Motivational and inspirational writer, Bryan Hutchinson is the author of several books about life with ADHD including the highly acclaimed, best selling "One Boy′s Struggle: A Memoir" and the author of the hilarious eBook that went viral "10 Things I Hate about ADHD"

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How to Use Rewards to Your Advantage If You Have ADHD

How to Use Rewards to Your Advantage If You Have ADHD
on: November 4, 2012 by: Bryan Hutchinson 10 Comments , , , , ...

If you have ADHD then you are probably familiar with the fact that incentives such as rewards help us focus and accomplish tasks. But have you considered using these incentives as an advantage? What excites you, what enthralls you and what motivates you? Take note of those things. They are important. Usually we reap rewards for accomplishing something, but the experience is too fleeting. We don’t take the time to bask in the reward and take note of it. Here are a few examples of what I mean… Is your desk covered with clutter? Have you ever cleaned it and put it in such an organized order that made you feel comfortable and proud of its appearance? If so, consider how that felt, really think about that a moment and take it in. Have you ever cleaned out your car, gave it a tune up and went on a joy ride […]

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How to Stay Positive and Happy Every Day – with ADHD!

How to Stay Positive and Happy Every Day – with ADHD!
on: October 14, 2011 by: Bryan Hutchinson 10 Comments , , , , ...

The title of this post is a question I received from a reader just the other day and I thought it would make a great blog post: How can I stay positive and happy every day? I have ADHD!   There’s a common assumption that if you have ADHD life is pretty much is going to suck every day. Heck, I bet you can prove it, too! We are quickly drawn to the ‘problems’, ’challenges’ and ‘bad behavior’. It is natural and normal.   Here’s a simple multi-part tip that I have used for the last few years and I have found it very effective: Every morning before starting the day tell yourself something ‘good’ is going to happen today. At night, as you settle in to bed, reach over to your nightstand and open a special journal. In this special journal write down the ‘good’ thing(s) that happened that day. […]

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How You Can Write and Publish a Book Too!

How You Can Write and Publish a Book Too!
on: September 19, 2011 by: Bryan Hutchinson 4 Comments , , , , ...

Today is a great day! Today, I finished writing my latest book and it’s perhaps my most ambitious writing since One Boy’s Struggle: A Memoir . This time, though, it is about what I love to do most, it is about writing, blogging and publishing! More specifically, it is for anyone who wants to write and publish a book, especially those who do not feel as though they are qualified to do so. I think you are. If you have a story to tell, then, yes, in my opinion you can write your story and publish it, too!   My new book explains how I did it: How I wrote my books, how I published them and how I got the word out about them and how I continue to do so. I share my writing process, how I am able to write every day, especially how I have learned to […]

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ADHD – the STRENGTH Based Approach – TRY it

ADHD – the STRENGTH Based Approach – TRY it
on: June 1, 2011 by: Bryan Hutchinson 18 Comments , , , , ...

Lately I have been reading a lot about the strength based approach to managing, coping and, more importantly, striving and thriving with ADHD! It’s a contagious, positive and wonderful new movement and I like to think I have been a small part of helping push this movement into the forefront by writing my blog, my books and eBooks. David A Crenshaw recently wrote on facebook: A—adventurous D—determined H—hardy D—dynamic ©David A. Crenshaw, 2011, all rights reserved. I really like his use of ADHD! It’s a new way of looking at ADHD. We can talk about the difficulties, the challenges and the disadvantages of ADHD all day long. We can read about and study what the science tells us and what the statistics show us, but there’s one thing I have noticed, and that is that those who believe in and live by their strengths, whereby one uses what they can […]

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Success, Opportunities and ADHD

Success, Opportunities and ADHD
on: January 8, 2011 by: Bryan Hutchinson 4 Comments , , , , ...

How do you define success with ADHD? When I hear the word success I wonder what each person defines it as. I have always said success is what you define it. Here are 6 things I now have the opportunity to define as success with ADHD for me: Paid the monthly bills on time. I have automatic payments, so I don’t have to worry about most of them. There are other payments I have the opportunity to pay on time by making it to the bank on time, and I do for the most part. Made it to most of my appointments on time. It’s awesome when I am there 5 minutes early and have the opportunity to unwind first. The key is using my appointment calendar on my Smartphone and setting multiple alarms and not making appointments I may not need. Followed through on promises. Most of them anyway, […]

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ADHD and the Gift of Creativity – what price are you willing to pay?

ADHD and the Gift of Creativity – what price are you willing to pay?
on: December 19, 2010 by: Bryan Hutchinson 14 Comments , , , , ...

I believe creativity is inherent in everyone. No one is born without the gift of creativity. We all have this wonderful ability to be creative in our own special ways. In a recent blog post called Turning ADHD Disadvantages into Advantages, I wrote: Many will tell you that creativity in of itself is not a ‘trait’ of ADHD and I do tend to agree with that, because all people are creative in their own ways. But even so, if you combine our symptoms and traits of distraction, out of the box thinking and hyper focus, among many others – we come up with some amazingly creative things that even the most creative people without ADHD would never dream of. I do believe that creativity can be an advantage for many of us with ADHD. However, at the same time I think for far too many, creativity is unintentionally discarded. Unfortunately, […]

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The Beauty of Writing – Lessons in Writing

The Beauty of Writing – Lessons in Writing
on: April 2, 2010 by: Bryan Hutchinson 13 Comments , , , , ...

“Dancing with the feet is one thing, but dancing with the heart is another.” Author unknown One of the most frequent inquiries that I get is about writing. It’s a funny thing, writing, you don’t have to be very good at it to do it and I am not very good at it. Some say I am, some say I am not and some are in-between.  It’s nice to hear that someone has enjoyed something I have written, and it is painful to hear that my writing isn’t all that good. Either way, I benefit from my ADHD mind in that I don’t focus on criticism too long (not all criticism anyway). It’s not that I don’t care, because trust me, I do care, but one way or the other I just keep on writing. My thoughts and fingers love to dance. For me, what’s the most bizarre, is when someone asks me […]

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What is achievement – what is success – what do these things mean to someone like you or me, with ADHD?

What is achievement – what is success – what do these things mean to someone like you or me, with ADHD?
on: March 19, 2010 by: Bryan Hutchinson 22 Comments , , , , ...

Have you ever wondered about what success means to you? I mean, what it really means? Not just the definition, but rather what it feels like to be successful, to achieve something of significant relevance to you? I think for people with ADHD, like me and maybe you, the very word and the meaning of success is alien. We have read about it and heard about it and yet, rarely have we identified with it. Are you successful?  If that seems like a loaded question, it’s not, but I think to a lot of us, it seems that there may be some hidden implication within the question itself. If you say yes, then you are lying and displaying conceitedness! How dare you! Bow your head in proper shame. That’s not the voice from someone else; as a matter of fact it’s not a voice at all. It’s a perception that many […]

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What you don’t know will hurt you!

What you don’t know will hurt you!
on: March 27, 2009 by: Bryan Hutchinson 4 Comments , , , , ...

I was listening to an audio book recently: Challenge to Succeed by Jim Rohn. I recommend it to anyone interested in self improvement. In the audio Jim makes many good points about wealth, health and state of being. The most important point he makes is this: “What you don’t know will hurt you.” Any late diagnosed ADDer will tell you that this is too true. What if we had known 10 years, or, 20 years earlier? What if our parents had known and we were diagnosed as children? What a difference would that have made? We can deal with ‘what if’s’ all day long, but, what about today? Today there is a wealth of information available in books and on the internet. There is no reason we cannot self-educate ourselves about our condition, not in an information packed world such as ours. As anyone knows that reads my blog posts and […]

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