Executive / Time Management coach? Is that a thing?
August 13, 2024 11:32 AM Subscribe
I have the adhd and am in the midst of an intense jump in responsibilities right now. I'm overwhelmed and spiralling a little. What I need is maybe a 1-2 hour zoom that combines some personal assistant task triage, a mild shot of talk therapy to help me calm down, and some encouraging career advice to help me refocus on my goals instead of my feelings. Is this a service that exists, and who provides it?
This monent has some new career territory for me, it's awesome, but also I'm overwhelmed with tasks and responsibilities and having a hard time prioritizing and clearing the brain clutter and quieting the panic and being productive.
It would be amazing to have like a 1-2 hour zoom next-steps session with a smart grounded person who can listen to me freak out a little and gently help me redirect to turn the mess into a manageable to-do list and maybe a few mantras for confidence and moving forward.
If the person has some experience with working in the media, publishing, arts, that kind of mildly airy-fairy creative realm, that would be ideal.
Online is fine, in the next 24 hours would be awesome, and if YOU, fellow mefite, are the right person, DM me, as I'm fine with hiring someone who doesn't do this officially or full time. Thanks!
This monent has some new career territory for me, it's awesome, but also I'm overwhelmed with tasks and responsibilities and having a hard time prioritizing and clearing the brain clutter and quieting the panic and being productive.
It would be amazing to have like a 1-2 hour zoom next-steps session with a smart grounded person who can listen to me freak out a little and gently help me redirect to turn the mess into a manageable to-do list and maybe a few mantras for confidence and moving forward.
If the person has some experience with working in the media, publishing, arts, that kind of mildly airy-fairy creative realm, that would be ideal.
Online is fine, in the next 24 hours would be awesome, and if YOU, fellow mefite, are the right person, DM me, as I'm fine with hiring someone who doesn't do this officially or full time. Thanks!
We have used an academic coach in the past for my family members -- Laura is just wonderful. I think her approach is what you want, but I don't know if she works with non-academic clients. If she does, I would recommend her highly.
posted by pantarei70 at 12:47 PM on August 13
posted by pantarei70 at 12:47 PM on August 13
Your wish list is out of sync with your time allocated to the task. Time blindness is an ADHD thing, so that’s something to be mindful of.
I would say your list is a good 8-10 hours work over multiple sessions. The first system you try will probably not work out of the box and need rework. Also you need to build trust with your advisor and let them onboard to your problem set, this takes some time.
Task triage and de-escalation strategies for anxiety can be handled by an occupational therapist. Talk therapy requires a counselor. If you just want to get shit done, get an occupational therapist and skip the feelings for now.
posted by shock muppet at 2:00 PM on August 13
I would say your list is a good 8-10 hours work over multiple sessions. The first system you try will probably not work out of the box and need rework. Also you need to build trust with your advisor and let them onboard to your problem set, this takes some time.
Task triage and de-escalation strategies for anxiety can be handled by an occupational therapist. Talk therapy requires a counselor. If you just want to get shit done, get an occupational therapist and skip the feelings for now.
posted by shock muppet at 2:00 PM on August 13
Dusty Chipura was my ADHD coach and was helpful for similar situations like these. Highly recommend!
posted by creatrixtiara at 4:58 PM on August 13
posted by creatrixtiara at 4:58 PM on August 13
I'm a Certified Professional Organizer® and productivity coach; I've been doing this 22+ years, including for some MeFites (though I'm not your professional organizer or productivity coach), and the very first thing I'm going to tell you to do is breathe. Not just breathe, but do either box breathing (inhale for a count of four, hold for four, exhale for four, and hold for four. Repeat.) or 4-7-8 breathing (inhale for four, hold for seven, exhale for eight).
Whatever emotions you're feeling aren't going to help you do the thinking or the work, so try to just focus on the breathing. ADHD makes it hard to center yourself; all the voices are coming at you at once. But breathing is a solid first step to thinking about what comes next.
To your question, yes, there are people who specialize in guiding you with doing a complete brain dump, identifying priorities, and coming up with a game plan for what to tackle, how, in what order, and when in your schedule. We do this with executives, with doctors, with overwhelmed new parents, with writers, with people starting new jobs. This is something lots of people need. But it's not usually something you can find someone to meet you to do *snap* in the next 24 hours. (Not impossible, just not the usual.)
Similarly, ADHD coaches can help you do many/all of these tasks, approaching it from within their training in the neurological and behavioral aspects of managing your focus and your time.
And while both professional organizers/productivity coaches and ADHD coaches can help you focus on the work rather than the emotions, actual therapy requires a therapist. (And in your case, a therapist who understands the extreme stress that someone with ADHD is under when trying to be a high achiever.)
Note, I get that you mean "talk therapy" in the broadest sense, and I get that you mean "personal assistant" in terms of someone to act as a scribe to catch your fleeting thoughts while you are spiraling. But only a professional therapist can work with you on all the elements of the anxiety that result from the combination of ADHD, impending deadlines, and an uncertainty regarding where you want to go next with your career.
So, it takes a village to raise @nouvelle-personne.
None of this can be completed in an hour or two. But it certainly can be started in that amount of time, and getting started — giving you what's called activation energy — to do the work instead of focusing on the fact that you're not doing the work, is what you most need now to feel more settled. Small victories breed longer-term success.
You've already received some ADHD coach options, so I'll focus on my field. For the benefit of others who may read this in the future, use the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals (NAPO) search and select someone from the drop-down of business specialities for either ADHD or time and task management. (Either will be applicable.)
However, for tonight, you may be overwhelmed with the idea of looking through profiles, so I'm going to suggest my longtime friend, colleague, and accountability partner, Dr. Melissa Gratias. She's a productivity coach who specializes in working with professionals and executives, and she's a delight. However, I'm not sure what her next 24-48 hours look like. (But I did just check with her to make sure she is taking referrals right now.)
Finally, if you need to, you can DM me, and on Wednesday/Thursday I can talk you through some initial approaches, both to your spiraling and your task list, and to finding the ideal person. Just a helping-another-MeFite-out session to point you on the right path(s). My first career was in TV, so I know how !!!ACK!!!! media life can be.
But first, go breathe. ;-)
posted by The Wrong Kind of Cheese at 5:35 PM on August 13 [15 favorites]
Whatever emotions you're feeling aren't going to help you do the thinking or the work, so try to just focus on the breathing. ADHD makes it hard to center yourself; all the voices are coming at you at once. But breathing is a solid first step to thinking about what comes next.
To your question, yes, there are people who specialize in guiding you with doing a complete brain dump, identifying priorities, and coming up with a game plan for what to tackle, how, in what order, and when in your schedule. We do this with executives, with doctors, with overwhelmed new parents, with writers, with people starting new jobs. This is something lots of people need. But it's not usually something you can find someone to meet you to do *snap* in the next 24 hours. (Not impossible, just not the usual.)
Similarly, ADHD coaches can help you do many/all of these tasks, approaching it from within their training in the neurological and behavioral aspects of managing your focus and your time.
And while both professional organizers/productivity coaches and ADHD coaches can help you focus on the work rather than the emotions, actual therapy requires a therapist. (And in your case, a therapist who understands the extreme stress that someone with ADHD is under when trying to be a high achiever.)
Note, I get that you mean "talk therapy" in the broadest sense, and I get that you mean "personal assistant" in terms of someone to act as a scribe to catch your fleeting thoughts while you are spiraling. But only a professional therapist can work with you on all the elements of the anxiety that result from the combination of ADHD, impending deadlines, and an uncertainty regarding where you want to go next with your career.
So, it takes a village to raise @nouvelle-personne.
None of this can be completed in an hour or two. But it certainly can be started in that amount of time, and getting started — giving you what's called activation energy — to do the work instead of focusing on the fact that you're not doing the work, is what you most need now to feel more settled. Small victories breed longer-term success.
You've already received some ADHD coach options, so I'll focus on my field. For the benefit of others who may read this in the future, use the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals (NAPO) search and select someone from the drop-down of business specialities for either ADHD or time and task management. (Either will be applicable.)
However, for tonight, you may be overwhelmed with the idea of looking through profiles, so I'm going to suggest my longtime friend, colleague, and accountability partner, Dr. Melissa Gratias. She's a productivity coach who specializes in working with professionals and executives, and she's a delight. However, I'm not sure what her next 24-48 hours look like. (But I did just check with her to make sure she is taking referrals right now.)
Finally, if you need to, you can DM me, and on Wednesday/Thursday I can talk you through some initial approaches, both to your spiraling and your task list, and to finding the ideal person. Just a helping-another-MeFite-out session to point you on the right path(s). My first career was in TV, so I know how !!!ACK!!!! media life can be.
But first, go breathe. ;-)
posted by The Wrong Kind of Cheese at 5:35 PM on August 13 [15 favorites]
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But yes, it's a thing. Some of them are licensed counselors of some kind, some aren't.
posted by Lyn Never at 12:01 PM on August 13 [2 favorites]