I Suck at Blogs: 3 Ways Autistics & ADHDers Can Break Executive Dysfunction Freeze

"I’m committed to publishing a new post each week, so I should have at least 52 posts by the end of 2025. I wonder what Hero Psychology will look like then?"

That's what I said in the last blog I published...10 months ago.

 

By that logic, this should be my 48th blog of the year. Instead, it's my 2nd. Only 50 more to go in the next five weeks. Part of me is tempted. I could do a ton of really short ones and get to 52 by the end of the year. But then I'd probably hate everything about Hero Psychology and abandon it for another 10 months...if not longer.

 

But the time gap tells a story. And it partially answers the question about what Hero Psychology will look like at the end of 2025: a year of significant personal transformation in which writing got pushed aside. However, I have only very recently found a path back to my passion for writing, with a renewed sense of purpose, meaning, and an ever-increasing understanding of how my brain works and what I want this space to be. 

 

I still like the idea of one blog post a week, even if it’s short. And with the year winding down, it's a good time to get back to writing, both because I love it and also because I really do have to complete my dissertation. My goal is to finish 2025 on a strong writing note and ride that into the new year. 

 

So what happened? (The same question I posed in January.) What caused the gap?

 

The Story of What Happened

A lot changed this year. Most significantly, I started a new job at a new institution. I have been the Director of Advisement at Illinois Central College since March, joining a truly great team and a wonderful institution that is serious about making high-impact changes to meet the demands of a rapidly changing higher education landscape. I've genuinely been impressed by what is going on at ICC.  

 

A new higher ed leadership role comes with new systems, expectations, and responsibilities—new everything. And major transitions like this are especially tough for autistic people (did this influence my development of the Hero Psychology model? Probably).  

 

But even before I set foot on campus, I was knee-deep in vitas, cover letters, interviews, and thank-you emails, while still working full-time and parenting teenagers. 

 

On top of all that, I was building consistent habits around food, fitness, and health—important and, honestly, life-changing. But they were also energy-intensive, and that created a domino effect of other changes and tweaks to how I live.

 

As all this ramped up, writing—both my dissertation and this newsletter—slipped out of focus. Not deliberately. It just kept getting moved to “later,” and “later” apparently became 10 months.  

 

Naming What Happened

In my still new-ish role at ICC, I oversee a much larger group of highly talented staff in a fairly high-profile position. All challenges I wanted—ones that really excite me. And because of this, I have accumulated even more ammunition for my dissertation, which explores the challenges and unique strengths of autistic leaders in higher ed. I'm excited to explore and write about these newer revelations.

 

But I also have some AuDHD epiphanies that help explain such a long absence from this blog and my dissertation:  

an Executive Dysfunction Freeze caused by an Executive Function Bottleneck.

My brain hit its capacity, and the transition demanded more cognitive capacity (or "spoons") than I had to spare.  

 

Too much input. Too many moving parts. Not enough bandwidth to write, which demands more sustained attention than I had available.  

 

But things are starting to feel steadier in my job. My routines and processes, which I had to redevelop almost from scratch (a process I kind of love), are coming together. The timing is right to pick writing and this blog back up.  

 

But finding my way back wasn't easy. And it wasn't exactly intentional. I wanted to get back to it. Many times. But didn't. By letting go of the wanting, or rather, letting it be, a shift started to happen. 

 

That shift is what finally pulled me back to writing — and a few things helped me get moving again. 

Photo by sydney Rae on Unsplash (Overlay text by Jason Stalides.)

1. Follow interest, not motivation.

Motivation can be unreliable for autistics and ADHDers, but interests are much more stable. In addition to intense and abundant.  
 
Enter Isaac Asimov. 

I'm a long-time fan. I've been diving back into his stuff, rediscovering my love for his work, science fiction short stories, and idea-infused, high-concept fiction. His writing style hits my brain just right. I have some thoughts on why, related to the double empathy problem (I highly suspect Isaac was on the spectrum) and robots as a metaphor and representation, especially in Asimov stories, of the autistic experience.  
 
This obsession sent me down a deep and rejuvenating rabbit hole: golden-age science fiction, the pulp tradition, and the writers who defined a genre. (Check out Astounding: John W. Campbell, Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, L. Ron Hubbard, and the Golden Age of Science Fiction by Alec Nevala-Lee. It's fantastic for pulp sci-fi geeks (like me). I'd also argue it's essential to the understanding of how literature developed in the U.S., but I digress.)
 
In short, reconnecting with my love of Asimov made me want to write again. The spark wasn’t discipline. It was reconnecting with things I love, without regard for an end goal.  
 

If something lights up your brain, follow it. 

2. Lean in to intrinsic stubbornness.

Restarts happen. Especially for neurodivergent folk. Life shifts and priorities change. You tell yourself that you'll come back to the thing (whatever it is) soon. Later. And it will be waiting eagerly for your return.   
 
At some point, too much time passes. Any sense of urgency and momentum has long vanished. The thing is different now. Alien. It didn't wait after all. Some seemingly different thing has replaced it, and you have to become friends with it again. But you don't really want to.    
 
So how do you find your way back? For autistics, the path back has to be organic and intrinsic. You can't be forced. Not even by yourself. We can get into trouble over our perceived stubbornness. It can get bad, and people do not understand.
 
But by not looking for the motivation, the motivation found me. I had to write again. I yearned to.
 
The hunger outweighed the guilt. The page called to me, so I began writing some words, then some sentences, then some pages.  

 

3. Build doable goals that feel personal.

Reconnecting with my love of Asimov rekindled my love for writing, both fiction and non-fiction—which motivated me to fit writing back into my life. The question then becomes how do I do that?
 
I started by setting up some achievable writing goals to start, along with retooling and creating some all-new systems and structures to allow it to happen.
 
But the daily word goal is key, and sharing that goal helps keep me accountable, so here it is:
 

333 words a day.

999 on weekends or holidays.

 
Why those numbers? They're small enough that I don’t dread them, which makes them much easier to initiate on low-energy days, while also allowing for impactful progress. Plus, I like the number three (my birthdate, cosmic and symbolically significant, and just a nice round number that feels right).

I'll use this blog to share my word counts with you. Don't let me slack again!

What is Happening Now

Writing feels good again. Great even. While my dissertation and this newsletter need attention, I finally feel like I have the bandwidth to pick both up again without overwhelming myself. The freeze has apparently thawed, the bottleneck loosened, and I’m easing back into it. 

 

I'm also reinitiating my long-overdue plan for one blog per week.

  

If anything here resonates with your experiences, I’d love to hear about it. I get a lot out of learning how other people navigate similar terrain.

  

If you’re not already subscribed, I'd love it if you stuck around. I’ll be sharing updates on my dissertation, the writing practice I’m rebuilding, autistic and ADHD issues, probably some thoughts on science fiction, and whatever other tangents call to me (I'm sure there will be many). 

 

I also invite you to let me know if there’s something you'd like to see me explore further. I’m still shaping what this space will be, and it can be amazing to see what connections emerge from suggestions and encouragement from others.   

 

✍️ Writing Log Check-In:

(Since restarting on Nov. 28)

• Nov 28: 724 (goal: 333)

• Nov 29: 1,649 (goal: 999)

• Nov 30: 971 so far today (goal: 999)

Running total: 3,267 words

 

I head back to work tomorrow after the holiday break, so that will be the real test. For excellent tips and strategies on how to fit writing into a busy life, check out Be a Writing Machine 2: Write Smarter and Faster, Beat Writer's Block, and Be Prolific (Author Level Up) by M.L. Ronn. Great stuff, and I hope you find it helpful.

I Suck at Dissertation Writing: 3 Apps to Help Autistics & ADHDers Focus on Writing and College Work

I actually don't suck at dissertation   writing. In fact, I'm very good at it, and I   kinda love it...well, sometimes. But the way I work best differs from the ways   neurotypicals do, which can seem backward, nonsensical, or even lazy to those who are less cognizant and accepting of differences, especially regarding working styles. My awareness of these differences inspired my dissertation, which looks at how autistic   leaders in higher education deal with thobstacles unique to their neurodivergent status and what strengths they bring to their roles. It also inspired me to start this blog at the end of 2022, which I intended to publish regularly in 2023. I was excited to explore and write further about my then newish autistic identity, chronicle my dissertation progress, and flesh out what I call Hero Psychology, an identity transition model combining psychology and the myths/stories societies have used for millennia to help people navigate life transitions.

So why the delay? What happened? A lot, actually.

Photo by Romain Vignes on Unsplash (Overlay text by Jason Stalides.)

But needless to say, focus and sustained attention can be a significant challenge for autistics. Most people don't realize that autism comes with a lot of the same executive functioning challenges as ADHD. Which reminds me: I also now have a formal ADHD diagnosis (and am now a part of the growing AuDHD community—so much to learn and incorporate into my dissertation!). My point: with my job, parenting, and school work, the blog kept getting pushed off for another day, then another...and now it's two years later. Talk about time blindness.

But I did make some pretty remarkable progress in my studies. I finished all my coursework, passed my comprehensive exam (on the first try...ahem), and co-presented my dissertation topic and research findings (up to that point) at 2023 NASPA Annual Conference in Boston. It was very well received. I had never experienced anything like it. And afterward, I was swarmed by people who wanted to learn more. My co-presenters and I were even invited to turn our presentation into a paid, on-demand webinar.

Also since 2023, I've continued to learn a lot about what helps autistics and ADHDers (and, of course, myself) keep focused on writing projects after a long day of work and parenting. I usually don't even get to my schoolwork until after I make dinner for my sons and me. By that point, my energy is low, I'm tired, my brain is fried, and the last thing I want to do is sit down to work on a writing project that requires deep work. The tiredness and resistance is honestly a bit intense at times, and without systems and tools in place, I would get little to nothing done. So to hunker down and keep motivated when I really, REALLY don't feel like it, I rely on systems that help me begin (often the hardest part), stay on task, and reduce distractions.

The tools in my system aren't mind-blowing, although each app below is excellent. The power comes from combining them in a pre-established way, so I don't have to think about how I will work, which frees up the cognitive RAM needed to get over the hump and do some work.

1. Todoist: This task manager is my main go-to and helps me organize, well, everything. One of my favorite things about it is the ability to quickly capture to-dos, ideas, random thoughts, etc. I can organize them later. It also has excellent calendar syncing capabilities. I can break projects down into actionable steps, see everything I need to do in a single, trusted place, organize them in a way that works for me, and then prioritize tasks to determine what to focus on next. Fair warning: don't start by trying to develop elaborate productivity systems, which can be a way to procrastinate in itself (believe me). Keep it simple, and tweak it as you go

2. Focus To-Do: With my next task cued up, I can begin. But, of course, there are a million things that pull me away, especially when I’m working from home. Enter Pomodoro. I’m a big fan. Small, achievable chunks of time are less intimidating. Pomodoro focus sessions typically last 25 minutes. But I tend to use 15-minute sessions—approximately three per hour. Sometimes I blow past the time and get lost in the work; other times, a few minutes can feel neverending, and I want to do…anything else. But the big red timer reminds me that I made that 15-minute commitment, and since the remaining time is pretty short, I think, “Ok, I can do this,” and get back to it. Rinse repeat as needed. Another excellent feature of Focus To-Do is the ability to lock your phone or block specific apps, so when the timer starts, you can’t use your phone for anything else until time runs out. Pro-tip: things that add resistance to screen distractions can really add up. Find little ways to make distractions less convenient. 

3. Brain.fm: My kids are loud. But even when I'm alone, too quiet is also "loud" in a different way. Brain.fm's soft beats and melodies are engineered to work with your brain and promote sustained attention. It does exactly that for me. There is a lot of song variety, and it’s easy to use, so you can quickly and easily find the music that works best for you. The goal is to get to work, not spend time finding the perfect work song. My favorite is Electronic Music Focus. It keeps the world out and boxes me in.

There is more to my focus system, and I continually tweak and refine it. For example, I recently started time tracking with Toggl Track to get more control of my time. Maybe I’ll expand on my full system in another post. But the three apps above are the keystones that keep it all together. This is a process that has developed over time by trial and LOTS of error. So be patient with yourself, don't implement too many new habits at once, and come at it with an experimental mindset (instead of beating yourself up if something isn't working how you hoped). I promise I continue to slip and even fall, but I keep getting back up. I keep starting over. I keep making progress. Even if it’s only a little. Take the wins. Learn from the stumbles.

I hope you found that helpful and that something there works for you. Let me know in the comments. It’d be great to hear from you. What resonated? What didn’t? What's your developing system like? It would be even greater if you subscribed. Most of my posts will likely be about my dissertation and all the things I learn along the way, but I am open to tangents. What would you like to see more of? I’m committed to publishing a new post each week, so I should have at least 52 posts by the end of 2025. I wonder what Hero Psychology will look like then? Help me to shape it into something that helps us all. ✌️