Managing your ADHD requires a sustainable approach, because all the systems and self-compassion in the world can’t help if you abandon them when life intervenes. If we plan for imperfection, we can be ready with our recovery tools.

Self-compassion is not self-indulgence, passivity, or excuse-making. Rather, it is a kind and understanding stance toward ourselves and our mistakes, which is entirely compatible with high goals, high expectations, and self-accountability.

Systems release the brain’s responsibility for holding everything and externalize the brain’s functioning. The efficacy lies in how the system prompts you to act, instead of relying on your brain to do all the activating.

Managing ADHD is a lifelong journey, and doing it well is more than just mastering all the tips and tricks you might see on social media.

At first glance, practicing mindfulness may seem completely incompatible with a diagnosis of ADHD: the practice of paying attention vs. the struggle to pay attention. But this is exactly why it can help: ADHD is a disorder of attention and self-regulation, and mindfulness is training for attention and self-regulation.

As estrogen levels (and therefore dopamine levels) fluctuate throughout a woman’s life, the symptoms and severity of her ADHD may change as well. Instead of a “set it and forget it” approach to their ADHD, women may need more awareness of what’s going on in their bodies, more tools, and more proactive ADHD management.

Things will go wrong; outcomes won’t match intentions. In the face of the many challenges ADHD presents, self-compassion is essential.

Today we have a much better picture of ADHD as a broader challenge with self-regulation, rather than specifically a deficit of attention and/or hyperactivity.