About Nicolas:

Nicolas was first originally from Switzerland. He’s a long-time motoring enthusiast, licensed racer, and fourth-generation painter. He now lives and works in the U.S. as a professional automotive fine artist. 

He trained at Pasadena ArtCenter College of Design and incorporates many elements of Art Deco advertising posters in his paintings - a style he called, “Period Correct.” He’s worked with the likes of Porsche, 24h Le Mans, McLaren, and Ford, to create one-of-a-kind art pieces and automotive-themed design prints for apparel and products. 

---

[00:03:26] - Nicolas talks about a 20-foot painting he was commissioned to do in 2015 for Porsche and says more about his artwork and his business. 

[00:04:30] - Mentioned here: Hunziker Design – HUNZIKER 

[00:05:29] - Hear more about Nicolas’ family history of artists, Art Deco, photography, and postmodernism. 

[00:07:01] - Nicolas gives an honest answer when people ask him how they can become a painter, his thoughts on corporate culture, the types of clients he’s worked with, and what he did before becoming a full-time painter. 

[00:10:07] - A relatable moment of time-blindness is mentioned here. (Implied; the phrase, “time-blindness” is not actually mentioned here.) Then, Eric and Nicolas dive more into ADHD and how it’s “the worst-named disorder in the world”, the difference between hyperfocus and flow, and how Nicolas experiences hyperfocus. 

[00:14:19] - Eric talks about the COVID hobby he picked up - painting - and asks Nicolas about changing brushes. 

A question for the listener: Is it just Eric? Or do you think painters with ADHD have to buy more brushes because “we” don’t clean them off fast enough? 

[00:21:47] - Nicolas answers Eric’s question: “From what you’re learning so far, how do you see ADHD showing up in your work, in a way that challenges your work?”

Here, Nicolas opens up about mindfulness and other tools he uses, and how he organizes his environment. He also opens up about impulse control and not being able to say “no”, being an instigator, and how his ADHD affects his business and relationship. 

[00:24:05] - Eric and Nicolas talk about starting “22 things at the same time”, deadlines, and perfectionism. Later, they talk about how long it can take Nicolas to finish a painting.

[00:27:52] - Hear a helpful reframe on how hyperfocus can potentially be more draining, rather than a superpower. Then, Nicolas talks about the energy differences when he paints versus sketching, how long it takes him to figure out details for historical accuracy, and how perfectionism plays a role. 

[00:34:03] - Mentioned here: VIRTUAL FREEDOM – More Time More Productivity More Freedom

[00:43:26] - Nicolas shares how his ADHD has affected his relationship, the challenges they’ve had to face together, and how a fantastic referral led him to his ADHD diagnosis. 

[00:46:26] - Eric and Nicolas share a moment when it comes to filling out forms and how they change their handwriting. 

[00:48:07] - Nicolas talks about the research phase of ADHD, how he’s still learning, how the scope of his ADHD has affected his life and the people around him, losing things, and getting derailed.

Unintentional tip from Nicolas: Walk around with paper in your hand, it looks like you’re going somewhere. Or, you can hold a phone to your ear! 

[00:51:18] - Eric and Nicolas talk about auditory processing and dyscalculia, recalling conversations, emotional scarring, and the messiness of sequencing events. Then, they talk about taking notes and how Leonardo da Vinci would handwrite.

[00:53:59] - Nicolas opens up about communication challenges, his triggers, his tendencies, and his awareness of his reactions. 

[00:56:49] - Nicolas shares an analogy about an intention versus the effect of the intention. 

[00:58:39] - Eric and Nicolas talk more about being emotionally laden, emotional defense mechanisms, and forgetfulness. 

[01:01:56] - Nicolas gives his thanks. He hopes this episode can help someone listening to his story, too.

---

Mentioned on the show: 

• Hunziker Design – HUNZIKER

• VIRTUAL FREEDOM – More Time More Productivity More Freedom

---

Check out the Other Podcasts on the ADHD reWired Podcast Network:

• adhdessentials.com with Brendan Mehan
• hackingyouradhd.com with Will Curb
• adhddiversified.ca with MJ Siemens
• adhdfriendlylifestyle.com with Moira Maybin
• coming soon - Wait, What Was the Question? with Will Curb and Coach Roxie Martin. Reach out to Will and Roxie at questions@whatwasthequestionpodcast.com 

Don't Forget These, Too:

• adhdrewired.com/patreon — Support the show by becoming a Patron!
• coachingrewired.com — Get your name on the waitlist to join the fall season of ADHD reWired's Coaching and Accountability Groups
• adultstudyhall.com — Join your ADHD-friendly co-working space!
• adhdrewired.com/events — Join Eric, Brendan, Will, MJ, Moira, Roxie, and Barb for an hour of Live Q&A on Zoom, every 2nd Tuesday of the month at 12:30pm Central (10:30am Pacific / 1:30pm Eastern)

About Will:

Will is a Los Angeles-based tech entrepreneur, inventor, and music producer, who is the CEO and founder of Focus@Will. He is the founding member of the 90’s hit UK pop-soul band LONDONBEAT, founded a tech company called Rocket Network based in San Francisco, and sold the company in 2003. Will also founded the company called “DigiDelivery”, which morphed into Avid Cloud Collaboration (part of ProTools) and is used everyday in pro audio production all over the world. 

Sources: Linkedin

Check it out: Focus@Will: Music to help you focus. Optimized by science.

[00:03:47] - Will talks about being diagnosed and shares some of his thoughts about ADHD.

[00:07:27] - Eric and Will talk about using music as a tool, what’s helpful for them, and the science of music on the brain.

[00:11:17] - Hear a sample from Focus@Will, “The Deep”, and more. 

[00:12:36] - Will explains a musician’s brain. 

[00:15:37] - Will shares a story from a friend about music and Alzheimers. 

[00:22:09] - Eric asks Will about the creation process, the data, and what the data says. 

[00:24:28] - Will tells us who gave him his ADHD diagnosis, and the types of jobs where ADHD brains need a lot of stimulation to focus. 

[00:26:22] - Hear more samples from Focus@Will, as Will walks us through the purpose of each sample. 

[00:29:04] - Will explains how Focus@Will started and what was involved with starting up.

[00:32:08] - Hear more about the science, the cognitive testing, and the distinct link between brain types and the kinds of music that helps that type of brain. 

Did you know: Statistically, one in three people cannot listen to any sound at all while they’re working!

[00:33:43] - Will talks about the bell curve of the studies, the correlation of ADHD, a link to autism, and how the data came out with how having music on while working helps two thirds of people. 

[00:36:36] - Hear about a statistic of Focus@Will in a work environment, and how the people using it compare to the organization.

 

[00:42:51] - Eric wants to know about the musical and creative side of Focus@Will - and then we get serenaded! Will explains making music for the non-conscious mind. 

[00:44:35] - Will talks about “Nature Beat”, a channel that is also his own personal artistic endeavor.

Then, hear a sample of Nature Beat itself, as Will walks us through how it works and the intentionality behind its creation. (All Nature Beat tracks are 25 minutes long - the same as a Pomodoro!) 

[00:48:43] - Will explains what “entrainment” is with a demonstration using his guitar. 

Did you know: Strings sympathetically resonate with sounds that make the strings happen. You can do this with a piano by singing into a piano and holding the sustain pedal! 

[00:50:07] - Hear “the skinny” about binaural beats, and the brainwaves we need to focus and concentrate. (It’s alpha waves.) 

[00:52:56] - Go to focusatwill.com, take the quiz on the website, and discover what kind of music might best help you get focused! Hint: It often recommends music you don’t like. Will explains why. 

[00:55:36] - Will shares three tips he’s received: 

• “Every time I do an email during the day, I ‘click’ a [pitch] counter.” (It just might have been our own Brendan Mahan!) 
• A tip from a Podiatrist (foot doctor): Make sure your feet are grounded at 90 degrees to your ankles when you’re working. It has a profound impact on your typing accuracy!
• An eye-doctor talked about eye-strain and working in front of a computer. The tip: Close one eye, look at your screen, and then look away (or outside) at the brightest source (but not the sun!), and then look back at your computer screen. If it is exactly the same [brightness], you’re good to go. But if it’s not, then adjust the brightness of your screen so it matches the ambient light. 

Get in touch with Will Henshall & follow Focus@Will: 

• On Twitter @WillHenshall

• Like Focus@Will on Facebook

• Focus@Will on Instagram

Other honorable mentions:

• Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain by Oliver Sacks
• Learn more about Entrainment here (Wikipedia link) 

Check out the Other Podcasts on the ADHD reWired Podcast Network:

• adhdessentials.com with Brendan Mehan
• hackingyouradhd.com with Will Curb
• adhddiversified.ca with MJ Siemens
• adhdfriendlylifestyle.com with Moira Maybin
• coming soon - Wait, What Was the Question? with Will Curb and Coach Roxie Martin. Reach out to Will and Roxie at questions@whatwasthequestionpodcast.com 

Don't Forget These, Too:

• adhdrewired.com/patreon — Support the show by becoming a Patron!
• coachingrewired.com — Get your name on the waitlist to join the fall season of ADHD reWired's Coaching and Accountability Groups
• adultstudyhall.com — Join your ADHD-friendly co-working space!
• adhdrewired.com/events — Join Eric, Brendan, Will, MJ, Moira, Roxie, and Barb for an hour of Live Q&A on Zoom, every 2nd Tuesday of the month at 12:30pm Central (10:30am Pacific / 1:30pm Eastern)

** There's still room for YOU to join the 26th season of the award-winning ADHD reWired Coaching and Accountability Groups, starting in October! 

Head over to coachingrewired.com to find out how you can be a part of these intensive, online and video-based coaching and accountability groups, so you can get your ADHD rewired and rewrite your ADHD story!

---

[00:02:20]  - Eric has the first ADHD moment of the show 

[00:04:38] - Question: A listener who was recently diagnosed with ADHD asks about hyperfocus, prioritizing, and how to tell the difference between something that is a “new” passion versus a hyperfocus, versus a new commitment that may lose interest in. 

• Learn as much as you can about ADHD. It’s a disorder where information makes a difference. 

• If you can anticipate the things in your environment that you’re more susceptible to falling into hyperfocus and plan for them.

• Our tendencies can be double-edged swords. 

• Ask ourselves: Is it a passion or calling, or something we’re just doing a deep dive on? 

• Have a place to store your ideas, because it doesn’t mean you have to act on them and continue to scroll. It’s okay to be curious about it, and observe if the curiosity will fade tomorrow before acting on it. 

• The more we are engaged in thinking about it (our ADHD), the more we are going to take our lives off auto pilot. 

• Is it a time-suck or a time-investment? 

• Learning about ADHD is really learning more about ourselves. 

[00:14:33] - Question: What is the most frustrating thing about your ADHD? This listener’s most frustrating thing is having to wait for stuff. But first, Barb and Eric have a moment!

• Roxie:  working memory in almost every aspect of her life, and shares a working-memory moment. 

• Moira: day-to-day is waiting, but the big-impact ADHD frustration is impulsivity with blurting out. 

• Will: An extreme lack of executive function while recovering from COVID (at the time of this recording) and activating on the task at hand. 

• MJ: Impulsivity to never (or rarely) say “no”. Then optimism kicks in, then they realize they can’t do all the things, even though their ADHD wants to do all the things. 

• Brendan: The “waiting-brain” and having trouble initiating prior to something bigger in the future. 

• Eric: Transitioning or moving on to the next thing, and multi-tracking and maintenance in multiple domains of life at once. 

[00:19:37] - Question: A listener is one month away from having a baby and is in serious need of working on their recently diagnosed ADHD, and wonders how to balance these. 

Suggestions:

• Don’t join a coaching group (yet). Focus on your baby and get to know your baby because the years will fly by. 

• Learn more about ADHD by listening to podcasts, because you can listen to a podcast and feed a baby at the same time. The more passive the learning, the easier it’s going to be to fit in [the learning] around your baby. 

• When you’re pregnant, your body has a lot of estrogen which helps your ADHD. When you deliver, those hormones decrease. Women with ADHD have a much higher rate of postpartum depression largely due to this drop. 

• Figure out what works for you even when others want to give advice, ask for help, don’t be afraid to ask for help, and take care of yourself.

[00:30:55] - Question: A listener, who is a startup cofounder, asks about navigating and managing rejection in a practical way, and avoiding participation with the anxiety of facing rejection. 

• It’s not just about competing with someone else, it’s about competing and challenging ourselves. 

• Is there risk? Yes. The only guarantee if a “no” is to not do the thing that scares us. 

• Ask ourselves: Can you do everything that you think you can do and at the same time, understand that it might not go your way, or seal your own fate by not doing anything? 

• Ask ourselves: What’s our mindset when we go into these things?

• Ask ourselves: Do we love what we’re doing? 

• One of the things that makes rejection so hard is the story we tell ourselves about why we were rejected. If we change the story and make it one that serves us rather than one that undermines us, it’s easier to take that risk the next time because we’re not ruined by the story we told ourselves. 

[00:35:16] - A listener gets burnt out from doing productive things, but when they feel burnt out, they know exactly what they need to do to recharge. But when they feel like they need to do more things, they don’t feel like they have the right to recharge.  (The panelists can relate!)

• “I need to do all my work first before I can recharge” may be an old story we tell ourselves.

• We can’t only do the work because that’s what leads to burnout. 

• Nobody gets everything done on their to-do lists, including neurotypical people. 

• Ask ourselves: What’s the story we tell ourselves? What are the remnants of our old belief patterns? Are we making up for our ADHD? 

• Plan the time off first, and protect that time after it’s been planned.  

• We’re never going to escape the mental trap that says, “Oh, I could do more.” Sure, we could do more, but with diminishing returns. 

• You deserve to have self-care, whether you’ve gotten the stuff done or not. 

• Write down a compelling “why” to help remember why it was prioritized. 

[00:41:13] - A listener, who is also a new dad, is overwhelmed and finds himself doing anything else except for the things he feels he needs to do. Both him and his partner have ADHD. 

• Balance the sleep by swapping nights with your partner and experiment with a rhythm that works for you. 

• Ask for help and be open about what your struggles are, that doesn’t necessarily need to disclose the ADHD. 

[00:44:50] - A listener asks what kinds of movies the panelists like to watch!

• Eric: Death to Smoochie

• MJ: Oceans 13, Atlantis, The Emperor’s New Groove, otherwise they watch documentaries or true-crime 

• Will: Mostly watched kids movies recently; really enjoyed The Mitchells vs. The Machines. Will also enjoys comedies and light-hearted things. He even enjoys “terrible” movies (movies that are so bad they’re good.) 

• Moira: needs movies with a story to stay engaged. Otherwise, she enjoys Pride & Prejudice (both versions), period pieces, and movies with mysteries but aren’t scary. She also enjoys rom-coms.

• Brendan: All the Marvel movies, Star Wars, fantasy stuff, heist movies, especially Oceans 11. 

• Roxie: Jojo Rabbit, comedies that take her by surprise and are really quirky.

• Barb really likes comedies and action movies like the Fast & Furious movies, and series like Umbrella Academy. 

Honorable mentions:

• Sharknado 

• Tremors 6

• Ticket to Hawaii

• 5-Headed Shark

• Poseidon Rex

[00:55:57] - A listener, who was diagnosed with ADHD over ten years ago as an adult, and is wondering if there is any ADHD medication that can be taken while breastfeeding. 

• It comes down to risk-reward of the baby and managing ADHD. Some folks have found it safe to take the medication, depending on medical history. Bottom line: Talk to your doctor, and make sure your doctor knows you and understands ADHD.

• Talk to your pharmacist. 

[00:59:08] - Between ADHD, a brain injury, hormones, and anxiety, a listener is feeling like a dysfunctional mess. Coaching, therapy, meds, and techniques haven’t worked for them thus far, and are feeling down more frequently. 

• Number one: Putting yourself first and being kind to yourself.

• Questions asked back to the listeners:

• How many of us did help not work until we had the right help? 

• What are your protective factors? What does your support look like? What community support networks exist that you can take advantage of? 

• We have an inner voice or inner critic we’re allowed to ‘tell off’. 

[01:04:25] - Eric shares an update about his Phish tickets and shares some lessons learned about travelling. 

[01:05:44] - A listener, newly diagnosed with ADHD, asks about dealing with transitions. 

• Ask someone to help and share that transition-piece with someone else.

• Use a timer, but make sure it’s a timer it’s not on your phone. Make it something that will have you get up from your chair if the “gravity” of your chair is getting stronger. 

• Limit context switching whenever possible. 

• Try doing everything in one space that you need to do in that space before transitioning onto the next.

• “Break for Eyes” on iOS desktop. 

• Build in more buffer time between switching. 

• Have an alarm for the upcoming transition as a “nudge” of what’s coming up, not the transition itself.

• Every transition is really two transitions:

• You have to transition out of what you’re doing, then into whatever is coming up next.
  
  
• There are three kinds of transitions
  
  
• Physical transitions
  
  
• Emotional transitions

• Intellectual transitions

[01:11:29] - Enjoy the last minute moment-of-dad from the Dad-Joke King himself, Will Curb. 

---

Check out the Other Podcasts on the ADHD reWired Podcast Network:

• adhdessentials.com with Brendan Mehan
• hackingyouradhd.com with Will Curb
• adhddiversified.ca with MJ Siemens
• adhdfriendlylifestyle.com with Moira Maybin
• coming soon - Wait, What Was the Question? with Will Curb and Coach Roxie Martin. Reach out to Will and Roxie at questions@whatwasthequestionpodcast.com 

Don't Forget These, Too:

• adhdrewired.com/patreon — Support the show by becoming a Patron!
• coachingrewired.com — Get your name on the waitlist to join the fall season of ADHD reWired's Coaching and Accountability Groups
• adultstudyhall.com — Join your ADHD-friendly co-working space!

adhdrewired.com/events — Join Eric, Brendan, Will, MJ, Moira, Roxie, and Barb for an hour of Live Q&A on Zoom, every 2nd Tuesday of the month at 12:30pm Central (10:30am Pacific / 1:30pm Eastern)

** There's still room for YOU to join the 26th season of the award-winning ADHD reWired Coaching and Accountability Groups, starting in October! 

Head over to coachingrewired.com to find out how you can be a part of these intensive, online and video-based coaching and accountability groups, so you can get your ADHD rewired and rewrite your ADHD story!

---

About Jim:

Jim has been battling ADHD since his diagnosis at the age of 10 in the early 1980's, adding bipolar type 2 (Bipolar II), substance abuse, and an anxiety disorder to the mix has made life interesting, to say the least! Having a robust recovery plan and a team in place is helping Jim overcome these obstacles and stay on the path to recovery. 

Jim is a father of four, married to his wife for 30 years, an army Veteran, and a fire EMS captain. 

---

(Check back for updated timestamps of this episode!)

Check out the Other Podcasts on the ADHD reWired Podcast Network:

• adhdessentials.com with Brendan Mehan
• hackingyouradhd.com with Will Curb
• adhddiversified.ca with MJ Siemens
• adhdfriendlylifestyle.com with Moira Maybin
• coming soon - Wait, What Was the Question? with Will Curb and Coach Roxie Martin. Reach out to Will and Roxie at questions@whatwasthequestionpodcast.com 

Don't Forget These, Too!

• adhdrewired.com/patreon — Support the show by becoming a Patron!
• coachingrewired.com — Get your name on the waitlist to join the fall season of ADHD reWired's Coaching and Accountability Groups
• adultstudyhall.com — Join your ADHD-friendly co-working space!
• adhdrewired.com/events — Join Eric, Brendan, Will, MJ, Moira, Roxie, and Barb for an hour of Live Q&A on Zoom, every 2nd Tuesday of the month at 12:30pm Central (10:30am Pacific / 1:30pm Eastern)