Our brain’s “control tower” helps manage daily tasks. But when it functions differently as for us with ADHD, even simple actions can feel overwhelming. Understanding your unique brain can help create effective and personalized strategies for a smoother daily life. In this blog, we walk you through it all.
Many with ADHD can witness how stressful it is to live with constant energy leakage. From trying to plan, structure, organize and complete things.
Tasks that seem so simple when others do them, despite knowing exactly what needs to be done.
Getting started might seem impossible and important things remain undone.
Someone described living with an ADHD brain as having to manage a huge airport. Where airplanes from all over the world land and take off every second. An airport without staff in the control tower.
It’s not difficult to imagine the stress over potential disasters if one doesn’t maintain 100% control and constantly makes adjustments to every little change in different schedules. Without a traffic leader in the control tower, you can never afford the luxury of putting things on autopilot.
Requiring energy from your ADHD brain which is constantly terrified of missing something. Or totally fixated on how, when and in what order things need to be done.
“Everything must be managed manually, requiring a lot of energy from the ADHD brain”
To maintain some form of order in a constantly threatening chaos. It’s perhaps not surprising that you often feel completely exhausted after an ordinary day in school or at work.
“It’s easy to miss details when our brain’s control tower operates differently”
We need our brain’s ability to overview ourselves and the world around us, to plan and steer our behaviors correctly.
When our brain’s control tower operates differently. Then it’s easy to miss details and procrastinate out of fear of not seeing the full picture. And also get stuck in the middle of a task or forget what to do once one part of a task is completed.
The “control tower”, or the brain’s executive functions, is one component of “the ADHD Profile”, the number four in the 24/7 model. That is our capacity to plan, prioritize and manage tasks throughout the day. It helps to understand how the brain navigates the constant demands of daily life.
But you can’t choose the staffing of your control tower. And it has nothing to do with your intelligence either.
However, awareness of how your brain works (self-insight and knowledge) is absolutely crucial for understanding your own challenges. And implementing effective and energy-saving strategies that fit into your life.
Even though general advice about daily life is good for most people, such as:
It’s important to remember that all brains are different. This is also true for all ADHD brains.
“What works for someone else may not necessarily feel very relevant in your life.“
We need to be creative and resourceful.
Moreover, recent research shows that hormones, and hormonal fluctuations during the menstrual cycle and in different life phases also affect how well your control tower operates.
Therefore, any work on change towards better health and quality of life begins with an individual assessment of your life and your brain.
We’ve filled the Letterlife app with several tips and life hacks to help you understand your brain better and live a healthier life.
Curious on more? Here you find all about the different components of the 24/7 model.
Blog
Recent research shows that decreasing estrogen levels during menopause affect brain structure, connectivity and metabolism. This contributes to the most common menopause, or rather perimenopause, symptoms such as hot flushes, brain fog, insomnia and mood swings. We’ll dive into what the research says and give tips for managing (peri)menopausal symptoms. For decades women have either […]
Blog
There is no “quick test” for ADHD. A significant part of the assessment for an ADHD-diagnosis involves self-evaluating and clinical interviews with experienced psychologists and doctors focusing on ADHD as well as on other somatic conditions and psychiatric diagnoses. However, various tests may be included in an ADHD assessment, depending on the individual situation. Medical […]
Blog
A Testimony from Sam – A Satisfied Letterlife User The user Sam shares how Letterlife helped her understand ADHD’s link to hormonal changes. And also advocate for cyclic dosing with her doctor. This article explores how such insights can lead to more personalized and effective medication for women with ADHD. As many women with ADHD […]
