Flexible Planning for Leaders with ADHD: Thriving on Your Terms

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Welcome to Refined Leadership ADHD Lens with Kathy Rashidian.

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Discover how to refine your leadership through the lens of ADHD.

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Whether you're advancing toward a promotion or redefining your professional

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approach, you're in the right place.

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Join our community for tailored insights that elevate your leadership. Let's dive in.

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Welcome back to part two of this two-part series with Coach Kathy.

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If you've tuned in to our last episode, you know we set the groundwork for leaders

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and professionals with ADHD who might feel stuck, overwhelmed,

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or unsure about their next steps in their career.

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We explored how creating a professional mission statement and setting meaningful

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vision and mission goals can transform the way you approach decision making,

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boundary setting, building self-esteem.

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More importantly, we talked about how these strategies can help you gain clarity.

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Stay motivated, and feel aligned in your career and life direction.

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So today, we're building on that foundation.

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We're taking those ideas and digging deeper,

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equipping you with actionable steps to not just clarify your goals and pathway

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forward, but also sustain progress and keep moving, even when ADHD challenges show up.

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It's not just about dreaming big. It's about making steady progress that ties back to our purpose.

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Without this, our minds default to survival mode.

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We spiral into overthinking, chasing tasks that don't serve us,

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and staying stuck on that endless hamster wheel of reactivity.

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Sounds familiar? It's exhausting.

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But here's the thing. To escape that cycle, we don't just need a plan.

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We need the right kind of plan.

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One that honors our unique wiring while creating the space to thrive and not just survive.

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Planning isn't about rigidity or perfection.

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It's about creating a system that gives us focus and freedom at the same time.

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And today, my hope is to show you exactly how to do that.

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In this episode, we'll explore why planning and execution are key to unlocking

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your potential, but not just in a one-size-fit-all approach.

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I'll walk you through practical ideas, customizable strategies,

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and most importantly, a mindset shift that could be the game changer for you.

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Are you ready to move from chaos to clarity?

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Great! Then we'll start by taking a quick inventory of where you are right now

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when it comes to planning.

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It's time to pause, reflect, and figure out your starting point before we map

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out where you're headed. Let's do this together.

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First, I want you to ask yourself, how do you currently approach planning?

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Are you someone who wings it, keeping all your to-dos in your head and improvising as you go?

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Or maybe you lean into planning but often get stuck on execution and overwhelmed

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by how much there is to do.

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And then there's those who just have it all together. But do they?

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And do they really exist? I say this because last time I checked,

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we lived in a world of constant change.

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And that change is always there.

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No amount of planning can be perfect.

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But their secret, that group's secret, is that they have built in contingencies

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in their plan to be flexible for the unexpected interruptions.

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So be honest with yourself here. This is not about judgment, it's about awareness.

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Wherever you are right now is simply your starting point.

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Once you know your habit and tendencies of planning, you can craft a system that works for you.

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And here's the thing, I give

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you no permission to choose

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the perfect system or to create your

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forever system because my friends there

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is no such thing as the forever system often I hear in my coaching practice

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that my clients want the system that works for them for execution for planning

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for time management and my response to them always is if I had that I'd be a

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billionaire by now because there isn't such a system.

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The ADHD mind is so creative and always wants change and so what we want to

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create is a planning system that is flexible, that is adjustable at any time.

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Remember those times when uncertainty kicks in? That's when we want to pivot.

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So I want you to listen to this episode with an open mind and really listen

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through the lens of how can I make this my own?

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And that permission that you're building a system for now, for this moment in time that you're in.

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And six months from now, you may rejig it again. Heck, a week from now,

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you may rejig the system.

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All right, back to the core of this episode. One of the biggest misconceptions

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about planning is that it has to be perfect.

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And perfectionism can be especially tough for those ADHD minds because there's

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that pull to get everything just right.

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Here's the truth though. Life is messy. No matter how detailed your plan is,

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unexpected things will pop up.

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And you know what? That's totally okay.

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The best plans aren't rigid. They're adaptable. Think of them like a GPS.

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The destination is clear, but there are multiple routes to get there.

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For example, imagine planning your week and scheduling time to tackle a big project on Tuesday.

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Then Tuesday rolls around and you wake up with a migraine or an unexpected client issue comes up.

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Instead of labeling the day a failure, ask yourself, what's my recalculation here?

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Maybe that means shifting the project to Wednesday or breaking it into smaller

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pieces so you can manage across several days.

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Flexibility allows you to keep moving forward without burning out or throwing in the towel.

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Here's something I learned the hard way. If you focus solely on outcomes,

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You're setting yourself up for frustration, my friend. When I lived in performance-orientated

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world, I was chasing recognition and external validation.

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I was after the doing, not the being.

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I worked long hours, harder and faster than anyone else, convinced it would lead to great success.

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And yes, it did. But it also led to burnout and some serious health scares in my mid-30s.

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The shift to a mastery orientation saved me.

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With mastery orientation, the focus isn't on external results, but on internal growth.

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Instead of obsessing over crossing the finish line, you start enjoying the process

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of becoming better along the way.

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Stay with me here. Let me give you an example.

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Instead of thinking I need to get through the presentation flawlessly,

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try shifting to how can I learn to better connect with my audience while presenting.

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Mastery approach means progress over perfection.

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Every mistake, it's just another learning experience.

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Every step you take builds your confidence one break at a time.

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This mindset is a game changer.

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Speaking of game changing, I want to share a tool that I've been using in my

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professional life and also with my clients and also inside our quantum thinkers

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community with the professionals that are our members.

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It's called the Matter Framework. I learned this framework back in the day in

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my coach training at ADD Coach Academy. And I love this framework.

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It works so well for my brain.

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It's a way to take all these ideas and make them actionable.

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So remember last episode, you did your plan, your mission, vision, all of that good stuff.

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So now here's a quick way to break it down. And here's how it goes.

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MATTER framework stands for Milestones, Attitude, Tasks, Team,

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Evaluation, and Revision. So let's break each one down.

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Milestones, it's about picking a small, clear benchmark to track against.

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For instance, if your goal is to improve public speaking, a milestone might

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be delivering one presentation at a time this month in a team meeting.

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Now, the next piece, A, for attitude, this is about mindset. Mindset is everything.

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Celebrate effort, not just outcomes. Acknowledge the progress you've made,

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even if it's just a single step forward.

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T is for tasks. Break your goals down into manageable chunks.

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Instead of write a book, try write 500 words a day for the next week.

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And when we say manageable chunks, if this is new to you, if planning you want

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to revise, I start doing planning one week at a time, three days at a time.

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I don't, when I'm in extreme overwhelm, I don't go into planning for the month

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ahead. I really get a little bit closer to two days ahead, three days ahead,

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one week ahead. And that is totally okay.

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And that is breaking things down into manageable chunks.

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All right, the next T is team. And this is, you know, by now,

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if you've listened to me speak anywhere, I always say don't do ADHD alone.

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So I say to you, don't do planning alone.

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Who can support you with this? Maybe it's a mentor, a peer, or a coach,

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or somebody who keeps you accountable and move you forward.

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And also others that contribute into the project that you're working on.

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Oftentimes, we like to do everything ourselves. And believe me,

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that doesn't work very well in the long run.

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So really identifying a support team that you can lean on is a game changer as well.

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Now, E is evaluation. And in this case, check in regularly.

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Write what's working, what's not working. Adjust your approach instead of abandoning it altogether.

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Remember what I said about the system doesn't have to be your forever system

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or your planning forever doesn't have to be it.

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It can be modified. It can be adjusted so that you don't get attached to it.

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The data out there gives you more information to how to adjust,

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and this is important to really sit back and reflect on adjustments.

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And last but not least, the R of Matter Framework is revision.

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Be prepared to tweak your plan as needed.

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Remember, flexibility is your superpower, is to see it from different perspectives,

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different ways of approaching.

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The beauty of this framework is how customizable it is. It's designed to guide

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you without confining you, letting you build a strategy that fits your unique needs.

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So the framework at a high level is milestones, attitude, tasks,

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team, evaluation and revision.

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And in each of those, you can address it in whichever way you want to.

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So let me give you a case study of how Jennifer, one of our clients, has used the framework.

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I'd like to introduce you to Jennifer, a product manager at a tech company tasked

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with launching a new product in four months.

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Overwhelmed by the scope of the project and her ADHD tendencies to hyper-focus

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on details, Jennifer decides to take a mastery-orientated approach using the matter framework.

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And remember, by mastery, what we meant is to be in the process and not attached

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to the outcome that she has four months to deliver a project.

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So here's how it goes. The way she applied the framework.

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In the milestone section, Jennifer breaks her big goal into phases,

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Finalizing the design, creating the marketing plan, testing the product and launching it.

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Instead of aiming for perfection, she focuses on steady progress,

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using each milestone as an opportunity to improve.

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The next piece of the framework, which was A for attitude, Jennifer adopted

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a mastery-orientated mindset.

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Jennifer let go of chasing flawless results.

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When receiving critical feedback about the product design, she reframes it as

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a chance to grow and deliver something better.

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She celebrates her effort, like completing a task rather than fixating on the

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20 other tasks that are still due.

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Under tasks t for tasks jennifer

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turns her milestones into small manageable to-dos

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so remember in the beginning the milestones are higher level

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and the tasks are the

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sub to-do lists if you will that go under that so for example for the testing

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phase she lists tasks like scheduling beta tests gathering feedback analyzing

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results by tackling one task at a time she keeps a momentum going. She keeps it steady.

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She keeps the eye on the target versus overwhelming her with all the other milestones

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that also need to be addressed.

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For team, Jennifer leans into her team for support.

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She collaborates with the marketing for messaging and relies on her developers

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for refining the product.

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Delegating effectively helps her focus on pieces where she adds the most value.

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I cannot emphasize this enough on the delegating part and really leaning into the team.

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You'd be amazed how people would want to support you and see you succeed.

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E for evaluation. Every two weeks, Jennifer reviews the progress against her milestones.

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When beta testing reveals a bug, she calmly re-evaluates and revises her timelines,

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shifting focus to debugging without derailing the project.

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And finally, in revision section of the framework, she adapts her plan as needed,

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viewing each change as part of the process.

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She treats pivots not as setbacks, but an opportunity to refine her approach

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and improve the launch strategy.

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You see, by focusing on progress out of perfection, Jennifer stayed motivated and flexible.

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The Matter Framework keeps her organized while reinforcing a growth-oriented mindset.

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Each step, large or small, moves her closer to a successful product launch and

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a deeper professional growth.

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Jennifer's story is a reminder that mastery isn't about flawless execution or

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sticking to a perfect project plan.

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But it's about continual improvement. With tools like the Matter Framework, Mastery Orientation,

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you can take on goals in a way that is structured but adaptable,

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helping you stay focused and centered.

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How might you start shifting your own approach to align to this mindset of mastery

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and incorporating the Matter Framework?

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All right, let's recap this. At its core,

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mastery orientation is about shifting your focus away from the pressure of perfection

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and toward the power of progress.

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You see, ADHD minds love a good stressful situation.

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They actually thrive in it. But what if we started to unlearn that?

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Because over time, that's exhausting.

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That creates burnout. Now, when we put mastery mindset that prioritizes learning,

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growth, and adaptability over the drama, the constant hustle of execution,

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we're able to see that there are different ways that we can do planning and be flexible.

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And we're able to show up in the process and not just be attached to the outcome,

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but really enjoy every step of the way and have fun with it.

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Within the matter framework, this mindset serves as the foundation.

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It reminds you to celebrate your effort, lean into challenges,

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and view setbacks as a stepping stone rather than a roadblock.

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The master orientation encourages you to ask, what can I learn here?

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What's the opportunity?

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How can I move forward, even if it's just one small step?

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I almost wanted to call this podcast episode Mindful Way of Project Planning, if you will.

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Because underneath of all of this, doesn't it sound like mindfulness to you?

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Whether you're tackling your big project, navigating personal goals,

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or building routines that stick, adapting to this mindset allows you to thrive.

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Not because you're perfect, but because you're committed to growth.

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And that commitment is what transforms how you plan, prioritize,

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and ultimately create a career that feels meaningful and manageable.

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And who wouldn't want that?

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All right, we just covered a lot of ground and I went all philosophical on you.

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Sorry, not sorry. But we talked about how understanding your current habits

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can set the foundation for change.

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So here's an action step for you. Take five minutes to reflect and write down

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where you are right now when it comes to planning.

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Do you wing it? Do you over plan and get stuck?

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Or are you somewhere in between? This awareness will be your jumping off point

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as we continue building on your personalized roadmap.

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Remember, this isn't about perfect. It's progress. You're not just learning

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to plan better, you're learning to live better one step at a time.

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Celebrate each win, no matter how small, and keep your focus on the bigger picture,

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building a life that lets you thrive.

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If today's insights sparked something in you, I'd like to personally invite

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you to the Quantum Thinkers ADHD community.

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This private, growth-focused space is designed for leaders like you with ADHD

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who want to refine their skills,

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deepen their self-awareness, and lead with confidence, all through the ADHD-friendly lens.

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Inside, you'll unpack strategies like the Matter Framework.

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We explore mastery-orientated approaches and connect with others who understand

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your unique leadership journey.

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Quantum Thinkers is a space for learning, sharing, and celebrating progress,

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no matter how big or small.

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Remember, you don't have to do ADHD alone.

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Let's take the next step together. So until next time, my friends,

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keep on shining and keep on leading with integrity.