Your ADHD Brain Needs This in the Morning

[awesome scored music by John T. Mickevich] Waking up. The nemesis of the sleep deprived ADHD brain. Her alarm goes off. Her eyes may open, but don't be fooled, her brain is not yet awake. Ah ah, no snoozing today! It's time to boot up that brain. But how?

There are various methods she can use in the pursuit of wakefulness. Many aren't aware that fatigue is a common symptom of dehydration. Ah, a glass of water. It's conveniently close to the bed to make hydration easy upon waking. How long has that been there? She's unsure. Better not. That's all right. She can get a new glass of water downstairs. After all, movement can help boot up that brain, too. Movement. If she tried to make the trip down the stairs now, she'd probably trip down the stairs. Ah! A yoga mat, which she has laid out conveniently near her bed. Right now, It may as well be a mile away. Well, folks, that's it for our ADHD’er. She seems to have given up on today. Maybe tomorrow. Hope her boss is the understanding kind. Wait, she's starting small. Simply wiggling her toes is an excellent starter. a bit of movement in the feet. Now the knees. Her dog cheers her on. Now that she's moved her entire body, her brain remembers how to talk to her body and can get it to move. Head, shoulders, knees and toes. Can she reach her yoga mat now? She can! Even low impact exercise increases blood flow to the brain, which may help it wake up and function. Just 15 minutes can do the trick. One sun salutation. For the sleep deprived, under stimulated ADHD brain, this is torture. Stimulation. ADHD medication is one way to stimulate those underactive neurotransmitters, which can make things not terrible to do. Oh no. She's out of medication. She's forgotten to fill her prescription because she has ADHD. She makes it down the stairs, round the corner and right into the baby gate. That won't hold her back for long. She's headed for her coffee machine. No prescription needed for that. Oh, dear. She is out of coffee too. Didn't she just buy some? ADHD time blindness is certainly a thing. Well, this is just terrible. You hate to see it. All the effort she's put in this season only for an Oh, no. She's going to need an assist. How about tea? How many cups of this green tea would she need to equal the caffeine in one cup of coffee? She wonders. Four? That is too many cups. Black tea it is. That's only two. What else can help wake up her brain?

Light. Light exposure decreases melatonin, the sleep hormone, and increases cortisol, the alert hormone. And walking her dog in the morning is the perfect way to oh, no. She's forgotten her dog. And her shoes. And it's still dark outside. That's right. It's winter. There is no light outside because the sun is also not yet awake. What day is it? She checks her Skylight calendar. Oh, no. The holidays are coming. She'll be just as exhausted and have more to do. In the past, she would have tried to do all the things and dropped all the balls. One year she made glitter bottles as gifts for all her friends, but forgot to ship them out in time. They are still in her garage. Five years later. Somewhere. But this year she has Skylight. With Skylight, she can make lists. Like the people she wants to buy gifts for, activities she'd like to do with her daughter, or gift ideas that don't require her to remember to ship things. She can add tasks for herself. That is too many tasks. She can redistribute the tasks to other members of her family. That's better. Will she and her family do all of these things? Probably not. But with everything where everyone can see it, there's a better chance they'll get to the things that matter most. Also. she will be able to see what did and didn't get done and adjust accordingly. Speaking of which, she did walk the-- No, that's right, she didn't. Yet. Skylight. The choice for brains that aren't yet awake. If you'd like to order Skylight, you can! It's available globally and before the holidays. If you live in the US, you can save $40 on either the 15 inch calendar or 27 inch calendar Max using the code Jessica M40. If you order now, you can get it in time for Christmas. No remembering to ship things required. Movement.

She's walking her dog. Correction. Her dog is walking her. Hydration. Does a shower count as hydration? Doesn't matter. A shower sounds hard. A new glass of water then. No, not that one. Unlike soda, juice or milk, drinking water is shown to increase energy levels and wakefulness. Ooh. That's cold. But temperature is a great way to get some stimulation. Let's change that shirt. She's still not awake enough to decide what to wear. This is why laying clothes out the night before can prevent the type of defeat we are seeing right -- Oh? What's this? She's combining movement and stimulation. She's dancing. Is that dancing? Doesn't matter. It seems to be working. Let's give her some privacy. Now that she. Wait, where'd she go? There she is, stimulating her brain with some Wordle. Well done. That brain is awake. Now that she is awake, she can have a productive Oh, no. What is she doing?

She is doomscrolling. Fantastic. Next time we will talk about how to minimize derails. Thank you to our Brain Advocates and all our Patreon Brains for supporting the work that we do. Because of your support, we're able to take creative risks like this. Let us know if you like this style of video. It's something new and different for us, but I thought it'd be fun, you know, to do something a little bit different, a little bit fun. Funny. Click all the things and we'll see you next video. Bye, Brains!