Not ADHD Tax, ADHD Investment!

You’ve maybe seen articles about the ways that ADHD folks pay more financially when symptoms are not well-managed. This can look like late fees from missed bill payments, speeding tickets due to reckless driving, debt from impulsive spending…and the list goes on. 

The important distinction here is that these fees/bills/financial penalties are showing up because ADHD *symptoms* are showing up. Forgetfulness, impulsivity, and emotional dysregulation are all symptoms of ADHD, not character traits. So instead of focusing on the money spent when ADHD isn’t treated or well-managed, I wanted to focus on where smart investments can make living with ADHD so much easier. 

ADHD Professionals 

1. ADHD Evaluation — Getting an official diagnosis will make access to medications and support/accommodations from school and work so much easier. This is worth doing even if insurance doesn’t cover the full cost.
   
2. Therapy & Medication Management — Finding professionals who understand ADHD can be one of the best investments you can make. Healing from trauma, accepting ourselves, and having access to medications that actually work for us is a priceless investment.
   
3. Coaching — Understanding how your ADHD brain functions and how to live your life in a way that actually works for you is another worthwhile investment and is a well-fitting complement to working with a prescriber and therapist. 

Delegating Tasks

1. Home Cleaner — Frustration around cleaning and chores is the number one complaint I hear from ADHD-mixed couples. Cleaning is a tedious, boring, repetitive task that can often be kryptonite to ADHD brains. Taking this fight off the table by investing in a cleaner is a great way to invest in your sanity and your relationship.
   
2. Virtual Assistant — Are you always behind on writing up your notes? Do you dread processing your billing? Or would you instead do anything other than be responsible for scheduling? There are assistants you can hire to do just that! Look into an ADHD virtual assistant to offload the tasks you hate so you can more easily focus on the projects you love!
   
3. Financial Planner/Advisor/Coach — Have you been having trouble managing your money recently, or maybe for your entire life? This is a really common issue for folks with ADHD — you are not alone! Financial knowledge is not an education we are born with, and there is a reason these professionals have jobs — so many people need help managing their money. What would your life be like without financial stress?

“Tools”

1. Pre-cut & pre-cooked foods — this may sound like an odd one (face it, you thought I was finally going to give you the “magic” planner, right?), but like cleaning, cooking can also be a boring, repetitive task, making it a difficult one for ADHD folks to do regularly. If paying a little more for prepared foods like pre-cut veggies or frozen meals means you actually eat them (I’m looking at you, gross bag of spinach), then it is worth it to your health to invest. 
2. Smart Watch — This is a pricey “tool,” but boy, it keeps coming up as a winner for my clients. Phones can get lost, distract us, and especially prey on our dopamine-seeking brains. Smart watches can help us filter out unnecessary information, literally stay attached to our bodies, and only alert us to really important items like calendar reminders and calls from family members. 
3. Doubles, triples, quadruples of everything — if you often waste time looking for your charger or can never find your chapstick, buy enough for every space where you may need it. I had one client who reduced his packing stress by literally buying a full second set of his toiletries that lived in his suitcase.  

In coaching, we often help clients take a step back to see what a certain area of their life is “costing” them that doesn’t have anything to do with money. Being able to trade money for less stress and overwhelm in your daily life is 100% worth it. Taking the time to invest in yourself or your loved ones with ADHD will pay you back in spades.