#159: How to Finish a Big Project (Like Writing A Book) with ADHD

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Steph sits down with writer, academic, and fellow ADHD-er Wendy Robinson to talk about how she wrote an entire novel in six months—while working full time and managing ADHD. This is a must-listen whether you're a writer, a creative, or just someone juggling a big project with a neurodivergent brain. Spoiler: it’s not about willpower—it’s about systems, self-compassion, and knowing your brain.

• Wendy wrote her novel in 6 months (!), thanks to structure, support, and knowing what works for her ADHD brain.
• They talk about the real executive functioning challenges that come with ADHD and how women especially are impacted.
• Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD) is real and so relatable—especially when launching creative work into the world.
• Steph and Wendy bond over the “good girl” ADHD diagnosis story—how so many women go undiagnosed because they weren’t disruptive, just “daydreamy” and perfectionistic.
• Wendy shares her systems for getting big projects done: think writing retreats, body doubling at coffee shops, and her trusty “go bag.”
• The Parking Lot and Forward Only strategies are game-changers for staying focused and avoiding perfection paralysis.
• Why many ADHD women procrastinate by being too productive—but only for other people.
• Writing accountability groups are magic. External motivation > internal guilt.
• How Wendy redefined success: It’s not about the book deal. It’s about keeping promises to yourself and finishing the damn manuscript.
• Substack, querying, and how to cope when rejection stings like a wasp.
• “You don’t have to do it. But you’ll regret it if you don’t.” —On choosing your pain and finishing creative work.
  
  🧠 Quote of the Episode:
  “You’re seeing the scaffolding, not the reason the scaffolding is there.” — Wendy, on why high-functioning ADHD can still be deeply challenging.
     
  Wendy Robinson is a writer and higher ed nerd. In addition to working on a novel, she writes personal essays about parenting, life as a woman in middle age, pop culture, and more at her Substack Open Water (https://wendyrobinson.substack.com/). 
• She also writes about all things higher education with a focus on the college admissions and financial aid processes to help parents of high school students feel less stressed at her other Substack, College Sanity (https://collegesanity.substack.com/).

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