When you are in school, college or working a job, you often encounter tasks or projects that overwhelm you, especially when they are complex and stretch over a long time. You can feel like you are standing in front of a mountain with no idea how to scale it.

“I am so mad at my son,” said a mom at one of my ADHD self-help groups the other day. “He starts one hobby after another without ever staying with one for more than a few months. We have so much stuff in our house that he doesn’t use anymore – football helmets, inline skates, paint brushes, an easel and various instruments.

Many years ago, when I was as an exchange student in Copenhagen, Denmark, I met a number of Danes in my dorm who were a little older than the average student in my academic program in the US. I was curious and wanted to know what they had done before college - and received the same answer again and again: a gap year – or sometimes even two.

Many of us want to eat well on a regular basis, but putting that intention into practice is not always easy. We might know exactly what eating well should look like  – less sugar, less fat, more veggies and fruits, whole grains and good sources of protein – but since we don’t have personal chefs who make delicious meals for us, finding the time and energy to shop, prepare and cook is challenging when life is already overwhelming. What can we do to make things easier on us?

Like so many times before, you find yourself in a pickle: You have to read an important text for class, but you’re unable to do so. The topic is so boring you can barely stay awake. The length of the text frightens you.

I moved back home to Germany in June 2023 together with my American husband C. and my two sons M. (5) and N. (2) after almost 25 years in the US. Because of the pandemic, N. had never been to Germany, and M. had only visited when he was a toddler. He didn’t remember much and was more than a little apprehensive about the move.

You have many great career options when you have ADHD. Sometimes it might be hard to see them, especially if school was a struggle for you. All the little mistakes we can make during school – difficulties focusing, missing deadlines, forgetting textbooks or being late to class – might have gotten to you over time and made you feel small.

Sugar is a substance most people crave. We consume sugary treats when we’re happy and want to celebrate, devour them when we’re sad and want to cheer us up, give them to other people to show our love and affection, and eat them when we feel tired and want more energy.

Do you have a calendar? Do you like writing things down in a specific place so that you won’t forget them? Or do you have lots of post-it notes flying around in your apartment and loose paper with important information? You might have heard it a thousand times, but keeping a calendar when you have trouble remembering appointments or deadlines can really be a lifesaver.