The ADHD Skills Lab

Presented by Understood.org
Bad environments can train ADHD entrepreneurs to second-guess themselves long after they leave those environments behind. Brandon Smith shares how years of struggling in school, standardized testing, and constant negative feedback shaped the way he saw himself, and why finding practical work completely changed how he viewed his ADHD brain.
In this conversation, Brandon breaks down how environment affects confidence, self-trust, business growth, and leadership. He also shares lessons from building a construction company, learning to delegate, and realizing that many ADHD business owners stay stuck trying to perfect systems long before they actually need them.
What We Cover
Why ADHD people often confuse environment problems with personal failure
How Brandon rebuilt confidence through practical work
Why school experiences still affect ADHD adults years later
The mindset shift that helped him hire and delegate
Why unfinished systems can still move your business forward
If you're enjoying ADHD Skills Lab, you may also enjoy Understood.org’s new podcast, Sorry, I Missed This.
Listen here: https://lnk.to/sorryimissedthisPS!theadhdskillslab
 P.S. Losing work because the admin layer around your business can't keep up with you? Invisible Systems is a 90-day done-for-you sprint where I (Skye) extract the processes from your head, build the operating layer, and find the right person to run it. Six spots left at the founding price, book a call at invisiblesystem.co

Presented by Understood.org
You feel seen by something that wasn’t meant for you.
Skye and Robbie explore whether Bluey reflects ADHD patterns or just captures behaviour accurately.
Using DSM criteria, they break down distraction, unfinished tasks, and how patterns are identified over time.
This episode sits right on the line between observation and diagnosis and shows you how to think about both.
What We Cover:
Where observation stops and diagnosis starts
Why realistic behaviour can feel diagnostic
How ADHD criteria actually gets applied
The risk of over-interpreting behaviour
Why this conversation matters beyond the show
If you're enjoying ADHD Skills Lab, you may also enjoy Understood.org’s new podcast, Sorry, I Missed This.
Listen here: https://lnk.to/sorryimissedthisPS!theadhdskillslab
 P.S. Losing work because the admin layer around your business can't keep up with you? Invisible Systems is a 90-day done-for-you sprint where I (Skye) extract the processes from your head, build the operating layer, and find the right person to run it. Six spots left at the founding price, book a call at invisiblesystem.co

Presented by Understood.org

You build a new system, follow it for a few days, then quietly stop using it.

Craig Ballantyne has coached high performers across multiple industries and his approach focuses on building systems that survive real life, not perfect conditions.

This conversation looks at why most systems fail for ADHD brains. Craig explains how self-awareness, environment control, and honest constraints matter more than motivation.

You will leave with a different way to think about systems that actually hold when your brain resists structure.

What We Cover
Why most systems fail when they rely on motivation
How to design systems based on how you actually behave
The role of environment in making systems stick
Why honesty about how you learn changes everything
How to remove friction instead of adding more structure
If you're enjoying ADHD Skills Lab, you may also enjoy Understood.org’s new podcast, Sorry, I Missed This.
Listen here: https://lnk.to/sorryimissedthisPS!theadhdskillslab
Connect with Craig:

Craig Ballantyne Coaching: https://craigballantyne.com/

Instagram: @ realcraigballantyne
 P.S. Losing work because the admin layer around your business can't keep up with you? Invisible Systems is a 90-day done-for-you sprint where I (Skye) extract the processes from your head, build the operating layer, and find the right person to run it. Six spots left at the founding price, book a call at invisiblesystem.co

Presented by Understood.org
You get a new idea and immediately want to drop everything else.
This episode builds on Wednesday’s research around ideation bias in ADHD. The research suggests people with ADHD prefer the idea phase and are more likely to move on before execution is complete.
We break down how this creates the “never-ending pivot” and why projects keep getting abandoned halfway through.
You’ll learn how to use minimum viable product thinking to actually finish things, even if your brain keeps pulling you toward the next idea.
What We Cover:
Why ADHD brains prefer ideation over execution
How constant pivots destroy momentum without you noticing
Turning new ideas into small, testable outputs instead of full pivots
Finishing projects without suppressing creativity
How to make ideas small enough to complete before switching
If you're enjoying ADHD Skills Lab, you may also enjoy Understood.org’s new podcast, Sorry, I Missed This.
Listen here: https://lnk.to/sorryimissedthisPS!theadhdskillslab
 P.S. Losing work because the admin layer around your business can't keep up with you? Invisible Systems is a 90-day done-for-you sprint where I (Skye) extract the processes from your head, build the operating layer, and find the right person to run it. Six spots left at the founding price, book a call at invisiblesystem.co

Presented by Understood.org
You spend weeks building something before anyone ever sees it.
Not because it needs to be that big. Because once you start, it keeps expanding until it feels impossible to finish.
This is where minimum viable product actually matters. Not as a business concept, but as a way to stop overbuilding everything and start testing things earlier.
ADHD makes it easy to over-scope, get pulled into the wrong details, and delay real feedback. So instead of finding out what works, you stay stuck refining something in isolation.
This episode breaks down why that happens and how minimum viable thinking helps you start smaller, move faster, and avoid getting trapped in the build phase.
On Friday, we’ll show you how to apply this in real situations so you can actually ship things without burning out.
What We Cover
Why ADHD leads to overbuilding instead of testing
The pattern of expanding a task before it ever gets real feedback
How minimum viable thinking cuts through overthinking
Why starting smaller makes it easier to stay in motion
How to recognize when you’re building instead of progressing
If you're enjoying ADHD Skills Lab, you may also enjoy Understood.org’s new podcast, Sorry, I Missed This.
Listen here: https://lnk.to/sorryimissedthisPS!theadhdskillslab
 P.S. Losing work because the admin layer around your business can't keep up with you? Invisible Systems is a 90-day done-for-you sprint where I (Skye) extract the processes from your head, build the operating layer, and find the right person to run it. Six spots left at the founding price, book a call at invisiblesystem.co