6 THINGS ADHD ENTREPRENEURS STRUGGLE WITH & WHAT TO DO (I DID IT)
So you’re an ADHD entrepreneur who wants to start and run a successful business but you’re constantly struggling with managing your ADHD, your business and your life. And now, you just want to figure out how you can be able to handle your business without letting your ADHD get in the way.
If that’s you, this post is just for you.
I’m going to be talking about the struggles most ADHD entrepreneurs face including my own experiences and how I have been able to overcome them and teach others how to do it as well.
Let’s jump right in.
MOTIVATION TO GET THINGS DONE
Many entrepreneurs experience this especially at the onset of their businesses. No wonder 60% of entrepreneurs are said to have ADHD.
At that initial business setup stage, nothing motivates you because you’re not seeing any results.
You’re posting videos, IG posts, stories but you’re still struggling to even get eyeballs on your business. And it feels as though no matter what you do nothing seems to work.
Your mindset is challenged on a daily basis that you stop believing that you can become a successful ADHD entrepreneur.
If you don’t find a way to boost your motivation, your business never picks up and you end up quitting.
So what can you do to increase your motivation so that you don’t shut down your business?
WHAT TO DO TO MOTIVATE YOURSELF
Get an ADHD business coach to help keep you motivated.
Business coaches have walked your walk. They know how you’re feeling and can help keep you motivated by changing your mindset and giving you a step by step formula that will actually get you the results you know you deserve.
Stop comparing yourself with your competitors.
One of the major reasons most ADHD entrepreneurs lose motivation is that they compare themselves with people they see as competition who are killing it in their industry. And that demoralizes them.
So simply stop.
Understand that you have your own uniqueness that you bring to your industry.
Break down your tasks into smaller tasks.
When you look at an entire project, it gets overwhelming.
For instance, I have an Instagram profile, a Facebook group, and 1:1 client sessions that I need to keep up with.
If I focus on all three at the same time, I will get overwhelmed.
So I usually break it down to small simple tasks that I can accomplish easily that increase my serotonin which make me want to do more smaller tasks until I’m able to finish the entire project.
Otherwise, I get demotivated when I feel like the work is too much.
LACK OF TIME MANAGEMENT.
When you’re a an ADHD entrepreneur, you can easily lose your whole day being distracted by little things.
For instance, when I’m working I’ll find myself thinking of things like how do penguins give birth.
I’m easily distracted because of my ADHD.
I also have a tendency to open multiple tabs.
What this does is that it takes away from the time you can actually be working on a task that will help your business.
Unfortunately, telling a person with ADHD to minimize distractions is like screaming to a deaf person. It simply won’t work.
So what can you do to be able to manage your time a little better and focus on things that matter in your business?
HOW TO BECOME BETTER AT TIME MANAGEMENT
Practice the Pomodoro technique. This is a technique that is used to ensure that you’re able to focus only on one thing for a certain period of time.
You set up your timer to go off after 20 minutes. And then give yourself a 5-minute break.
Continuously practicing that technique during your work hours will help you set targets, achieve them and eventually help you focus on one task only for a specific amount of time.
ANALYSIS PARALYSIS.
This will usually happen when you cannot be able to make a decision about your business. And this affects ADHD entrepreneurs so much that they literally get stuck. And most of my clients come to me asking, “Jessi, can you tell me what to do? I don’t know what to do.”
Have you ever felt that way?
If you have then it’s time you did something about it.
Your business solely relies on you and if you can’t make a decision on what product you want to sell, which audience you want to serve, or which lead magnet you want to create, you’ll end up getting stuck.
Your business will not grow and it will eventually fall backward because of the lack of action.
If you don’t want that to happen, you’ve got to find a solution.
HOW TO BEAT ANALYSIS PARALYSIS
Analysis paralysis is caused by two things: a lack of direction and a lack of knowledge.
If you don’t know what you need to do more often than not you will not make a decision. If you lack direction, you will second guess every decision you make.
Now that you know what causes analysis paralysis then you can find solutions to it by asking questions that trigger the logical part of your brain.
Why am I not able to make a decision?
What can I do to be able to make a decision?
Knowing what is making you hesitant will help you identify the source of the problem and make it easier for you to solve the problem and make a decision.
IMPOSTER SYNDROME.
Did you know imposter syndrome affects people who have the knowledge to help people? It never affects scammers.
Essentially, it means that you know what you’re talking about. You just have to stop feeling like a fraud because you’re not.
All you need to do is figure out what you know and find an audience that is a step behind you so that you can be able to teach them.
That’s it.
Imposter syndrome is the outcome of a strong mindset that has taken so many blows that you feel like you don’t know what you’re talking about.
For instance, if you get a lot of unfollows or a lot of hateful comments, often, you’ll start feeling as though you don’t know what you’re doing. And that can negatively impact your business because you will not be able to show up in your business authentically.
HOW TO STOP EXPERIENCING IMPOSTER SYNDROME
Focus on finding and building a community of people who you know a little bit more than they do.
And then, find somebody who will cheer you on and motivate you constantly.
REJECTION SENSITIVITY DYSPHORIA
So you just got 16 people who unsubscribed to your email list and your DM to a potential client has been left on read. And now you feel as though you have been rejected and you’re not good enough to run your business. You feel as though you said something wrong.
Hold up. Take a deep breathe. It’s alright.
A lot of ADHD entrepreneurs experience RSD and it is unavoidable. It will happen consistently, but you will have to learn how to manage your RSD the right way so that you can successfully grow your business.
HOW TO COPE WITH RSD
Build confidence in yourself and your business. Your business is serving the people who have not unsubscribed, so you still need to show up for them. You are good enough to still run your business that’s why you still have people who believe in you.
Take a logical approach to things. When we experience RSD, it is only because of our emotions. We allow our emotions to take over. So instead of doing that, play detective and find logical reasons of why something has happened the way it has.
Could it be that people unsubscribed to your email list because those were not your ideal clients? If so, that’s good for you because you’ll be able to tailor your message even better to the remainder of the people.
What was in that email that made them unsubscribe? Could you run a poll and ask people in your email list if they like that type of content? If they do, then those were just not your type of ideal audience.
VULNERABLE TO BURNOUTS
As a person living with ADHD, we often feel lonely. Nobody understands us and we’re often termed as lazy. And because of that, we end up taking so much responsibility to prove to others and to ourselves that we are not lazy.
We want to feel accepted by a society that only sees us as people who have so many excuses as to why we’re lazy.
So when we start our businesses, we want to prove that ideology wrong and since we struggle with showing self-compassion, we bully ourselves into working all day and night. And that leads to burnout.
When you’re burnt out, you feel exhausted all the time. When you think about doing anything you feel mentally, physically, and psychologically exhausted. You can’t get yourself to do anything because you feel you’ve failed to perform well in an area of your life.
And if you’re not careful, burn out can make you hate your business to the point you close it down. That’s why I have made rest a strategy in my business. I need to rest so that I can show up consistently in my business. If I don’t rest, then my business will not thrive.
HOW TO AVOID BURNOUT AS AN ADHD ENTREPRENEUR
Be kind to yourself. You’ve got to stop beating up yourself. It’s okay to make a mistake and it’s also okay to rest. Tomorrow is another day. You’ll get it done.
Set reasonable timelines for yourself. When you have ADHD, you want to prove that you can do it fast so you set unreasonable timelines that only drain your energy because you desperately want to prove that you can do it.
Change how you perceive your ADHD. You are not a lazy person. Your mind works differently. You are a unique human being and you’ve got to embrace yourself. You can change your perception by trying out ADHD affirmations that will make you love on your ADHD. Do them every day and you will start to notice how much of an impact they will have on how you show up in your business.
And finally, rest.
Just rest.
Simple. Relax with your friends / family, take your kids out, go see a movie, turn on the TV and watch Netflix. You deserve it girl.
