The ADHD Skills Lab

Tom Reber built successful businesses while privately believing he wasn't smart enough to fight for his own ideas. That belief followed him from childhood special ed into business ownership, where he went bankrupt once and later sold another business for far less than he believed it was worth.

Tom, founder of The Contractor Fight and a former Marine, explains where that belief came from, how it affected the decisions he made, and what changed when he finally stopped confusing not knowing something with being stupid.

What We Cover:

• Why Tom stopped fighting for decisions he knew were right
• How childhood special ed shaped his self-image for decades
• The conversation with his mom that changed how he understood his past
• The bankruptcy and business buyout he connects to that belief
• How he learned to trust his own judgment again
• Why he now sees his ADHD focus as an advantage
• What "strong you, strong home, strong business" means in practice

Connect With Tom Reber

https://thecontractorfight.com/

https://www.google.com/goto?url=CAESZQHrOzAVMTn3TizRe6_j1iGFg0HxrMS01upeecH5_njLD1nFbBxLmDtpis0XaWfcnJSDHUfZmdk4aZ3RqLaX2yjtIqLYlpzqilCBceFQB7f28N8OewG0iGXlJOP0cO6PDxkW7XX1

About ADHD founders for ADHD founders.

Interesting in working together? You can click here to receive a free bottleneck audio session and learn more about what we do. https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/unstuckaudiosession

Diagnosed with ADHD at the start of her PhD, Skye Waterson spent years researching what actually works and writing about it for thousands of founders. The pattern she kept finding: ADHD business owners don't have a focus problem, they have an operations problem, because the whole business runs through their own head. Now she and her husband, former programmer Robert Waterson, work as fractional COOs for those founders. They find the bottleneck, hire the fix, and build the system that holds.

Subscribe to our Newsletter - https://unconventionalorganization.substack.com/

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Visit our website - https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/

You spent real money on a system nobody uses.

Skye and Robert Waterson see this problem regularly working as fractional COOs with ADHD business owners. The owner gets excited about a new system, the team agrees to the change, and a few weeks later everyone quietly slips back into the old way of doing things.

The problem usually isn’t the software. It’s how the change was handled.

In this episode, Skye and Robert break down the six phases they use to move a team onto better systems without losing people halfway through. It starts with getting genuine buy-in before anything gets built, then prototyping the process, slowing down the rollout, and documenting it once it actually works.

What We Cover:

• Why telling your team to “just use it” creates quiet noncompliance
• Why previous failed software changes make teams reluctant to try again
• Getting real buy-in before building the new system
• Why a rough prototype can beat an expensive polished platform
• How ADHD founders can move faster than their team can realistically follow
• Knowing when to stop adding features and let the new process settle
• Why documentation matters once the system is actually working

If you run a business with ADHD and keep finding yourself at the centre of the systems, decisions, and implementation, this one will probably feel familiar.

About ADHD founders for ADHD founders.

Interesting in working together? You can click here to receive a free bottleneck audio session and learn more about what we do. https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/unstuckaudiosession

Diagnosed with ADHD at the start of her PhD, Skye Waterson spent years researching what actually works and writing about it for thousands of founders. The pattern she kept finding: ADHD business owners don't have a focus problem, they have an operations problem, because the whole business runs through their own head. Now she and her husband, former programmer Robert Waterson, work as fractional COOs for those founders. They find the bottleneck, hire the fix, and build the system that holds.

Subscribe to our Newsletter - https://unconventionalorganization.substack.com/

Follow us on Instagram - @unconventionalorganisation

Visit our website - https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/

Most people don't struggle to put themselves out there because they lack ideas. They struggle because they're afraid of what people will think once they see the real version of them.
So they post the safe version instead. The version nobody remembers.

Chris Do, Emmy-winning designer and founder of The Futur, has spent more than 20 years helping creatives build businesses by becoming more visible. He believes a brand people care about isn't built on sharper positioning. It's built on being willing to be seen. That means getting comfortable with the parts of yourself you've been editing out.
He explains why fear of judgment (not a lack of confidence) is what keeps people editing, how radical self-acceptance changes what you're willing to say publicly, and the simple exercise he uses to help people work through it.
If you're a creator, founder, or anyone building in public who has overthought a post, softened an opinion, or caught yourself over-explaining, this episode gives you a practical place to start.
What We Cover

• Why fear of judgment, not low confidence, is what keeps your work generic
• How hidden fear leaks out as over-explaining and nervous energy
• Chris's radical self-acceptance exercise, step by step
• Why confidence is built through exposure, not positive thinking
• What changes in how people respond once you let yourself be seen accurately

Listen to the full conversation, then try Chris's exercise and tell me what came up in the comments.
Connect With Chris Do
Instagram @thechrisdo
YouTube @ChrisDo/@thefutur

About ADHD founders for ADHD founders.

Interesting in working together? You can click here to receive a free bottleneck audio session and learn more about what we do. https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/unstuckaudiosession

Diagnosed with ADHD at the start of her PhD, Skye Waterson spent years researching what actually works and writing about it for thousands of founders. The pattern she kept finding: ADHD business owners don't have a focus problem, they have an operations problem, because the whole business runs through their own head. Now she and her husband, former programmer Robert Waterson, work as fractional COOs for those founders. They find the bottleneck, hire the fix, and build the system that holds.

Subscribe to our Newsletter - https://unconventionalorganization.substack.com/

Follow us on Instagram - @unconventionalorganisation

Visit our website - https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/

Most ADHD interventions only work if you actually stick with them. So what happens when the intervention is something your brain actually wants to do?

Skye joins Will to unpack a systematic review of 22 studies on virtual reality interventions for ADHD. They look at surprisingly high adherence rates, what the research suggests about attention and working memory, and whether improvements inside VR actually carry over into everyday life.

They also dig into the different ways VR is being used, from cognitive games and movement-based training to simulated real-world scenarios, plus where the evidence is still too thin to draw firm conclusions.

Want more of Will's work? Visit HackingYourADHD.com or subscribe on YouTube.

What We Cover:

• Why adherence rates of 85 percent or higher caught their attention
• Three different ways researchers are using VR for ADHD
• What the studies suggest about attention and working memory
• Why VR is being studied alongside existing ADHD treatments
• The big question of whether improvements transfer to real life
• Reported side effects and the limitations of the current research

About ADHD founders for ADHD founders.

Interesting in working together? You can click here to receive a free bottleneck audio session and learn more about what we do. https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/unstuckaudiosession

Diagnosed with ADHD at the start of her PhD, Skye Waterson spent years researching what actually works and writing about it for thousands of founders. The pattern she kept finding: ADHD business owners don't have a focus problem, they have an operations problem, because the whole business runs through their own head. Now she and her husband, former programmer Robert Waterson, work as fractional COOs for those founders. They find the bottleneck, hire the fix, and build the system that holds.

Subscribe to our Newsletter - https://unconventionalorganization.substack.com/

Follow us on Instagram - @unconventionalorganisation

Visit our website - https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/

You’re guessing how long things take.

That guess feels reasonable.

It’s just wrong, over and over again.

In the last episode, we broke down why ADHD time blindness happens. This one is about what to do about it.

Because the real problem isn’t planning. It’s relying on estimation at all.

In this episode, Skye and Robert walk through how to replace your internal clock with systems that actually hold up in real work:

• why you can’t “get better” at estimating time
• how to use past projects instead of guessing
• how teams quietly adjust for you (and why that creates tension)
• why buffers and “extra time” don’t work
• how to build timelines that don’t collapse halfway through

If you’re tired of missing deadlines you genuinely thought were realistic, this will show you what’s actually going wrong, and what works instead.

About ADHD founders for ADHD founders.

Interesting in working together? You can click here to receive a free bottleneck audio session and learn more about what we do. https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/unstuckaudiosession

Diagnosed with ADHD at the start of her PhD, Skye Waterson spent years researching what actually works and writing about it for thousands of founders. The pattern she kept finding: ADHD business owners don't have a focus problem, they have an operations problem, because the whole business runs through their own head. Now she and her husband, former programmer Robert Waterson, work as fractional COOs for those founders. They find the bottleneck, hire the fix, and build the system that holds.

Subscribe to our Newsletter - https://unconventionalorganization.substack.com/

Follow us on Instagram - @unconventionalorganisation

Visit our website - https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/

You can be successful on paper and still feel stuck.

In this episode, Skye talks with entrepreneur and investor Kassidy Warren about leaving the corporate “safe path,” taking real risks, and the identity shift required to stop playing small. They unpack rejection, procrastination, reinvesting before results, and what it actually means to turn pro — especially with an ADHD brain.

If you’ve built something stable but know you’re capable of more, this one will hit.

What we cover:

• The hidden cost of corporate stability and “golden handcuffs”
• Why procrastination is fear in disguise
• How to handle rejection without shrinking
• The mindset shift from amateur to professional
• Acting before you feel ready — and why waiting keeps you stuck

Connect with Kassidy Warren

Kassidy Warren is the host of the For Your Own Good podcast, where he shares practical, direct conversations about business growth, leadership, and building companies that actually work.

If this episode resonated, you can follow Kassidy and explore more of his work here:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kassidy.warren
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@KassidyWarren
• For Your Own Good on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1UfWzqSpuL685ReFGnIrgB

He regularly shares insights for operators and founders who want to move from chaos to clarity without fluff or hype.

About ADHD founders for ADHD founders.

Interesting in working together? You can click here to receive a free bottleneck audio session and learn more about what we do. https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/unstuckaudiosession

Diagnosed with ADHD at the start of her PhD, Skye Waterson spent years researching what actually works and writing about it for thousands of founders. The pattern she kept finding: ADHD business owners don't have a focus problem, they have an operations problem, because the whole business runs through their own head. Now she and her husband, former programmer Robert Waterson, work as fractional COOs for those founders. They find the bottleneck, hire the fix, and build the system that holds.

Subscribe to our Newsletter - https://unconventionalorganization.substack.com/

Follow us on Instagram - @unconventionalorganisation

Visit our website - https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/

Click the link below to see which founder type you are!

https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/adhd-founder-types


You keep solving the same business problems, but they keep coming back in different forms.

After reviewing more than a dozen research episodes on ADHD founder struggles, four recurring founder patterns emerged: the Last Minute Hero, the Overwhelmed Architect, the Vision Caster, and the Pivot Chaser.

These aren't random quirks. They're recurring ways ADHD can show up as a business grows. More importantly, all four point back to the same underlying challenge: there isn't an operations layer between the founder and the day-to-day business.

In this episode, Skye and Robbie break down each founder type, why it happens, how it affects your team, and the practical operational changes that can reduce the friction.

What We Cover

• Why the Last Minute Hero trains their team to expect emergencies
• What overwhelms the Overwhelmed Architect
• Why the Vision Caster struggles to turn ideas into execution through other people
• What drives the Pivot Chaser to keep changing direction
• The operational gap connecting all four founder types
• Which founder type you relate to most and what to do next

About ADHD founders for ADHD founders.

Interesting in working together? You can click here to receive a free bottleneck audio session and learn more about what we do. https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/unstuckaudiosession

Diagnosed with ADHD at the start of her PhD, Skye Waterson spent years researching what actually works and writing about it for thousands of founders. The pattern she kept finding: ADHD business owners don't have a focus problem, they have an operations problem, because the whole business runs through their own head. Now she and her husband, former programmer Robert Waterson, work as fractional COOs for those founders. They find the bottleneck, hire the fix, and build the system that holds.

Subscribe to our Newsletter - https://unconventionalorganization.substack.com/

Follow us on Instagram - @unconventionalorganisation

Visit our website - https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/

You've read the books. You've tried to think your way into a better mindset. But the changes never seem to stick.

In this episode, Mick Hawes shares why he believes that's because mindset isn't something you change directly. Drawing on more than 35 years coaching business owners in high-complexity industries like custom home building, he explains why your mindset is the result of the systems, environment, habits, language, and other external influences shaping your daily life.

Skye and Mick explore why changing your environment often works better than relying on motivation, how to make decisions based on principle instead of emotion, and the practical daily ritual Mick uses to build momentum without waiting to "feel like it."

What We Cover

• Why trying to change your thinking directly often doesn't work
• How your environment affects focus and decision-making
• Why making decisions on principle beats making them on emotion
• Purpose statements vs. job descriptions for building better teams
• Mick's four-step Personal Success Ritual
• The "Dream Catcher" exercise for breaking self-imposed limitations
• Why your input ultimately determines your output

Connect With Mick Hawes

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheToolShedPodcast
Website https://www.thesiteshed.com/

About ADHD founders for ADHD founders.

Interesting in working together? You can click here to receive a free bottleneck audio session and learn more about what we do. https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/unstuckaudiosession

Diagnosed with ADHD at the start of her PhD, Skye Waterson spent years researching what actually works and writing about it for thousands of founders. The pattern she kept finding: ADHD business owners don't have a focus problem, they have an operations problem, because the whole business runs through their own head. Now she and her husband, former programmer Robert Waterson, work as fractional COOs for those founders. They find the bottleneck, hire the fix, and build the system that holds.

Subscribe to our Newsletter - https://unconventionalorganization.substack.com/

Follow us on Instagram - @unconventionalorganisation

Visit our website - https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/

You start medication or therapy, things get better, and then a few years later the old struggles creep back in. You wonder if you did something wrong.

This week, Skye Waterson is joined by Will Curb from Hacking Your ADHD for a Research Recap on the MTA study, the largest and most influential ADHD treatment trial ever conducted. Nearly 580 children were followed for 8 years to understand what happened after the initial treatment period.

Together, Skye and Will unpack why the early differences between medication, behavioral therapy, combined treatment, and community care had largely disappeared by year 8. This is not a conversation about whether medication works. It is about what happens when ADHD is treated as a one time solution instead of an ongoing condition that changes as life becomes more demanding.

What You'll Learn:

• Why the MTA study followed nearly 580 children across four treatment approaches
• Why medication use dropped to about one third of participants by year 8
• Why even participants who remained on medication lost their early advantage
• Why ADHD is better understood as a condition that requires sustained management
• What "pills don't teach skills" really means for long term ADHD management

Learn more about Will and Hacking Your ADHD:

https://hackingyouradhd.com

https://www.youtube.com/@HackingYourADHD

About ADHD founders for ADHD founders.

Interesting in working together? You can click here to receive a free bottleneck audio session and learn more about what we do. https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/unstuckaudiosession

Diagnosed with ADHD at the start of her PhD, Skye Waterson spent years researching what actually works and writing about it for thousands of founders. The pattern she kept finding: ADHD business owners don't have a focus problem, they have an operations problem, because the whole business runs through their own head. Now she and her husband, former programmer Robert Waterson, work as fractional COOs for those founders. They find the bottleneck, hire the fix, and build the system that holds.

Subscribe to our Newsletter - https://unconventionalorganization.substack.com/

Follow us on Instagram - @unconventionalorganisation

Visit our website - https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/

You've probably heard it before:

"Just start."

"You'll feel better once you begin."

"Get rid of all distractions."

If you have ADHD, you've probably also discovered that this advice often doesn't work.

In this episode, Skye and Robbie unpack the dopamine transfer deficit theory and explore why ADHD brains may not receive the same anticipatory motivation signal that helps neurotypical brains get started. They explain why so much conventional productivity advice misses the mark, why dopamine detox can backfire, and how Skye developed The Dopamine Dial to work with ADHD motivation instead of against it.

Originally inspired by Skye's most-read Substack article, this episode expands on the research, the practical framework, and what you can do instead of relying on willpower.

What You'll Learn

• Why "just start" often fails for ADHD
• The dopamine transfer deficit theory explained simply
• Why removing stimulation can make starting harder
• Why rewarding the beginning of a task matters more than rewarding the end
• How to use The Dopamine Dial to get moving without relying on motivation

Read the original Substack article:

https://unconventionalorganization.substack.com/p/an-adhd-academics-answer-to-the-dopamine

About ADHD founders for ADHD founders.

Interesting in working together? You can click here to receive a free bottleneck audio session and learn more about what we do. https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/unstuckaudiosession

Diagnosed with ADHD at the start of her PhD, Skye Waterson spent years researching what actually works and writing about it for thousands of founders. The pattern she kept finding: ADHD business owners don't have a focus problem, they have an operations problem, because the whole business runs through their own head. Now she and her husband, former programmer Robert Waterson, work as fractional COOs for those founders. They find the bottleneck, hire the fix, and build the system that holds.

Subscribe to our Newsletter - https://unconventionalorganization.substack.com/

Follow us on Instagram - @unconventionalorganisation

Visit our website - https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/

If you've ever tried to overhaul your finances in one weekend only to abandon the system a few days later, you're not alone. According to Diane Gardner, that's exactly why most financial systems fail for ADHD business owners.

Diane Gardner is a Mastery-Level Profit First Professional, certified tax strategist, certified cash flow strategist, and bestselling author who helps home service business owners build stronger cash flow and lasting profitability.

In this conversation with Skye, Diane explains why profit isn't something that's left over—it's something you intentionally build. They explore why ADHD business owners often approach money with an all-or-nothing mindset, how tiny 1% changes outperform complete financial overhauls, and why consistency beats motivation every time.

What We Cover

• Why revenue minus expenses equals profit keeps business owners living on what's left
• The simple 1% starting point that makes Profit First sustainable
• How to build a "profit muscle" instead of relying on willpower
• Why all-or-nothing thinking causes so many financial systems to fail
• The accountability habits that keep a money system working long after motivation fades
• Common profit leaks Diane sees in home service businesses

Connect With Diane Gardner

🌐 https://profitcoach4you.com

💼 https://linkedin.com/in/dianeberrethgardner

🎙️ Profitable Home Services Podcast (Apple Podcasts)

About ADHD founders for ADHD founders.

Interesting in working together? You can click here to receive a free bottleneck audio session and learn more about what we do. https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/unstuckaudiosession

Diagnosed with ADHD at the start of her PhD, Skye Waterson spent years researching what actually works and writing about it for thousands of founders. The pattern she kept finding: ADHD business owners don't have a focus problem, they have an operations problem, because the whole business runs through their own head. Now she and her husband, former programmer Robert Waterson, work as fractional COOs for those founders. They find the bottleneck, hire the fix, and build the system that holds.

Subscribe to our Newsletter - https://unconventionalorganization.substack.com/

Follow us on Instagram - @unconventionalorganisation

Visit our website - https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/

Why does your ADHD feel manageable in one situation but overwhelming in another?

In this episode, Skye and Robbie explore a little-known 1997 review paper that challenged the traditional view of ADHD. Instead of seeing ADHD traits as fixed deficits, the authors argued that traits like attention shifting, hyperactivity, and impulsivity can become strengths or struggles depending on the environment.

Together, they unpack what the research actually says, why these ideas never became mainstream, and what they might mean for entrepreneurs and business owners navigating today's fast-changing world.

What You'll Learn

• Why ADHD can feel completely different from one environment to another
• The evolutionary theory behind attention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity
• What "response-ready" environments are—and why they matter
• Why school and entrepreneurship reward different ways of thinking
• Where the paper is compelling, and where the authors acknowledge its limitations

About ADHD founders for ADHD founders.

Interesting in working together? You can click here to receive a free bottleneck audio session and learn more about what we do. https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/unstuckaudiosession

Diagnosed with ADHD at the start of her PhD, Skye Waterson spent years researching what actually works and writing about it for thousands of founders. The pattern she kept finding: ADHD business owners don't have a focus problem, they have an operations problem, because the whole business runs through their own head. Now she and her husband, former programmer Robert Waterson, work as fractional COOs for those founders. They find the bottleneck, hire the fix, and build the system that holds.

Subscribe to our Newsletter - https://unconventionalorganization.substack.com/

Follow us on Instagram - @unconventionalorganisation

Visit our website - https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/

You meet someone, become instant best friends, and a few months later they're gone. Then it happens again.

Most ADHD advice focuses on productivity, but Caroline Maguire believes we're missing something just as important: friendship. Caroline is a certified ADHD coach and the author of Friendship Skills for Neurodivergent Adults.

In this conversation, Skye and Caroline explore why ADHD brains often rush into friendships, why traditional friendship advice falls flat, and how to build relationships that actually last without burning yourself out.

You'll walk away with a practical way to spot unhealthy friendship patterns before they cost you another connection.

What We Cover

• Why the impulsive friendship cycle happens
• Why traditional friendship advice doesn't work for ADHD adults
• The Ice Cream Scoop Method for balanced give-and-take
• How to spot one-sided friendships early
• Why interest-based activities make building friendships easier
• How to slow a friendship down without ending it

Connect With Caroline Maguire

• https://carolinemaguireauthor.com/
• https://www.instagram.com/authorcarolinem/?hl=en

About ADHD founders for ADHD founders.

Interesting in working together? You can click here to receive a free bottleneck audio session and learn more about what we do. https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/unstuckaudiosession

Diagnosed with ADHD at the start of her PhD, Skye Waterson spent years researching what actually works and writing about it for thousands of founders. The pattern she kept finding: ADHD business owners don't have a focus problem, they have an operations problem, because the whole business runs through their own head. Now she and her husband, former programmer Robert Waterson, work as fractional COOs for those founders. They find the bottleneck, hire the fix, and build the system that holds.

Subscribe to our Newsletter - https://unconventionalorganization.substack.com/

Follow us on Instagram - @unconventionalorganisation

Visit our website - https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/

Meditation is one of the most common ADHD recommendations—but what does the research actually say?

In this Research Recap, Skye Waterson and William Curb examine two studies on mindfulness and ADHD. The first explores an 8-week mindfulness program for primary school children, while the second compares mindfulness with structured psychoeducation for adults with ADHD.

The children's study found improvements in attention and psychological wellbeing. The adult study found something just as interesting: learning about ADHD in a structured group setting produced many of the same benefits as mindfulness.

The takeaway isn't that meditation doesn't work. It's that there are multiple evidence-based ways to engage with your ADHD—and the best approach is the one you'll actually stick with.

What We Cover:

• What an 8-week mindfulness program changed for 7- to 8-year-old children
• How researchers measured attention and psychological wellbeing
• How mindfulness compared with psychoeducation in adults with ADHD
• Where mindfulness showed unique benefits
• Why understanding your ADHD and connecting with others may matter as much as the specific technique

Want more of Will's work?

Visit HackingYourADHD.com or subscribe on YouTube.

About ADHD founders for ADHD founders.

Interesting in working together? You can click here to receive a free bottleneck audio session and learn more about what we do. https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/unstuckaudiosession

Diagnosed with ADHD at the start of her PhD, Skye Waterson spent years researching what actually works and writing about it for thousands of founders. The pattern she kept finding: ADHD business owners don't have a focus problem, they have an operations problem, because the whole business runs through their own head. Now she and her husband, former programmer Robert Waterson, work as fractional COOs for those founders. They find the bottleneck, hire the fix, and build the system that holds.

Subscribe to our Newsletter - https://unconventionalorganization.substack.com/

Follow us on Instagram - @unconventionalorganisation

Visit our website - https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/

Every founder with ADHD has wondered whether they quit too early. A 2024 foraging study unexpectedly suggests the opposite may sometimes be true. Researchers built an experiment expecting ADHD traits to be a disadvantage, and instead discovered the average person stayed too long.

Skye and Robert explore what that means beyond the lab, why ADHD may be an advantage during the exploratory stage of entrepreneurship, why pivoting is not always a flaw, and why the same trait can become either a strength or a liability depending on the environment.

What We Cover:

• Why researchers expected ADHD traits to hurt performance, and what the data actually showed
• How "leaving too soon" turned out to be closer to the optimal strategy
• Why ADHD entrepreneurs may be overrepresented in the exploratory startup phase, but not in scaling
• The real costs of pivoting for teams, and when those costs are worth paying
• Why the same ADHD trait can be either a strength or a struggle depending on the environment

About ADHD founders for ADHD founders.

Interesting in working together? You can click here to receive a free bottleneck audio session and learn more about what we do. https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/unstuckaudiosession

Diagnosed with ADHD at the start of her PhD, Skye Waterson spent years researching what actually works and writing about it for thousands of founders. The pattern she kept finding: ADHD business owners don't have a focus problem, they have an operations problem, because the whole business runs through their own head. Now she and her husband, former programmer Robert Waterson, work as fractional COOs for those founders. They find the bottleneck, hire the fix, and build the system that holds.

Subscribe to our Newsletter - https://unconventionalorganization.substack.com/

Follow us on Instagram - @unconventionalorganisation

Visit our website - https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/

She stared in the mirror one night, still wearing the workout clothes she'd put on that morning, and realized she couldn't remember if she'd had a sip of water all day.

Years before being diagnosed with ADHD, Sharon Pope was successfully leading startups while privately struggling with the basics of everyday life.

So she built the tool she wished she'd had: an AI task manager that follows up like a person instead of another notification.

In this conversation, Sharon shares how that breaking point became Shelpful, why she still relies on it every day, and what she's learned about building a company around a problem she still hasn't completely solved.

What We Cover

• Why doctors dismissed her ADHD because she was "too successful"
• The night she built the first Shelpful prototype in 24 hours
• Why human accountability didn't scale into a business
• How "Mega Remind" follows up until a task actually gets done
• Why she still depends on the product she built herself

Connect With Sharon Pope

Website: https://shelpful.com

Instagram: @shelpful

About ADHD founders for ADHD founders.

Interesting in working together? You can click here to receive a free bottleneck audio session and learn more about what we do. https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/unstuckaudiosession

Diagnosed with ADHD at the start of her PhD, Skye Waterson spent years researching what actually works and writing about it for thousands of founders. The pattern she kept finding: ADHD business owners don't have a focus problem, they have an operations problem, because the whole business runs through their own head. Now she and her husband, former programmer Robert Waterson, work as fractional COOs for those founders. They find the bottleneck, hire the fix, and build the system that holds.

Subscribe to our Newsletter - https://unconventionalorganization.substack.com/

Follow us on Instagram - @unconventionalorganisation

Visit our website - https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/

You keep rereading the same task on your list. You know it matters. You still haven't started.

If that sounds familiar, it probably isn't a motivation problem. It may be because you're treating a project like it's a task.

In this episode, Skye and Robbie unpack why hidden complexity makes seemingly simple tasks feel impossible, why the ADHD brain mistakes importance for urgency, and how giving tasks a trusted "home" can dramatically reduce overwhelm. They also share practical strategies for breaking projects into manageable steps without falling into perfectionism or all-day hyperfocus. These ideas are grounded in the episode's central insight: urgency often comes from the fear of losing the task—not the deadline itself.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why some "tasks" are actually projects in disguise
• How hidden complexity leads to procrastination and overwhelm
• Why breaking a project down is progress—not procrastination
• The real reason everything starts to feel urgent with ADHD
• How to build a system you actually trust to hold your work
• What to do when you've stalled on a project and don't know how to restart

Whether you're running a business, managing a team, or simply trying to get through your to-do list, this episode will help you understand why certain tasks feel so much harder than they should—and what you can do about it.

About ADHD founders for ADHD founders.

Interesting in working together? You can click here to receive a free bottleneck audio session and learn more about what we do. https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/unstuckaudiosession

Diagnosed with ADHD at the start of her PhD, Skye Waterson spent years researching what actually works and writing about it for thousands of founders. The pattern she kept finding: ADHD business owners don't have a focus problem, they have an operations problem, because the whole business runs through their own head. Now she and her husband, former programmer Robert Waterson, work as fractional COOs for those founders. They find the bottleneck, hire the fix, and build the system that holds.

Subscribe to our Newsletter - https://unconventionalorganization.substack.com/

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If planning your week, remembering the small stuff, or keeping up with admin feels harder than the actual work, you're not imagining it.

This week, Skye sits down with Mike Legett, an ADHD coach and executive functioning specialist who was diagnosed with ADHD as a child. Mike studied molecular genetics at Emory before leaving graduate school when its vague, paperwork-heavy demands became unworkable. She went on to build a career as an internationally recognized swing and blues dance instructor and now helps adults with ADHD build systems that work with their brains instead of against them through the Center for Living Well with ADHD.

Together, Skye and Mike unpack why ADHD isn't a lack of effort. It is often a mismatch between the person and the systems they are expected to work within. They explore why planning, memory, time management, and admin can become the biggest sources of stress, and what actually changes when you stop relying on willpower alone.

If you've ever wondered why the "boring parts" of running a business seem to drain you more than the work you love, this conversation will leave you with a clearer understanding of what's really happening and what you can do to make life easier.

What We Cover

• Why planning and admin create so much friction for ADHD brains
• How paperwork and unclear expectations led Mike to leave academia
• Why "just push through it" usually makes things worse
• What changed when Mike stopped trying to manage everything alone
• How better systems reduce mental load without requiring perfect discipline
• Why working with your brain beats fighting against it

Connect With Mike Legett

https://www.mikelegett.com/

About ADHD founders for ADHD founders.

Interesting in working together? You can click here to receive a free bottleneck audio session and learn more about what we do. https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/unstuckaudiosession

Diagnosed with ADHD at the start of her PhD, Skye Waterson spent years researching what actually works and writing about it for thousands of founders. The pattern she kept finding: ADHD business owners don't have a focus problem, they have an operations problem, because the whole business runs through their own head. Now she and her husband, former programmer Robert Waterson, work as fractional COOs for those founders. They find the bottleneck, hire the fix, and build the system that holds.

Subscribe to our Newsletter - https://unconventionalorganization.substack.com/

Follow us on Instagram - @unconventionalorganisation

Visit our website - https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/

Everyone says people with ADHD have "time blindness." But what does that actually mean?

In this Research Recap, Skye Waterson and Will Curb review a decade of research (2012–2022) on time perception in adults with ADHD. Rather than treating time as one skill, the research separates it into three: estimating how long something will take, reproducing a duration, and managing time day to day.

One finding stands out: many ADHD struggles begin with inaccurate time estimation. If your brain can't reliably predict how long a task will take, missed deadlines, last-minute work, and chronic lateness start to make much more sense. Skye and Will also explore what the research suggests actually helps—from visual timers and external cues to breaking projects into smaller pieces that are easier to estimate.

What You'll Learn

• Why ADHD affects time estimation, time reproduction, and time management differently
• The difference between circadian, interval, and millisecond timing
• Why visual timers often work better than clocks
• Why giving yourself "more time" usually isn't the solution
• How breaking projects into smaller steps improves time estimation
• Why external accountability is often more effective than self-imposed deadlines

Learn more from Will at HackingYourADHD.com or subscribe to the Hacking Your ADHD podcast.

About ADHD founders for ADHD founders.

Interesting in working together? You can click here to receive a free bottleneck audio session and learn more about what we do. https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/unstuckaudiosession

Diagnosed with ADHD at the start of her PhD, Skye Waterson spent years researching what actually works and writing about it for thousands of founders. The pattern she kept finding: ADHD business owners don't have a focus problem, they have an operations problem, because the whole business runs through their own head. Now she and her husband, former programmer Robert Waterson, work as fractional COOs for those founders. They find the bottleneck, hire the fix, and build the system that holds.

Subscribe to our Newsletter - https://unconventionalorganization.substack.com/

Follow us on Instagram - @unconventionalorganisation

Visit our website - https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/

You don't need another productivity hack. You need systems that still work when your brain doesn't.

Cas Aarssen built the Clutterbug Method, hosted HGTV's Hot Mess House, and grew a global brand by stopping the fight against her ADHD and designing her home and business around how she naturally works.

In this conversation, she shares the hard lessons that came from burnout, why traditional organizing advice kept failing her, and how building systems around real habits instead of ideal ones changed everything. From running a team without endless SOPs to creating spaces that stay functional even on hard days, Cas explains what it actually takes to build systems that last.

If you've ever felt like you're constantly rebuilding your life from scratch, this episode offers a more sustainable way forward.

What We Cover

• Why burnout pushed her to rethink the way she worked
• Building systems around your actual habits instead of your ideal self
• The Clutterbug Method and why one organizing style doesn't fit everyone
• Delegating through ownership instead of endless SOPs
• Creating a home and business that work with an ADHD brain, not against it

Connect With Cas Aarssen

https://clutterbug.me/what-clutterbug-are-you-test

About ADHD founders for ADHD founders.

Interesting in working together? You can click here to receive a free bottleneck audio session and learn more about what we do. https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/unstuckaudiosession

Diagnosed with ADHD at the start of her PhD, Skye Waterson spent years researching what actually works and writing about it for thousands of founders. The pattern she kept finding: ADHD business owners don't have a focus problem, they have an operations problem, because the whole business runs through their own head. Now she and her husband, former programmer Robert Waterson, work as fractional COOs for those founders. They find the bottleneck, hire the fix, and build the system that holds.

Subscribe to our Newsletter - https://unconventionalorganization.substack.com/

Follow us on Instagram - @unconventionalorganisation

Visit our website - https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/

You've been told you pivot too fast. This research suggests your timing might be right.

A 2024 Royal Society paper tested how long people stay in a depleting resource before moving to a new one, using a model from ecology called the marginal value theorem. The prediction was that ADHD traits would cause people to leave too soon.

The data found the opposite. ADHD participants left patches closer to the mathematically optimal point and ended up with more total reward. Skye and Robbie break down the bias built into the original prediction and what it means for telling the difference between a smart pivot and flailing.

What We Cover:

• The 2024 study and the foraging game researchers built
• The marginal value theorem and what "optimal" leaving looks like
• Why the prediction assumed ADHD would underperform
• What the actual results showed about exit timing
• How to tell a strategic pivot from impulsive flailing

About ADHD founders for ADHD founders.

Interesting in working together? You can click here to receive a free bottleneck audio session and learn more about what we do. https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/unstuckaudiosession

Diagnosed with ADHD at the start of her PhD, Skye Waterson spent years researching what actually works and writing about it for thousands of founders. The pattern she kept finding: ADHD business owners don't have a focus problem, they have an operations problem, because the whole business runs through their own head. Now she and her husband, former programmer Robert Waterson, work as fractional COOs for those founders. They find the bottleneck, hire the fix, and build the system that holds.

Subscribe to our Newsletter - https://unconventionalorganization.substack.com/

Follow us on Instagram - @unconventionalorganisation

Visit our website - https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/

You get bored with the offer that's working, so you go build a new one. James Wedmore has run the same program and the same live event for ten years and says that's the entire reason it grew. He explains the difference between a real "this isn't working" and a feeling that just shows up the moment things get hard. He also breaks down why he became a bottleneck in his own business, what changed when he got specific about role clarity, and why he keeps his identity and worth separate from his revenue numbers.

What We Cover:

• Why James calls novelty-chasing "first gear" and how it traps founders for years
• The test for telling a real pivot signal from a hard-moment feeling
• What changed when his business went from $2M to $10M in one year
• Why role clarity exposed the real reason he couldn't delegate
• How separating his identity from his revenue numbers changed everything

Connect With James Wedmore
https://www.jameswedmoretraining.com/

https://www.instagram.com/jameswedmore/?hl=en

About ADHD founders for ADHD founders.

Interesting in working together? You can click here to receive a free bottleneck audio session and learn more about what we do. https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/unstuckaudiosession

Diagnosed with ADHD at the start of her PhD, Skye Waterson spent years researching what actually works and writing about it for thousands of founders. The pattern she kept finding: ADHD business owners don't have a focus problem, they have an operations problem, because the whole business runs through their own head. Now she and her husband, former programmer Robert Waterson, work as fractional COOs for those founders. They find the bottleneck, hire the fix, and build the system that holds.

Subscribe to our Newsletter - https://unconventionalorganization.substack.com/

Follow us on Instagram - @unconventionalorganisation

Visit our website - https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/

You're exhausted all day, then suddenly wired at 10pm. That's not random. Research suggests it's tied to a delayed circadian rhythm that's common in ADHD.

In this Research Recap, Skye and Will unpack a paper examining ADHD as a circadian rhythm disorder. This isn't a list of sleep hygiene tips. It's a look at what's actually different in the ADHD body's clock, and why typical advice misses it.

Understanding the delay changes how you plan your day, not just your bedtime.

What We Cover:

• Why energy peaks late even when sleep is the goal
• Daytime melatonin levels found in kids with ADHD
• How light therapy and timing affect circadian reset
• Melatonin dosing research (less works better than more)
• What ultradian rhythms are and how they differ from circadian ones

Want more of Will's work?

Visit HackingYourADHD.com or subscribe on YouTube.

About ADHD founders for ADHD founders.

Interesting in working together? You can click here to receive a free bottleneck audio session and learn more about what we do. https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/unstuckaudiosession

Diagnosed with ADHD at the start of her PhD, Skye Waterson spent years researching what actually works and writing about it for thousands of founders. The pattern she kept finding: ADHD business owners don't have a focus problem, they have an operations problem, because the whole business runs through their own head. Now she and her husband, former programmer Robert Waterson, work as fractional COOs for those founders. They find the bottleneck, hire the fix, and build the system that holds.

Subscribe to our Newsletter - https://unconventionalorganization.substack.com/

Follow us on Instagram - @unconventionalorganisation

Visit our website - https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/

You've reread the same paragraph three times and still couldn't tell anyone what it said.

Skye and Robbie return to the DSM-5 for Part 2 of their criteria breakdown, this time on criterion B: difficulty sustaining attention. They work through real examples, rereading pages, checking out of meetings, losing focus on audiobooks even at double speed, and land on why none of it happens during a good movie or video game.

The conversation distinguishes between attention that drifts because a task is boring and attention that locks in because something is stimulating, and why that distinction matters more than effort or discipline. If you've ever wondered why you can sit through eight hours of a game but not eight minutes of a report, this explains the mechanism.

What We Cover:

• Why criterion B shows up in reading, meetings, and lectures specifically
• Why audiobooks don't solve the problem, even at 2x speed
• Why games and gripping movies don't trigger the same drift
• The difference between voluntary distraction and involuntary attention loss
• Why removing stimulation (a quiet room) often backfires

About ADHD founders for ADHD founders.

Interesting in working together? You can click here to receive a free bottleneck audio session and learn more about what we do. https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/unstuckaudiosession

Diagnosed with ADHD at the start of her PhD, Skye Waterson spent years researching what actually works and writing about it for thousands of founders. The pattern she kept finding: ADHD business owners don't have a focus problem, they have an operations problem, because the whole business runs through their own head. Now she and her husband, former programmer Robert Waterson, work as fractional COOs for those founders. They find the bottleneck, hire the fix, and build the system that holds.

Subscribe to our Newsletter - https://unconventionalorganization.substack.com/

Follow us on Instagram - @unconventionalorganisation

Visit our website - https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/

You spend years building workarounds for your own brain, then realize you could build your company the same way.

Chris Wang did exactly that.

As co-founder and CEO of Shimmer, an ADHD coaching platform that has delivered more than 90,000 coaching sessions, Chris was diagnosed with ADHD at 28 while building the company. Instead of treating her personal systems and her business systems as separate problems, she applied the same coaching frameworks, structure, automation, and strength-based development directly to how Shimmer operates.

In this conversation, Chris shares what that looked like in practice: what she automated, what stayed human, how she structured fundraising as an ADHD founder, and why she stopped trying to build the company differently than she was learning to manage herself.

Connect With Chris Wang

Chris is on instagram: @adhd.christal and you can learn more about Shimmer at www.shimmer.care

What We Cover

• Why Chris applied her ADHD coaching framework to company operations
• The automation that removed admin work for coaches
• How she decides what should stay human and what should be automated
• Her fundraising system for managing outreach, follow-ups, and rejection
• Why strength-based delegation changed how her team works
• How personal ADHD systems became Shimmer's operating model

About ADHD founders for ADHD founders.

Interesting in working together? You can click here to receive a free bottleneck audio session and learn more about what we do. https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/unstuckaudiosession

Diagnosed with ADHD at the start of her PhD, Skye Waterson spent years researching what actually works and writing about it for thousands of founders. The pattern she kept finding: ADHD business owners don't have a focus problem, they have an operations problem, because the whole business runs through their own head. Now she and her husband, former programmer Robert Waterson, work as fractional COOs for those founders. They find the bottleneck, hire the fix, and build the system that holds.

Subscribe to our Newsletter - https://unconventionalorganization.substack.com/

Follow us on Instagram - @unconventionalorganisation

Visit our website - https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/

You've read the ADHD criteria a dozen times and still aren't sure if you actually qualify.
Skye and Robbie Waterson and sit down with the DSM-5 itself and read through the inattentive criteria line by line, the same list a clinician would use for an actual diagnosis. They score themselves against each one in real time, and they don't agree on most of them.
The conversation covers why the criteria were written for children and then loosely translated for adults, why "close attention to detail" means something different for someone who triple checks every payment versus someone who doesn't notice errors at all, and why your own family's version of "normal" can hide a pattern you've had your whole life. Skye also explains the difference between primarily inattentive, primarily hyperactive, and combined type, and why subclinical scores still matter even if you never meet the full six-symptom threshold.
If you've ever wondered whether you "really" have ADHD or just relate to some of it, this episode shows you exactly what's being measured and why that question is harder to answer than it sounds.
What We Cover:

• The actual nine inattentive criteria from the DSM-5, read directly from the manual
• Why the same criterion can apply to one person and not the other, even with shared ADHD
• How the criteria shift between children and adults
• Why family normal can mask a lifelong pattern
• The difference between subclinical and clinical, and why it still matters

About ADHD founders for ADHD founders.

Interesting in working together? You can click here to receive a free bottleneck audio session and learn more about what we do. https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/unstuckaudiosession

Diagnosed with ADHD at the start of her PhD, Skye Waterson spent years researching what actually works and writing about it for thousands of founders. The pattern she kept finding: ADHD business owners don't have a focus problem, they have an operations problem, because the whole business runs through their own head. Now she and her husband, former programmer Robert Waterson, work as fractional COOs for those founders. They find the bottleneck, hire the fix, and build the system that holds.

Subscribe to our Newsletter - https://unconventionalorganization.substack.com/

Follow us on Instagram - @unconventionalorganisation

Visit our website - https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/

Most productivity advice for ADHD is written for people who just need a nudge. If you have ADHD, you need something more honest than that.

Ari Tuckman holds a PsyD and an MBA, has authored five books on ADHD, and has spent over 40,000 hours in clinical work with adults. He co-chairs the largest ADHD conference in the US and has been quoted in the New York Times, CNN, and the Washington Post.

In this conversation, Ari breaks down what productivity actually means for ADHD brains, why "don't get in trouble" is not a good enough goal, and how business owners can use external structure and the right people to focus on where they add the most value.

Connect With Ari Tuckman:  www.DrAriTuckman.com.

What We Cover

• Why simplistic productivity advice fails ADHD adults and what to look for instead
• The difference between managing ADHD to survive versus building a life worth having
• How to hire an assistant who will act as external executive function, not just a scheduler
• The role of reputation-building when ADHD makes consistency hard
• Ari's "things lead to things" principle and how it applies to business growth

About ADHD founders for ADHD founders.

Interesting in working together? You can click here to receive a free bottleneck audio session and learn more about what we do. https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/unstuckaudiosession

Diagnosed with ADHD at the start of her PhD, Skye Waterson spent years researching what actually works and writing about it for thousands of founders. The pattern she kept finding: ADHD business owners don't have a focus problem, they have an operations problem, because the whole business runs through their own head. Now she and her husband, former programmer Robert Waterson, work as fractional COOs for those founders. They find the bottleneck, hire the fix, and build the system that holds.

Subscribe to our Newsletter - https://unconventionalorganization.substack.com/

Follow us on Instagram - @unconventionalorganisation

Visit our website - https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/

Running your business on anxiety feels like productivity. It isn't. It's a system built on urgency, and it burns out fast.

Research suggests that goal-focused interventions can reduce anxiety in adults with ADHD. What they don't appear to do is meaningfully improve executive functioning. Skye and Will break down a Norwegian randomized controlled trial on goal management training, what it found, and why that gap between feeling less anxious and actually getting more done matters for how you run your work.

What We Cover

• Why using anxiety as a task manager is a direct path to burnout
• What the research found about goal management training and anxiety reduction
• Why the study's results showed little change in executive functioning despite structured intervention
• The difference between reducing mental load and building systems that improve output
• What's missing from most ADHD support frameworks when it comes to actual mechanics

Want more of Will's work? Visit HackingYourADHD.com or subscribe on YouTube.

About ADHD founders for ADHD founders.

Interesting in working together? You can click here to receive a free bottleneck audio session and learn more about what we do. https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/unstuckaudiosession

Diagnosed with ADHD at the start of her PhD, Skye Waterson spent years researching what actually works and writing about it for thousands of founders. The pattern she kept finding: ADHD business owners don't have a focus problem, they have an operations problem, because the whole business runs through their own head. Now she and her husband, former programmer Robert Waterson, work as fractional COOs for those founders. They find the bottleneck, hire the fix, and build the system that holds.

Subscribe to our Newsletter - https://unconventionalorganization.substack.com/

Follow us on Instagram - @unconventionalorganisation

Visit our website - https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/

You've launched things that seemed solid, only to watch them unravel for reasons that felt obvious afterward. That's not a judgment problem. For ADHD founders, retrospective clarity comes naturally. The pre-mortem is a tool that pulls that clarity forward, to the start of a project, when fixing problems is still cheap.

Skye and Robbie break down the pre-mortem method, developed by cognitive psychologist Gary Klein and later popularized by Daniel Kahneman, and explain why it fits ADHD-wired brains in particular. ADHD founders tend to communicate broad vision without the full set of dependencies, leaving teams misaligned and triggering micromanagement loops. They're also prone to hyperfocused tunneling in the wrong direction. The pre-mortem interrupts both patterns before they cost you.

They also cover how to use it as a minimum viable test. Before a prototype, before a hire, before a pivot, spend an afternoon stress-testing the idea. Sometimes the right output is: don't do this.

What We Cover

• Why ADHD founders naturally access retrospective clarity, and how to use it at project start instead of after the fact
• How incomplete vision communication creates micromanagement loops, and what the pre-mortem does to close that gap
• The novelty bias and hyperfocus tunneling problem, and why planning for failure acts as a directional check
• How to run a pre-mortem solo, with a team, or with AI, including a specific reverse prompting approach
• Why a half-day pre-mortem with AI or a mentor counts as your minimum viable test before any build

About ADHD founders for ADHD founders.

Interesting in working together? You can click here to receive a free bottleneck audio session and learn more about what we do. https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/unstuckaudiosession

Diagnosed with ADHD at the start of her PhD, Skye Waterson spent years researching what actually works and writing about it for thousands of founders. The pattern she kept finding: ADHD business owners don't have a focus problem, they have an operations problem, because the whole business runs through their own head. Now she and her husband, former programmer Robert Waterson, work as fractional COOs for those founders. They find the bottleneck, hire the fix, and build the system that holds.

Subscribe to our Newsletter - https://unconventionalorganization.substack.com/

Follow us on Instagram - @unconventionalorganisation

Visit our website - https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/

Sitting in a parking lot after leaving the bankruptcy attorney's office, $600,000 in debt written off, home gone, Galel Fajardo told himself no one would ever hire him again.

Galel Fajardo is a business coach, digital marketing consultant, and fractional CMO with 23 years of entrepreneurial experience and a Master's in Performance Psychology. He specializes in helping high-performing entrepreneurs, especially those with ADHD, whose businesses look successful from the outside and feel like a prison from the inside. His clients have doubled their revenue, with one scaling from $2.5M to $10.1M in three years, not by working harder, but by building the right structure first. He coaches from the only credential that actually matters: he has lived every problem he teaches.

What he learned through that experience, his ADHD diagnosis, and years of coaching shapes how he thinks about execution, delegation, and the internal stories that stall growth.

This episode covers the specific frameworks Galel uses in his own business and with his clients.

What We Cover:

• Why the systems that work in your 20s tend to fail once a business reaches real complexity and what to replace them with
• How Galel uses AI as a ruthless critic rather than a yes-machine to pressure-test ideas before committing resources
• The structural reason ADHD brains are strong activators but need an external check to finish and execute
• Why transparency about ADHD with your team tends to improve delegation rather than undermine authority
• How Galel identifies the belief underneath an activation problem and works with clients to shift it

Connect With Galel Fajardo Website: https://www.galel.com

About ADHD founders for ADHD founders.

Interesting in working together? You can click here to receive a free bottleneck audio session and learn more about what we do. https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/unstuckaudiosession

Diagnosed with ADHD at the start of her PhD, Skye Waterson spent years researching what actually works and writing about it for thousands of founders. The pattern she kept finding: ADHD business owners don't have a focus problem, they have an operations problem, because the whole business runs through their own head. Now she and her husband, former programmer Robert Waterson, work as fractional COOs for those founders. They find the bottleneck, hire the fix, and build the system that holds.

Subscribe to our Newsletter - https://unconventionalorganization.substack.com/

Follow us on Instagram - @unconventionalorganisation

Visit our website - https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/

You've built systems before. You probably built them well. The problem wasn't creating them. The problem was maintaining them once the novelty wore off.

Wednesday's episode explored why ADHD founders often struggle with operational consistency. This episode covers the structural solution.

The systems integrator role sits between the ADHD founder and the rest of the business. It captures ideas, filters priorities, protects the team from constant pivots, and builds the documentation that turns founder insight into repeatable execution.

Skye and Robbie break down the four functions of the role, how it differs from an EA or COO, how it scales as a business grows, and the hiring mistakes that cause founders to recreate the same bottlenecks they're trying to solve.

What We Cover

• The four functions of a systems integrator and how they differ from a standard EA or COO role
• How raw creative output gets processed through pre-agreed prioritization filters before it reaches the team
• Why the role acts as a gravitational buffer against novelty-seeking attention wells pulling the team off course
• How the role scales from solopreneur to COO-led team
• The three hiring mistakes ADHD founders make when trying to solve the structural problem

About ADHD founders for ADHD founders.

Interesting in working together? You can click here to receive a free bottleneck audio session and learn more about what we do. https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/unstuckaudiosession

Diagnosed with ADHD at the start of her PhD, Skye Waterson spent years researching what actually works and writing about it for thousands of founders. The pattern she kept finding: ADHD business owners don't have a focus problem, they have an operations problem, because the whole business runs through their own head. Now she and her husband, former programmer Robert Waterson, work as fractional COOs for those founders. They find the bottleneck, hire the fix, and build the system that holds.

Subscribe to our Newsletter - https://unconventionalorganization.substack.com/

Follow us on Instagram - @unconventionalorganisation

Visit our website - https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/

Your business is doing well. Momentum is real, clients are happy, and structure feels like the enemy right now. But if you turn that camera around and look past the founder, you find a stressed team running on broken systems, one sick day away from everything slowing to a stop.

Research on ADHD traits and project management suggests operational effectiveness, specifically goal setting, milestone tracking, and resource allocation, drops measurably when ADHD traits are present. The mediating factor is not inability. It is role stress: the compounding weight of having more tasks than your brain can hold and no clear sense of what matters most.

This episode breaks down what the research found and what it means for ADHD founders building a team. Friday covers the practical response.

What We Cover

• Why teammates rated people with higher ADHD traits lower on operational effectiveness, including goal clarity, milestone mapping, and resource allocation
• What role stress is and why the research found it significantly mediates the relationship between ADHD and project management performance
• Why the disorganization doesn't stay at the founder level. It cascades onto the team below.
• How the creative strengths in ADHD are real, and why the research suggests they need a specific kind of support to work
• Why entrepreneurship gives ADHD founders a structural option that teachers, nurses, and academics never get

About ADHD founders for ADHD founders.

Interesting in working together? You can click here to receive a free bottleneck audio session and learn more about what we do. https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/unstuckaudiosession

Diagnosed with ADHD at the start of her PhD, Skye Waterson spent years researching what actually works and writing about it for thousands of founders. The pattern she kept finding: ADHD business owners don't have a focus problem, they have an operations problem, because the whole business runs through their own head. Now she and her husband, former programmer Robert Waterson, work as fractional COOs for those founders. They find the bottleneck, hire the fix, and build the system that holds.

Subscribe to our Newsletter - https://unconventionalorganization.substack.com/

Follow us on Instagram - @unconventionalorganisation

Visit our website - https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/

You've tried the calendars, the timers, the hacks. They work for two weeks and then stop. Jenna Free says that's not a discipline problem. It's a regulation problem.

Jenna is a counselor for ADHD with ADHD, author of The Simple Guide to ADHD Regulation, and has worked in-depth with over 1,000 people through her ADHD Regulation Method. Her position is direct: dysregulation is not a fixed trait of the ADHD brain. It is a learned response to a lifetime of friction. And it is the reason every other system eventually fails.

We cover her three-level regulation framework, why she skips meditation and breathing exercises entirely, how dysregulated beliefs quietly block delegation and visibility in your business, and what physical signs most ADHD business owners have normalized as just a Tuesday.

What We Cover

• Why regulation has to come before any other system or tool
• The three levels Jenna works on: nervous system, thoughts and beliefs, behavior
• Why negative self-talk and urgency feel like they work, and what they actually cost you
• How dysregulation shows up as delegation avoidance and RSD in business
• The first practical step to start noticing and interrupting dysregulation today

Connect With Jenna Free 
Book Title: THE SIMPLE GUIDE TO ADHD REGULATION: The Secret to Finding Balance, Getting Things Done, and Enjoying

Social Media Links & Show Notes:

• TikTok: @adhdwithjennafree ; www.tiktok.com/@adhdwithjennafree
• Instagram: @adhdwithjennafree ; www.instagram.com/adhdwithjennafree
• Podcast: ADHD with Jenna Free; https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/adhd-with-jenna-free/id1801356817
• Website: https://www.adhdwithjennafree.com/

Here is the link for the free PDF I mentioned www.adhdwithjennafree.com/adhdguide

About ADHD founders for ADHD founders.

Interesting in working together? You can click here to receive a free bottleneck audio session and learn more about what we do. https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/unstuckaudiosession

Diagnosed with ADHD at the start of her PhD, Skye Waterson spent years researching what actually works and writing about it for thousands of founders. The pattern she kept finding: ADHD business owners don't have a focus problem, they have an operations problem, because the whole business runs through their own head. Now she and her husband, former programmer Robert Waterson, work as fractional COOs for those founders. They find the bottleneck, hire the fix, and build the system that holds.

Subscribe to our Newsletter - https://unconventionalorganization.substack.com/

Follow us on Instagram - @unconventionalorganisation

Visit our website - https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/

Why do so many people start ADHD medication... and then quietly stop within a year or two?

In this Research Recap, Skye and Will unpack a systematic literature review examining why over half of all patients discontinue or significantly reduce ADHD medication within 2 to 3 years of starting.

This episode isn't about whether you should take medication.

It's about something more practical: what the data actually found about why people stop, where expert assumptions conflict with what patients reported, and how access barriers, drug holidays, and whether someone chose treatment for themselves all appear to shape long-term adherence.

If you've ever let a refill lapse and told yourself you'd sort it later, this episode will feel uncomfortably familiar.

What we cover:

• Why over half of patients discontinue ADHD medication within 2 to 3 years, and what the data found as the top reasons
• The gap between what experts assumed drove discontinuation and what patients actually reported
• How drug holidays, sometimes recommended by doctors, complicated how researchers tracked real adherence
• Why access barriers like pharmacy friction, moving states, and losing a prescriber show up as a real factor
• What the research suggests about people who sought treatment themselves versus those pushed into it

Want more of Will's work? Go check out HackingYourADHD.com or subscribe to his YouTube channel.

About ADHD founders for ADHD founders.

Interesting in working together? You can click here to receive a free bottleneck audio session and learn more about what we do. https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/unstuckaudiosession

Diagnosed with ADHD at the start of her PhD, Skye Waterson spent years researching what actually works and writing about it for thousands of founders. The pattern she kept finding: ADHD business owners don't have a focus problem, they have an operations problem, because the whole business runs through their own head. Now she and her husband, former programmer Robert Waterson, work as fractional COOs for those founders. They find the bottleneck, hire the fix, and build the system that holds.

Subscribe to our Newsletter - https://unconventionalorganization.substack.com/

Follow us on Instagram - @unconventionalorganisation

Visit our website - https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/

You're generating real revenue. But every time you open your banking app, your brain shuts down and you close it again.

Nicole Stanley is the founder of Arise Financial Coaching and creator of the Money Momentum Method. Late-diagnosed with ADHD at 30, scoring in the 99th percentile for severity, she built a financial method that turned out to be designed for ADHD brains before she knew she had one. She crossed $250,000 in revenue last year and has helped clients save an average of $40,000 annually.

Nicole explains why standard budgeting fails ADHD brains, why most business owners are solving the wrong financial problem, and how her method works without willpower or expense tracking.

She also walks through her five-problem financial diagnostic. Less than 10% of people actually have a spending problem. Most are misdiagnosing themselves entirely.

If avoidance has been your default financial strategy, this conversation gives you a different place to start.

What We Cover

• Why budgeting fails ADHD brains - it looks backwards and produces shame, not behaviour change
• The five financial problems and why most business owners are fixing the wrong one
• How the Money Momentum Method was ADHD-designed before Nicole knew she had ADHD
• The curiosity framework: look at your numbers as if they belong to a friend
• Why financial problems are solvable problems, not evidence of who you are

About ADHD founders for ADHD founders.

Interesting in working together? You can click here to receive a free bottleneck audio session and learn more about what we do. https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/unstuckaudiosession

Diagnosed with ADHD at the start of her PhD, Skye Waterson spent years researching what actually works and writing about it for thousands of founders. The pattern she kept finding: ADHD business owners don't have a focus problem, they have an operations problem, because the whole business runs through their own head. Now she and her husband, former programmer Robert Waterson, work as fractional COOs for those founders. They find the bottleneck, hire the fix, and build the system that holds.

Subscribe to our Newsletter - https://unconventionalorganization.substack.com/

Follow us on Instagram - @unconventionalorganisation

Visit our website - https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/

You know what your most important work is. You still spend the first four hours of the day doing everything else.

Casey Neistat recently posted a video called *Navigating the Matrix* showing how he organizes his workday as a creator with ADHD. He tracks his tasks in real time, explains the system he uses to manage everything, and ends by accepting the chaos as part of the deal.

Skye and Robert disagree with that conclusion.

In this standalone episode, they break down the hidden problem underneath Casey’s system — why ADHD business owners keep ending up trapped in urgent work, why prioritization systems collapse under pressure, and why the issue is usually structural, not motivational.

What We Cover:

- Why ADHD urgency bias overrides even well-designed prioritization systems
- How Casey’s four-color framework mirrors the Eisenhower Matrix — and where both break down
- Why task capture and task prioritization are two completely different cognitive jobs
- The real reason everything keeps ending up in the “urgent” category
- Why delegation is usually delayed far too long by ADHD business owners
- What changes when low-value operational tasks are consistently removed from your plate
- Why “being good under pressure” quietly creates long-term business chaos

This episode is less about productivity tactics and more about the hidden operating system underneath ADHD work patterns.

About ADHD founders for ADHD founders.

Interesting in working together? You can click here to receive a free bottleneck audio session and learn more about what we do. https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/unstuckaudiosession

Diagnosed with ADHD at the start of her PhD, Skye Waterson spent years researching what actually works and writing about it for thousands of founders. The pattern she kept finding: ADHD business owners don't have a focus problem, they have an operations problem, because the whole business runs through their own head. Now she and her husband, former programmer Robert Waterson, work as fractional COOs for those founders. They find the bottleneck, hire the fix, and build the system that holds.

Subscribe to our Newsletter - https://unconventionalorganization.substack.com/

Follow us on Instagram - @unconventionalorganisation

Visit our website - https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/

You built something people love. Running the business of it is a different problem entirely.

Dani Donovan is the creator of The Anti-Planner, a self-published ADHD productivity workbook that generated over $1 million in its first year and has now sold more than 115,000 copies with a 4.9-star rating. She built it without a business plan, without onboarding documents, and without a team that had done any of this before.

In this conversation, Dani explains how a single ADHD comic from 2018 nearly never got posted, how a business coach’s field guide exercise became the product she actually needed, and what happened when she had to tell 28,000 pre-order customers their books were running late.

We also get into the part nobody warns you about: what hiring looks like when there are no SOPs, no infrastructure, and no clear handoff between the creative work and the operational side of the business.

This is a conversation about the hidden cost of scaling creative ADHD-led businesses — and why building the thing is often easier than building the systems around it.

What We Cover:

• How Dani designed The Anti-Planner around what she actually used instead of what productivity systems were “supposed” to look like
• Why she turned down traditional publishing and protected creative control over the product
• The pre-order strategy that generated 42,000 orders across two launches
• What happened when she had to email 28,000 customers about delayed orders — and why almost nobody asked for refunds
• Why scaling an ADHD-led business gets operationally difficult long before it looks successful from the outside

Connect with Dani Donovan:

• Website: https://anti-planner.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danidonovan
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@danidonovan

About ADHD founders for ADHD founders.

Interesting in working together? You can click here to receive a free bottleneck audio session and learn more about what we do. https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/unstuckaudiosession

Diagnosed with ADHD at the start of her PhD, Skye Waterson spent years researching what actually works and writing about it for thousands of founders. The pattern she kept finding: ADHD business owners don't have a focus problem, they have an operations problem, because the whole business runs through their own head. Now she and her husband, former programmer Robert Waterson, work as fractional COOs for those founders. They find the bottleneck, hire the fix, and build the system that holds.

Subscribe to our Newsletter - https://unconventionalorganization.substack.com/

Follow us on Instagram - @unconventionalorganisation

Visit our website - https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/

Nobody agreed on what done looked like. The handover happened anyway. That is where it fell apart.

This episode is the practical follow-up to Wednesday. Skye and Robbie walk through the specific hiring and handover process they use with ADHD founders, including what they have lost money figuring out so you do not have to.

The hiring side covers why video applications and paid test projects replace interviews, how to write a role description that filters for initiative rather than compliance, and what it looks like when you have found the right person versus when you are about to make an expensive mistake.

The handover side covers the 10-80-10 rule, writing a one-sentence definition of done before anything starts, naming your re-entry triggers upfront, building a decision boundary so the team knows what comes back to you and what does not, and scheduling check-ins so the anxiety has somewhere to go other than a late-night message.

They also cover the two failure modes when none of this is set up: the founder absorbs everything back, or the team stops trying.

What We Cover:

• How to write a role description specific enough to attract the right person and filter out everyone else
• Why paid test projects show you more in two hours than an interview shows you in two rounds
• The 10-80-10 rule and how to use it to stay connected without pulling work back through the middle
• What a definition of done actually looks like in writing, and why naming your re-entry triggers before the project starts changes everything
• How scheduled check-ins replace anxiety-driven re-entry and give the founder's worry somewhere structured to land

About ADHD founders for ADHD founders.

Interesting in working together? You can click here to receive a free bottleneck audio session and learn more about what we do. https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/unstuckaudiosession

Diagnosed with ADHD at the start of her PhD, Skye Waterson spent years researching what actually works and writing about it for thousands of founders. The pattern she kept finding: ADHD business owners don't have a focus problem, they have an operations problem, because the whole business runs through their own head. Now she and her husband, former programmer Robert Waterson, work as fractional COOs for those founders. They find the bottleneck, hire the fix, and build the system that holds.

Subscribe to our Newsletter - https://unconventionalorganization.substack.com/

Follow us on Instagram - @unconventionalorganisation

Visit our website - https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/

You hired someone good. The work was fine. You still sent the late-night Slack message, redirected the task, and checked in on something that had already been handled.

This episode looks at what the research suggests is actually driving that pattern. Not trust issues. Not a bad hire. A specific kind of perfectionism that shows up differently in people with ADHD.

Two studies help explain it. A 2016 study found perfectionism was the most common cognitive distortion in adults formally diagnosed with ADHD, endorsed by 55% of the sample. It was not close. A 2023 study then looked at what kind of perfectionism. Their findings indicate ADHD founders are not setting impossibly high standards. They are feeling the gap between what they expected and what was delivered more intensely than others. What drove avoidance most strongly was not perfectionism in the traditional sense, but the persistent feeling of falling short, even when the original standard was reasonable.

Delegation becomes the thing most associated with that painful shortfall. So the brain starts treating it as a threat.

Friday's episode covers the practical side: how to structure delegation so the gap is smaller from the start and your perfectionism has less to react to.

What We Cover:

• Why ADHD perfectionism research suggests it is not about high standards but about feeling any shortfall more acutely than others
• How the discrepancy between expected and actual output drives avoidance in ADHD founders specifically
• The two scenarios where delegation breaks down even when the team is competent and the work is solid
• Why the founder who re-enters delegated work is not micromanaging but responding to a learned pattern of emotional pain
• What Friday's episode will cover on structuring delegation to reduce that gap from the start

About ADHD founders for ADHD founders.

Interesting in working together? You can click here to receive a free bottleneck audio session and learn more about what we do. https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/unstuckaudiosession

Diagnosed with ADHD at the start of her PhD, Skye Waterson spent years researching what actually works and writing about it for thousands of founders. The pattern she kept finding: ADHD business owners don't have a focus problem, they have an operations problem, because the whole business runs through their own head. Now she and her husband, former programmer Robert Waterson, work as fractional COOs for those founders. They find the bottleneck, hire the fix, and build the system that holds.

Subscribe to our Newsletter - https://unconventionalorganization.substack.com/

Follow us on Instagram - @unconventionalorganisation

Visit our website - https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/

The school sent her daughter to a desk with her head down because she could not sit still during circle time. That was the moment Jessica stopped waiting for someone else to figure it out.

Jessica Shaw is an award-winning journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, and Vanity Fair. She is the host of Everyone Gets a Juice Box, Understood.org's podcast for parents raising neurodivergent kids. She is also a mom of two teens who think differently, and someone who recognized her own ADHD only after researching her children's.

Skye and Jessica get into what the detective process actually looks like. Why parents are often dismissed first and believed later. How the school system's default response to a kid who cannot conform is to remove them rather than support them. What guilt sounds like when you feel like you should have seen it coming sooner. And why the window between noticing something and getting real support is longer, more expensive, and more isolating than it should be.

What We Cover:

• Why parents are often the last ones taken seriously, and what it takes to keep pushing anyway
• How school systems send a conformity message to neurodivergent kids and what it costs them long-term
• The financial and time barriers to evaluation, and why they fall unevenly across families
• What the detective process looks like when the parent doing the investigating also has undiagnosed ADHD
• Why one parent's decision to reduce work hours for her neurodivergent child was called "trad wife" by colleagues, and what that reveals about the support gap

Connect With Jessica Shaw

• Podcast: https://lnk.to/everyonegetsajuiceboxec!podcast_guest
• ADHD Articles: https://www.understood.org/en/topics/adhd
• ADHD & Women: https://www.understood.org/en/topics/adhd-women
• Understood.org's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/understood/
• Understood.org's Instagram: @Understoodorg

About ADHD founders for ADHD founders.

Interesting in working together? You can click here to receive a free bottleneck audio session and learn more about what we do. https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/unstuckaudiosession

Diagnosed with ADHD at the start of her PhD, Skye Waterson spent years researching what actually works and writing about it for thousands of founders. The pattern she kept finding: ADHD business owners don't have a focus problem, they have an operations problem, because the whole business runs through their own head. Now she and her husband, former programmer Robert Waterson, work as fractional COOs for those founders. They find the bottleneck, hire the fix, and build the system that holds.

Subscribe to our Newsletter - https://unconventionalorganization.substack.com/

Follow us on Instagram - @unconventionalorganisation

Visit our website - https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/

Understanding why ADHD happens can feel like chasing a moving target. This study adds a biological angle most people haven't considered.

We discuss a prospective study examining whether maternal inflammation during the second trimester is associated with ADHD symptoms in children later in life. Researchers measured cytokine levels in 62 pregnant women and followed up on ADHD symptoms in 68 children using teacher and parent reports.

The study suggests there is an association between those inflammation markers and later ADHD symptoms. It does not establish cause. The sample was small, blood draws were not standardized by time of day, and the researchers framed this explicitly as preliminary work to identify what warrants deeper investigation.

What We Cover

• What cytokine levels are and why researchers used them to measure maternal inflammation
• Where the methodology falls short and why the researchers themselves framed this as preliminary
• Why future research in this area needs a systems-based approach rather than adding more pressure to mothers

 Want more of Will’s work? Go check out HackingYourADHD.com or subscribe to his YouTube channel

About ADHD founders for ADHD founders.

Interesting in working together? You can click here to receive a free bottleneck audio session and learn more about what we do. https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/unstuckaudiosession

Diagnosed with ADHD at the start of her PhD, Skye Waterson spent years researching what actually works and writing about it for thousands of founders. The pattern she kept finding: ADHD business owners don't have a focus problem, they have an operations problem, because the whole business runs through their own head. Now she and her husband, former programmer Robert Waterson, work as fractional COOs for those founders. They find the bottleneck, hire the fix, and build the system that holds.

Subscribe to our Newsletter - https://unconventionalorganization.substack.com/

Follow us on Instagram - @unconventionalorganisation

Visit our website - https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/

Description:

Presented by Understood.org

You don’t have a lack of focus. You have too many ideas pulling it in different directions.

This episode builds on Wednesday’s breakdown of ADHD novelty bias and shows you how to actually manage it without shutting it down.

Because the goal isn’t to stop having ideas. It’s to stop them from constantly disrupting execution.

You’ll hear how to treat novelty as input instead of immediate action, how to capture ideas so they stop feeling urgent, and how to create a buffer between what you’re thinking about and what your business actually does.

Right now, every new idea feels important. And when your attention shifts, everything else follows.

This is about keeping the ideas, without letting them take over.

What We Cover:

• Why novelty needs a system, not suppression
• How capturing ideas reduces the urge to act on them
• The “novelty as input, not strategy” approach
• Why your team follows your attention automatically
• How to create a buffer between ideas and execution
• Why most ideas lose urgency if you don’t act on them immediately

If you're enjoying ADHD Skills Lab, you may also enjoy Understood.org’s new podcast, Sorry, I Missed This.

Listen here: https://lnk.to/sorryimissedthisPS!theadhdskillslab

About ADHD founders for ADHD founders.

Interesting in working together? You can click here to receive a free bottleneck audio session and learn more about what we do. https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/unstuckaudiosession

Diagnosed with ADHD at the start of her PhD, Skye Waterson spent years researching what actually works and writing about it for thousands of founders. The pattern she kept finding: ADHD business owners don't have a focus problem, they have an operations problem, because the whole business runs through their own head. Now she and her husband, former programmer Robert Waterson, work as fractional COOs for those founders. They find the bottleneck, hire the fix, and build the system that holds.

Subscribe to our Newsletter - https://unconventionalorganization.substack.com/

Follow us on Instagram - @unconventionalorganisation

Visit our website - https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/

Presented by Understood.org

You keep switching direction mid-project, and now nothing in your business is fully built.

In this episode, we break down ADHD novelty bias and why new ideas don’t just feel exciting. They feel urgent, important, and hard to ignore.

You’ll hear how this shows up in real businesses. The team is aligned, work has started, and then a new idea comes in. It sounds better, feels right, and within days everything shifts. Six months later, you’ve got multiple half-built projects and no clear direction.

This isn’t random. Research shows ADHD brains assign higher reward value to novelty, even when it works against long-term goals.

We also look at the other side of it. Why boredom feels almost painful, why sticking with one direction gets harder over time, and how this pattern quietly impacts growth, team focus, and execution.

This isn’t about lack of discipline. It’s about understanding the pattern that’s driving your decisions.

What We Cover:

• Why new ideas feel urgent instead of optional
• How novelty bias overrides long-term plans
• The “half-built business” pattern many founders fall into
• Why teams follow the founder’s attention automatically
• The link between boredom, disengagement, and switching
• When novelty is useful and when it starts breaking the business

If you're enjoying ADHD Skills Lab, you may also enjoy Understood.org’s new podcast, Sorry, I Missed This.

Listen here: https://lnk.to/sorryimissedthisPS!theadhdskillslab

About ADHD founders for ADHD founders.

Interesting in working together? You can click here to receive a free bottleneck audio session and learn more about what we do. https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/unstuckaudiosession

Diagnosed with ADHD at the start of her PhD, Skye Waterson spent years researching what actually works and writing about it for thousands of founders. The pattern she kept finding: ADHD business owners don't have a focus problem, they have an operations problem, because the whole business runs through their own head. Now she and her husband, former programmer Robert Waterson, work as fractional COOs for those founders. They find the bottleneck, hire the fix, and build the system that holds.

Subscribe to our Newsletter - https://unconventionalorganization.substack.com/

Follow us on Instagram - @unconventionalorganisation

Visit our website - https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/

Presented by Understood.org

Getting diagnosed with ADHD explains a lot. Then it starts explaining too much.

In this episode, Nir Eyal breaks down what happens after that initial relief. When ADHD stops being useful information and starts becoming your identity.

He shares how that shift can quietly limit effort, create anxiety loops, and turn every struggle into “this is just how I am.”

This isn’t about ignoring ADHD. It’s about understanding the difference between what’s real and what you’ve started to believe about it.

Because those beliefs don’t just describe your behavior. They shape it.

You’ll hear how to separate facts from interpretations, why beliefs are tools not truths, and how small shifts in how you think can reduce friction and make action easier.

What We Cover:

• Why ADHD diagnosis brings relief, then can create new limits
• The difference between a label and an identity
• How “this is just my ADHD” becomes a stopping point
• Why beliefs increase or reduce effort before you even start
• The difference between pain and suffering in focus and work
• A simple way to question beliefs that aren’t helping

If you're enjoying ADHD Skills Lab, you may also enjoy Understood.org’s new podcast, Sorry, I Missed This.

Listen here: https://lnk.to/sorryimissedthisPS!theadhdskillslab

Connect With Nir Eyal

Book: geni.us/beyondbelief

Website: nirandfar.com

Instagram: instagram.com/nireyal

About ADHD founders for ADHD founders.

Interesting in working together? You can click here to receive a free bottleneck audio session and learn more about what we do. https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/unstuckaudiosession

Diagnosed with ADHD at the start of her PhD, Skye Waterson spent years researching what actually works and writing about it for thousands of founders. The pattern she kept finding: ADHD business owners don't have a focus problem, they have an operations problem, because the whole business runs through their own head. Now she and her husband, former programmer Robert Waterson, work as fractional COOs for those founders. They find the bottleneck, hire the fix, and build the system that holds.

Subscribe to our Newsletter - https://unconventionalorganization.substack.com/

Follow us on Instagram - @unconventionalorganisation

Visit our website - https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/

Presented by Understood.org

Bad environments can train ADHD entrepreneurs to second-guess themselves long after they leave those environments behind. Brandon Smith shares how years of struggling in school, standardized testing, and constant negative feedback shaped the way he saw himself, and why finding practical work completely changed how he viewed his ADHD brain.

In this conversation, Brandon breaks down how environment affects confidence, self-trust, business growth, and leadership. He also shares lessons from building a construction company, learning to delegate, and realizing that many ADHD business owners stay stuck trying to perfect systems long before they actually need them.

What We Cover

• Why ADHD people often confuse environment problems with personal failure
• How Brandon rebuilt confidence through practical work
• Why school experiences still affect ADHD adults years later
• The mindset shift that helped him hire and delegate
• Why unfinished systems can still move your business forward

If you're enjoying ADHD Skills Lab, you may also enjoy Understood.org’s new podcast, Sorry, I Missed This.

Listen here: https://lnk.to/sorryimissedthisPS!theadhdskillslab

About ADHD founders for ADHD founders.

Interesting in working together? You can click here to receive a free bottleneck audio session and learn more about what we do. https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/unstuckaudiosession

Diagnosed with ADHD at the start of her PhD, Skye Waterson spent years researching what actually works and writing about it for thousands of founders. The pattern she kept finding: ADHD business owners don't have a focus problem, they have an operations problem, because the whole business runs through their own head. Now she and her husband, former programmer Robert Waterson, work as fractional COOs for those founders. They find the bottleneck, hire the fix, and build the system that holds.

Subscribe to our Newsletter - https://unconventionalorganization.substack.com/

Follow us on Instagram - @unconventionalorganisation

Visit our website - https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/

Presented by Understood.org

You feel seen by something that wasn’t meant for you.

Skye and Robbie explore whether Bluey reflects ADHD patterns or just captures behaviour accurately.

Using DSM criteria, they break down distraction, unfinished tasks, and how patterns are identified over time.

This episode sits right on the line between observation and diagnosis and shows you how to think about both.

What We Cover:

• Where observation stops and diagnosis starts
• Why realistic behaviour can feel diagnostic
• How ADHD criteria actually gets applied
• The risk of over-interpreting behaviour
• Why this conversation matters beyond the show

If you're enjoying ADHD Skills Lab, you may also enjoy Understood.org’s new podcast, Sorry, I Missed This.

Listen here: https://lnk.to/sorryimissedthisPS!theadhdskillslab

About ADHD founders for ADHD founders.

Interesting in working together? You can click here to receive a free bottleneck audio session and learn more about what we do. https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/unstuckaudiosession

Diagnosed with ADHD at the start of her PhD, Skye Waterson spent years researching what actually works and writing about it for thousands of founders. The pattern she kept finding: ADHD business owners don't have a focus problem, they have an operations problem, because the whole business runs through their own head. Now she and her husband, former programmer Robert Waterson, work as fractional COOs for those founders. They find the bottleneck, hire the fix, and build the system that holds.

Subscribe to our Newsletter - https://unconventionalorganization.substack.com/

Follow us on Instagram - @unconventionalorganisation

Visit our website - https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/

Presented by Understood.org

You build a new system, follow it for a few days, then quietly stop using it.

Craig Ballantyne has coached high performers across multiple industries and his approach focuses on building systems that survive real life, not perfect conditions.

This conversation looks at why most systems fail for ADHD brains. Craig explains how self-awareness, environment control, and honest constraints matter more than motivation.

You will leave with a different way to think about systems that actually hold when your brain resists structure.

What We Cover

• Why most systems fail when they rely on motivation
• How to design systems based on how you actually behave
• The role of environment in making systems stick
• Why honesty about how you learn changes everything
• How to remove friction instead of adding more structure

If you're enjoying ADHD Skills Lab, you may also enjoy Understood.org’s new podcast, Sorry, I Missed This.

Listen here: https://lnk.to/sorryimissedthisPS!theadhdskillslab

Connect with Craig:

Craig Ballantyne Coaching: https://craigballantyne.com/

Instagram: @ realcraigballantyne

About ADHD founders for ADHD founders.

Interesting in working together? You can click here to receive a free bottleneck audio session and learn more about what we do. https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/unstuckaudiosession

Diagnosed with ADHD at the start of her PhD, Skye Waterson spent years researching what actually works and writing about it for thousands of founders. The pattern she kept finding: ADHD business owners don't have a focus problem, they have an operations problem, because the whole business runs through their own head. Now she and her husband, former programmer Robert Waterson, work as fractional COOs for those founders. They find the bottleneck, hire the fix, and build the system that holds.

Subscribe to our Newsletter - https://unconventionalorganization.substack.com/

Follow us on Instagram - @unconventionalorganisation

Visit our website - https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/

Presented by Understood.org

You get a new idea and immediately want to drop everything else.

This episode builds on Wednesday’s research around ideation bias in ADHD. The research suggests people with ADHD prefer the idea phase and are more likely to move on before execution is complete.

We break down how this creates the “never-ending pivot” and why projects keep getting abandoned halfway through.

You’ll learn how to use minimum viable product thinking to actually finish things, even if your brain keeps pulling you toward the next idea.

What We Cover:

• Why ADHD brains prefer ideation over execution
• How constant pivots destroy momentum without you noticing
• Turning new ideas into small, testable outputs instead of full pivots
• Finishing projects without suppressing creativity
• How to make ideas small enough to complete before switching

If you're enjoying ADHD Skills Lab, you may also enjoy Understood.org’s new podcast, Sorry, I Missed This.

Listen here: https://lnk.to/sorryimissedthisPS!theadhdskillslab

About ADHD founders for ADHD founders.

Interesting in working together? You can click here to receive a free bottleneck audio session and learn more about what we do. https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/unstuckaudiosession

Diagnosed with ADHD at the start of her PhD, Skye Waterson spent years researching what actually works and writing about it for thousands of founders. The pattern she kept finding: ADHD business owners don't have a focus problem, they have an operations problem, because the whole business runs through their own head. Now she and her husband, former programmer Robert Waterson, work as fractional COOs for those founders. They find the bottleneck, hire the fix, and build the system that holds.

Subscribe to our Newsletter - https://unconventionalorganization.substack.com/

Follow us on Instagram - @unconventionalorganisation

Visit our website - https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/

Presented by Understood.org

You spend weeks building something before anyone ever sees it.

Not because it needs to be that big. Because once you start, it keeps expanding until it feels impossible to finish.

This is where minimum viable product actually matters. Not as a business concept, but as a way to stop overbuilding everything and start testing things earlier.

ADHD makes it easy to over-scope, get pulled into the wrong details, and delay real feedback. So instead of finding out what works, you stay stuck refining something in isolation.

This episode breaks down why that happens and how minimum viable thinking helps you start smaller, move faster, and avoid getting trapped in the build phase.

On Friday, we’ll show you how to apply this in real situations so you can actually ship things without burning out.

What We Cover

• Why ADHD leads to overbuilding instead of testing
• The pattern of expanding a task before it ever gets real feedback
• How minimum viable thinking cuts through overthinking
• Why starting smaller makes it easier to stay in motion
• How to recognize when you’re building instead of progressing

If you're enjoying ADHD Skills Lab, you may also enjoy Understood.org’s new podcast, Sorry, I Missed This.

Listen here: https://lnk.to/sorryimissedthisPS!theadhdskillslab

About ADHD founders for ADHD founders.

Interesting in working together? You can click here to receive a free bottleneck audio session and learn more about what we do. https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/unstuckaudiosession

Diagnosed with ADHD at the start of her PhD, Skye Waterson spent years researching what actually works and writing about it for thousands of founders. The pattern she kept finding: ADHD business owners don't have a focus problem, they have an operations problem, because the whole business runs through their own head. Now she and her husband, former programmer Robert Waterson, work as fractional COOs for those founders. They find the bottleneck, hire the fix, and build the system that holds.

Subscribe to our Newsletter - https://unconventionalorganization.substack.com/

Follow us on Instagram - @unconventionalorganisation

Visit our website - https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/

Presented by Understood.org

You keep starting new things and abandoning the ones that were working.

Katy Weber is the go-to voice behind the Woman and ADHD podcast, reaching millions of listeners and building a multi-stream business from lived experience. Her approach to growth is grounded in what actually works with ADHD, not what sounds good on paper.

She explains why ADHD pulls you toward new ideas, how pivoting too early kills momentum, and what changed when she stopped rebuilding from scratch. The conversation also covers how she used her podcast as the foundation for everything else.

You will leave with a more stable way to grow without constantly resetting your progress.

What We Cover

• Why ADHD brains pivot too early and lose momentum
• The hidden cost of constantly starting over
• How to build around one stable “core” system
• What changed when she stopped chasing new ideas
• Why expansion works better than reinvention

If you're enjoying ADHD Skills Lab, you may also enjoy Understood.org’s new podcast, Sorry, I Missed This.

Listen here: https://lnk.to/sorryimissedthisPS!theadhdskillslab

Connect with Katy Weber:

• Website: https://www.womenandadhd.com/
• Podcast: https://www.instagram.com/womenandadhdpodcast/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katyweber.adhd/

About ADHD founders for ADHD founders.

Interesting in working together? You can click here to receive a free bottleneck audio session and learn more about what we do. https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/unstuckaudiosession

Diagnosed with ADHD at the start of her PhD, Skye Waterson spent years researching what actually works and writing about it for thousands of founders. The pattern she kept finding: ADHD business owners don't have a focus problem, they have an operations problem, because the whole business runs through their own head. Now she and her husband, former programmer Robert Waterson, work as fractional COOs for those founders. They find the bottleneck, hire the fix, and build the system that holds.

Subscribe to our Newsletter - https://unconventionalorganization.substack.com/

Follow us on Instagram - @unconventionalorganisation

Visit our website - https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/