Besides your typical sleep, exercise, and diet routine, here are five self-care practices I promote with my clients. In order for us to actually hold ourselves accountable, we first turn them into accountability goals so that we can check in and measure how we are doing. When we set goals, it’s often in the follow-through when we fall apart, so having an accountability partner is very useful.
Five Self-Care practices to improve your Overall Mental Wellness
Create Quiet Moments
Stop the noise in your day and reflect or meditate in a consistent way. It is recommended to do it in the morning so it sets you up for success and keeps you in the flow for the rest of the day.
Incorporate Transition Times
Incorporate transition times, especially for those working remotely, when you have back-to-back meetings or Zoom calls, to build in some transition time from one task to another. The purpose is not to take away from the momentum of the day but actually to streamline it, so that you can reset. Instead of coming in hot from whatever was going on in your previous meeting or task you were working on, you want to end that and take a breath for yourself. This will allow you to be more present in the next meeting or task going forward.
Reflect by Journaling
Journaling provides an opportunity to think through what worked and what didn’t work for you on a given day and express your emotions; how you felt. By writing it down, your journal becomes the place where it compartmentalizes so you can let it go. If you can journal three to four times a week, you will find yourself in much better mental health.
Train Your Brain to Relax 3-second Exercise
Another useful practice is to notify your brain that it’s time to relax when you’re starting to feel overwhelmed. Throughout the day when you’re feeling overwhelmed or that sense of frustration growing, stop and use a 3- second technique to trigger you to relax, to let it go.
A simple 3-second exercise, a countdown from three- two- one.
Stop what you are doing. Start from the top of your head and work your way down to just let it go as you countdown three, two, one. By the time you get to one, let your brain take a rest before you re-engage in whatever you’re doing at that particular moment. This is a little bit different than using a transition time between calls or tasks, this is a technique to use in the spur of the moment.
Change the Perception of Your Work
“Love is the reality of your work”. When you have the idea that the work that you do is difficult, that it’s something that has to get done, that it’s a task, it can set you up for a lot of undue stress and pressure. By changing your perception, by feeling love while performing those menial tasks, you change how you feel. The perception of the work turns to more of a “work of love or love of work”, to feel pride and enjoyment in what you do. When the perception of your work changes it can also create more happiness and a sense of fulfillment. This has a direct relation to your mental health on a daily basis and helps you keep a positive attitude and mindset.
These five strategies will help you improve your overall mental wellness and stay in a positive mental framework so that you can handle all of the stressors as you accomplish different tasks and overcome challenges throughout the day.
Michelle Raz, is a career specialist & coach, owner of Razcoaching.com, author of Happiness+Passion+Purpose and Co-founder of Thrivister.com, an academic coaching company for high school and college students. As a Board-Certified Coach, she uses her expertise with executive functioning challenges to help people find their purpose and success in the workplace through the lens of ADHD. She has been contributing her knowledge and expertise in this field since 2010.
In the current labor market, businesses are seeing a high rate of turnover and even ghosting in the workplace. It is a costly trend. Companies are seeing the value in shifting how they train their employees in order to retain them. It is far less expensive to invest in quality training while implementing a community mindset work culture that promotes retention than to continually train new employees. Also, a nurtured environment promotes employees’ self-worth, work engagement, and relationships with fellow colleagues. The result is better morale, work productivity, and lower employee turnover rates.
In order for the efforts to be successful, it is important to understand what challenges this workforce faces and how to best meet their needs. This will ensure quality training for the companies that want to train and hire them.
The Rising Number of ADHD, The Invisible Disability
According to the NCES, approximately 20 million college students entered college in the fall of 2018. Of those, 19.4% self-reported having a disability. Of the students surveyed, 79% of the students who reported a disability listed ADHD, a neurologically based disorder, as their challenge. This number nearly doubled from 10 years ago. The impact on the educational system has been tremendous and colleges across the U.S. have developed programs to meet the needs of these diverse students.
As these students enter our workforce, it would be beneficial for us to help them transition with a foundational employee skillset. Often, these neurologically diverse groups need specific guidance and training that may be assumed and overlooked. This invisible disability flies under the radar and yet has a very impactful effect on job success.
It is at this point that we can illuminate the challenges around ADHD and take a look at ways to help them manage it and capitalize on their strengths. For the ADHD employee, goals often seem to slip out of reach due to this under-managed and misunderstood condition. While no two people with the diagnoses are identical, there are common challenges associated with having an ADHD diagnosis.
Common challenges associated an ADHD diagnosis:
Prioritizing & Procrastination: The workload may become too burdensome if they do not have a clear hierarchal & strategic plan. Procrastination may set in.
Initiating and Completing Tasks: Tasks can be daunting and many distractions can derail them from starting and finishing them
Organizing: Without a priority system, often people do not know where to begin to organize their workspace.
Concentration:While an employee with ADHD can hyper-focus on something that is particularly interesting to them, it is difficult for them to concentrate on mundane work. It can feel overly boring to them and cause them to seek more gratifying interests breaking their ability to focus on what they KNOW they should be working on. ex: filing papers, etc.
Time Management: This may make them late for work or important events and fall behind on projects in the workplace. This happens even with the best of intentions to be on time.
Impulsive Behavior: Difficulty controlling anger and blurting thoughts without much filter that can come across as rude and insulting.
Following Directions: Since the ability to remember information may take several steps that require focus, following directions can be difficult.
These challenges can lead to behaviors that often derail careers, ambitions, and relationships. It is not uncommon for them to experience a high rate of job turnover, either because they choose to leave their job or their behavior leads them to be fired. This can have a lasting effect on a person diagnosed with ADHD. They may struggle with feeling shame and low-self esteem, and become discouraged in their ability to perform in any job. Employers who gain an understanding of this disability can take action steps to help the workflow and dynamics of their employees. Implementation of successful programs can promote positive workplace connections, contribute to positive employee work attitude, and increase employee retention and performance for all employees thus leading to the potential for big payoffs as well as reduced hiring costs for the company.
Michelle Raz, is a career specialist & coach, owner of Razcoaching.com, author of Happiness+Passion+Purpose and Co-founder of Thrivister.com, an academic coaching company for high school and college students. As a Board-Certified Coach, she uses her expertise with executive functioning challenges to help people find their purpose and success in the workplace through the lens of ADHD. She has been contributing her knowledge and expertise in this field since 2010.
Executive Function Challenges are associated with many disabilities, such as ADHD, a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Employers can make small adjustments to support a worker’s needs reasonably. It is important to create an open line of communication that is safe and free of judgment so that employees feel comfortable asking for help and advice.
Encourage them to promote self-advocacy by identifying reasonable accommodations without feeling afraid to do so. For example, an employee may be afraid to ask for a quiet workspace or help to break down large jobs into smaller chunks. Most employers would be happy to make such a simple accommodation!
Here are some topics to discuss and common ways to manage some of the problems they may have:
Asking for help
We all need help from time to time, and it’s important not to be afraid to ask for it. When employees feel overwhelmed, frustrated, or have disruptive thoughts or behaviors, encourage them to seek advice right away to help overcome them.
Stress Management Techniques to Reduce Anxiety
Share ways to self-calm utilizing breathing techniques. The box breathing method is a common technique to calm people down and gain focus. The box breathing method consists of breathing in slowly for three counts, holding your breath for three counts, and then releasing your breath for three counts. Repeat for up to 10 minutes.
Dealing with Distraction
Does your company have an area that people who need a quiet space can go to? Encourage your employees to use that space if he/she needs help focusing without distractions.
Headphones can be a significant noise canceler and provide a physical reminder to concentrate. Using a fidget toy such as a fidget spinner or a rubric cube can also help with distractions since it has been proven that physical movement can help while trying to concentrate. Writing notes and doodling while in a meeting can also help employees pay attention.
Setting Timers for Motivation
Create a short goal and set a 10-minute timer. Have your employee commit to focusing on 1 task and accept whatever they accomplished. When the time is up, have them regroup and set another goal using the timer.
Encourage them to keep this up for as long as it takes to feel a sense of accomplishment.
I have seen clients use this method and after the first 10 minutes, find they have enough motivation to keep going and often end up in a hyper-focus mode and really accomplish a lot!
Limiting Cell Phone Distractions
People with ADHD have a hard time with transitions between tasks and the constant beep and pings of a phone will be highly distracting for them. It is important to discuss cell phone use and expectations to put it away while at work.
Exercising Strategy for the Restless
Does your company allow for short breaks for someone to walk around? Research shows that physical activity can help improve cognitive function and enhances confidence in problem-solving. It also increases testosterone which has been shown to lead to improvements in confidence, attention, and memory. Companies that promote exercise before work, at lunchtime, or after work normally receive excellent feedback from employees.
Providing Healthy and High-protein Snacks in The Break Room
Brain food is known to help with symptoms of ADHD, such as brain fog. It can ward off employee mood swings and sustain consistent energy levels throughout the workday.
The end goal is to promote a culture that is positive, cohesive, and genuine. It pays off to invest in your employees’ well-being to create a family atmosphere where they feel valued. The end result for your company will be a better output.
A well-thought-out program that implements these strategies should lay the groundwork for employees with disabilities. Not only will the company benefit, but also the employee with a structure, tools, and resources that will serve in other areas of their life as well.
You might just help more than the employee with executive function challenges
Since all employees can exhibit similar challenges experienced by someone with executive function challenges such as ADHD at different times of their lives, these strategies can have a positive effect on all employees within the company. By providing the structure and framework to handle executive function challenges for all, your team will have the knowledge and strategies to work through workplace challenges as they arise and feel connected to their workplace.
Michelle Raz, is a career specialist & coach, owner of Razcoaching.com, author of Happiness+Passion+Purpose and Co-founder of Thrivister.com, an academic coaching company for high school and college students. As a Board-Certified Coach, she uses her expertise with executive functioning challenges to help people find their purpose and success in the workplace through the lens of ADHD. She has been contributing her knowledge and expertise in this field since 2010.
Many beliefs can limit yourself in pursuing your career or lead you down a career path that is not a good match for you. It is important to know yourself and the type of career you are considering and the requirements you need to be successful in the career. You could get headed in the wrong direction for years if you hold onto some of these beliefs that do not match up with your personal characteristics, interests and dream.
10 Myths about choosing a career debunked
1. All people who are good at music make successful musicians.
The problem with this kind of statement is that it leaves out many details it takes to be a musician. There are skills needed to be successful. As well as knowing how to play music, there is a commitment to practice or interpersonal skills to help promote the music and financial components for budgeting.
2. All people who learn differently (LD) should go to vocational training programs
People who learn differently and have a strong support system, have gone on to have great careers as in business, science and entertainment industry. There is a learned gift developed by having to navigate life when you have a learning difference. It is the tenacity to work through problems, rebound from failure and celebrate the smaller step successes as they learn patience. If the passion and desire to work toward the career goal is there, you can reach it.
3. All people with ADHD are creative and should own businesses.
While creativity is a hallmark trait used to describe people with ADHD, it doesn’t mean they have the operation skills to own a business. The skills it takes to own a business include time management, long-range thinking, financial discipline, interpersonal skills and more. It takes a lot of hard work and knowing when to pull in help through resources to run a successful business.
4. All people with good grades become top professionals
People that inherently get good grades and don’t have to work hard in school may not have developed adequate coping skills needed to deal with the stress and obstacles. It can hinder themselves in striving for high professional success levels.
5. All people who are good with people should go into sales.
Excellent interpersonal skills are needed in the sales industry as well as a tough as nail attitude for rejection and failure. If you are sensitive to rejection and struggle to motivate after a letdown, then sales can be a challenging field for you.
6. All people who make career changes later in life are discriminated against.
People may fear what others may perceive with a late in life career change, but could they be curious and even envious? YOU can be the trailblazer to model how it can be done for others. Your perception may be at play in a situation like this.
7. All people with good educational backgrounds do well in careers.
Education is just a piece of the puzzle that makes up what it takes to do well in a given career. Education is another way to get an edge on your career, but the other factors are equally important.
8. All people with special challenges can expect to achieve less in their lifetimes.
This is a great myth to bust as we can go through the list of people with challenges that have contributed enormously to our society. Hellen Keller, Walt Disney, Albert Einstein, Keanue Reeves, just to name a few.
9. All people who made career choice mistakes should start over
This is the time to pull together the lessons learned and see how it may apply to something within their career choice. Within a career field, there are many options. For example, If your dream was to be an actor because you love the creative aspect of films but found that you do not like the stress of memorizing lines, look at closely related field within the film industry such as production management or scene development or coaching.
10. All people have one true career destiny.
It is unusual to find someone who has stayed within one career their whole life these days. People have many options to work from home and this has opened up options for people to investigate free-lance fields that bring a variety of work options and paths to consider. As we go through life, your needs and interests change. Our society is accepting of new ways to employ people and judge their performance wherever they are based. This lends itself to allowing people the freedom to pursue dreams that may not have been thought possible in the past.
Go for your potential in life!
by debunking these 10 Myths about choosing a career
There are many opinions out there for every statement made regarding a career path one might choose. Do not limit your potential in life by believing everything at face value. Look at the counter-argument like I did in the above scenarios. This type of critical response is a process to get in touch with your true inner beliefs.
If you have an interest and desire for a career path and see a personal limitation that would keep you from being successful, I encourage to go through the exercises of debunking the thought with an alternative view. This could be the first step in gaining the courage to face a challenge with the attitude of how can I navigate in this career field WITH my limitation? Is this an area I can work on to improve or do I need to find a modification or accommodation to be successful. Turn to techniques that bringer you closer to realizing the dream career such visualization or enlisting someone that can help you develop strategies in your weaknesses.
Your determination and consistent pursuit of the career can happen.
One of the earliest documented stories that I am aware of dates back to the 1960s. This was a period where people with disabilities where looked upon as defects and often hidden from the public by families out of shame and fear. Christy Brown, artist and author, fought every day for something and struggled with his inner critic to motivate and persevere. He began his passion for painting and writing to escape his burden of daily living and earned enough from his work to earn a living.
His first published book was translated into 5 languages writing it on a typewriter using only his left toes. In the first chapter of the book, My Left Foot, Brown describes how he could not be truly happy in life if he viewed himself simply as a cripple. He wanted more and created ways to make his dreams into realities despite not have arms not being able to walk.
He shattered these 10 Myths about choosing a career!
He says in a 1962 interview that it was when he was able to accept himself for who he was combined with the immense support of his family, that he was able to succeed in life. He offers advice to other people with disabilities that, with the right support, you can overcome any challenge. As he says, we all have challenges. Perhaps it is simply a mindset that sets apart this remarkable early example of overcoming tremendous difficulties to reach a fulfilling career and life.
Christy Brown’s accomplishment included artists, internationally best selling author and poet. This example of overcoming odds, fear, having courage and face stigmas and myth of people with disabilities in Dublin, Ireland, is quite remarkable at a time when people commonly institutionalized anyone with mental or physical disabilities. His life story may have set a precedent in other countries to shift their limiting beliefs of the capacity of people with disabilities as a collective force. He is one of the first inspirations for any suffering with any type of challenge.
Your Career Blueprint Begins With Your Passion and Purpose
Passion and Purpose is The Key To Building A Resume And Career Path
Live by your purpose and you will create an inner drive and passion to culminate a life and career path uniquely yours….One that brings out the best version of yourself.
Over 50 percent of the current American workforce are unsatisfied with their current employment and career choice. Considering how many hours people spend at work, it would be a good idea to be among the other 50 percent who enjoy what they do for a living!
Choosing a career path that ignites your purpose and passion in life does not only lead to a higher level of success and satisfaction but fulfillment at work, research also suggests that it promotes long term happiness, and good health.
But for someone with ADHD this may be a daunting and overwhelming task.
Many find it easy to discover their mistakes and not their strengths, they may lack confidence in what they can and cannot do with all the struggles and challenges throughout their lives. By breaking down the components that go into choosing a career and taking a deep look at how successes and personal struggles could serve as a tool for identifying some hidden talents, interests and skills, you can ignite your career path.
This is achievable when you follow a systematic approach to unearth your unique career that works just right for you. Consider it a blueprint to your personal career path.
Develop a blueprint that is authentically yours
A career blueprint for your life will help to create a strong foundation and structure for career happiness. You can compare it to building your dream house. Would you build a house without a well thought out set of blueprints? You might be able to pull it off but how stable would it be for future additions? You would want to put a lot of thought and time into making sure it was right for you. The structure of the house will determine how well you live your life and the problems you may encounter with it. A well designed set of blueprints takes time, energy and passion. It is key to apply this same process to finding a career meant just for you.
Without a career blueprint plan, it is difficult to think through possibilities of how your life experiences connect to your goals and how your career could adapt and grow with you over time.
Joe is a good example of someone who benefited from this process. He was a college student who lacked a solid career plan. He was taking classes to satisfy general requirements but did not know where to specialize his interests. After going through this process, he found that his true passion and purpose was not in the engineering program he had originally thought was his path. He has able to identify key elements that were important to him in a career and incorporated that into what he naturally was good at in college. The great part was that it stayed within the engineering department, but shifted to a more environmental focus. It took into account his desire for travel, continual learning and humanitarian efforts. He was able to design a career blueprint to best set him up for success in this field with strategic action plans and milestones.
Some people may think it is too late in their career to start the blueprint. They may be burned out of their chosen career but feel they are too old and tired to recreate their life purpose.
It is never too late to start creating a blueprint for your life!
And you don’t need to start from ground zero. Through this process, you can see connections that will propel you into your new career direction with your personal history, experiences and narrative. Mary was able to rediscover her life’s passion and purpose by using this strategic process.
Mary was a marketing professional who loved her chosen career path. She had felt passion and purpose and never questioned her choices until she left the workforce for 20 years to raise her children. Now an empty nester, she was looking to redefine her life purpose and re-enter the workforce without spending years retraining to gain new skill sets. She dug in deep to look at her blueprint she had created and found that her life experiences as a mom brought new skills, interests and passion. She was able to find purpose and passion with her experiences that complimented her original career blueprint path where she was making over six figures. In fact, she ended up feeling MORE marketable as she made connections in her current life situation to her previous career experience that were very insightful.
The key to finding a career that gets your passion and purpose burning is to look at your life’s What, Why and How.
The What of the Blueprint
WHAT you want out of life such as interests, values, and personality factor into this equation. You might even find that some of your desires were written by you at a young age. It may be a childhood dream that was imprinted into your mind when you did not have any distractions or life barriers creating doubts that could serve you in choosing the right career path.
Go through these questions and answer them. Writing them down in a journal will help you see a pattern of your wants.
What brings you joy?
It is very important to take time in finding out who you are, ask yourself some important questions. What makes me unique? There may be a special strength in your uniqueness. What are my values and beliefs? What are my fears? Self-knowledge is a key step in designing a career path that works for you.
What motivates and energizes you most?
Another key factor in determining your career path in life is knowing what gets you motivated. Anything that gets you motivated and keeps you energized is capable of sustaining you through the mundane or tough times in a career.
What are you biggest interests?
Knowing your interest is also very important while developing a career path. Your area of interest would be where your career is focused on. You might even find that some of your yearnings and fears were not written by you and don’t suit you now.
Is there a major challenge you want to tackle in your life or career that is important to you?
For instance, If you knew you only had one year to live, what would you want to do during this time?
You can start to identify a life pattern that will point you in the direction of a career blueprint meant just for you by answering these questions. This will align with your plans and purpose in life as the foundation.
The Why of your blueprint plan deepens your connection of what it is you want. Taking a look at your unique WHY or Inner Narrative is a good place to start. What is the voice inside your head telling you?
Why are you the way you are?
Desires, beliefs, values, and fears don’t materialize out of nowhere. Your values and personality are shaped during our lives in several ways. They’re either developed over time by our internal consciousness or as observations made during our life experiences. The key here is to identify the why and know yourself and how it factors into your career path.
Designing a career blueprint for you by taking proactive steps geared with this self-knowledge of who you are and what your wants are makes your career journey of planning and decision making solid and stream-lined.
The How to pull it together for your career blueprint plan
Now is the time to connect the dots and see the patterns emerge. Identify career paths that fit into this using resources available to you.
Once you have a good understanding of your true authentic self of what you want and why you want it, create the career path. Unpack the box of expectations that you grew up with and make connections between, values, personality, strengths, and start to identify paths that will relate to your personal dreams and goals. Your career blueprint plan will start to take form and give you clarity and a vision that you can follow.
And for the skeptics
Yeah sure, things could change, and you may need to modify the plans over the years, but with a solid blueprint, the changes can be handled and accommodated and add value and character to your original plan as it did for Mary.
Your career path is a path that does not need to be a straight path. This thought can leave people feeling panicked when they want to adapt or change their plan. The career stakes become so high and feel unattainable which can leave people feeling stuck and confused. It does not have to be this way.
Gone are the days of people choosing one career and never veering off from that path.
People are creating more of a portfolio of jobs that lead to a series of careers. This can be exciting for someone that has a developed blueprint career path that takes into consideration all the elements to a passionate and purposeful career. The path can have many elements to it that spur off the main course but contribute to the overall career goal. Now more than ever a career path can have many twists and turns that lead to success, fulfillment and purpose.
Consider these point in designing a career blueprint plan:
Make meaningful connections in life experiences: self knowledge
Investigate interests, skills, aptitudes, accomplishments, and challenges
Identify patterns between, values, personality, strengths, and how it relates to career dreams and goals
Build a vision board of what you want your career to look like
Answer some self reflection questions: Is it truly your plan?
Incorporate opportunities for growth and learning in your career
Take note of all the points listed above. Turn them into a manifesto. When you feel overwhelmed and distracted from your purpose, go back to this statement as a guiding light in your career journey.
Build a career path that ignites your passion and purpose and never second guess your career choice.
It is a common trait for neuro-diverse people to be employed in part-time work. They may have low pay jobs that lead to low disposable income and poor job stability. It is affecting our workplace in a big way. Research shows that graduates from university are reporting a disabiity at a rate of nearly 20 percent.
As you can imagine, with all of these negatives, it is highly probable that someone with neurodiversity struggles with comorbid conditions. This includes anxiety and depression. It leaves the person with frustration, low motivation and overwhelming thoughts with how to “get it together” in a career and life.
BUT it does not need to be this way.
Just as the weaknesses can derail ambitions of long-term employment, the strengths one may develop through their disability can have a positive affect. It can soar the employee far above others in the work environment.
Executive Functions
I work with a large population that has challenges with executive functions. These challenges include time management, emotional regulations, procrastination, organization and motivation.
One thing that I notice is that when a person with these challenges likes something, they have a laser-like focus, attention span and drive like no other.
The focus often propels them so far into the knowledge base of a topic that they become self-taught experts. With the right strategies, tools and mentoring, they can be the shining star of a company. Often, they are just the very person capably of turning a failing business around with fresh ideas, well thought out visions and the drive to make it happen!
Your company can take advantage of this during the hiring process and current training programs for neuro diverse people
Train To Retain
A sound employee apprenticeship or intern mentoring program can foster the positive attributes of all future employees by establishing a well-thought-out best practice training plan. I suggest creating a strong program with boundaries, routines and clear expectations with high accountability.
Not only will you help potential recruits develop their strengths as an intern employee, but it will also foster a kind of work environment that promotes community and self-empowerment. The result is a win-win for company productivity, lowering overall training costs and developing strong skillsets for future employees.
A well-defined training program for all employees will empower recruits to perform with the company’s best interests in mind.
Current treatment trends of stimulant and non-stimulant medications are proven to help people with executive function challenges in the workplace. But, it is when behavioral changes happen that empowerment for the employee begins to shift.
Your program can help promote this shift.
Employee engagement aligns with company goals, creating a synergy with the employer that propels growth and productivity down the line to success for all. This will not only benefit your neuro-diverse employees but all employees.
Here are several ways to help as a mentor and employer to make the internship a powerful experience for the mentored and company.
Goal Setting:
Start with the desired outcome for this employee/intern. What does the company want to gain from this relationship? What does the mentored wish to achieve? Revisit the goal near the end of the internship to determine if company goals are being met. Or determine if there is further training needed.
Mentor By Example:
Organize and create a company notebook with a daily note area for questionsvaluable information and to-do list of daily tasks. Using call to actions divided into four categories such as: calls, emails, tasks, and errands.
I suggest a sign off to ensure follow-throughTo set a routine, it is important to have consistency for at least three weeks and up to 3 months. If there is something very important on the planner, have the intern create a reminder on their phone. This hands-on approach will have a huge payoff later when the employee commits the tasks to a daily habit. Set a time to go over the goals and planner each day.
Prioritize and break up the big critical tasks into smaller tasks with check-ins from the mentor each day
Do not allow a new task to start until the first one is completed. I like to use a color-coding system to show essential items and ones completed. This gives motivation to keep going and clarity on what still needs to be done.
Task Routine: If there is filing that needs to happen, help them create a daily routine to get that done and show them how it should be done. I suggest a daily 10-minute organizing time. Another tip I give to people is to have a catchall box of things each day that need to be put away or filed.
Develop a Mail Routine:Sorting mail every day can be overwhelming and I recommend having a system in place to handle and prioritize them. Go over with the mentored how you would like them handled and what the expectations are in the company for them.
Expense Account:Have an app or system in place right from the start with clear accountability. Managing money and keeping track of the details can be very difficult with someone with executive function challenges.
If you build up your people within your business rather than build the business and get the people to fit it, they will build the business for you.
A well thought out mentoring program that implements these strategies may lay the groundwork for employees. You may just have employees who cannot bear to leave your company. This will give you an edge on this finicky labor market.
Raz Coaching specializes in helping people with executive function challenges and find careers they will love and land them. Read more at www.razcoaching.com/about Or sign up for the weekly blog or purchase my new book Happiness+Passion+Purpose. You can access exercises and strategies you can put to use immediately.
