Dear dopamine curious friends,
Last month has been a rough one. My mental health was deteriorating, triggered by a stretch of real-life stress piling but mostly it was the stress of conforming to neurotypical life (endless attendance to baby showers, hen dos remind me I am living a totally different track with my career and life).
Being neurodivergent means swimming against the tide of life often and being ok with it (hence the cover image)
Sometimes I do get stuck in rumination cycles, and my advice as an ADHD coach is: try to do anything to break it. Go outside. Move your body. Muster the energy to eat something. And eventually, see your friends and let it lift.
I hope that helps. Rumination is something I see constantly in my coaching practice with neurodivergent clients, and honestly? It's super tricky 💛
🧠 What happens when our brain is trying to filter too much noise
I took part in this podcast series with Allianz discussing overstimulation (think noise, visual, the lot) and it really made me think about how hard it is to live in London. I constantly feel overstimulated, and leaving my flat genuinely feels like I have to muster the energy to go face it (pretty hard when my brain is already so busy).
Luckily in the video I'm joined by Professor Charles Spence, who studies this at Oxford University. Watch it if you're interested in the discussion around sensory overstimulation.
My tip: be flexible with how you use the tube, and don't be afraid to make decisions that protect your energy. I've actually stopped going shopping in the way I used to... and some shops are now doing quiet sensory hours, as are some museums! Westfield London has sensory hours on certain days too, so do check it out.
👉 Watch the video here: Beyond Wellbeing podcast with Allianz
🛠️ 7 types of rest: an update to the tool, give it a go
I spoke to a client recently about rest, and this happens all the time: when I ask about rest, all anyone can come up with is physical rest. But actually, there are 7 types of rest.
I've updated my tool so you can now build your own rest menu and print it out, so you can remember to try to rest a few times a day (physical, mental, or spiritual). I'm trying to aim for three types of rest a day myself. Honestly, this should help with my overstimulation too.
👉 Build your rest menu: www.flairtoolkit.com
Own Your Flair got a facelift!
With the power of hyperfocus, I've finally given my website a facelift and it looks beautiful. On there you'll find all the AI tools I've created, derived straight from my coaching practice, so go have a play.
This whole thing reminded me: when I have zero distractions, I can hyperfocus for 12 hours straight (basically months' worth of work) with no interruption. I'm now trying to allocate more no-interruption days to sprint through intense work, then properly rest and recover the day after.
👉 Check it out: www.ownyourflair.com
🤝 How I can help
🎤 Lunch & Learn: a 60–90 minute awareness session for your whole team on neurodiversity in the workplace. Great starting point for any organisation. DM me to chat about booking one in.
🏆 Neurodiversity Manager Training: CPD certified, 3 hours, built for managers and leadership who want to actually get it right when supporting neurodivergent team members. Get in touch to find out more.
🧠 Flairya: my neurotech platform for neuroinclusion at work, currently in beta. If you're part of an ERG or HR team and want early access, message me, I'd love to have you testing it.
🎓 Coaching Neurodivergent Clients: a CPD certified, self-paced course for coaches, mentors and managers who want to support neurodivergent people properly. Drop me a message for details.
Wishing you lots of dopamine, Kim 💛
