New Years’ Intentions & ADHD

At a recent meeting of our local CHADD chapter, Dr. Hava Schaver discussed mindfulness as a strategy to help with ADHD challenges.  As I was heading to Dr. Schaver’s talk, I expected to hear about meditation which is what I always think about when I hear the term mindfulness.  My learning went deeper.  While she did talk about meditation, I learned that mindfulness is so much more than that.  I can’t do justice to her talk here, but I want to share my take-aways with you.  My intention is to give you a new perspective on goal-setting now that we are deep into resolution-setting season.

Setting Intentions

The biggest impact for me was when she talked about setting intentions in order to do something differently.  For example, if you want to get a certain task done today, you can increase your chances of success by declaring your intention to yourself.  I’ll take something simple to illustrate.  If I want to make sure that I plan a week’s worth of dinners today, I will start with setting my intention.  I will close my eyes and state to myself  “I intend to plan our menu for the next week by 2pm today.”

As I plan my day, this intention will be top of mind and I’ll increase my chances of meeting my intention.

Can intentions be bigger?

I think so.  At the beginning of every year we get a barrage about New Years’ Resolutions.  What if we set ONE simple, meaningful and achievable intention instead?  I have been thinking about this concept ever since hearing Dr. Schaver talk at the beginning of December.  My intention for 2013 is to create more balance between my personal and professional pursuits.  In other words, “I intend to create more balance in personal and professional aspects of my life”.  There is more work to be done to meet this intention.  I’m not sure yet of all the action steps that will lead me to more balance, but setting my intention feels like a good place to start.

Intentions and ADHD

Can you apply this concept to your ADHD challenges?  I say you can.  The key from my perspective is to set one intention for the year.  You might be tempted to make many intentions.  On a daily basis, you can do this.  If you want to set an annual intention, focusing on one will help give it the priority that you deserve.

What types of intentions can you set around your ADHD?  Here are some ideas to get you started:

  • I intend to focus more during conversations.
  • I intend to arrive on time.
  • I intend to declutter the house.
  • I intend to give more focus to each task that I tackle.

I’m curious, do you think that setting intentions can help you?  I would love to hear your comments!

 

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One thought on “New Years’ Intentions & ADHD

  1. I like this post! To be on time and to declutter! Those two are huge! To achieve these goals, I must be intentional… Be on time means I need to be ready to go early and I need to leave early enough before my appointed time!! Now decluttering from mail, schoolwork, purchases and donations–I must be intentional about each of these areas in order to have any hope of succeeding in decluttering!!!