Finding your Groove and Making it Move
Most of us with ADHD have experienced the thrill of being in the zone like that of a shooting star or a moon beam. It's wonderful when it happens, but we have absolutely zero control over when it comes and when it goes or how intense or weak it is when it happens. It's often one of the most frustrating parts about our brain’s functioning, the one thing that stands in our way of thriving to our heart’s content. What if I told you there was a way for us, yes us, with the willy nilly seeming, fly by the seat of our pants, brains to achieve consistent in the zone moments that most of the time happen well within the timeline we hope them to happen? Hold on to your hats, cause here come the goods.
5 steps to Finding our feel and making it real
Specific Times: List at least three (more if you can) different times you remember being in the zone. This could be any occurrence when you were able to focus on a single project for thirty minutes or more.
Specific Senses: Write down as many senses as you can that were involved in each event. By senses, I mean, what were you seeing (door open or closed, cluttered or clean space, inspiring or uninteresting wall art), hearing (music, silence, white, pink brown noise), smelling (diffuser, fresh cut grass, household cleaner etc.) , sensing with your skin (texture of your clothes, texture of furniture or floor your were standing or sitting on, temperature in the room, breeze), tasting (coffee, mint, chamomile, ginger tea), and inner sensations (heart rate accelerated after a walk, run, zumba, or basket ball game, pint up energy, muscles tense/relaxed etc.)
Extra considerations: Try to think of anything else these situations might have had in common like time of day, what happened before, after, or during the in the zone moment, etc. Two or three ideas a few ideas that are statistically proven to increase focus include balancing on one foot while doing different tasks on different sides of your body such as patting your head and rubbing your tummy for five minutes before trying to do a focused task. Also, try getting your heart rate up by jogging, jumping rope, or walking fast for as little as twenty minutes before starting a task. Whatever works, add it as a time you were able to get in the zone.
Find the similarities: Use your keen analyzation skills to find any theme or thread of similar senses that were involved in more than one of the events.
Future Planning: What can you do in the future to plan your focus time so it incorporates as many of these senses as possible? Think about your natural energy levels throughout the day as well as your typical schedule and make a plan for surrounding yourself with whatever senses and extra considerations that seemed to be a theme for you for at least one specific day during your next week.
To wrap up, It’s easy for us who identify as having ADHD to resort giving up on any kind of agency surrounding when and when we aren’t able to get in the zone. However, after reading this article, you’ve hopefully been inspired to lean into your ADHD superpowers of noticing and analyzing in order to construct a theoretical ideal situation for getting in the zone. At the very least, I hope it helps you realize that even though the ultimate goal of harnessing the zone may not be within your total control, there are tangible choices you can make that will raise your chances of encountering it. Stay tuned next time for leveraging your natural energy levels to increase your success.