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The ADHD Skills Lab — Education
The ADHD Skills Lab

Things are starting to fall through the cracks.

Not because you’re not trying, but because the systems everyone recommends weren’t built for a brain like yours.

The ADHD Skills Lab is for business owners with ADHD whose responsibilities have grown past simple solutions. Each week, Skye Waterson and guests share research-backed strategies and real-world systems to help you reduce the chaos, make consistent progress, and stop reinventing the wheel every time life gets complex.

No “just use a planner.” No productivity hacks that last a week. Just honest, practical support from someone who has spent years researching, testing, and refining what actually works for adult ADHD.

Skye is the founder of Unconventional Organisation, a former academic diagnosed with ADHD during her PhD, and the author of over 50 articles read by more than 250,000 people worldwide. She has worked with senior leaders, business owners, academics, and professionals navigating ADHD in high-responsibility roles, and was invited to share her research with both the Australian and New Zealand Government.

🤝 In partnership with Understood.org: https://u.org/4boG8QW

🌐 https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/
📲 https://www.instagram.com/theadhdskillslabpodcast/

Copyright: © 2023 The ADHD Skills Lab

Latest Episodes:

Why Your Environment Effects Your ADHD More Than You Think Jul 01, 2026

Show notes

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

P.S. If you’re a founder who’s tired of the mad scramble of disorganized systems and stressful HR, and you want a business that feels as easy as plugging your headphones into an iPod shuffle, I’ve got something for you.
Want to grow your business?

My Focused Balanced Growth Program has everything you need to build consistent ADHD-friendly routines and processes to grow. Click here to learn more.

Looking for a coach who's also an operator who'll turn your business into a finely-tuned profit and peace machine designed for your brain?

I work with one company a month as a fractional consultant and COO, learning about your business and implementing systems that allow both trust & transparency with your team. Click here to book a call and discuss.

The High Performance Habits Of An 8 Figure ADHD Business with James Wedmore Jun 29, 2026

Show notes

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

P.S. If you’re a founder who’s tired of the mad scramble of disorganized systems and stressful HR, and you want a business that feels as easy as plugging your headphones into an iPod shuffle, I’ve got something for you.
Want to grow your business?

My Focused Balanced Growth Program has everything you need to build consistent ADHD-friendly routines and processes to grow. Click here to learn more.

Looking for a coach who's also an operator who'll turn your business into a finely-tuned profit and peace machine designed for your brain?

I work with one company a month as a fractional consultant and COO, learning about your business and implementing systems that allow both trust & transparency with your team. Click here to book a call and discuss.

The REAL Reason ADHD Could Be Ruining Your Sleep Jun 26, 2026

Show notes

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.

P.S. If you’re a founder who’s tired of the mad scramble of disorganized systems and stressful HR, and you want a business that feels as easy as plugging your headphones into an iPod shuffle, I’ve got something for you.
Want to grow your business?

My Focused Balanced Growth Program has everything you need to build consistent ADHD-friendly routines and processes to grow. Click here to learn more.

Looking for a coach who's also an operator who'll turn your business into a finely-tuned profit and peace machine designed for your brain?

I work with one company a month as a fractional consultant and COO, learning about your business and implementing systems that allow both trust & transparency with your team. Click here to book a call and discuss.

ADHD Diagnosis Criteria Explained By People Who Actually Have It Part 2 Jun 24, 2026

Show notes

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

P.S. If you’re a founder who’s tired of the mad scramble of disorganized systems and stressful HR, and you want a business that feels as easy as plugging your headphones into an iPod shuffle, I’ve got something for you.
Want to grow your business?

My Focused Balanced Growth Program has everything you need to build consistent ADHD-friendly routines and processes to grow. Click here to learn more.

Looking for a coach who's also an operator who'll turn your business into a finely-tuned profit and peace machine designed for your brain?

I work with one company a month as a fractional consultant and COO, learning about your business and implementing systems that allow both trust & transparency with your team. Click here to book a call and discuss.

The Best Way To Build Your Company Around Your ADHD Brain (With Chris Wang) Jun 22, 2026

Show notes

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

P.S. If you’re a founder who’s tired of the mad scramble of disorganized systems and stressful HR, and you want a business that feels as easy as plugging your headphones into an iPod shuffle, I’ve got something for you.
Want to grow your business?

My Focused Balanced Growth Program has everything you need to build consistent ADHD-friendly routines and processes to grow. Click here to learn more.

Looking for a coach who's also an operator who'll turn your business into a finely-tuned profit and peace machine designed for your brain?

I work with one company a month as a fractional consultant and COO, learning about your business and implementing systems that allow both trust & transparency with your team. Click here to book a call and discuss.

ADHD Diagnosis Criteria Explained By People Who Actually Have It Jun 17, 2026

Show notes

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

P.S. If you’re a founder who’s tired of the mad scramble of disorganized systems and stressful HR, and you want a business that feels as easy as plugging your headphones into an iPod shuffle, I’ve got something for you.
Want to grow your business?

My Focused Balanced Growth Program has everything you need to build consistent ADHD-friendly routines and processes to grow. Click here to learn more.

Looking for a coach who's also an operator who'll turn your business into a finely-tuned profit and peace machine designed for your brain?

I work with one company a month as a fractional consultant and COO, learning about your business and implementing systems that allow both trust & transparency with your team. Click here to book a call and discuss.

Psychologist With 40,000 Hours of ADHD Clients Speaks On What Productivity Advice Gets Wrong (Ari Tuckman) Jun 15, 2026

Show notes

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

P.S. If you’re a founder who’s tired of the mad scramble of disorganized systems and stressful HR, and you want a business that feels as easy as plugging your headphones into an iPod shuffle, I’ve got something for you.
Want to grow your business?

My Focused Balanced Growth Program has everything you need to build consistent ADHD-friendly routines and processes to grow. Click here to learn more.

Looking for a coach who's also an operator who'll turn your business into a finely-tuned profit and peace machine designed for your brain?

I work with one company a month as a fractional consultant and COO, learning about your business and implementing systems that allow both trust & transparency with your team. Click here to book a call and discuss.

Why Using Anxiety To Manage Your ADHD Isn't A Good Idea Jun 12, 2026

Show notes

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.

P.S. If you’re a founder who’s tired of the mad scramble of disorganized systems and stressful HR, and you want a business that feels as easy as plugging your headphones into an iPod shuffle, I’ve got something for you.
Want to grow your business?

My Focused Balanced Growth Program has everything you need to build consistent ADHD-friendly routines and processes to grow. Click here to learn more.

Looking for a coach who's also an operator who'll turn your business into a finely-tuned profit and peace machine designed for your brain?

I work with one company a month as a fractional consultant and COO, learning about your business and implementing systems that allow both trust & transparency with your team. Click here to book a call and discuss.

Why ADHD Makes You Chase Bad Ideas (& how to stop it) Jun 10, 2026

Show notes

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

P.S. If you’re a founder who’s tired of the mad scramble of disorganized systems and stressful HR, and you want a business that feels as easy as plugging your headphones into an iPod shuffle, I’ve got something for you.
Want to grow your business?

My Focused Balanced Growth Program has everything you need to build consistent ADHD-friendly routines and processes to grow. Click here to learn more.

Looking for a coach who's also an operator who'll turn your business into a finely-tuned profit and peace machine designed for your brain?

I work with one company a month as a fractional consultant and COO, learning about your business and implementing systems that allow both trust & transparency with your team. Click here to book a call and discuss.

How ADHD Pulled This Entrepreneur Out Of $600k Debt (with Galel Fajardo) Jun 08, 2026

Show notes

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

P.S. If you’re a founder who’s tired of the mad scramble of disorganized systems and stressful HR, and you want a business that feels as easy as plugging your headphones into an iPod shuffle, I’ve got something for you.
Want to grow your business?

My Focused Balanced Growth Program has everything you need to build consistent ADHD-friendly routines and processes to grow. Click here to learn more.

Looking for a coach who's also an operator who'll turn your business into a finely-tuned profit and peace machine designed for your brain?

I work with one company a month as a fractional consultant and COO, learning about your business and implementing systems that allow both trust & transparency with your team. Click here to book a call and discuss.

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