This month's curated course was created with ADHD Behavioral Coach Matt Raekelboom, founder of the platform Journey2ADHD, and an all around incredible community influencer. His life with ADHD has taught him so much about the struggles of addiction and techniques to take in finding a new spark and motivation in life.
For this course, we worked with Matt on something he is incredibly passionate about, HABIT FORMATION! This post will take you through both of Matt's TWO downloadable Brili routines, with explanations for why each component is so important.
Before beginning, download Brili here!
You are welcome to skip to the end and download these routines in the Brili app before reading, but we recommend taking 4 mins to review and get to know the info below first!
'Journey 2 Your Morning' Routine
Sometimes, getting out of bed and heading to work on-time, happy and motivated can feel impossible. Especially if, as an individual with ADHD, you too often suffer from mental fatigue and/or paralysis.
These 5 habits packed in this routine are great because,
"each individually stimulates us in a natural and healthy way to create things like dopamine and serotonin which help you concentrate, feel motivated, and become more emotionally stable." -Matt
- Drink Some Water - Drinking water first thing in the morning immediately helps rehydrate the body. The six to eight hours of recommended nightly sleep is a long period to go without any water consumption.
- Stretching/Motivation time - Stretching is a fantastic way to release dopamine in your brain and it is also fantastic for waking you up naturally. I like to pair this with a motivational speech from YouTube or take some time to self reflect on the positivity in your life. If we start our days off with a positive mindset then we will carry that in to our day.
- Make & Eat Breakfast - Breakfast is always a good idea not just for your health but also to get the amino acid “L-Tyrosine” working in your body which helps your brain produce your concentration chemicals.
- Tidy 1 Room - A quick, easy win in the day! This will make you feel good, accomplished, and confident that you CAN complete tasks.
- Create Your Expectations - Make a task list in your preferred method of some things you want to have done today. With the ADHD brain the method of “It’s better to Obey then Create” is incredibly effective with task lists.
Get on the road to developing these health habits by downloading the routine below in your Brili app and customizing it to your schedule!
'Journey 2 Studying' Routine
Studying with ADHD can be really difficult until it isn't! Procrastinating until the very last minute and getting through everything just before the test begins is not the best thing to really learn new concepts, on that, I think we can all agree. So how do you break that cycle?
By making a whole new one, that's how and Matt is here to help you do just that! Here are five habits you can start incorporating into you study sessions.
- Get On Your Feet - Science has proven it takes 10-20 minutes of physical strain to reach a sufficient amount of Dopamine in the brain. You can get as creative as you want with this space but I like to simplify it to one rule….NO SITTING DOWN.
- Clear Desk of Stressors - Stressors are indicated as anything that doesn’t belong and it bothers you. Remember, a distraction free desk leads to a distraction free mind.
- Grab A Protein Snack - I try to keep this under 300 calories. Protein releases L-Tyrosine which helps us concentrate and getting a quick snack in your stomach will block hunger as an issue before/during study time.
- Schedule Your Break/Stop Time - Modelled after the “Pomodoro Technique”, making a break time at a maximum of every 50 minutes will increase efficiency and also productivity while we are studying KNOWING that we get to take a break soon.
- Create A Reward - We are creatures built around EXCITEMENT! So create a reward that you get once you are finished studying to get you excited to complete your task. This will prevent you from spending too long on breaks and give you the placebo of “Earning this reward”
Try this study routine directly with the Brili app, everything is already set up, all you need to do is download and begin! Let us know how it goes for you!
Bonus Routine: Pomodoro Template For Studying
Since Matt suggested the "Pomodoro Technique" for studying, we have included a routine template for you to download and get started with that if you would like as well!
