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

Episode Date: March 22, 2022

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 final follow up on the ADHD series is a catalogue of strategies to make future you happier. Also: some end-of-episode life updates from Dadward on why you’ve gotten re-runs for two weeks. More episode links and resources Donations 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 MediaTranscripts by Emily White of The WordaryWebsite by Kelly R. DwyerTheme song by Nick Thorburn

Okay, just a quick note up top this episode is a little weird if this is the very first episode of ology's River listen 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, enjoy the mellow show. 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 Sociologies 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 some 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 was supposed to come out two weeks ago as like a third part to the ADHD episodes And then you may have noticed there was an on-core episode about trains There was also a

Smologies episode that came out and that is because some things have been a little bonkers in my life the last couple of weeks And I'm going to tell you about it in the secret at the end of the episode And it's not good stuff just in case you're wondering. It's been a really hard I'll tell you about it later. But anyway, we're making this we're putting it out And this will be the button on our ADHD episode, but we made this for people who are neurodipical and Neuroadipical it's just how to get your life in order with a bunch of great tips But before we dive in thank you to everyone who Shares these episodes and tells friends about them and who rates and subscribes and even reviews because you know

I read all the reviews for example this Fresh little doughnut 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 Also on the topic of fresh next week. We'll just have a fresh sparkling new episode Things will be back on track back on schedule. So get ready for some carnivorous plants or it might be sea urchins It's gonna be one of those. Okay, but first 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 oligites to oligites. They're good. They're for everyone. They're for you Here we go All right 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 Ann Dolmire uses an exercise bike At home and says it's where I go when they need to think or focus or when I need to get things done

Saffron alabasi said the clarity after a quick ten 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 Genetosaur 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 be 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 Why don't maybe try sleeping? Christy Lowry wrote in and said no medication no therapy No treatment is going to 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 Christy 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 Palin 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 gonna try and get back into it with you Because you get a 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 Mackenzie 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 Ritalin 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 ever get 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 Quiets 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 chore-ness 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 Lisa Smith 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 ecology 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-perishable 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 about cooking and Alexandra 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 Stacy Simmons says that they love their convection oven because the one they have cooks like an oven But has a spin timer like a toaster oven and it keeps them from burning down the house and Sarah Albrecht 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 has cut down on the amount of fast food I've been eating because I just simply could not plan meals and Yes, we do have a code if you need one go to alley word comm 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 hammer gauge advises you to just label that shit put a date on it So you know you're like

Not 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 going to try that Skyler Ward. 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, 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 patron Sarah Horton says have multiple laundry baskets and hampers put them in different rooms Okay, a nano naturalists 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 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 of privilege But autopay any and 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 Albrecht 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 etc 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 to dump location You need to give yourself the gift of a trip to Ross or tj 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 Christy La Force 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 r.a Kept track. Oops 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 location location. So what's another way to grease up and pin down father time? reminders professor Genetosaur and Casey Carrick 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

Patreon 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 katelyn 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 in 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 shaffer

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 wart 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 five 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 serrillo is the person who invented this in the 1980s Because uh, 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 lin weisselberg jasmine quaza And petaluck who all swear by this tomato technique. Please come up with a new name

Thank you And rossiades maitland wrote in and said I doubted pomodoro's at first, but it's done wonders So use it when you're in hyper focus too and your bladder will thank you rossiades 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 worky time

It's worky time now. It also has very cool bear art So 12 out of 10 ward 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 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 or 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 But there's also this 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 Do you pretend 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 rene 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 a notebook helpful rebecca lin wiselberg and branna snot grass 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 In katlyn m also a bujo or bullet journal or 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 katlyn 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 kitty court right who says i keep a very cute planner And i will only consistently use a planner that i find visually appealing And chanel zap 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 hero's journal Which has spots to identify your daily quests rather than to dos 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 going to toss in my own dadly advice here In a patreon livestream 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 1000 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 write 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 thin 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 watercolor 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 paint brush 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 sister's I'm recording this

In my nephew's bed, but I'm helping out with some family health stuff Which is why this is up a week late and sorry about that 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 myeloma 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 national ms society.org and another donation 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. Brian durry for more about blood and also about multiple myeloma 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 ofologies Okay, more of your advice. We're still wrestling with father time Listener to listener. Let's talk apps. So apps You got them. Several of you love habbitica, which is a role-player game that gamifies

Habit building and they have to do lists and daily lists and petaluck 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 habbitica I had never heard of it before it sounds delightful chelle uses a free app called owl waves and they say owl waves It's I think it's owl waves o w a v e s helps manage my cognitive chaos and has changed my life y'all My 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 owl waves and amil 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 moranda panda 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 shadi patowski 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 check mark through it But if you select an email and then click that checky little circle It'll add it to a task bar 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 Is 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 Cameron 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 Ducra says that they write a postmortem 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 your to-do to your done list

Or archive tasks rather than totally deleting them and in keeping with the captain's log vibe Cat Backlars 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 times ass Comes from patron charlotte felca guard who reminds us all that being kind and considerate of your future self Is a lifesaving 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 notepad 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 realize 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 They keep 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 a donation I gave 10 bucks on a lark and it turned out it's been worth it so far So essentially you 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 ad block 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 erinson 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 zerpelow 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 simons who says to try splitting up your direct deposit

If you get it to a savings at a different financial institution than 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 five dollars 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-sight 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 l wink 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 20 Having an economic incentive They write 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 katelyn 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 oligites said three magic words And those people were a very good painter heather horton weeden lay the green tuchet and marie bends and joe alexander

those three words noise canceling headphones I personally got some like hundred dollar skull candy venue active noise canceling 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 cornet says when they work they listen to focus at will.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 genet 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 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 bowels So brown noise is just bassy 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 oligies, which is a podcast Also, many of you said hi, hello I listened to podcasts while 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 dolmeyer emily anderson adam weaver rend beach rosa vincentesaurus and sarah And speaking of speaking another brain tricking your own brain tip Gary stop 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 weibull was like heck. Yes screen reader But katrina increases the playback speed to one and a half to two times the speed and then follows along reading with their eyes And katrina says I get through everything so much faster and my brain's in water at all

Maybe you're listening to this on noise cancelling headphones Well l wink 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 So does rosa lotolita 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 jayme kishimoto get a therapist They say even if you think you're not quote depressed enough for one and kasey kerrick and lee tea 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 80 hd perhaps gather a good support group if you can brianis nod grass says friends

Get you some friends who have 80 hd 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 Genetosaur says doing things in the presence of a solidarity human is amazing Genetosaur 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 maranda buckley and katie courtright are like yes this Yes, and lisa wrote in to say married to a lovely man with 80 hd and what helps him is scaffolding Setting up a routine and body doubling So relationships Let's talk about them. So we're gonna cover some 80 hd 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 time blind 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 alan thank you for that Now if you accidentally interrupt people adam weaver mercedes maitland and anilista 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 nosers unite

Does your partner have 80 hd? you're not alone so manyologize wrote in and Serena brontide offered the advice when your partner has 80 hd 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 80 hd 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 80 hd 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, baby You're glitching and she snaps out of it without being made feel guilty about it because glitching is just fine with me Kate writes and on that note for people whose partners have 80 hd Stephanie brochas says my main tip to those like me is purposely remember to be kind and brook 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 erin 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 80 hd 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 80 hd 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 is 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 la reina rad said my tip is to be patient and kind with yourself I also remind myself that 80 hd 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 is 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 hoflock 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 and process and 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 janetta sore said find the perks and celebrate the shit out of them

80 hd also comes with superpowers not just flaws While natalie parson's made the point the only unhappy 80 hd 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 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 80 hd episode hopefully helpful for plenty of neurotypical folks as well And thanks for receiving this a little late. This was supposed to go up two weeks ago

But thanks for giving me some grace while I spent some time with my folks Um, 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'll be adding some cool stuff in april on patreon. By the way, I'm gonna kind of reconfigure some things that I'm kind of I'm excited about that. 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 allieward.com slash life advice, which will have links to the 80 hd episodes as well

Thank you, erin talbert for adminning the oligies podcast facebook group Shannon and bonnie for helping out noelle dillworth for scheduling susan hale for handling merch And so many behind the scene things zik radriguez thomas heads up smallages the short class and friendly versions of oligies classics Stephen ray morris helps with that Emily white of the wordery makes transcripts Caleb patent bleeps episodes and those are up for free at allieward.com slash oligies 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 mindjam media for helping get these out the door even on the hardest hardest weeks Thanks jared He's sitting on my nephew's futon right now nick doorburn made the theme music and if you stick around to the end i tell you a secret and this week's okay, so hmm What's going on ward?

it's been A pretty rough couple of weeks. Um, we've had some emergency family health stuff that's come up with my dad's cancer And it's been really really tough. Um And the good news and the slash bad news is that i'm taking A leave of absence from my tv job for the rest of the season just to be able to be with my folks more my tv job, um, I've been doing innovation nation on cbs for season nine But i'll be honest we they sped up production to double last season

And we were going at three to four times the normal speed this season And um, so i was on the road a lot I love the show But the the pace was more than I could physically handle and then when some stuff came up with my pop, um A couple weeks ago. I I unfortunately just couldn't be there for all of it. So um Really weird for me to take a leave of absence or something Not something I wanted to do, but I just have to survive

And so and I really need to be here for my folks Um, that was a tough decision to make. I feel really really lucky just to have the option to be able to say I have to leave for now. Um, and so thank you to all of these listeners for Just letting me make this show and be able to make decisions like that because I have this job So thank you to everyone who listens uh for making that possible um To make this for my sister's guest bedroom at, you know 126 in the morning. Um, it's a it's a privilege to be able to do that. Um,

And thankfully two days ago, we got some good news about a cancer immunotherapy option Um, so this is my giant big. Thank you to anyone who is sending us good vibes from the cosmos and to everyone who's working in that field I need to do an episode on that. I have so many questions. Um, 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 um, and I have felt very much like a hollow mannequin filled with bees and this week I was There were hard moments 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 Smoke and my bees and just calming them down and just getting through whatever shit is coming away. So Just onward and um, and yeah, so next week a normal new episode will get back on track But 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