive, no matter how chaotic things get. I’m going to partner with my brain, not resent it. Work smarter, not harder.
Peace. Love. Eye Nest.
rippling echoes 
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