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I don't have time at the moment to write a longer comment, but I HIGHLY recommend reading Women With Attention Deficit Disoder by Sari Solden. I'm about halfway through it myself and it's amazing, validating, and more helpful than I could've ever imagined. It's also arranged in a very ADHD friendly way. The sections are clearly explained, well organized, and broken into manageable chunks, and the paper is very highlighter-friendly (I've come across so many books lately that aren't that yes, the highlighter-friendly paper matters!). There's also audio and e-book versions if you prefer.

And if you like that book, this year she released a companion workbook (I also have that, diving into it after I finish the first one!).

Edit: fixed a word

I use a Passion Planner and do some bujoing stuff in it, I absolutely love it. You can download the pages for free to try them out, and they frequently have sales for the email list. If you Google it there's lots of creative ways to use it. I get a lot of benefit from the monthly reflection.

I also absolutely love the Pilot Frixion line of pens and highlighters, they're ERASABLE because my schedule changes a lot too! I like this fine point size and colors

"Women with Add" by Sari Solden is one I always recommend. This one helps you identify some of those sneaky symptoms, especially found in women and girls.

Women with ADD

Additude Magazine is also a good resource for everything from medication management to supplements or new treatments.

Additude Magazine

The CHADD website is extremely helpful but I've only just started to dig into it myself:

CHADD

And as far as organizing goes, I absolutely love this book, "ADD friendly ways to organize your life," by Judith Kolberg and Kathleen Nadeau

ADD Friendly Organization


On the topic of meds, that's actually highly subjective. What I did was look at what I needed and when. As in when do I need my medication the most? I also read up on what other people did for themselves. Some of these resources should allow you to eventually decide how you want to approach it.

Personally I take Ritalin XR, the extended release, because the short acting Ritalin is not as effective for me not to mention it made my handwriting a billion times worse. I take it in the morning, after breakfast and never on an empty stomach because for me it leaves my system a lot faster when I do that. I also do not take orange juice or any other acidic juice with breakfast because it will cause my Ritalin to release super fast - found that out the wrong way.

Thanks! I've definitely seen some of that as I've read articles and things. Lol the stacks of books I have.... this is what I ordered. I asked a counselor friend for recommendations, and she didn't have any on hand but looked and liked the look of this (which I happened to already have in my cart!)

Thriving with Adult ADHD: Skills to Strengthen Executive Functioning https://smile.amazon.com/dp/1641522720/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_EHdBDb8P5DH99

I also struggled with maintaining a consistent journal/planner. My current go-to is this fantastic little bound Daily Reminder Diary from At-a-Glance!. What I like about it is how one page = one day giving me enough space to write and each page is helpfully marked with days lapsed and days remaining in the year (ex:263rd day - 102 days to follow) providing me a proper sense of progression. Another thing I like about it is it has this year and the next in mini calendar form giving me a good bird's eye view of the year.

I've stuck with it since the beginning of the year and I'd recommend you give it a try.

My first question is: define modern population. Does that mean 1990s-now? 1950s-now? The first psychological documentation of ADHD happened in 1798 according to this publication on pub med. So is post industrial revolution onward considered a modern population?

What does that mean when it comes to neuro-imaging? If 90% of people are developing "abnormally" wouldn't scans of ADHD brains with smaller pre-frontal cortex, striatum, basal ganglia, and cerebellum be the new normal and everyone else's brains would be strange? I guess this circles back to "define modern populations" because is this before or after neuro-imaging became a widely available technology? What Causes ADHD? (featuring brain scans and sources)

I mean if 90% of the population mouth breathes, develops "poorly", and has symptoms of ADHD then wouldn't you think the occurrence of ADHD diagnosis would reflect that? We aren't diagnosing 90% of the population with ADHD so are medical professionals doing something right? By eliminating 85% of people with symptoms of ADHD who might not actually have it through testing? How Common is ADHD

Personally, my "quacky" sensors are tingling. Anyone can self publish a book on Amazon, in fact here is a delightful fictional novel romanticizing alt-right Nazi-ism that you can purchase on Amazon! Personally, if I don't see a study or peer reviewed journal on the matter, I would call bs...

The ones I've found to be the best that worked for me are ones that have sections for how my brain sorts tasks. I need something that will show me monthly what is coming up, and weekly to write down daily or more detailed tasks.

The one I used through nursing school was Live Whale Planner. it's 12 months and undated, so you can write the days/dates in yourself and you're not limited to when planners are released (like school year months or only January). The weekly section of this planner has time scheduled format, so that helped me plan when the task would get done and what classes or appointments I had scheduled and needed to work around.

I got some stick on tabs from amazon for the months and weekly sections so I could flip through more easily. I also added 2 additional ribbons to bookmark monthly, weekly sections.

planner

leather calendar tabs

I love these...

Flippy Chain

I got mine on Amazon - this brand in particular seems just the right size. Plus it’s quiet so you can use it during meetings!

I also doodle - a lot!

6 weeks isn't a lot of time in terms of completely revamping your habits. I'm not saying that to be discouraging, just new habits take time, and I think for us they take even longer. I don't know if you're receiving professional therapy/medication in conjunction with this leave or seeking it, but for many people it makes a world of difference.

As far as self care, I'd say you need to give your self permission to do nothing beyond already required responsibilities, which sound like a lot! For me, sometimes I Just need mindless time watching netflix or playing xbox or reading to unwind after reaching that breaking point which it sounds like you are at. Whatever you do normally to reset, do that.

Overall I would say, pick the biggest issue you are struggling with right now and work on that. This book has a lot of great suggestions, and maps stuff out by problem areas.

For example, I've been struggling with anxiety, frustration, trouble sleeping so I have been meditating for 5 min every night before bed using the Headspace app. It's made a surprising amount of difference in conjunction with the other treatments I am receiving. But pick something that is your biggest struggle that fixing will have the most significant impact on your life.

I have no idea if that's actually helpful but hopefully it helps a little!

I might look that book up. I myself loved ‘You Mean I’m Not Stupid Lazy or Crazy?’

https://www.amazon.com/You-Mean-Lazy-Stupid-Crazy/dp/0743264487

Not ready for workbooks though. I could not follow through. But I could make therapy appts.

I also hate coffee but love caffeine, so I take caffeine pills! I am linking the ones I get because they work so well. They have an ingredient from tea in them to combat the jitters. I have been buying these for the last year or two caffeine with l-theanine

Healing ADD (Heal the 7 types of ADD) Dr Amen

https://www.amazon.com/Healing-ADD-Revised-Breakthrough-Program-ebook/dp/B00C1N97EO/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Healing+7+types+of+ADHD&qid=1558923863&s=books&sr=1-1

It breaks down ADHD into 7 types which helps you get more detailed info on your own types.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0065Q5WA6/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Very stretchy so you might need to size down

If you have haven’t done so already, I highly suggest reading Women with Attention Deficit Disorder by Sari Solden.