ADHD & Business Resources | The ADHD RISE Crew | Hosted by Val Nichols & Summer Christiansen

So yeah, I'm so proud of him. Yeah, I heard him on the phone with his buddy. He's like, oh, well, Val's got this going on at this time. And I was like, what? No way. But anyway, we will open it up if you guys want to share. If you want to start out giving some resources, I know Elena has her cute little littles out there that she's dropping off at school. She's a foster parent. So, Sheri, if you want to start out with a couple of resources to help guide us, and we can all share.

Yeah, that's awesome.

Thanks, Val. I think probably where I usually start with clients is really about understanding what their traits are that they struggle with the most. And knowing that, understanding that, and, and also understanding what's going on in their brain. Um, in that time. So from a neuroscience standpoint, we already know that, you know, emotion regulation and executive dysfunction and working memory—

sorry, that's my husband coming in and out of the door.

We have a slammer on the back of the door. Um, so those 3 areas have, uh, you know, the greatest challenge for us because they work differently than they do for the neurotypical. So You know, I always start in that space. What are the things that are really creating the greatest issues for you? Because I think that because every person is different and how we function through the course of the day is really a key. And then, you know, it kind of— we build time strategies and scheduling strategies as well as, you know, the physical resources and environmental space. Go on forever. But so one of my favorite toys, though I say it's a toy because it's I live out of it, is my Rocket Book. I think probably everybody who knows me has heard me mention this, and it's not necessarily because I store these pages in the cloud; it's because I'm constantly writing more notes and more notes and more notes and more notes, and then eventually I figure out you know what I needed to do with that information, and I can wipe the pages. I go through so much less. Paper, but it allows me to kind of use that as a bit of a whiteboard brainstorming kind of space. So I love my Rocketbook, and because I can set it up with sections that allow me for, you know, just writing down random crap that pops into my head when I know I need to focus on something else, I go to it. I have a page for that. Random crap is literally what it says at the top. And so when random crap comes up, that's where it goes. And I also keep pages for other things. So, you know, resources that I would like to look at some point in the future, because the worst thing on the planet for me as someone with ADHD is the rabbit holes. And so if I have somewhere to write that down so I can come back to it later.

So book lists, I love books. I'm an audiobook hog.

And so that's probably one of my other most used things in my Rocketbook besides that. And in a workspace kind of perspective, I like my toys. And I say that quite literally because I always have a squishy ball.

I always have a couple pieces of exercise equipment.

I always have some other tactile objects because for me, that helps me to stay focused. When I'm doing something where I need to stay focused, but I know that I still have lots of energy to burn off. I'd really want to get up and, you know, go do something else, but I need to stay in the zone. And so that's one of the ways that I do that is by distracting myself with physical activity so I can keep my brain locked in on what I'm working on.

So that's just a couple of thoughts that I have.

And, and, you know, certainly there's Zillions more, but I'm sure that you guys all have a few of them as well. So I'll leave it there and let somebody else share their thoughts as well.

And this is Sheri.

Thank you, Sheri. Yes, it's so funny because I was going to buy a Rocketbook and then I put it in my Amazon cart and I realized it's still in there because I must have had a distraction that came up. And didn't press purchase. So yeah, I'm definitely going to get one. I've heard great things and I've researched it. And I know that Ari is a great— he's always talking about it too. He's like, oh man, my Rocketbook is so good. And so I definitely want to try that out. And I think that that would be a great way to be able to find the notes and to do all that. And let me see. I'm not sure if Elena— Elena, are you there? Are you able to speak yet?

I'm back.

Yeah.

Sorry. And I got a call.

Oh no.

Thank you, Val, so much for letting me be in this room. This is a— oh, I love this stuff. You know, as Sherri was talking about just understanding clients and knowing where they're at, I've— one of the things that's always intrigued me, so Val mentioned I'm a foster parent, and so one of the hardest things for me is really having to find a system that not only works for me but integrates with everybody else. Because I'm constantly having other people that are in my space that I have to connect with and communicate with differently, right? And they have different systems, their company has different systems. And it was when we were talking, when we were thinking about business resources, I was also thinking of those individuals that are, you know, entrepreneurs. You have this amazing flexibility to create whatever systems you want, to do whatever you When you're working for somebody, it can be sometimes a little bit more difficult because they already have their systems in place. And for me, what I like to do is work with people to figure out how can you use— if you have to be and you're required to use a specific system, how can you use that system more effectively with your ADHD or whatever it is that you're working with? And then what additional things can you add to help support? It's interesting, Sherry, that you talked about Rocket Because I have, I have Rocketbook. I've tried it a few times, but I've never— for me, and that's always been a struggle for me, but it is amazing and it is incredible, and I know so many people that love it. So Rocketbook is great, but then I have found Basecamp. I don't know if you guys are familiar with Basecamp. So for entrepreneurs that have— excuse me— that have clients, Basecamp has been really nice for me because I get to bring people in. I get to control the information, but I can organize it to what their needs are and mine. So in the backend, it can look super chaotic, or what may appear to be super chaotic, but it's also a really good visual. So for me, I do— I take tons of notes. Sometimes I lose my notes, I can't find them. And so for me, bringing it all into one place where I can see it and I can see which project I want to work on has been extremely helpful for But one of the things I thought I would also bring up here is, a long time, a while ago, it's been quite a few years ago, I was, when I was in corporate, I came across, I don't know if you guys know about Getting Things Done by David Allen, he has done this, this program, it's an organizational program where really you pull information in and you sort it enough and then you create a system that you trust and one of the things I loved about that is He said that you have to create a system that you trust. If you don't trust your own system, you won't use it. So it does take time, it takes some effort, but making sure that you're taking the time to create that system and using it and putting in reminders. So for example, I have to put in a calendar reminder to look at my quarterly leads. I need to put in reminders to check my calendars. I actually have to change up my alarm. So for me, I have of course my calendar, and then I have actual alarms like I do in the morning to wake up for certain things that I know I might get off track and not know and not remember. So I have, I feel like it's, sometimes it feels like duct tape putting it together, all this stuff and duct taping it together, but the reality is I use it and that's what makes it a successful system for me. And sorry, you can probably hear my car because I'm driving. Um, but I, I love, love the idea of creating Creating a system that works for you as an individual, instead of just doing one system. I think as ADHDers, you need more than one system, right? You need multiple systems to help kind of navigate that space since our mind is going in multiple different areas. But I found those ones is great. Those have been helpful for me. And then a calendar. Oh my gosh, calendar. And Val and I have talked about this, but calendar every day, all day. On a calendar too, just having— I have a written one and a digital one because I can't just do digital. Yeah, so those are a couple of tips that I have, just working through the system and giving yourself patience. But there are so many resources. That's kind of the benefit of where we're at now is that you can try different things. And if it doesn't work, it doesn't work. But give some space to those too to see if it will help not just you, but those that you interact with. My husband, Val, I need to try that. I've tried that a few times and he won't— he won't review that board, so I don't know what to do about that. Anyway, this is Elena. I would love to— there's a few more people that are wanting to speak. Um, this is Elena.

Yes! Oh my gosh, so funny. And, um, I was laughing when you were saying your husband because that, uh, Dan Flatt that was on here yesterday looks— he is the doppelganger of Elena's husband. When I saw his picture, I was like, What? Oh my gosh, it's Brandon the bookseller. It's so weird. But yeah, so many of these things that we've talked about, like the paper planner, for me, for some reason, when I write it down, it solidifies it in my brain. I'm not sure why, but there's something magical that happens when you write it down. I also use color coding both in my digital calendar and my paper calendar, and that really helps me to You know, because then I know. I don't know why. Like it's just that that visualization, that color coded, and I look at my calendar so many times a day. I mean, that thing is like my guiding light, right? Having like knowing what my calendar says and knowing what's coming up. Otherwise, I walk around worried that I'm forgetting something all day, every day of my life. And you know, I know a lot of us are very busy entrepreneurs, so it's like. We, um, yeah, there's always that fear of like, what if I'm forgetting something? What if I don't remember? What if, what if, what if? But, um, you know, the thing that something else Elena said that wasn't in the exact same language, but something I say a lot is like, what's gonna work for you is the organization system that you actually use. So that's why it's so great to have, you know, different perspectives up here, have different people. Oh, Lisa, I think your mic's hot. Um, have different people up here that will, you know, give you different tips, and you can use what you need, you know, use what works for you, try some different things out, and then you can, um, you know, move forward and adjust this summertime. What you got, girl?

What do I got? Um, I got distracted because I was trying to fix something, but I honestly— this The things that you were just barely talking about, like the color coding, and I don't know if it's like this for everybody, but I actually switch back and forth between like digital and paper. Um, probably not exclusively one or the other ever, and most of the time I will go a long time and only be using like digital and then like a little bit of paper. Um, but like I find when I am way more busy that the physical representation, especially with our ADHD brains, is really helpful. Like, um, having Clubhouse rooms like very strategically is important so that I'm not just bouncing from room to room. But if I do, like, I think Thursdays are a little more, um, chaos and Wednesday, like I've been imagining this in my head. I haven't done it yet. But they're in my, my Google, my Google Calendar, and you can print those out by the day or week or month. And so just printing out one for the day and seeing it up like on the wall or whatever, like physically, is actually really helpful. And changing the environment that it's in is also very helpful.

Yeah.

Like I have a, like a system with the paper and Pretty much I use, I use whatever planner I feel like, but most of the time one that is less organized, I think. Here, Chris, I'm going to mute you. One that is less organized, meaning it has a slot for this, a slot for this, a slot for that, but more like a download. Like I go to Target and they have these, they're so pretty. My daughter is like, you do not need another planner when we're in, when we're at Target. Um, but just having like a space for that day is helpful. Um, one of the things that if you are doing just the pen and paper system, one of the things that, um, my husband actually told me this, and he's super neurotypical, like really neurotypical. So I was like, okay, this might not work for me, but it actually did work for me when I write everything out. And then I I usually just star like the most important ones, and then I take the most important ones and I prioritize them. And if one isn't more important than the other, I just pick one that I like better. And then I have that new list and I'm highlighting the one that I'm currently working on so that I don't lose track or get lost with where I am. So yeah, I mean, that's more like a strategy, not necessarily necessarily a resource per se, but, but that's something that actually does work for me. And I really have to categorize things, which is really hard for ADHDers. But if I don't have it, like, in a certain section, it's like my brain works in paragraphs. That's why I like to write, because I can pull it all into one column and then the other one into one column, and then I can prioritize it. But, you know, it's a process. Definitely. But yeah, so that's what I have to contribute. Hopefully that is helpful. I'm definitely— this definitely isn't my expertise for sure.

And I'm not sure if it's helpful to know, but there's a really good reason why using the tactile method actually is helpful. It's utilizing a totally different brain network. than the one that we're using when we're reading. And, um, so because we struggle with the executive function—

You're breaking up, Sherry.

Oh, sorry.

You know what? I'll wait and I'll come.

Actually, were you breaking up or was that me? Val, was she breaking up?

Yeah, a little bit. Yeah. All right, how about— oh, are you there, Sherri?

No, I'm gonna try again in a few minutes. We're driving through the country, so the signal is probably terrible, um, but I will pop back and finish my thoughts, um, in a few minutes because I think it's valuable information.

Awesome, thank you so much. Yeah, we'll definitely hop back to you as well. So let's see, PTR order. It looks like we have Evie up next. What's up?

Actually, I'm getting ready to go to the movies. I accidentally raised my hand by accident. What's the topic? I mean, I know what the topic is, but what are y'all looking for specifically?

Business resources, organizational skills, whatever you got, girl, I know you've got them. You are like clean organization.

Well, I mean, like everybody said, you have to get to your own— get your own system. I mean, except, you know, the calendar, it doesn't exist if it's not on the calendar. Some people go so far as to put the reminders on the calendar too. I try to do that as well, but unfortunately my day didn't start when I had the reminders on there, but it's still a great idea if you— if your day is exactly the same, you know, every day, you know. Like if you go into a corporate job or something like that, or you get up and go to even your own office somewhere, not at home. And yeah, writing things down does— there's science behind that, writing it down. There's just some sort of a neurological connection that forms when you do that. So that's always a good— I even tested it in college, to be honest with you. Hand took notes in all my classes except for history. That didn't matter. And I took those notes on a computer. And sure enough, I didn't remember them later on when I got home like I did my other classes. So there is that. And as Alaina said, having redundant systems is what y'all have heard me call it, is, you know, don't have everything in one basket.

Have backups.

So that when you start ignoring that one alarm, another one will pop up to help you help pick up the slacks until you change the alarm tone, just like again, like she said. So I'm really not telling you anything else that anybody else hasn't already said. So there you go. This is Evie, and I am done speaking.

Ooh, Evie, that was some good stuff right there. I definitely— you say you don't have much to contribute, but sometimes, like, something that somebody else hasn't already said, but sometimes something that makes the most sense to you, like, and it seems like it, somebody else can say it in a different way and it can mean a different thing. So thanks for— we appreciate you sharing for sure. Let's see, Felicia, did we get to you yet?

No, but I will go.

Um, go ahead.

Sherry almost took the words out of my mouth, and I don't even know if she finished, but, um, I can tell you, Val, which may be similar to what Sherry was saying, that there is a reason that you remember to do your things that you write down. Um, research and data has been proven that when we write down goals and tasks It is 47% more likely that they get done than if we put them in a digital form. So that is, is a lot, a big reason that it's getting done. There is something that what Sherry was talking about, it's a whole different way that you use your brain, but it has to do with the hand-eye coordination that then gets the information to your brain. And it's actually writing it down. The same reason it's so funny, because Val and I were talking about this yesterday. It's the same reason that Um, you know, I can type something in the computer, or I can, you know, I cannot read something. If someone gives me like a page to read or notes, I am writing it as well in a notebook, just because the actual doing and the activity of writing, um, allows it to actually get a little more cemented into, into my brain. And the more we write things down, as we know, The more it kind of sticks. So that, with that, it's very interesting. I am a paper pencil person. So, and for me, and my husband is not. So, there you go. My dog would like to always give some input. So I apologize. So, with that being said, I do, we do have Google Calendar and it is color coded. It is more for him. So he knows where I am. And, you know, what my kids have, because usually I'm reminded by everyone else. So when I remember, I do put it in. It is color-coded. I am a 100% paper, pencil, everything else. I love Erin Condren. She has— it can be personalized, but I love it because she has horizontal or vertical ways of her calendars that you could create. And some, you know, I, every year I try to maybe go off and find something different, but I always end up going back to her. And I have to have a lot of space to write things. Not only do I have to have the times, I can't just have a space that says Monday with a big rectangle block. I like to have the times and highlight kind of how long I think that meeting or that, you know, client will go. So I also write in different colors. My, you know, daughter's pink, my son's blue, and I'm anything else that I can find that's not pink or blue. And my husband's a color as well. So my calendar is tons of colors in it. There is no rhyme or reason except my daughter and my son. And then besides lists all over the house, I am definitely a Post-it note planner kind of girl, meaning I have bright colored Post-it notes either on my computer. Or they're on my bathroom mirror or even on my desk with the calendar. I have Post-it notes even on my calendar. And what I really like about that is the task can then be— the Post-it note can be taken off very similar to a check, you know, crossing off your list. But I actually like the tangible throwing away that Post-it note. And I love the color code, you know, the bright pinks and the, you know, and the different colors. And You know, put it in the kitchen if I have to remember something, and it's posted, you know, right in our counter, and as well as on my computer, and something maybe posted also on my calendar. So yeah, I'm a little bit—I really don't know if it's a system because I am systemless. My brain doesn't—I like there are some things that you know people would say that's a system. I wish I was more system-oriented, and I am going to be learning hopefully soon how to. Get more system-oriented. Um, but I, I just feel like in my business and when things are very important, I will figure out a system. If not, it's a little haphazard, haphazardly. But, um, so with that being said, this is Felicia, Never Done Speaking, but, um, I am muting and I hope that was helpful. Also, sorry, sorry, my— something just came off my mind. I am a huge brain dumper. It is the first thing I do when I sit down at my desk. Um, I actually created a free— um, I made a really, a brain dump page where you can do the top 3 and your gratitude and appreciations. It is on my— if you go to my DM— I'm sorry, if you go to my Instagram and look at my Linktree, there's a— it says a free, um, brain dump. And every morning it's on a clipboard. I put a— like, I print out 10 or whatever at a time, put them on a clipboard. Once I have brain dumped, I then Kind of, you know, pick the top 3, and that's how kind of my list starts, the top 3. And what can— and then on that brain dump, it says what can wait till tomorrow. So, yep. So anyone, welcome to it, and I hope that was helpful. This is Felicia.

Hey, Felicia, this is Evie, and you have a system that is your system. I believe—

I knew someone was gonna say that.

There's— I believe there's a system individual to every one of us, even people who use like a Panda Planner.

I'm sure they use it in their own unique way.

Just a teeny little bit differently than what's intended, or or even the vanilla bullet journal. There's there. I mean, I just I just so don't don't. I shouldn't say don't. I see what you do as a system, even if you do not. But as a side note, I want to add that I I keep forgetting this thing. I'm so glad I remembered. Otter AI, otter dot AI. Is a recording transcription service.

Yeah, I've heard that.

Yeah, it's an app that you can dictate to. I mean, where— I mean, I know I've got my Apple Watch and I've got my voice memo. With Otter.ai, it'll always— it'll also give you the transcript. So even if you're in a hurry, you can get that done and you can still visually see the words, you know, like when you're driving or something like that, and you can export it. And stuff like that. And so even when you get home, you can just look at the transcript and rewrite it instead of having to listen and lose your train of thought. So that's, uh, I wanted, did want to add that. This is Evie and I'm done speaking. But I do love your idea of throwing away the Post-it notes and get satisfaction out of that.

I'm gonna have to try that.

Yes, all of us box checkers are like, yeah, we love throwing away that, that Post-it note or checking that box. Love it, love it, love it, love it. So it looks like Sherry might be back in the ring here.

I have returned to civilization. Yes, thank you. Unfortunately, we— I mean, fortunately, we live in the country, but unfortunately, there are some not so great areas for cell reception on the way to almost anywhere away from our house. So I apologize for that, but thank you. I will have to jump off in a couple of minutes, but there Yeah. You know, there was a couple of other things while everybody was talking. And I did want to sort of back up what Felissa was saying. Where I started off was, you know, utilizing our tactile brain networks is a completely different system than the others that we use when we're reading something or even when we're speaking. All of those systems are different. And so the more of those that you're engaging, the more likely you are to remember things. And the other thing that I encourage people to do, Especially when you're trying to internalize information that you're writing, is actually read it out loud to yourself while you're doing it and put some emotional connection to it. Because the more senses and the more emotion that we have in the way that we're processing that information, the more effectively we're storing it. Now, whether or not that works is keeping your to-do list for the day. It's not always effective for me. You know, that, that, that really is the most effective way to improve the memory of, of particular pieces of information. But I did want to mention a couple of other things. So one of them is, and I know, I think a bunch of other ADHDers are using this because I think I saw this being talked about on one of the channels, but I started using Snap Habit with a bunch of my clients a while ago. And this is an app that is just, it's basic. And it's fantastic because you can put in there whatever you want with what the recurrences you're looking for, and it gives you a visual with a little check mark that you can check off and say, hey, I did this. And you can put comments in there in case you weren't able to carry out a task. The cool thing about that is that it also allows you to hook up with somebody else. So, you know, I'm working with clients, so I've, you know, I'll connect their Snap Habit and mine so we can see how are we doing on this particular particular thing over the course of the week or whatever period of time. And it's great because most of our brain networks are really wired to look for the social connection, right? This is how we've survived hundreds of thousands of years. And so that social interaction piece is really important in helping us to, to be motivated to follow through with those things. So it'll set up reminders, all that sort of stuff. So, so Snap Habit is a great app and it's free. So, I really like that one. And one other thing before I scoot, because I think this is really important, is sometimes our business resources are not just things. They are people. Evie happens to be one of my people. And I think recognizing for ourselves what we are good at and what we are not good at. And as Evie refers to, Technology, not my zone of genius, but it's hers. And so recognizing the things that we're not good at and finding somebody else that can do it, whether it is a, you know what, it's a colleague that you can say, you know what, I really suck at this, but I, you know, could you help me with that? And I'll help you with this. Or whether it's actually, you know, with your spouse where you're saying, honey, you know, we can put as many reminders as you want. I'm never going to remember to change the laundry over, or I'm never going to remember to whatever. Recognizing that it makes so much more sense to stay in your lane as far as what you do naturally. And let's face it, with the ADHD brain, we experience, you know, that sense of shame around not achieving the smallest tasks that we put out for ourselves. We question, what's wrong with me? So making sure that we set ourselves up for success rather than failure by, you know, utilizing the resources around us that include the And from a business perspective, knowing when you should be hiring out someone else to handle specific things. Because it may take me— maybe I can build the landing pages. I mean, it's going to take me 15 times longer than it takes Evie to do it. But the truth is, is I could do it. Is that really what I want to be spending my time doing? And is that worth the energy that it's draining from my brain while I'm torturing myself completing that task? So, So, I would say that that is probably one of the most valuable business resources that I can identify is staying in your lane, staying in your zone of genius, and looking for those others that you can hire out or contract out those other tasks and giving your brain a break because it definitely needs it. And this is Sheri Ann Dunston.

Yes, I love that you brought up knowing when to hire it out because that's something that was huge for me in my journey, like hiring My team has been one of the best and the most painful things I've ever done in my life because, you know, one, I had to learn where I lack in communication because I think I can say something to my team and they know what I'm talking about, but they don't. I also say things very fast and sometimes kind of vague. And then I get to go back and, you know, explain what I'm doing. And also, yeah, like, you know, I don't want to spend my time spending 6 hours building out a page or doing whatever. If somebody, if that's their zone of genius and they thrive in it, I always say like, you know, like if your best time is used in those money-making activities, that's where you need to be during the day instead of doing the behind the scenes, all of that. If you can pay someone $20 to do something where you could be spending time in front of a client or, you know, producing income, Then yeah, pay that person $20, $25 an hour and get it done. Get it off your plate, do the thing. So that is a huge resource that I've implemented and also with my clients as well that they've implemented and it's really helped. So thank you for all of that beautiful information. With that, looks like we have Hasim up here. Hello, how are you?

Hey, I'm great.

How are you?

So good. Excited to chat with you.

Yeah, absolutely. Um, so yeah, I actually do want to, um, get a little bit more on the topic. I wanted to know what I was speaking on. Is there, um, is there a specific topic at hand?

Yeah, we're talking about business resources for ADHD. What works for you? What resources have you put in place? Do you have certain systems you have in place, like Calendars, Google Drive, anything like that that, that has helped you in your—

Yeah, absolutely. So I'm actually going to speak to what I'm working on now. And there's a lot of CRM systems out there for a business. And, you know, I'm actually getting into them now. You know, I need to use a CRM system now because it's more value— I mean, more volume. But I'm using HubSpot, and the reason why this is very— me is because I'm very, very organized, and if things are not organized, it's chaos for me, and it makes me lose my train of focus, and it's a lot of pressure and stress. And so I need everything organized. And one thing that I was, you know, seeing now is that I'm getting these people that are continuously registering and registering for different things that I offer. And, you know, and I'm like, okay, well, I have nowhere to get these emails or these names or these contacts or numbers, whatever, organized. So I'm using HubSpot, and so far it's a phenomenal CRM system, and it's doing, it's doing well. Like, it's very organized, it's getting everything in there listed, and I can put different titles and things like that. I can assign people to different positions and what they do. I can even put pictures, things like that. So it's really helping me dial deep into my analytics of figuring out who these people that are registered are. Do they fit my user persona? I can get in contact with them. I can get email campaigns out to them or text campaigns, whichever one I want to use. So it's working pretty well. But the main thing here is that I feel like everyone should use a CRM system once they get to the point where they really have a lot of volume coming into their business. I feel like everyone should use a CRM system and it keeps things organized for, you know, you know, ADHD Business Resources. Like, definitely, if you're a person just like me that You need everything organized, definitely you want a CRM system. And then just quickly to speak on, I think we were talking about calendars as well. I'm a person that I actually use all digital calendars on my phone, and I make sure I schedule things immediately. So as soon as I get a meeting or a call or anything, I put it straight into my calendar and I put notifications behind it. Now, the one thing I do want to say is that I do use a physical calendar, like a tangible calendar. I do use those. I primarily use them for notes though, and I take notes on meetings that I schedule. So it's like I might write an agenda out for what that call is going to be about, what the meeting is going to be about. And then I use it, I use it, I use it for that. And then I just, you know, if I have to send an agenda out to people in the meeting, I do so. But that's how I use the calendar. So I wanted to speak on that as well, because I do feel like both is necessary. And in this time and era, you know, a lot of people are moving away from the traditional ways, but sometimes the traditional ways can help you a little bit more. And definitely if you kind of do a hybrid, which everybody wants nowadays. So that was my quick sharing. I'm done.

Oh, you might be in the matrix, Evie. We may have lost you. Great tips. Oh my gosh. Awesome. So cool. Yeah, I love that, that, you know, um, there's other people out there like me who are— I'm extremely organized, but then I have ADHD too. So it's that weird, like, you know, balancing act of finding out what works, you know, and using those systems that I actually use. And yeah, sometimes it changes day to day. You know, I can set my alarms or right now in this season, that's not working because I'll just ignore my alarms. I'll ignore other things as they come up. So pivoting and shifting and finding out, you know, what is going to work has been has been great. So thanks for all of your resources. That was awesome. Hey, you're welcome.

What's up? Those alarms? Like the funniest thing is that when I miss alarm, I just put like two more alarms so that way I don't miss them.

Yes, I don't know about you guys, but I definitely I have to set at least two in the morning or because I know. It's kind of like setting your alarm clock or setting your clock ahead. I used to do that in my car clock. I'd set my car clock ahead, but then I would know it was ahead. So I'd be like, oh, I still have 10 minutes. I'm fine. Like, I'm good. So yes, making sure that we're using, you know, keeping it fresh, using new things and, um, multiple alarms are always good as well.

I use the, um, what did I, it's called the Cal Alarm. C-A-L. It's the— it's just a calendar. Everything goes into— everything goes into it like it would your iPhone or your, um, your iPhone calendar app or your, like, your Google Calendar. It just has the multiple— they call it nudges. I kind of think Evie uses this too for some reason, but it just gives you like a nudge. So it will remind you every 2 minutes. Or every 5 minutes or however much, however many minutes you tell it to. And so that way it doesn't go away because if I get one reminder, it's not happening and my kid is waiting on the corner for me to pick them up. So definitely need those, um, those extra little nudges. But CalAlarm, and it's very similar to the iPhone calendar app, but it's actually been super helpful. I've used it for years actually. So. That's just a little tip for y'all.

Oh my gosh, I need that. Cow like moo cow, C-O-W?

No, no, no. Or cow like calendar? Oh, cat A as in Al and then L as in lucky.

Can you hear me now? Yes, I can, girl. So it gives you nudges after the reminder? Yes. Okay, because I haven't been able to find anything else Besides the one that I use, that's called Alarmed, A-L-A-R-M-E-D. So no, I haven't. I didn't know that there was another one out there that did this. I thought this—I literally thought this was the only one. So that's good to know.

I'll send you the link to the app, Evie, in this message, or I'll send or DM you or email or something. Okay, yeah, great.

Thanks. I'd appreciate that. And just real quick, I'm so sorry. Let me add to Haseen's. Thing with HubSpot. Now, I haven't really dealt with a whole bunch of CRMs, but I do know that HubSpot has a lot of customizable fields that he was talking about. So I would suggest even making little personal note fields in there for them, for like, you know, their kids' names, their birthday, any, any kind of nice little personal thing, you know, their favorite sandwich, or, you know, that they hate mayonnaise, so that, you know, whenever you talk to them again, you could look at their You know, profile and, and be a little bit more personal. And because people buy people, they don't buy products. So the more that a person knows that you're taking, you know, the effort to get to know them better, the more appealing.

Fire, drop the mic. Like, that's definitely the most important piece. And that's why I was talking about the user personas, because it means so much to this right now. And again, this is my first time using HubSpot. And it's so much to it that you can assign, like you can really delve deep into the exact person and, and really search here. So you're absolutely right. I love it. And again, like definitely if anybody else want to use some type of CRM system or HubSpot, like definitely do so. It's definitely worth it. And I actually just tested it out and it works perfectly. So the process is seamless.

Woo woo! That's awesome. HubSpot. Yeah, I haven't used that. Well, I think one of my clients uses that and I wasn't really familiar with it. But yeah, that's awesome. Let me see. We've got Corey, my friend Corey. How are you today? Good. How are you? So good. You got any hot tips for us?

Yeah, there's actually an app I use called Structured. And it is by far one of the best apps I've ever used because it, it allows me to pretty much put everything in by the minute. And, you know, if I, if I'm needing to do something, it tells me how many hours of my day I have left to do something. But it keeps me on task, and I think it's a lot of fun. Um, yeah, my name is Corey and I'm done speaking. Is it structured like -ed at the end? Correct. I actually have a screenshot of what the app looks like. Like pink or something? Yeah, and it's got like a white check mark in the middle. Mm-hmm. Yep. You guys should not get started on apps. Oh my gosh, I've already downloaded both of them because I am an app addict, I think, and I'm always Like changing, starting new things, um, starting new apps to see if they work. So, um, yeah, thanks for that. Now I'll be playing with that all night. Um, Lisa, I texted Lisa and I was like, Lisa, this is totally your jam. You need to get into this room. So what do you have to give to us? I know you've got a lot.

Hello, here I am sitting in front of my Friday work box, actually. Um, so yes, so I'm Lisa Piana and I'm an ADHD organizing coach. And my favorite tool for organizing moms with ADHD, which is my focus, is the Sunday Basket. And that is a physical box with slash pockets, colored slash pockets, that hold all of your actionable to-dos. And there are 2 levels. There's 1.0 and 2.0. And the 1.0 are things that are critical that need to be handled this week. And then the 2.0 are things that you are working on that are kind of longer range. And there is— that's kind of for organizing your personal life and your home and family. And there is a Friday Work Box. So there's the Sunday Basket for home, which I have links to in my bio on Instagram. And then there is the Friday Work Box, which has been— is new for me. I've been using the Sunday Basket for years, but the Friday Work Box is new and it has been a total game changer because it really, with the different slash pockets, there's a physical folder, a physical reminder of all of the areas of my business that I need to touch. And some of them are areas that I don't like to address, like money and finances. Um, so it actually covers all of your leads and marketing, is one set of slash pockets, customer and sales. So everything that's, um, that's sort of, um, front-facing, your team and growth is blue slash pockets, and then green is money and finances. And I find that I can tend to lose track of things a little bit when they're digital because all I have to do is close the computer and everything's gone. And so having this physical reminder and this weekly routine, which is essential. Every Friday at 2 PM, I go through the Workbox and, um, it allows me to plan ahead for the next week and, um, and kind of revisit all of the ideas and goals that I have for my business and, um, narrow things down and prioritize things in a really tangible, physical way, which I love and works well for my brain. So If you want any more information on the Friday Work Box, you can just Google that Friday Work Box. It'll come up. And then if you're interested at all in the Sunday Basket, that's in, in my profile right now. And I've got a group, an accountability group that's starting up this week actually with the Sunday Basket. So it's been really helpful for me in my business and I love sharing ideas with y'all. And I'm Lisa and I'm Complete. Thank you.

Thanks, Lisa. So I'm actually— it's been on my list all week. I think I'm gonna order the, the Workbox because I have had— I've only had like one, maybe two coaches, like business coaches. And I feel like it— the one, it was super, super, super helpful actually. It got me like to where I want to be, but I just feel like I need to be more organized and efficient. And I feel like this system is at least worth trying for me because I feel like I know all the stuff, like Val and I talked about this, but then I, I'm not able to implement it. Yeah, who knows? I hate talking about that because it just goes in a circle and I'm like, Okay, maybe this, maybe that, but this is something I'm willing to try. And there is like a free accountability, like Facebook group that goes with it, um, for the work, the Workbox thing. So anyways, yeah, Lisa and I have been chatting about that and, you know, she says it works really, really well with those with ADHD and just the, the physical tangible part of it. So yeah, thank you, Lisa, for sharing. I'm Summer and I'm complete. I always feel really weird saying that, but I'm gonna say it. I'm complete.

Or I can just keep talking.

You know I can.

I am complete. I was totally thinking of Lisa too. So when I saw her pop in, I was like, yes, cool. Yeah, great stuff today, you guys. This is awesome to just get, you know, like some ideas, implementations, because I know for me, I always wonder like, Because I do end up creating stuff, so much of my own stuff, because I feel like I look out for a certain thing and I'm like, man, where is this? I need this and I need this and I need this and I need it very specific. So I end up creating like my own systems. And then, you know, later on someone's like, oh, did you know there's an app for that? And I'm like, what? No way. So I love hearing what other people are doing and how they're, you know, really organizing their businesses and Keeping on track because that can be such a very difficult thing. I know one of my biggest fears when I first started my business was like, oh my gosh, I'm getting busy. And how am I going to keep track of all of this? How am I going to remember to show up for clients? How am I going to remember to do all the things that we have to do, that we get to do in our business? And then today, you know, it's like, oh, okay, juggling it all, pivoting, no big deal. But that's not how I started out, right? Like I started out with a lot of fear and a lot of just like, I don't know, I guess like chaos feeling, that feeling of like fear, fear of failure and fear of success. And I know for me, organizing, getting things so I feel like I'm prepared and getting things so I feel like I know what I'm doing has really helped. And that's been through creating systems, using systems and finding what works for me. And then also what works for my clients, because a lot of the things I do work for my clients, but then sometimes knowing their personalities and knowing What they're willing to do or what works for them, how they learn, is another way to kind of like pivot and figure out what's going to work for them. So I hope it was very helpful for you guys. Thank you to everybody who popped up and shared their knowledge, their information, their experience. This has been the ADHD Rise event. We were talking ADHD and business resources. I'm curious to know if anyone has some closing thoughts or ideas they'd like to share. Then go ahead and unmute. All right, Summer.

Yeah, Evie, I was wondering, like, can you explain what a CRM is and how, like, do you use one? How does that work?

Um, yeah, well, CRM stands for customer relationship management system or something like that. Because we always just use CRM. But it just keeps up with all of your clients and your leads. So depending on which one you have will define the type of information that you keep. For example, I know ConvertKit will allow you to have multiple buckets that you put your email list in. So like if somebody clicked on Now I've got a red stripe, so we'll have to see. So let's say somebody clicked on something for your application. Let's say you built an application and they clicked a thing for that, and it will put them in the bucket for that. And then you have a VIP workshop that you are doing, and they clicked on that, so it will add them to the VIP workshop. So later on down the road, you may want to just send out to your VIP workshop email list A notification. So it'll— your CRM knows who signed up for that. Or if you want to know who's just in the finance world, who's just fintech specifically, so you can have them labeled fintech and send something out to that list. So it's basically a personal assistant, a digital personal assistant that keeps up with everybody that you've— that has come in contact, that has clicked your links or that you put into your system that you're interested in or interested in you.

That's so helpful because I've met so many new people like on Clubhouse and just like networking in general, you know, and some of them are like, you know, prospective clients and some of them are, you know, just like resources or there's so many different people that I'm meeting and I was just, I have it on my list to do. To organize all of my leads and all of my contacts. And, um, I don't know that I need a CRM, but have you— Let me blow your mind here.

Let me blow your mind here. Oh, there's now something called an SRM, social relationship manager. Oh yeah, very soon I'm gonna— there's like, there's a ton. I thought there's only gonna be like 5 to look at, but there's upwards of 30. So I'm going to be going through those to find that because that'll be good for us, especially with ADHD, because it'll help us keep in touch with our friends and family and our acquaintances. So you can put it, you put it in different categories, you know, call every day, call once a week, call once a month, this is their birthday, stuff like that, so that you don't lose touch for so long. Because I don't know if you were in that room with Damon, but he was talking about how he spoke with his grandfather every day, and then he missed a day, and he didn't end up talking to him for like 3 years because he was so embarrassed that he missed that one time. Yeah, even though it didn't make a difference, you know. And so SRMs can help you keep in touch with just people in your daily lives that you don't want to lose touch with.

Oh, I like that. Yeah. Oh, what a good— I'm I'm so glad I asked that. That was really, really good. Yeah. So thanks everyone for being here. This has been amazing. Yeah, we love— I love having new resources. I love apps. My goodness. I did an app a couple days ago that changes all the icons on your phone and makes them all pretty and like really sleek and streamlined. And my daughter came in like 2 hours later.

She's like, are you still doing that?

While I'm watching Breaking Bad and doing my nightly thing, you know. So awesome. Yes, thanks everyone for being here. Evie, thanks for your input, and Lisa and Alana. Loved having you guys here. Val, do you have any closing thoughts?

No, I love this conversation. And yeah, I actually use my CRM system. I think it's hilarious. I, I use my CRM system to stay in touch with friends because Out of sight, out of mind to extreme. So I actually have it planned in to contact my friends and follow up because the biggest thing, the biggest way that entrepreneurs are leaving money on the table is in the follow-up.

Yes. Oh, it's gotta be. Yes. That makes so much sense. Oh, I love it. I'm gonna have to do something with that. All right everyone, thanks for being here. We'll see you tomorrow. Wait, tomorrow is Friday or Thursday? Tomorrow's Friday.

Yay!

Let's be there in a relationship panel in the morning, and then we'll have Rise Up with Summer and Val.

It'll be so fun. Yeah. So remember, ADHD Rise.

When I rise, you rise, we rise together. We love you guys. Love you guys.

Okay, bye.

Bye.