Time and ADHD, they’re just not great bedfellows Just as soon as time’s wind is at your back and you feel like the world is opening up to you, it can turn and make hours feel like days. We’re talking about the messy and inconsistent nature of time as we continue our exploration of our new book, Unapologetically ADHD (which you can order right here!)

Pete introduces the idea of time as an antagonist for individuals with ADHD, comparing it to a complex villain with a rich backstory. But it’s still a villain. And you know who does villains well? The Good Place, that’s who.

We emphasize the importance of recognizing and accommodating the fluid nature of time for individuals with ADHD, urging you to embrace strategies that align with your unique experiences. We highlight the significance of self-compassion and understanding in navigating the challenges of "ADHD time," encouraging you to find humor and acceptance in your relationship with time.

Links & Notes

• The Good Place (TV show)
• Jeremy Bearimy (Know Your Meme)
• Dig into the podcast Shownotes Database

• (00:51) - Welcome to Taking Control: The ADHD Podcast
• (02:34) - Get Unaplogetically ADHD! https://takecontroladhd.com/adhdbook
• (04:22) - The ADHD Time Zone

We spend a lot of time building gates and systems to protect ourselves from distraction of ADHD. But, what might we be losing at the expense of saying No? This week on the show, Pete talks about control and ADHD. Spinning off of the concept of Margin as discussed by Shawn Blanc and Richard Swenson before him, what does it mean for ADHD when our systems and processes that we use to protect ourselves and our focus cause us to run out of margin in our lives and run headlong into a broader world that doesn’t understand us?

Links & Notes

Thank you for supporting The ADHD Podcast on Patreon!

Giving up Control at Work — Shawn Blanc

Margin from The Focus Course — Shawn Blanc

Margin: Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial, and Time Reserves to Overloaded Lives_ by Richard Swenson

There aren’t many practitioners writing about today’s topic. Unless, that is, you look up the collected works of Dr. Bill Dodson. Dr. Dodson is an award-winning board-certified psychiatrist and specialist in adult ADHD and his contributions to the study of Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria bring him to the show today. According to Dr. Dodson, nearly all those living with ADHD live with some level of rejection sensitivity, and thanks to the poor training on the ADHD connections to the condition, patients are going misdiagnosed and mistreated as a result.

Today on the show, Dr. Dodson joins Nikki Kinzer and Pete Wright to discuss Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria and provide new language to frame a state those living with ADHD know all too well.

About Dr. William Dodson

Dr. Bill Dodson is a award-winning board-certified psychiatrist and specialist in adult ADHD. While Dr. Dodson has been on the faculties of Georgetown University and the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center he is primarily a clinical practitioner who tries to combine evidence-based practice techniques with practice-based evidence. In addition to being named a Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, and recipient of the national Maxwell J. Schleifer Award for Distinguished Service to Persons with Disabilities, Dr. Dodson is one of two experts from the US to the World Anti-Doping program for the development of guidelines for the use of ADHD stimulant medications in the world’s athletes.

Links & Notes

• Dr. William Dodson at Additudemag.com

• (00:00) - Welcome to The ADHD Podcast
• (02:24) - Become a Member of The ADHD Community
• (04:28) - Introducing Dr. William Dodson
• (05:53) - What is Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria?
• (10:59) - Defining Characteristics of RSD?
• (13:37) - Mental health trends
• (17:23) - RSD and Imposter Syndrome
• (20:15) - RSD and Gender
• (25:45) - Treatment paths for RSD
• (34:14) - RSD and ADHD Coaching
• (43:44) - Finding Dr. Dodson

As we kick off our summer break, we’re re-releasing a few classic episodes that still hit home—like this one on email from way back in 2017. Yes, some of the tools we mention (hello, Evernote) have aged out of our workflows, but the core ideas about attention, overwhelm, and building ADHD-friendly systems are still spot-on. Think of this as a time capsule with a message that’s still relevant today. Enjoy the listen, and come say hi in the Discord while we’re on break!

Billions of us send hundreds of billions of email messages every single day. Email is bigger than any other social platform around the world and thanks to the explosion in mobile Internet, we’re doing more and more emailing every day in the palms of our hands. Is this how you want to live? Is your ADHD brain adopting to the always-open door to your life that is electronic mail? This week on the show, we’re talking about changes in lifestyle, behavior, and technology you can make to impact your relationship with email for the better!

Links & Notes

• Gmail
• Edison Mail
• Airmail
• Mailbird

• (00:00) - A Message from the Future Past!
• (00:52) - Welcome to The ADHD Podcast
• (01:26) - Follow-up: ADDA Webinar Thanks! — Celebrating Mistakes
• (04:29) - Thanks for your support on Patreon!
• (07:56) - Follow-up: Where does the diagnosis start?
• (11:04) - Follow-up: Learning to love yourself
• (14:36) - Let's talk about Email and the ADHD Brain
• (18:44) - Challenging Email Behavior and Lifestyle
• (26:08) - Stop filing. Just stop it. Please, stop it.
• (28:50) - Workbox versus Inbox
• (37:04) - Switching Costs of Changing Behavior
• (40:15) - Revisiting "Inbox Zero" and ADHD
• (45:14) - Apps that make email better

We all know the moment when we realize we’ve said “yes” too many times. Maybe it’s a blinking cursor. Maybe it’s a half-warm cup of coffee gone cold. Maybe it’s your third attempt to open the same email. But in that moment, something tilts: the awareness that saying yes to one thing has meant saying no to something else… and no one told your brain.

This week on The ADHD Podcast, Pete and Nikki crack open the economic principle of opportunity cost—not in the language of Wall Street, but in the tender, messy vocabulary of ADHD. What happens when our neurological defaults make the unseen costs of our choices invisible? When our brains are wired to chase novelty, to dodge rejection, and to overestimate time like it’s a limitless currency?

Pete revisits the metaphor of the “red line”—a hard truth learned from a boss long ago, now a framework for managing finite energy with zero-based budgeting. Nikki unpacks how ADHD minds experience the psychic toll of every task: the emotional bandwidth, the recovery periods we never account for, the cost of starting something after we finish something else. They offer not only the language for what’s happening beneath the surface—but permission. Permission to stop measuring ourselves against neurotypical expectations. To say “I’m making space for this” instead of “I’m giving up on that.”

If you’ve ever felt the heavy guilt of unmade choices, or the strange sorrow that follows a hard-earned win, you’ll find resonance here. Because at the intersection of ADHD, opportunity, and peace, there’s a small sign that reads: You can stop lying to yourself now. You’re doing just fine.

Links & Resources:

• Download the Opportunity Cost Planning Worksheet
• Join the ADHD community on Discord: takecontroladhd.com/discord
• Support the Show on Patreon
• Dig into the podcast Shownotes Database

• (00:00) - Welcome to Taking Control: The ADHD Podcast
• (00:58) - Become a Patron at patreon.com/theadhdpodcast
• (01:58) - Opportunity Costs

We tend to think of memory as a vault—something that, if built correctly, should always open on command. The vault metaphor is tidy, satisfying, and wrong. In truth, memory is more like a three-legged stool balanced precariously on a floor that shifts beneath us. For people with ADHD, that floor isn’t just shifting—it’s often crumbling. And still, we’re asked to sit perfectly still.

This week, we’re joined by Dr. Daniella Karidi—executive coach, cognitive scientist, and founder of ADHDtime—for a conversation that reframes what we know about memory. She maps its steps—encoding, storage, retrieval—and then shows us exactly where, and why, those steps falter in the ADHD brain. What emerges is a picture of fragility—of a system doing its best under conditions for which it was never optimized.

We explore working memory, the critical minute when new information is either transformed into long-term knowledge or simply lost to distraction. We talk about why prospective memory—remembering to do something in the future—is especially difficult for ADHDers, and how most of our strategies fail because they focus on what to remember, not where or when we’ll need to recall it.

But perhaps the most radical idea Daniella offers is this: Forgetting is not failure. It is human. And for ADHD brains, it’s not about being careless or lazy—it’s about a system built for immediacy, not for invisible timekeeping. The key is not to “try harder,” but to scaffold smarter. Memory isn’t a moral issue. It’s an engineering problem.

Daniella shows us how to work with our memory instead of against it, from post-its and memory palaces to understanding state dependence and the power of meaningful cues. This is a conversation for anyone who has ever walked into a room and forgotten why, missed a meeting they cared about, or been told—once again—that they “just need to focus.” If memory has ever felt like a betrayal, this episode is the beginning of forgiveness.

• (00:00) - Welcome to Taking Control: The ADHD Podcast
• (00:45) - Support the Show: Become a Patron!
• (01:48) - Introducing Dr. Daniella Karidi

In this episode of Taking Control: The ADHD Podcast, Pete and Nikki sit down with Dr. Dara Abraham—board-certified psychiatrist, women’s mental health expert, and founder of Dr. Dara Psychiatry—to explore the complicated and under-discussed relationship between ADHD and hormones.

Dr. Dara walks us through the key hormonal transitions across the lifespan—puberty, pregnancy, postpartum, perimenopause, and menopause—and how each stage uniquely disrupts ADHD symptoms and medication effectiveness. She shares why estrogen is your brain’s best friend, how hormonal shifts wreak havoc on dopamine regulation, and why women are so often dismissed when seeking help. From the science of hormone replacement therapy to practical tips for self-advocacy and lifestyle support, this episode is a must-listen for anyone navigating the double whammy of ADHD and hormonal change.

Whether you’re struggling with brain fog, sleep disruptions, or medication that suddenly stopped working—there’s help, there’s hope, and Dr. Dara is here to share it.

Links & Notes

• Adult ADHD Specialist - Dr. Dara's Comprehensive Psychiatry Care | Comprehensive Treatment
• Connect with Dr. Dara on LinkedIn
• Dig into the podcast Shownotes Database
• Join the ADHD Discord Community
• Become a Patron

• (00:00) - Welcome to Taking Control: The ADHD Podcast
• (01:19) - Support The Show: Become a Patron!
• (02:19) - Marker 3
• (02:32) - Introducing Dr. Dara Abraham • Hormones & ADHD

When you live with ADHD, you might be used to the mental whirlwind — the dopamine chases, the deadline surges, the exhaustion that follows. But for many, there’s a deeper and more insidious battle happening in the background: chronic illness. This week, Pete and Nikki welcome clinical naturopath and passionate advocate Jules Galloway to unpack the tangled web between ADHD, adrenal fatigue, autoimmune conditions, and the gut-brain connection.

Drawing from her own experiences with late-diagnosed ADHD and years of working with neurodivergent clients, Jules explains how chronic stress and inflammation can alter the architecture of the brain, and how burnout isn’t just a buzzword — it’s often a physiological crisis. From cortisol testing and histamine intolerance to why so many ADHDers feel like they’re constantly “wired but tired,” this episode brings clarity and compassion to a deeply misunderstood intersection of mental and physical health.

Jules also shares practical, empowering strategies for healing — from stabilizing blood sugar with protein-rich meals to reducing inflammation through gut health and sustainable lifestyle changes. It’s a conversation full of insight, empathy, and real-world tools for anyone struggling to understand the full-body impact of living with ADHD.

Links & Notes

• Jules Galloway’s website: julesgalloway.com
• 🌿 Get 1 month FREE access to ADHD Naturally (no credit card required): julesgalloway.com/adhd-naturally-freebie
• Follow Jules on social: @julesgallowayhealth
• Join the Taking Control ADHD community on Discord: takecontroladhd.com/discord
• Support the Show on Patreon
• Dig into the podcast Shownotes Database

• (00:00) - Welcome to Taking Control: The ADHD Podcast
• (00:40) - Learn More! Support the show! Join the Community!
• (01:40) - Introducing Jules Galloway
• (06:51) - ADHD and Chronic Stress
• (09:41) - Inflammation
• (13:33) - Burnout
• (32:37) - Histamine
• (40:13) - Sustainable Wellness wtih ADHD and Chronic Disease
• (50:59) - Learn more and get a gift!