EP. 34: ADHD at Work: Putting Work in Its Place (The Severance Episode) | ADHD with Jenna Free

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Register for the ADHD at Work 2.0 Workshop - www.adhdwithjennafree.com/adhdwork

Chapters
00:00 Introduction: ADHD at Work and the Severance Episode
01:00 When the Mental Boundary Between Work and Life Disappears
03:00 Why Everything Feels Urgent When You're Dysregulated
05:00 You Can't Work Your Way to Peace
06:00 Signs You've Lost Your Work-Life Severance
08:00 Regulating Your Body at Work and at Home
10:00 The Beliefs Behind Your Urgency
13:00 Regulating Your Behavior: Finding Balance
16:00 My Personal Experience with Work Boundaries
19:00 What Regulation Actually Looks Like
21:00 ADHD at Work 2.0 Workshop Announcement

Summary
In this episode, I talk about ADHD at work and how to actually put work in its place - not with better time management or productivity hacks, but with nervous system regulation. If you've ever been at your kid's soccer game and suddenly remembered an email you should have sent, and now your whole body feels uncomfortable until you send it, this is for you. I'm calling this "the Severance episode" after the TV show, because for ADHDers struggling with ADHD burnout and work-life balance, the mental boundary between work and life can completely disappear. I break down why ADHD makes it so hard to stop thinking about work, even when you desperately want to rest. When you're dysregulated, everything feels urgent - you can't stop thinking about work at home, but then when it's actually work time, you might be stuck in ADHD procrastination and overwhelm. It's the worst trap. I explain how working from dysregulation creates more dysregulation, so you'll never work yourself into peace. I also share the three types of regulation you need: body (slowing down, breathing, relaxing tension), mind (challenging beliefs like "if I don't stay on top of this, everything will fall apart"), and behavior (creating consistency instead of extreme work patterns). I share my own journey from obsessively thinking about work 24/7 to now having natural boundaries and actually feeling done at the end of the day. This episode will help you understand why ADHD at work feels so exhausting and what you can actually do about it.

Action Step
This week, pick one area to start practicing regulation.

• For your body: slow your walking between meetings or around your house, bring your shoulders down from your ears, and check if you're breathing or holding your breath.
• For your mind: notice when you feel urgent and ask yourself "what belief is driving this urgency?" Is it "if I don't stay on top of this, everything will fall apart" or "if I'm not thinking about it, I'll forget something"?
• For your behavior: set a quitting time and actually stop, regardless of how much you got done. Notice when you think "just one more email" - that's dysregulation trying to externally regulate. Start small with whichever feels most doable.

Takeaways

• For dysregulated ADHD brains, the mental boundary between work and life can completely disappear
• When you're dysregulated, everything feels urgent - this is why you can't stop thinking about work
• You can't work your way to peace - working from dysregulation creates more dysregulation
• Three types of regulation: body (slow down, breathe, relax tension), mind (challenge beliefs behind urgency), behavior (create consistency instead of extremes)
• Regulation gives you the internal ability to turn work off when you want rest, and turn it on when you want to work - that's the real skill

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