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CONTEXT

What is Body Doubling?

"A productivity aid that may help people with ADHD and other forms of neurodivergence stay focused and motivated while they're working"

It all started probably when I was around five years old. Reception or first grade.

It was my first week or so, and I still wasn't settled into my new class. I remember the teachers asking my mum to make an appearance in my class to help me settle in.

She came and sat with me during class in the early part of the day. All the questions and class activities seemed quite straightforward, I was settled and things seemed okay.

My mother's presence made me crack on and helped me concentrate and complete the work activities, it all seemed easy.

It gave me confidence, something an ADHD kid needs (I was undiagnosed at that time)

Fast forward to my adult life and professional work, despite liking to be left alone to crack on.

I need to be hand-held, especially at the initial stages to:

• Understand the problem

• Understand where I'm going

• Ensure we're all aligned

I still struggle with being briefed on tasks at short notice due to my ‘ADHD working memory’ not being so hot. I sometimes find it hard to quickly grasp what’s been briefed.

My past and present colleagues (most of them) are unaware I'm a neurodivergent

So when engaging with them, I have to ensure that:

• I understand the concept

• I don't appear 'thick'

I probably made it harder for myself by just not coming out and saying "I've recently been diagnosed with a neuro difference"

But...

I'm different, I personally like a challenge!

Earlier in my career I was concerned that my (undiagnosed) ADHD impulse symptoms would sometimes get the better of me, such as:

• Not paying attention, leading to misunderstanding

• F*cking things up

• Making a fool of myself

From experience, ‘playing it safe’ by adopting a "doubling-esq" approach has served me well throughout my career.

• It temporarily shelters me from the ADHD symptoms

• It gives me time (although not long) to assess things properly and with a better understanding

• Come up with ideas and solutions in my head, that I can later implement, adding value

In previous posts, I've mentioned how I like to be left alone to get work done. That's true for the fun work, where I can showcase my ability.

But for the 'boring' and not-so-fun parts of my roles, I may need a bit of help getting started!

DEEP DIVE

In this post, I'll share how I apply the "doubling-esq" strategies that have helped me along my finance career.

Let’s go!

Body Doubling?

I apply this in the below scenarios:

1. Learning new concepts

2. Introductory meetings

3. When I need help

4. When doing monotomous tasks

1) Learning new concepts

I usually go through this when I'm starting a new job and receiving a handover. This is the part that drains my brain energy and requires my full attention.

Especially when starting a new role, I try my absolute best to get sufficient sleep if my ADHD hamster wheel mind permits it.

As I know I'm in for information overload the following day

Note Taking

During this time, I try to ensure I take sufficient notes. This is the first thing I find myself doing each time I'm doing something new.

Pen and pad are a must, never go unprepared.

In my downtime, I tidy up my notes and make them digital.

My favourite digital apps are Microsoft Onenote and Windows Snipping Tool when learning new concepts to help me have the visual aid. What I found here is that the more effective note-taking I do, the better it serves me down the line.

I thank myself

"As you lay your bed, so you must lay on it"

2) Introductory meeting

When meeting my business partners outside of finance or senior stakeholders for the first time. I like to attend the first meeting as/with a "third wheeler".

For the following reasons:

• I like to see how things currently are

• Understand the dynamics

• Gauge personalities

• Helps reduce any imposter syndrome

It's not them, it's me, I just need to know my entry point. They say it only takes 8 seconds for people to make a first impression of you, and I don't want any f*ck ups. So I feel like I need to be guided here.

"Just be yourself" is not helpful because my ADHD nature may potentially cause problems.

The idea of being a third wheeler makes it a 'safe ground'

3) When I need help

From time to time I may need help along the way. Early in my career I remember not understanding a task and I froze mentally.

There was an assumption that I fully understood what to do, however I didn't ask for help. It was an embarrassing sh*tshow!

Since then I promised myself to never look silly like that ever again. If I need help I would ‘raise my hand’ like you would do in school and ask for freaking help!

No more “Mr macho man” If I need help I know what to do.

I'll do my best to grasp as much as possible just so I can demonstrate that I've actually made an attempt, and avoid looking ‘lazy’

As a finance professional, I work with spreadsheets a lot and whenever things are not making sense to me, I'll either pop over to the stakeholders’ desks (if I'm working in the office) or instant message them and ask them to discuss.

Side note: If I'm getting the help virtually say over Microsoft Teams or Zoom I sometimes record the sessions (with their consent) so I can refer back to it.

4) When doing monotomous tasks

During the earlier years of my finance career, some tasks were somewhat transactional, routined, and dull at times. Motivating myself to get it done was a challenge, I would rather not do it at all.

My family

My favourite ‘body double’ company is Mrs ADHD Exec. Her presence (mainly over the phone) was very soothing and enabled me to power through the 'dull' work that's also important to get the results I need.

My Friends

As some of you may already know I love my Call of Duty (Playstation 5). I have friends that live stream their games on Twitch TV just for me!

I use this opportunity to watch them live stream their games whilst I am doing these ‘boring’ tasks that do not require my full attention.

Recap

1. Find a good source of body couplers

2. Helps complete less interesting tasks quickly 

3. Tasks are not seen as a chore

4. Ask for help when you need it, It’ll save you down the line

Quote of the week

Finally

Stay Different,

The ADHD Exec

Disclaimer: I am not your psychiatrist, coach, doctor. Neurodiverse Diary does not provide medical services or professional counselling and is not a substitute for professional medical care. Everything I publish represents my opinions, experience, not advice.