Hey, ADHD Business Owner,
It's been a long time; too long! How have things been with you? Today, I was reminiscing about our time working together and how frustrating I found it! 😅 You always ran off after the next shiny software package, adding another subscription to our expenses, only to realise that once I got my hands on it, it did exactly the same thing as the software we already had and didn't use properly. Saying no to you was a challenge because you always had such excellent reasons why we needed it. Although, transferring data from CRM to CRM kept me busy and out of trouble! 🤪
I wonder how your new business idea is coming along. Which new business idea? How many have you had since I left you? When we worked together, we must have worked on at least 10 different business projects, but I think we only fully launched two. 🤔 One of those you're not doing now, but the other one is gold. 🥇 Don't get me wrong, working on strategy and designing processes to support your ideas and expectations is what I'm best at. It was a lot of fun until I realised we were not going to finish it and I had expended too much energy chasing after your idea. 😵💫
I also have many fond memories of meetings you booked with the team, clients, and collaborators. Some of them were epic and exciting, talking about the future of business and what we could do to support our lost young people who probably have ADHD, too. 💡 In some meetings, you argued with everyone even though I knew you agreed with what they were saying; you just didn't like how they said it, did you? 😂 And for some, you were a no-show, either late or asleep on the office sofa because you'd been up all night working on a new idea, spent the day before meeting and talking with many different people, and now you were exhausted—or sometimes just because you could. 😴 You did always plan too much in, and you could keep up for a while too, but then came the inevitable crash. 🏃♂️💥
Do you remember the time when we moved offices because the space was more open, and we could all be together? And then, do you remember how we got nothing done because we were all in the same place, and you would come back excited from a meeting and brain-dump all the details to everyone, even though we didn't need to know? 🤭 Sometimes, it confused the team because they thought they should be taking notes or setting tasks—they didn't realise it was just because you were happy and full of energy from your conversation. And do you remember when we moved back to the old office and how you thought it would be better with us all separated again? But still you would come to seek me out because you knew I would be as excited as you about the conversation you just had, and would immediately start thinking about ways we could help. 🤩
I saw and felt your pain every time there was a setback and I ruminated on it for days when, miraculously, you had moved on after 24 hours. Remember all those times when we made a list of actions and wrote proposals for potential clients and collaborators, only to decide we didn't want to be hemmed in by those rules that came with the contract or the funding? So, we just stopped replying, unsure of what to tell them. 😬
When it came time for us to part ways, we said a tearful goodbye and promised we would work together again someday, yet we have failed to keep in touch! 😂 Although, I do still follow your exploits on social media.
Since then, a lot has changed…. I started my own business 🎉 and you might be surprised to hear that I seem to have picked up a lot of your bad habits! Have I forgotten everything I learned during the rest of my career? Surely not! I've been a reliable gatekeeper for decades and have shown multiple small businesses (and some big ones) how to improve their processes and save time and money with systems and organisational changes. How come it's so difficult to do it for myself? I know what it is, I don't have a great operations manager, like you did, keeping me in check, supporting my every idea, and telling me when I am making a mistake. 🤷♂️
By the way, I’ve had a lovely garden office built for myself, and I bought a new sit/stand desk and a new chair and a new laptop. Oh and iPad and a spare screen for when I’m working at a client's place and a scanner and a new printer. And 15 of those notebooks I like. Wow, I really went all in, didn’t I? 😳
I make my all notes in OneNote now, apart from when I forget to charge it, so perhaps I didn’t need those notebooks, that was a bit of a waste. I should probably sell the printer because every time I go to print something the ink has dried out because it’s been so long since I used it, it would’ve been cheaper to go to the copy shop every time. And come to think of it my new chair isn’t all that comfy so I’m going to go back to my old one, and I always forget I can stand up and work, but I will make a note to do it tomorrow! 😂 And that scanner, I had a great business idea for it, I can’t remember what that was now… but I’m sure it’ll come in handy for something. 🫣 Actually we might move house soon, so I perhaps I jumped the gun on the whole office thing…
I did want to say, I forgive you for all the software licenses you bought because now it's my turn. I have tried a lot of apps! They all look so good, though; I'm sure they will help me, if I can just decide which one I like best. 😂
I have also been doing a lot of networking because I love meeting people, just like you do! You taught me well, because when I eventually do get around to following them up, the work we will do together will be amazing—wait, three months have passed, and now it's awkward to send the email. 😅 Also, I can't email today because I went to that exhibition yesterday and spoke to 50 different people about 50 different topics, all of which were exciting and interesting, and now I am so tired, I could do with a nap. 😴
Oh, I forgot to say, which was the whole reason I thought of you, that I just got diagnosed with ADHD (combined type), four months ago. Yes, I know I am 54, and I've always been really good at organising stuff at work, I seem so together and I keep everyone else on track. But you know, as well as I do, ADHD hits different in women, and also it wasn't a thing when I was young! Back then we all thought that daydreaming, forgetting things or being flaky, lazy, sensitive, or distractible were just personality flaws we needed to push down and cover-up, if we tried hard enough. Maybe I should've taken a career on the stage; I've acted neurotypical for many years—in fact, it's the only thing I've really ever stuck at! 😂🎭
Honestly, I am grateful to know about my unique brain, although, at first, I was grieving for the life I could have had… All that potential… But now I have realised that it has given me many opportunities to work in a diverse range of jobs and industries. It's made me curious to learn how things work, and how to make things easier for others, if not for myself. And ultimately, it makes me excellent at my job. However, I still have a bit of a problem saying that the strategies I use with other people don't always work for me in my own business. 🫠 I have ADHD, I think differently; who knew?!?!. 🧠✨
Anyway, I really must go because I started writing this on a whim, and now I will definitely be late for my appointment because I haven't packed my bag yet or checked where exactly I'm going. Perhaps I should put a disclaimer on my meeting invites which says: 'Please note, I will be five minutes late to our meeting, but it doesn't mean that I don't care or am disrespecting the value of your time. When I do arrive, I'll be like a whirlwind, and I promise you will be astounded at how quickly I can understand your business and your business challenges. Expect me to ask a load of questions that perhaps you are not quite ready to answer, but that will give me insight into how to make things easier for you. And, please be patient, because you'll likely get a load of good stuff out of me for free that you can use to help your business. But hopefully, I won't give it all away for free because I am in business too, after all! And lastly if you do want to work with me, ensure we set deadlines, that’s how I work best!' 🤓 (I don’t need to do that now, right? Or should I? it will only take 2 minutes…✉️ ⏱️)
Well, what was I saying? Oh yeah, must dash, ‘see you later’ my friend, my fellow ADHDer! I knew there was a reason I liked you so much! 😜
