ADHD for Smart Ass Women with Tracy Otsuka

ADHD for Smart Ass Women with Tracy Otsuka

Want to fall in love with your ADHD brain and make it work for you? Learn more about my patented program, Your ADHD Brain is A-OK Academy here : programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup * I have NEVER met an ADHD woman who wasn’t truly brilliant at something! This podcast, with nearly 7 million downloads, is for smart, high-ability ADD/ADHD (diagnosed or suspecting) women who see their symptoms as more positive than negative. If you want to fall in love with your ADHD brain and discover where your brilliance lies, this podcast is for you! * * ADHD for Smart Ass Women is globally ranked in the top one-tenth of one percent of all podcasts in the world on any subject. It’s streamed in more than 160 countries and is downloaded by more than 150,000 listeners every month. My book of the same name, published by HarperCollins/William Morrow, was recently honored by Amazon Editors as a Top 20 Best Nonfiction Book of 2024. * * I’m Tracy Otsuka, your host. I’m a lawyer, not a doctor, a lifelong learner, and a certified ADHD coach. I’m on a mission to change the conversation around ADHD because I believe it’s time to focus on the strengths that come with our unique brains. When I was diagnosed eight months after my son, my entire life finally made sense, yet all I read and heard about ADHD focused on what I should struggle with. What I discovered, though, was that my ADHD was responsible for some of my greatest strengths. * * Another thing we constantly hear is all the success stories about ADHD men, but no one talks about the women. This podcast is here to change that. ADHD women are my people, and I’m here to acknowledge, support, and cheer them on. My experience as an adult living with ADHD, along with my expertise, is regularly sought out by top-tier media, including Bloomberg, Forbes, CBS Mornings, ABC News Live, Inc., Prevention Magazine, Verywell Mind, ADDitude magazine, and The Goal Digger Podcast, etc. * * adhdforsmartwomen.com * * The content in this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment and does not constitute medical or professional advice. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of anything you have seen or heard from Tracy Otsuka, her guests or this podcast.

Episodes

July 6, 2026 9 mins

Stuck in an ADHD pattern that keeps repeating? SHIFT is a collection of 120 guided audio experiences designed to help you see yourself and your ADHD brain differently. Explore SHIFT here: https://tracyotsuka.com/shift
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How many times have you told yourself, “I’ll do it when I feel more confident”?

When I feel ready, I’ll apply for that job. When I feel more confident, I’ll start the b...

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Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Start with my free training: Stop Trying to “Fix” Your ADHD. You’re Not Broken: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup

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Your kid got labeled the “problem.” The defiant one, the behavior kid, the one who couldn't sit still or keep up. What if the room was the thing that didn't fit?

Beven Byrnes is a neurodivergent educator, nonpr...

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June 29, 2026 10 mins

Stuck in an ADHD pattern that keeps repeating? SHIFT is a collection of 120 guided audio experiences designed to help you see yourself and your ADHD brain differently. Explore SHIFT here: https://tracyotsuka.com/shift
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Have you ever noticed that the harder you try to think your way out of feeling overwhelmed, the more overwhelmed you become?

You replay conversations. You worry about the future. You analyze every possible outcome....

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Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Start with my free training: Stop Trying to “Fix” Your ADHD. You’re Not Broken: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup

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You have heard of art therapy and talk therapy. Charlotte Hastings does therapy in the kitchen, and it opens people up in a way the usual chair never quite does.

Charlotte Hastings is a psychodynamic therapist, founder of ...

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June 22, 2026 11 mins

Stuck in an ADHD pattern that keeps repeating? SHIFT is a collection of 120 guided audio experiences designed to help you see yourself and your ADHD brain differently. Explore SHIFT here: https://tracyotsuka.com/shift
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Have you ever had a really productive day and still felt like you didn’t do enough?

You answered the emails. You made the calls. You went to the meeting. You finished the project. Maybe you even did the thing...

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Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup

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You bought the planner. You loved the planner. You were absolutely, positively sure this planner was going to change your life.

And then, by March, you forgot it existed.

When we moved out of our family home of 25 years, I found boxes. Boxes and boxes of barely used planners I'd been saving ...

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June 15, 2026 11 mins

Stuck in an ADHD pattern that keeps repeating? SHIFT is a collection of 120 guided audio experiences designed to help you see yourself and your ADHD brain differently. Explore SHIFT here: https://tracyotsuka.com/shift
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Have you ever noticed that some tasks feel impossible to start, even when they are not actually difficult?

Maybe it is an email, a budget, a project, a decision, or one small thing you keep avoiding. From the outsi...

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June 10, 2026 31 mins

*This episode has been updated. Please re-download the episode to hear the latest version.

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup

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You know what to do. So why can't you make yourself do it? If you have ever stared at one small task and quietly wondered what is wrong with you, I want to offer a different possibility.

Nothin...

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Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup

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You look like you have it all handled. So why are you so exhausted?

Kristen Baird-Goldman is a licensed therapist, ADHD specialist, and author of The CBT Workbook for Adults with ADHD. She has spent more than 15 years working with high-achieving neurodivergent women, and she is the owner an...

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Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup

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As women with ADHD, we are not only dealing with executive dysfunction. We are also dealing with medical systems, gender roles, and social expectations never built with us in mind.

In this episode, I’m talking about why ADHD in women is so often missed, misunderstood, and shaped by ge...

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Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup

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A lot of ADHD women are not using executive function to get things done. They are using anxiety. If panic, pressure, or shame is what finally gets you moving, this episode explains why.

Dr. Tamara Rosier is an ADHD coach, founder of the ADHD Center of West Michigan, and author of Your Brain...

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Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup

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You worked harder than everyone around you and still felt like you were falling behind. This episode unpacks why the workplace was never built for your ADHD brain.

Meghan French Dunbar, author of This Isn’t Working, is an entrepreneur, former business journalist, CEO, speaker, and wor...

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Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup

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What if your “motivation problem” has nothing to do with discipline?

In this episode, Tracy sits down with Liz Tenuto, better known as The Workout Witch, to talk about the body, trauma, neurodivergence, and why so many ADHD women feel stuck even when they know exactly what they ...

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Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup

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In part one, we talked about her story. In this episode, we go deeper into what shame actually is. She explains that shame is not internal. It is a social emotion that forms when we feel like we have violated someone else’s standard, and for many ADHD women, that correction starts ea...

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Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup

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The hardest part of ADHD is not the symptoms themselves, but the shame story built around them?


Dr. Shawn Horn is a licensed clinical psychologist and the author of Thrive Socially with Adult ADHD. Known as The Shame-Busting Psychologist, she helps adults understand the painful stories ...

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Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup

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What if the hardest part of friendship isn't meeting people, but knowing when a connection is real?

For a lot of ADHD adults, friendship still feels confusing, painful, or just out of reach. Not because they don't care, but because the actual steps were never clear. How do you move past an ...

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Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup

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Are you on the right medication but with the wrong dose?

Maggie Alexander is a psychiatric nurse practitioner who has spent over a decade treating ADHD in teens and adults. Since 2013, she has worked with hundreds of patients using a holistic but grounded approach that includes medi...

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Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup

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What happens when someone who helped build attention-grabbing tech decides to help people get their focus back?


Dr. Nodira Khoussainova is the CEO and co-founder of Focused Space, a body doubling platform for creatives, business owners, artists, and freelancers, many of whom are...

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Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup

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Clutter is not just about stuff. It is about how your brain processes what is in front of you. In this episode, I walk through the connection between clutter, overwhelm, and how ADHD brains track what matters. 

For a lot of us, clutter builds up not because we do not care, but because ...

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Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup

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What if the problem was never that you were bad at learning, but that no one ever taught you how to learn in a way that fits your brain?

Dr. Deena Kara Shaffer is the founder of Awakened Learning, bestselling author of Feel Good Learning and Raising Well Learners, and a learning strategist ...

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