Ologies with Alie Ward - LIFE ADVICE Encore: For anyone who is tired & needs some hacks

Episode Date: August 29, 2023

Alie takes a teeny tiny break from her vacation to reintroduce you to this laid back, super helpful fan favorite episode. Listen in for: Pomodoro timers! Bullet journals! Apps, tips, tricks and philosophies. Also: the most mellow episode ever, recorded late at night in a guest room. Like a cozy duvet of wisdom, this one is full of life hacks for remaining productive & healthy during distracting times. I asked Ologites their best strategies for keeping their brains less burdened and organizing everything from schedules to leftovers to sock drawers. In quick 5 chapters: Your Hot Bod Needs ThisHome is Where the Hard IsWrestling with Father TimeTricking Your Brain to Trick Your BrainEmo Stuff Whether you’re neurotypical or not, this follow up to the ADHD series is a catalogue of strategies to make future you happier. More episode links and resourcesDonations went to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and International Myeloma FoundationSponsors of OlogiesTranscripts and bleeped episodesSmologies (short, classroom-safe) episodesBecome a patron of Ologies for as little as a buck a monthOlogiesMerch.com has hats, shirts, masks, totes!Follow @Ologies on Twitter and InstagramFollow @AlieWard on Twitter and InstagramSound editing by Jarrett Sleeper of MindJam Media and Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio ProductionsTranscripts by Emily White of The WordaryWebsite by Kelly R. DwyerTheme song by Nick Thorburn

Oh, hey, hey, if anyone's been wondering, where is Allie? I have been so sick. I had pneumonia and it got worse and then I got in the hospital and then I was asked, please take a break. So that is what I'm doing and as I record this, I'm literally looking at the ocean. So that's the good news. And I thought, hey, as long as we're trying to model good behavior, how about some life tips? This is a really great episode that has been shared a ton

and so I thought I would bring it back for y'all. I recorded it a couple years ago and it was right around the ADHD episodes and I asked people from Patreon if they had any life tips or hacks, I added some of my own in there too and it's just chalk a block with things to make your life better and also things to distress you. So I know a ton of you loved it the first time around if you haven't heard it or if

you've forgotten a lot, have another listen, seriously some life changers. Life changers. Okay, enjoy. I'll be back in just a little while longer. I'm literally gonna go surfing today. little while longer. I'm literally going to go surfing today. Okay, enjoy. Oh, hi, it's your life. Just gasping and hobbling day into the next day, begging you for help. Hey, does life feel out of hand? Of course it does. Could we all use some tips on how to grease your wheels and just slide into comfort and maybe even increased productivity so that you have more time to enjoy comfort. Yes. And yes, which is why I asked my friends at patreon.com such allergies for life tips, hacks, some tricks, some strategies, some smarts. Folks, these are great. If you have ADHD, if you think you have ADHD, if you love someone with ADHD, or if you're just a

person on planet earth who is expected to hold their shit together in a very distracting time. So this will be the button on our ADHD episode, but we made this for people who are neuro-typical and neuro-typical. It's just how to get your life in order with a bunch of great tips. But just a quick note up top. This episode is a little weird. If this is the very first episode of allergies we ever listened to. This isn't what they are normally like. This is probably the most mellow podcast I have ever recorded or ever been on. It's very mellow, it's just me talking and it's a vibe. But I also explain later on why it's such a vibe. But it was recorded late at night, quietly, in a guest bedroom, we get into it.

Anyway, before we dive in. Thank you to everyone who Share these episodes and tell friends about them and who rates and subscribes and even reviews because you know I read all the reviews for example this fresh little donut from Insta Ashley who wrote in the review Pretty sure my unborn baby will recognize Ali's voice before mine. Insta Ashley's baby. I just want to say what's up That was a great fresh review that your host body wrote. Okay, let's polish off the sharp edges and just have a smoother existence with a bunch of advice on how to be healthier, more well-rested, better fed, less distracted,

perhaps a little less irritable and have a smoother and more empathetic relationship, perhaps with yourself and others. And more, I put these into five parts. Okay, we cover part number one. Your hot bod needs this. Part two. Home is where the heart is.

Domestic strategies. Part three is a wrestling match with father time about scheduling. Four is let your brain trick your brain. Some productivity hacks and five is emo stuff. Just feeling around your feelings. So life tricks from all of Gites, two all of Gites. They're good. They're for everyone.

They're for you. Here we go. Alright kiddos, part one, your hot bod needs this for your brain. So this is not about how you look nude or your bathing suit aspirations. This is about the lump of jello in your bone bowl moving around in whatever way you can to help your brain. So I asked patrons, give me all of your life hacks. Joe Alexander said, I either run or walk or get on the elliptical for as little as six minutes just to get my heart rate up a bit. And if I don't do it, the day is terrible

and I'm mostly non-functional. And Anne Dolmeier uses an exercise bike at home and says it's where I go and they need to think or focus or when I need to get things done. Safran Alibati said the clarity after a quick 10 minute jog around the block is bonkers and this was echoed by Emily Anderson and Ted Hamilton who said, whatever happens on a long run makes my brain go from badly tuned

radio to silent. It's pure bliss to quiet everything for an hour and I've noticed the effects last for a couple days after. It's not for everyone but it's a necessary part of my life now, Ted says. And Janetta Soar said, if you need to move to think, find ways to do it. Have walking meetings or do exercisey things right before sit still things. So you do not have to break your sprinting record. You do not even have to change shoes. You don't have to beat a stranger on a peloton leaderboard or even sweat. Just whatever way you can move, just move. Your brain will be like, my God, finally.

Thank you to the meat parts of me from the brain part. And another hot tip from patrons, sleep. Wanting, maybe try sleeping. Chrissy Lowry wrote in and said, no medication, no therapy, no treatment is gonna work. If your body is tired, hungry, or thirsty. And protect your sleep as if it is your life or sanity.

Christy says, I'm a grown-ass adult with a stricter bedtime routine than any kid out there. Turn your phone to silent in the evening. Let your crew know that if they contact you after seven, they better be dead. Normalize healthy sleep hygiene. Above all, be kind and loving to yourself. Christie said and Peter West said I have a nine year old with ADHD. We changed our lights to ones that automatically gradually dim for the hour before bed and then turn off and that helps with sleep. Genetosaur says get fussy AF about your bedtime routine and then wind down and Hannah Michelle says my sleep is sacred and needs to be guarded. And also while you're sleeping, ABC, always be charging.

How many of you have woken up with a phone that has less energy than you? Waking up in the red with the battery on your phone is just the best way to make your day a nightmare. It has happened to be so many times. Patron Emily Paylon said, I just got a charging station on my nightstand to keep my phone, AirPods, and watch together that way when I grab one, I see the others, and I actually charge them. Okay, well, what else is on your nightstands? I wanted to know.

And Rosa and Miranda Panda both wrote in about sunrise light alarm clocks, and in Rosa's words, mornings are made tremendously better when I wake up with light instead of sound. And Miranda said, I absolutely love feeling like I woke up gradually on my own rather than being forced awake. So these are alarm clocks that gradually wake you up with light. And I gotta say, me personally, some of the happiest weeks of my life have been when I went to bed super early and then got up when it was not quite even dawn yet.

Because I think some of us are night owls just because we're more productive when everyone else is asleep. So we don't have text to return and emails popping up. And if you're one of those people, try early mornings instead. I'm going to try and get back into it with you because you get to jump on things when the world is quiet and then you're ahead of the game when people wake up and then you can use your evenings guilt-free chillin instead of trying to force yourself to be productive after a long aggravating day of dodging distractions like an American

ninja course. Also, there's coffee at dawn, and that's the best. So when the sunrise alarm goes off, open the blinds, let the sun do its thing, it helps your brain wake up, maybe meditate for a couple minutes if you can, make a list of how your day will go, you just beat everyone to the punch. But if you're still in bed and you do have ADHD, McKenzie Foss wrote in, if you take stimulants

and struggle to get out of bed in the morning, take them an hour before you actually need to get up. And then you'll have no problem waking up and you need to. And Derek Allen chimed in and said, the riddle and wake up call is basically a superpower. And we mentioned in part two of the ADHD episodes though. If you have ADHD and you take stimulants and have anxiety, you may want to take your meds

with protein and in Adrienne Gregor's words, water, breakfast meds in that order, otherwise I forget to eat. What about nighttime meds? I wondered. Derek was like, might not be for everyone, but a little nibble of forbidden brownie, which is medically legal in 37 states, quants their thoughts and commits them to doing a task, which brings us, by the way, to appetite. Let's talk about food for a second. Okay, you're a person, right? You need food.

You need to eat food. You want to eat food, but just the chorness of it has you ordering expensive stale pita from a place you don't even like. We've all been there. So let's fix your life with some food tips. So if you want to try to shake off a funk or maybe turn a corner or just make a new chapter, just take a quick gander at what's on your plate.

Good fresh food is sadly not accessible to everyone and that sucks. So for economic to convenience reasons, I completely get it. But if you can get it, Patron Leesysmith says that clean eating is a biggie, just for their mental health and productivity and life. They say carbs, dairy, and greasy food make my brain not work right. And Morgan Underwood said they cut processed foods and stuff with high sugar content to increase focus and reduce grouchiness. So what if you know what to eat though and you're just bored and tired?

Mia says that they found making sure to incorporate mushrooms into meals will make them more likely to cook and eat because my college is one of their oldest and most loved special interests. So I guess just walk around the produce aisle and just be like, what am I connecting with here? What do I actually want to spend some time in the kitchen with? Some more kitchen strategies from patrons, Tyler Hudson keeps a bunch of

bulk, non-parascible, and frozen food on hand, and always has some fancy meats in the freezer to make, quote, something extravagant, and that helps them get hyped by cooking. And Alexander wrote in that the instant pot keeps things warm and unburnt when done, which I can appreciate. That is something that I strive to achieve myself. Stacey Simmons says that they love their convection oven because the one they have cooks

like an oven, but has a spin timer like a a toaster oven and it keeps them from burning down the house and Sarah Ulberg says that if you're in a slump and If meal planning and prep feels Impossible to you to try a meal kit like hello fresh who also sponsors the show They say this has been a game changer for me and his cut down on the amount of fast food I've been eating because they just simply could not plan meals. And yes, we do have a code if you need one, go to alleyward.com slash allergies dash sponsors. There's a discount link for you just saying, what about leftovers? Silas Clish says that flipping over Pyrex glass Tupperware so they can see their leftovers, will for sure make me polish them off more regularly.

And Eliza Hammergage advises you to just label that shit, put a date on it, so you know, you're like, mm, not this time. Another life hack they say is take your condiments and put them in the crisper drawers. And then take your veggies and put it in the main fridge area so that you can actually see the veggies and you'll want to eat the veggies. And myself,

as a person who stares vacantly at mustard, and I have thrown out kale that's become liquid, I support that. I would like to try that as soon as I am at my house and not in my sister's guest bedroom. I think I'm gonna try that. Scholar word, no relation to me, not my sister, not their guest room. Beat us all and just wrote that their fridge is a whiteboard. It's a menu and a grocery list. You can whiteboard your fridge.

None of us do that except for them. Also, let's clean up your life. How about some domestic strategies to save some time and some brain efforts for everyone? Here we go, part two. Home is where the heart is. Karina Bruce wrote in and said, my big tip for cleaning is to do it often and badly. I do half jobs of everything and eventually everything gets done. Thank you Kar Karina.

I will live by that. Aubrey Nelson used my favorite cleaning hack and said, having company is a big motivator. I'll kick into gear to clean for company and then benefit from that as well. So cut banks, texture crush, fold your laundry. It's all connected. Also, here's a secret fix for your laundry problems. You ready? So,

Patreon, Sarah Horton says, have multiple laundry baskets and hampers. Put them in different rooms. Okay. A nano naturalist sorts their laundry by type and not by color. They say, all my pants are in one load. And then there's no sorting afterwards. And they pin their socks together when they throw them in the laundry. So they never have to hunt for pairs again. But Star wrote in, it was like, let's lower the bar, people. Star says, I do not spend time folding or matching socks and underwear. Just throw them into their own drawers. It's small, but it takes the dread out for me, they said.

And Maria agrees, they say, I simply no longer fold my items. Mediocrity is freedom. Mediocrity is freedom. Y'all, let's just lower the bar. No one's looking in your underwear drawer. And if they are, that's their problem. Now, you could also just ease your stress by outsourcing all your shit to a robot. So Cassandra Grafstrom says, this is absolutely coming from a place in privilege, but auto pay any in all bills and get a robot vacuum. Take things off everyone's plate so that you're all less likely to get overwhelmed. And Sarah Albrick agrees saying, if you can swing it, invest in things to make life easier for you. Like a robot vacuum, a quality dishwasher, an automatic litter box, et cetera.

And Sarah says, my floors are clean now. My dishes don't pile up as often, and the litter box doesn't get so stinky. So now that you have some tips for your home, let's engage in a wrestling match. Let's grapple with father time. Let's get some of your life back from him. Okay, first, you need a dump location.

You need to give yourself the gift of a trip to Ross or T.J. Max and just say, what basket speaks to me? I don't know, go to a flea market and look for a cool bowl because patrons Julie McDonald, Taylor Bedard, Kristy LaForse were all like basket by door, put important stuff into it, and in Kristen Rosenblum's words, make sure everything in the house has a place. Otherwise piles of stuff will just happen. As your own grand pod mom, fancy Nancy always used to say, a place for everything and everything in its place, which sounds so peaceful. Doesn't it? My keys have hung on a hook by the door for decades.

Because in college, I locked myself out of my dorm room 17 times in the first six weeks. The RA kept track. Oops, in this whole time, I've been like, I don't have a problem losing my keys and I realize it's just because I have a hook by the door. So location and location. So what's another way to grease up and pin down

father time, reminders, Professor Koshka, Chinatosaur, and Kase Karek wrote in, they all say they use the computer in your pocket or the eavesdropping music robot in your house to set so many reminders. Set them when you need them. Patron caffeine had this extra hack. If you use a reminder app on mobile electronic devices, write the reason you have to do the thing rather than just do the thing. Example, they say, instead of scheduling a reminder that says use inhaler, try setting one that says,

all caps. OMG, lung damage is bad for your health, just take your damn asthma medicine woman and include many emojis if bright colors help you. So reminders and use a clock when you need to kick your own ass gently and with fun. So many patrons wrote in with this and Caitlin M. said, I recently discovered the time timer, which is basically just a visual timer, but they absolutely love it. And they say it's really good for visualizing how much time you have left for a particular task. And Joe Alexander also loves a time timer. They're kind of like an egg timer, but more visually and socially friendly. And they were invented by this cool lady and Cincinnati. And I got to interview her for my CBS show Innovation Nation. And I love her. Now, if you don't have

a time timer, you can also use the laundry as one. This is a cool hack. See if you can get certain things done before the washing cycle is up. Recommended Olivia Schaefer. And Miranda Buckley keeps it light and fun and wrote in on good days, I keep a timer, and I race myself to see how quickly I can get all my boring chores done. Well, Don's word creates a dystopian prison chamber, saying, when I clean, I set a timer for 10 minutes, and I don't let myself leave the room until the timer goes off. I can see how that would be effective also. No judgment. So many

people, Pomodoro, which is when you work typically 25 minutes and then take a 5 minute break. And then after three cycles, you take a longer 30 to 60 minute break. So many Pomodoro's out there. So many of you wrote in. Francesco Cerillo is the person who invented this in the 1980s because he had a tomato-shaped kitchen timer. And I personally hate tomatoes. I hate them so much.

I hate the name Pomodoro. I hate the idea of a tomato shaped object on my desk. I hate it all. So I'm like, Pomodoro, you're not for me. And then I tried it and I was like, this does work. So my ears are open for some new names. Maybe Katie court, right? Rebecca Lynn, Weiselberg, Jasmine Quaza, and pedaluck who all swear by the tomato technique. Please come up with a new name. Thank you. And Mercedes-Mateeland wrote in and said, I doubted Pomodoro's at first, but it's done wonders. So use it when you're in hyperfocus too and your bladder will thank you. Mercedes said, so if you're like me, if you hate tomatoes, but you love bears and you

have a dollar 99 burning a hole in your pocket, There's an app called Bear Focus Timer and it starts the work interval as soon as you put your phone face down. So you can't look at your phone and it plays white noise to remind you, it's working time, it's working time now. It also has very cool bear art. So 12 out of 10 were approved, bear focus timer.

I think you're cool. Now when it comes to a strict 25 minutes working and five minutes off, patron Michelle is like, nah, not so much. She likes the hyper focus and uses something called the flow time technique, which is where you start a task

and you stop when you're tired and when you're just like, I'm done here, I'm reaching my limit. And she uses the 20% of break time to 80% of work time kind of ratio there. But there's also the thing called the Eisenhower Matrix. And I was like Eisenhower Matrix. It's just like a post-war history fact, I don't know. But salmon, like the fish and Chelsea Ferris both use it. And the Eisenhower matrix helps you wrangle priorities. It's like four quadrants. There's a do do it now.

There's a decide, which means schedule it. There's a delegate. See if you can outsource that maybe to a vacuum robot and then there's a delete quadrant, which is like just forget about it. You pretend you don't have to do it. So where are you going to write that down though? How about in a planner? Okay, if you listen to ADHD part two,

Renee Brooks is like, do not talk to me about a notebook. Don't talk to me about it. But other people do find variations of an notebook helpful. Rebecca Lynn Weiselberg and Brandon Snotgrass, Robin Stumbo and Faith Stein, all said that bullet journals have you covered in the flexibility area.

And Faith said, quote, I can make it as fancy or as minimal as I'm feeling in that moment. And Caitlin M. also a Bujo or bullet journaler agreed, but ward, quote, a caveat though. Don't get all bogged down looking at the crazy Instagram pages of people who spend more time making their journal pretty than actually using it. It's meant to increase productivity, not drain away all your energy, thinking up a monthly theme, and drawing out intricately illustrated layouts. And Caitlin says, I wasted two years trying to make pretty layouts with my bullet journal and ended up not touching it for months at a time.

Now I found a nice balance of functionality with just enough creativity to make it interesting without becoming just another task that I can't finish. Team Pretty Stuff also includes Kate Corrite who says, I keep a very cute planner and I will only consistently use a planner that I find visually appealing. And Chanel's app, aka your favorite maritime archaeology shipwreck expert says, color coordinated pens and fountain pens allow her to derive a little bit of joy from something that I need to do.

There's also Heroes Journal, which has spots to identify your daily quests rather than to do's. And there's Notion Planners, which has lines for gratitude to get you out of a funk. Those also got shout outs. And I'm gonna toss in my own deadly advice here in a Patreon live stream. I did last week, I showed my daily planner, which is just a small mini binder. It has three rings and it holds sheets that are half letter size.

And you can just go to an office supply or print shop and buy a ream of paper, ask them to cut it in half. You now have 1,000 sheets of paper. And you know those black three-hole punch, the, you know the ones you steal from your office job, they have a place to slide the holes and you can adjust where the holes punch and it'll punch three holes in a half sheet that fit right in your mini binder. And you can also print templates at half size and then just cut the paper in half. I have sections for my big yearly goals like brushing my hair every day and my calendars and my daily to-do lists and then I have sections where

I take notes or I'm right down ideas. And I like it better than a bound journal because I can edit out what I don't want and I can just pin it out from time to time and throw away the junk. And I draw little pictures on some days if I'm feeling fancy. And I too love a nice pen. And can I just say that colored pencils that turn to water color when wet are just the best. They never dry out like pens. You can use them like dry ass pencils or you can make them come alive and you can blend that with just a drop of water and a paintbrush. And I have the same set of watercolor colored pencils that I got in high school, which was

almost like five years ago now. And on my best days, I take little breaks to draw tiny pictures of my activities like a little nice mug of tea or maybe I saw frog or something. And I need you to know that I googled the brand of colored pencil to figure out what they were. And I was looking it up for a few minutes until I realized that the colored pencils were in my backpack four inches away from me the whole time. And they're the stat they're kind. Just so you know, they're great. And you know what else is great? Giving away money. And this week, let's toss some in two different directions. Why don't we?

I'm currently at my sisters. I'm recording this in my nephew's bed, but I'm helping out with some family health stuff. But March happens to be the awareness month for multiple sclerosis, which is a neurodegenerative autoimmune disease, which my mom, the fanciest of Nancy's has, and March is also the Awareness Month for Multiple My Loma, a blood cancer that my dad has. So donations went to the National MS Society,

which connects patients and their families to resources and information and support groups and funds for accelerated research and shout out to my mom's MS group. There's more information about groups at nationalmssociety.org and another generation went to the International Myeloma Foundation, which is IMF, which is the first and the largest organization focusing specifically on multiple Myeloma

and you can learn more about them at myeloma.org. You can also check out the hematology episode with Dr. Brianrandturi for more about blood and also about multiple myloma. So my visit to see and help them out is made possible by you listeners understanding when I'm a few days late and donations were made possible by sponsors of allergies. Okay, more of your advice. We're still wrestling with father time, We're still wrestling with father time listener to listener. Let's talk apps. So apps you got them. Several of you love Habitica, which is a role player game that gamifies Habit building and they have to do lists and daily lists and Pedalux says I get a reward every single time I mark something is done. It's life changing

Tyler Hudson and Jelly Bean Green second and third Habitica. I had never heard of it before. It sounds delightful. Shell uses a free app called Owwaves and they say Owwaves. I think it's Owwaves O-W-A-V-E-S helps manage my cognitive chaos and has changed my life. Y'all by time management skills are typically that of a disoriented pigeon, cell rights. But this app helps me divide each day into productive slots with visual cues and color coding and gentle notifications. Highly recommend. So that was outweaves. And Emil says I've been using Finch, which combines health and goal setting.

Cheese says instead of an app, they made their own Discord server to save links and pictures, and to write lists, and save ideas and notes for later. And cheese says, it's very multifunctional, and I never forget it, because I also use Discord for friends and such, unlike most organizing apps that cheese tends to download and forget. And also Miranda Pandit told me that you

can categorize your Google tabs into groups. And as long as we're just given some Google tips, side note for me, I found out from Hollywood writer and producer Shady Potowski that in Gmail, you can add a task list. And it's tiny, it's hard to find. It looks like a circle with a checkmark through it, but if you select an email and then click that checky little circle, it'll add it to a taskbar on the right hand side of your Gmail so that you can respond to it later since I know even the most well intention start emails just fall to the bottom of your inbox like a vape pen in a bucket purse. But if you use the task list in Gmail, it's like right there in your face.

I have returned so many emails I would have forgotten about. It's so good. And so, yes, we all live and die by a to-do list, but what about a to-done list? What? This is a thing. And it can help your brain like a tiny little treat. So, fee camera and says that if a to-do list is too overwhelming, start writing a done list to see what you've already done. Or write stuff in your to-do list that you've already done so you can click them off straight away. Like

brushed my teeth, tick, did it. And Amy Dukera says that they write a post mortem at the end of the day to see where hiccups happened and figure out what strategies they could use to streamline it for next time. And Miranda uses Trello boards for work and for their personal life. And says, I love that you can move things from here to do to your done list or archive tasks rather than totally deleting them. And in keeping with the captain's log vibe, Cat Backlar also says, quote, I track what I did and when on Google Calendar.

So not just like, oh, I had class and then I studied, but they changed it afterward. Did class and early, did they skip? Did they study for a full hour after? Did they scroll half the time? And ideally they say that would keep me accountable. And the final piece of advice in kicking Father Time's ass comes from Patron Charlotte Falkaguard

who reminds us all that being kind and considerate of your future self is a life-saving skill. So think of you in the future and do things for them. So speaking of the future, let's just march straight into part four, which is let your brain trick your brain to learn some little ways you can help your noggin. So you know how you feel like you are dragged in a bunch of direction by distractions, right? Things you want to look up, things that you should do now, or maybe later, what is the solution? A parking lot says Laura B who continues, basically, you have a designated note pad. And if you have a thought or something you remember, you need to do, you write it down and

you just revisit it later. And Sarah Simpson does this too and calls this a later list. And Sarah wrote, when you start to go down a rabbit hole, write it on your later list. When you're done with the task at hand, you can go back and decide if you still want to do those things or not. And most recently, Sarah wrote, while working on a project, their nine-year-old kiddo included things like play Pokemon, learn Braille, and insult my sister. And Sarah writes, she decided she was cool, not learning braille. By the time her assignment was done, but everything else was important.

And side note, I have been doing this parking lot method, the later list, and it does help. And later, when I have clarity, I realized that no, I didn't need to urgently search perfumes from the 1990s, or how the woman who played Andy in the goonies is doing career wise. I love her. Or how to build a house out of old windows. Yes, those things could wait while I filed my overdue expense reports. Now, if you ever look things up on YouTube, by the way, and then emerge from a few state

hours later because of that right hand column that keeps suggesting you videos. I just learned yesterday that the browser Chrome has an ad block extension that solves this entirely. So you get ad block and when you download it, it'll ask for donation. I gave 10 bucks on a lark and it turned out it's been worth it so far. So essentially you go to say YouTube and you right click on the suggested videos column and a little window will pop up asking if you want to hide that using adblock and you say, fuck yes. And then instead of a bunch of delicious, irresistible videos you watch for hours, you just have a big blank white space there instead.

So you don't have to keep writing, watch another say yes to the dress suggested video on your notepad later list. By the way, if you don't have a paper list, donia, momquist, all caps vouches for dry erase boards for this saying I can write faster, it's easier to edit pleasing colors and just fun. And I guess as long as we're talking about whiteboards, let's use them for your brains. So Haley Aronson is also a whiteboard fan, and Mercury offered the life advice

that if you can afford it, it's okay to spend a little money to make your life easier. Buy a fancy whiteboard if it helps you remember. Buy cloud storage and upload important documents directly to it. And Kate Zerplow agrees and engages in what they call the magic of multiples. If you have a lip balm in your bag, on your desk, on your dresser, in your car,

you haven't ever forgotten or misplaced it, Kate says. But let's talk cash. What if you don't have it? How can we save a little more? Okay, this life hack was written in by Stacey Simmons, who says to try splitting up your direct deposit. If you get it to a savings at a different financial institution, then you do your normal banking.

And out of sight, out of mind can really work in your favor with a little bit of pre-planning. Stacey says, quote, I started this with a transfer of $5 per paycheck over seven years ago and slowly increased over the years. And I still struggle with impulsive spending, but I was also able to save up a down payment for a house and my first off the lot new car all using funds from my out of site account. Thank you, Stacey. Good tip. You know what else you can spend that money on? Library Fines. But if you want to avoid them, LWINC says that they started using dollar bills as bookmarks. Strange? Yes, but effective, they said, if I lost a book after putting a one dollar bill inside it, I would switch to a five, to a ten, and then a twenty. Having an

economic incentive, they right helped activate a different part of my memory and made remembering where I left the books a lot easier. So if you do that, perhaps you can show your face at the library again, especially if that's where you do your working. But if you are forced to work in an open office, patron Caitlin M. wanted to offer some advice. They said, this is not so much a tip as a reminder to myself, no open offices ever bring it up to HR as a disability accommodation. If you need to, I didn't do this in previous jobs that I really wish I had. Now, if you don't have that option, so many alligites said three magic words. And those people were a very good painter, Heather Horton-Wedon, Layla Green Tushay, Anne Marie Benz, and Joe Alexander.

Those three words, noise cancelling headphones. I personally got some like $100 skull candy venue active noise cancelling headphones at the start of the pandemic. Can't imagine life without them. Well, I can't imagine life without them and it would not be good. It would be very loud. But what should you listen to? So Brenda Cornett says when they work, they listen to focusatwill.com, which has a rain sounds channel. There's a Zen piano channel. They have cinematic channels. But Joe Alexander uses a brown noise generating app and there's

something called noise genit and it does white and pink and blue noise too, but Joe says, I like brown best when I have to focus on work. And I was like, come again, what now? Of course, I had to look into it for this. And I just learned, okay, so white noise I just learned, okay, so white noise is all kinds of frequencies mixed up. And pink noise is frequencies within human hearing and it sounds bassier than the static of white noise. But blue noise is higher frequency than white noise and then brown noise has more of a low bassy roar and according to an article on live science it was named after some guy with the last name brown and quote brown noise has nothing to do with

the mythical brown note a hypothetical low frequency sound said to cause people to lose control of their bells. So, brown noise is just basic stuff to listen to. It's just a bad name for a good thing. Unlike Shikshuka, which is a beautiful name for a disgusting thing. No offense, Shikshuka. Just please see my feelings about tomatoes earlier

in this episode of Oligis, which is a podcast. Also, many of you said, hi, hello, I listened to podcasts when I worked to stay entertained, which makes sense, given that you were writing into me, someone who hosts a podcast, and I'm looking at you. And Dolmaier, Emily Anderson, Adam Weaver, Ren Beach, Rosa Vincen Desaurus, and Sara. And speaking of speaking, another brain tricking your own brain tip, Gary Stobb says, when I'm reading, I pretend that I'm reading in front of a sixth grade class because it helps me stay focused. And Logan M uses the spoken content aid and the accessibility portion of the settings

on an iPhone if there's no audiobook version of something, or when they want to listen to something rather than read it or listen as they read. And Katrina Wyble was like, heck yes, screen reader. But Katrina increases the playback speed to 1.5 to 2 times the speed and then follows along reading with their eyes. And Katrina says, I get through everything so much faster in my brain, some water at all. Maybe you're listening to this on noise-cancelling headphones. Well, Elwink says, if you put something down, say out loud where you put it down specifically.

Like, quote, I put my headphones on the side table next to the green lamp. Amanda Spinosa does this too and says it feels very helpful. Speaking of feeling, let's wrap up with the chapter, Emo Stuff, Feeling Around Your Feelings. Are you having a tough time? Do you want to get your scrambled brain together 80-HG or not? I feel yeah. Soda's Rosa Lodolita, who said, I have practiced that positive self-talk can fight and write out the very intense feelings when they come. And another hot tip said many of you, maybe therapy. Miranda says, get a therapist if

you have the means. And so does Jamie Kishimoto, get a therapist if you have the means. And so does Jamie Kishimoto, get a therapist, they say, even if you think you're not, quote, depressed enough for one, in case you care, and Lee T. both agree. And Shannon and Mariana both wrote in to recommend dialectical behavioral therapy for some people for developing skills

around emotional regulation and distress tolerance. And if you do have ADHD, perhaps gather a good support group if you can. Brianna Snotgrass says, friends, get you some friends who have ADHD. Once I realized I likely have it, I then came to realize that most of the people I'm closest to also have it. We just get each other, are able to communicate really easily, and give each other grace for being late and forgetting things, etc. And Laura Laura says, I have a little group that I work with on Zoom three times a week, and it's been great for my productivity and my mental health, and Gaelic Pearl and Lizzie also say, gather

your people and maybe work together. Literally, it's called Body Doubling. GeneticSource says, doing things in the presence of a solidarity human is amazing. Genetisaur says, doing things in the presence of a solidarity human is amazing. Genetisaur says, I started hosting co-working sessions in my coaching group, and they're the best decision I've made in the past year or so. And Miranda Buckley and Katie Courtwright are like, yes, this, yes, and Lisa wrote in to say,

married to a lovely man with ADHD, and what helps him is scaffolding, setting up a routine, and body doubling. So, relationships. Let's talk about them. So, we're going to cover some ADHD stuff, but just good practices, nonetheless, from y'all. Derek says, I try to check in regularly with whomever I'm talking with. I say, do you have any thoughts, concerns, or feelings at this time? Very frequently. It helps keep me from dominating a conversation accidentally. I'm also timeline, they say.

So I end up saying, how are we doing for time? Pretty regularly too. The third phrase I say a lot is asking my cat why she is so baby. Derek Allen, thank you for that. Now, if you accidentally interrupt people, Adam Weaver, Mercedes-Mateland, and Anneliese Young, all recommend holding up a finger instead or touching your nose to indicate, I have a thing I want to say that I'm holding in. So finger and noses unite. Does your partner have ADHD? You're not alone. So many I'll address it in. And Serena Brontide offered the advice when your partner has ADHD and

you're struggling to get their attention, create a code word. Something weird that catches their attention, even if they forget. And Serena wrote, my partner and I both ADHD use the code ow, my butthole, because who can ignore that? But it saved a lot of arguments. And Katie Tim says that they refer to their ADHD girlfriends long pauses mid-sentence as glitches and wrote, we make it all into a computer metaphor. For her, it takes the feeling of being a burden away, because she definitely isn't.

And I can just say, hey, maybe you're glitching, and she snaps out of it without being made to feel guilty about it, because glitching is just fine with me, Kate writes. And on that note, for people whose partners have ADHD, Stephanie Brochus says, my main tip to those like me is purposely remember to be kind. And Brooke Elizabeth says, just meet them where they are for a while. Listen to the actual struggle that they have and work to find a solution together. Loving your person means doing your best to understand them and why they do what they do.

Once you get better at that, the ability to problem solve becomes much more simple. Aaron Gill added, also have a sense of humor. He is my sweet squirrel and his dopamine chasing led to me. And Lisa wrote in, married to a lovely man with ADHD and the best advice,

give him grace if or when he fails at something. Everyone has bad days. But while focus is hard, burnout is real, and ADHD is becoming more commonly diagnosed. Let's end on some of the goods. Shall we? Let's good it up. Are you ready? I'm ready. Okay. Sarah Nelson wrote in and said, I just wanted to comment that many designers and artists use the ability to see different kinds of relationships between things as a way to extract non-linear information and non-linear thinking is essential for creative activity. So there's a bonus and Bimbo Bookshelf

said, my son is almost 12 and he's also aware that this is a gift and he's able to focus on his art and video games for hours. And remember, it's a totally livable thing if you just find how your brain and body work and you listen to yourself. And Lorraine Arad said, my tip is to be patient and kind with yourself. I also remind myself that ADHD gives me a unique perspective and that perspective is extremely valuable.

Rosa said, I try not to be too hard on myself when I make mistakes or I have trouble succeeding as something. This is just how my brain works and I wouldn't trade it for anything. Another pro tip is figure out what you're passionate about. And Miriam Hofluck wrote in and said, find your passion and run at it with full speed. And finally, never, ever, ever think of yourself as someone with a damaged or dysfunctional brain. We all think in processing comprehend differently, and you have the ability to see things

in ways most other people don't. So find your bliss and obsess about it and change the paradigm. Or as Jenette or Sorcerer said, find the perks and celebrate the shit out of them. ADHD also comes with superpowers, not just flaws. While Natalie Parsons made the point, the only unhappy ADHD people I know are those who feel abnormal and rejected. Don't you think the problem is society, not us?

And last piece of advice, applicable to everyone from patron Patrick Boy, said, most of all all give yourself a break. Life is hard and bullying yourself accomplishes nothing while loving yourself no matter what accomplishes what is most important, accepting yourself, which is really sweet and it's making me cry. So there you go folks. So now you know what your hot bod needs is you. You know home is where the heart is, but it doesn't have to be that hard, and you do not have to match your socks, and that you can win a grappling match with father time. And it's good to let your brain trick your brain, and that emo stuff is normal and okay,

and you deserve some help and some solidarity to get through it. So we did it. A whole bunch of life advice to round out the ADHD episode, hopefully helpful for plenty of neuro-typical folks as well. Once again, donations went to multiple places, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, and multiple MyLomas IMF at MyLoma.org. So to become a patron and submit questions for future episodes, you can join at patreon.com

slashologies. I read everyone's advice who submitted something for this, even if I couldn't fit it all in, but the whole thread is up at patreon.com slashologies too. And more links will be up at leward.com slash life advice, which will have links to the ADHD episodes as well. Thank you, Aaron Talbert for admitingining the Oligis podcast Facebook group. Shannon and Bonnie for helping out. No, well, deal worth for scheduling.

Susan Hale for handling merch and so many behind the scene. Things, Zekrad Regis Thomas heads up small. A G's the short classroom friendly versions of Oligis classics. Stephen Ray Morris helps with that. Emily White of the wordery makes transcripts, Caleb Patton bleeps episodes, and those are up for free at alliword.com slash allergies, dash extras along with the transcripts. Kelly Dwyer makes the website and can make yours too. And big thanks to lead editor and road trip buddy, also professional husband, Jared Sleeper of

Mind Ja Media for helping get these out the door, even on the hardest, hardest weeks. Thanks, Jared. You got it. He's sitting on my nephew's fruit on right now. Nick the Orburn made the theme music, and if you stick around to the end,

I tell you a secret. And this week's, okay, so, what's going on, Ward? It's been a pretty rough couple of weeks. We've had some emergency family health stuff that's come up with my dad's cancer and it's been really, really tough. And I really need to be here for my folks.

So thank you to everyone who listens for making that possible. To make this for my sister's guest bedroom at, you know, one, 26 in the morning, is a privilege to be able to do that. And I've said before that I feel like a hollow mannequin filled with bees sometimes, but the last two weeks have been really, really, really, really hard. Some of the hardest moments. really, really, really, really hard. Some of the hardest moments, and I have felt very much like a polymatic and filled with bees, and this week I was in a hard moment where

I just kept thinking, just smoke the bees. Just smoke the bees. Because when honey bees get scared, they emit pheromones to communicate with each other, and the reason beekeepers use smoke to calm them is to prevent the smell of alarm. So in times of high anxiety lately, I've just pictured like smoking my bees and just calming them down and just getting through whatever shit is coming away. So just onward and yeah, thanks for the last couple weeks of everyone being patient. All right, worker bees, remember to rest. Be nice to yourself. Bye bye. Thanks dad, that's great advice.