ADHD Vacation Strategies

I’m finally back from vacation with my husband. While I’m a bit sad my vacation is over, I’m happy to be back to my life’s purpose: helping entrepreneurs, artists, ADHD adults and other creative geniuses take advantage of and develop their strengths. Visit my Facebook page at http://tinyurl.com/adhdcoachand become a fan.

I realize that while I’m just getting back from my vacation, many of you may be on the way to your vacation. Vacation is a great time to reconnect with family, friends and activities you enjoy. It can also create chaos in your life, especially if you’ve managed to create structures and systems that work well for you.

ADHDers, I’ve who, with coaching have built habits, reached life-changing objectives and organized their lives fear losing what they’ve achieved because of the disruption that vacation brings to your day-to-day. After all, there isn’t any structure, no more commitments and no time clocks telling you when to be where.

Here are a few steps to felling more in control and yet still enjoy your vacation:

1. First, realize that you are not your systems and habits!
They don’t define you; they are tools you use to make your life easier. You’ll be able to create habits to support you while you vacation.

2. Continue using the habits and systems that don’t rob you of fully enjoying your vacation and that give you energy.
If you exercise in the morning, keep it up. If one of your habits is to make your bed as soon as you get out of bed, keep that up. These don’t take away from your vacation time and may increase your energy and reduce your distractibility.

3. Make lists
Don’t rely on your memory. Lists that will support you include a list of things you need to take with you, to bring back, to manage while your away (stop the newspaper delivery, get the dog babysat, getting your plants watered etc.), a list of activities you want to attempt to include.

4. Use your creativity and your sense of adventure to create a more exciting vacation.

5. Stick with your strengths and get help around your weaknesses.
Duane has a passion of art and a great sense of direction. He sought out the most wonderful works of art hidden off the beaten track throughout Rome. Without him, I would have missed most of the exciting things we saw, and I’d still be lost in Rome! On the other hand, Duane tends to struggle with administrative details like making travel arrangements, juggling reservation, tickets, insurance and organizing the finances, so I was happy to help out there. With each of us contributing to the effort using our strengths, the vacation was thoroughly enjoyable!

Vacations should be as fun as you remember when you were a child and summer holidays stretched out before you, filled with that tantalizing mix of lazy days and exciting new adventures. If you feel anxious before your vacation, remember that what you’re feeling is normal. Even if it is “as good as a rest,” everyone struggles to adapt to change. Applying these five strategies will help ensure your vacation is restful instead of stressful.