Make Goals Inevitable with ADHD: Stressors and Entrepreneurship with Skye Waterson (2/2)

Does the ADHD brain experience stress differently in situations like being laid off, for example? According to Skye Waterson, ADHD coach and our guest in episode 314, stress actually has the potential to hit you harder after a crisis.

In this discussion, Skye shares practical tips for setting achievable goals as a job seeker or an entrepreneur and the importance of taking a long-term view throughout the process. We talk about the strengths of the ADHD brain in the tech field and how to determine if a work environment is the right fit when you’re interviewing. Skye also shares the reasons she decided to walk away from academia to start a business and some of the lessons learned along the way.

Original Recording Date: 12-29-2024

Skye Waterson a former academic turned entrepreneur and ADHD coach. If you missed the first part of our discussion with Skye for a slightly different perspective on the ADHD brain, check out Episode 313.

Topics – Stress and the ADHD Brain, ADHD Strengths in Tech, Setting Goals and Maintaining Accountability, Walking away from Academia, Reflecting on Entrepreneurship, Job Interviews and Finding an Environmental Fit

2:34 – Stress and the ADHD Brain

• Nick suggests we talk about stress in the context of the current job market. We’re seeing layoffs across tech and other industries continue. How do these stressful and traumatic situations affect the ADHD brain differently than perhaps those who do not have ADHD?
  • “There’s no conclusive thing that I can think of in the research that I’ve done that we experience stress in a different way…. What I would come back to with ADHD is that we have impulsivity struggles and we have executive functioning struggles. And so, it comes back to this idea that you’re ADHD all the time. When something stressful happens to you when you have ADHD…you have to deal with all of the emotional regulation, all of the thinking…all those things can mean it hits harder.” – Skye Waterson
    • People with ADHD can struggle with rejection sensitivity and self-criticism. Self-criticism could be partially due to receiving a lot of criticism when younger (positive or negative).
    • Stressful events can hit harder as well if you have PTSD or other mental health struggles.
  • Skye gives the example of getting into a car wreck. After it happens, you have to call the insurance company, figure out what to do with your car, and do many other things.
    • “And especially once the dopamine is gone…you might be good in the crisis, but post-crisis, you now have to pick up all of this executive functioning task work and do emotions. So, you might be struggling way longer than somebody else might be struggling…because now you have to deal with all this actual admin work as well.” – Skye Waterson, on experiencing stressful situations with ADHD
• If we put that same set of challenges in the context of someone losing a job, someone would need to figure out how to spend the time they have left at a company (could be some or none), update their resume, update LinkedIn, and decide what to do next.
  • “I’ve worked with a lot of people in that job space…. Essentially what you’re doing is you’re starting a small business called finding another job. It’s really complicated…. Really it does have to be a system that you break down…. What is my goal? My goal is to get this job. What are the steps that make this goal inevitable in a day? …Make it an achievable goal for you to hit those things and focus on that and give yourself dopamine for that rather than…my goal is to wake up every morning and try and get a job. That’s very, very difficult and not very fun from an emotional point of view.” – Skye Waterson
    • Some of the people Skye has worked with chose to begin a small business on the side after being impacted by a layoff. It’s certainly one option for people but not the only one.
    • Part of the system might include a specific number of people to message per day, a specific number of resumes to send per day, and a specific number of jobs to check in on. These goals should be achievable for you.
  • Would the amount of dopamine required to work toward getting another job each day be even higher because of the compelling event that put you into a stressed state?
    • Skye says yes but you also do not have to start immediately. We can sometimes go into crisis mode and use the dopamine of stressful events to push us forward. It can seem like a crazy burst of energy that propels you until you crash.
    • “In the moment when it happens…and if you knew that this might happen it can be