Dan Martell - How I Manage My ADHD Without Medication

00:00:00.000 Hi, I'm Dan Martell, technology entrepreneur,

00:00:02.200 investor, and creator of SaaS Academy.

00:00:04.000 In this video, I'm gonna go totally off script

00:00:06.200 and talk about how I manage my ADHD without medication.

00:00:10.880 And be sure to stay to the end

00:00:12.040 where I'm gonna share with you guys a list of resources

00:00:14.400 that I use to kind of enhance the strategies

00:00:17.600 I'm gonna be talking about in this video.

00:00:30.000 So if you deal with ADHD or have somebody in your life that

00:00:34.400 struggles with it, you probably feel frustrated that every day

00:00:38.100 is a crapshoot.

00:00:38.700 You don't know if you're going to be productive.

00:00:40.100 You don't know if you can get any level of focus.

00:00:42.400 Every time you start to read, you know, 30 seconds later you're

00:00:45.000 off to some other thing.

00:00:45.800 You're probably already clicked off this video or thinking

00:00:47.900 about what you're going to have for lunch or maybe you're

00:00:50.200 feeling tired and you don't have the energy or it's just

00:00:53.500 something feels off and when you take your medication maybe and

00:00:57.900 look, I'm not a doctor.

00:00:58.800 I'm not going to tell you what to do.

00:00:59.600 I'm just going to tell you what I've done.

00:01:01.260 But my, essentially my experience has been that

00:01:06.260 if you do things right, you can get super clear.

00:01:09.060 You can summon a super focused state at will.

00:01:13.580 You can ensure that every day is your best day

00:01:16.500 and you can really manage the way you show up

00:01:18.960 with your unique ability and your zone of genius

00:01:20.820 and just who you are, which I think is absolutely

00:01:24.080 the superpower, I've got a video I'll link up below.

00:01:26.160 It's one of my most popular videos, why I'm doing this one

00:01:28.380 on why I think ADHD is my superpower,

00:01:31.340 but without sharing with you the strategies

00:01:33.680 that I've learned over the years,

00:01:35.120 implemented into my life and my day,

00:01:37.460 then it's hard for people to understand how that could look.

00:01:40.000 So I'm just gonna walk you through

00:01:41.300 what a day in my life looks like.

00:01:42.720 If you feel inspired to adopt any of those things,

00:01:45.200 feel free to do that, but this is really just my take.

00:01:47.600 I don't play a doctor on the internet.

00:01:49.760 Be sure to consult with your physician,

00:01:51.700 figure out what's appropriate for you,

00:01:53.640 and just test things.

00:01:54.940 I think that was the biggest thing

00:01:55.940 that I've learned over the years,

00:01:56.880 is just trying, tweaking, et cetera.

00:01:59.220 Now, what happened was is at eight years old

00:02:01.720 I got diagnosed with ADHD and for many years I felt broken.

00:02:05.760 It actually sent me into kind of a spiral of depression

00:02:10.760 and making some really bad decisions in my life.

00:02:14.560 And there's a whole story on kind of how that impacted me

00:02:18.300 and where I ended up at really rock bottom

00:02:20.780 and how I've turned my life around since then

00:02:23.140 to now where I've started five companies,

00:02:25.540 I've hired over 500 people in my career.

00:02:27.380 I became a millionaire when I was 27

00:02:29.860 and investor in 30 other companies.

00:02:31.760 And look, I'm not sharing that stuff to brag.

00:02:35.460 I'm just sharing it because I want to give you context

00:02:37.280 for what's possible when you own who you are

00:02:40.420 and you figure out is there a better way to tweak things

00:02:43.820 to essentially turn it around as a power

00:02:47.160 instead of a deficit.

00:02:48.540 One is nutrition.

00:02:49.820 What you put in your mouth definitely affects your brain,

00:02:53.260 your mind, your focus.

00:02:54.660 And the first thing is sugar.

00:02:56.060 I think that is probably the worst thing that we as a society

00:03:00.960 have introduced into our lives.

00:03:02.600 Most of you don't even realize how much sugar, grams of sugar

00:03:06.100 you're consuming on a daily basis and all I ask is that you

00:03:10.000 look on the back of the packages and most of you are

00:03:12.820 probably consuming your sugar through liquids,

00:03:15.120 through the beverages that you drink on a daily basis.

00:03:17.320 So taking those things out, going back to water.

00:03:20.620 First thing I do when I wake up every morning is half a liter

00:03:23.460 to a liter of water, first thing, my feet hit the ground,

00:03:26.420 I grab my water ball, it's ready to go, I drink it.

00:03:28.660 That just hydrates my body.

00:03:30.120 As soon as you wake up, you're dehydrated.

00:03:32.260 Hydrate your body, have that bottle next to you,

00:03:34.660 drink throughout the day just water and that'll help

00:03:38.360 quench that thirst for any kind of high sugar supplements.

00:03:42.520 Now, the other thing is I'm a big fan of low carb,

00:03:45.600 high healthy fats so for the most part, my breakfast,

00:03:48.620 that's probably, if you want to dial in anything,

00:03:50.900 dial in your breakfast, I go avocado, egg whites,

00:03:54.640 maybe one egg, lots of vegetables and it's really simple

00:03:58.840 and clean, it takes me like seven minutes to cook up

00:04:02.040 and that just sets the whole day.

00:04:03.940 From there it's always just proteins and salads

00:04:07.220 and again, I'm not saying, I'm not judging what you eat,

00:04:09.620 I'm just saying if you want to see if you could help,

00:04:13.120 you know, counteract some of the downsides of your ADHD,

00:04:16.700 just try tweaking your nutrition.

00:04:18.700 It's probably the biggest area.

00:04:20.560 If you drink coffee with lots of sugar and cream,

00:04:23.960 start trying to drink it black.

00:04:25.700 I mean, it'll change everything.

00:04:27.900 I mean, just on an energy level,

00:04:29.260 it's gonna change anything, so nutrition's the first place.

00:04:32.080 Number two is sweat every day.

00:04:34.680 I know for a fact that if I don't work out,

00:04:37.540 I don't have the same impact in my work.

00:04:39.980 My creativity's not there, my ability to focus,

00:04:42.620 my ability to communicate is depleted.

00:04:47.020 And so my rule is just sweat every day.

00:04:48.980 When you wake up, get a workout in, do something.

00:04:52.280 It could be as simple as doing 30 push-ups.

00:04:54.180 You know, I have a workout when I travel

00:04:55.480 and I'm in a hotel room.

00:04:56.620 It's essentially four rounds of 20 reps each

00:04:59.820 of jumping jacks, air squats, push-ups, and sit-ups.

00:05:04.100 It takes about, you know, depending how fast I'm moving,

00:05:06.600 about 10 to 12 minutes and that's all you need

00:05:10.040 to actually get a good workout in every day

00:05:12.240 in the same spot you're standing.

00:05:14.440 You don't need any equipment, no nothing

00:05:16.100 and it's gonna get your sweat on

00:05:17.440 and that just sets, for me, my mind.

00:05:19.840 Like, I love to run, I love to do CrossFit,

00:05:22.220 but I don't do those things for my body per se,

00:05:24.320 I do them for my mind, and I'm telling you,

00:05:26.240 if you're not working out, if you're not moving your body,

00:05:28.580 then 100% it's gonna affect your ability to focus.

00:05:31.220 So that's a big area.

00:05:33.180 Number three is sleep.

00:05:35.020 So many entrepreneurs, so many individuals like yourself

00:05:37.660 that have ADHD have a really hard time going to bed

00:05:41.000 having a deep sleep, and the reason why is your mind

00:05:43.140 is racing, so you know, at the end of the day,

00:05:45.440 there's a few things I do.

00:05:46.600 One, I sleep with a sleep mask to make sure that the room is

00:05:49.060 100% dark.

00:05:50.480 I use an app on my phone for white noise so I don't get

00:05:53.580 interrupted throughout the night.

00:05:54.740 You can use an app like Sleepstream which is incredible.

00:05:56.780 Again, I'm going to link those up below and or any app that

00:05:59.920 really creates white noise.

00:06:00.840 There's a bunch of free ones out there and just make sure that

00:06:03.420 you turn off all electronics before you go to bed.

00:06:05.660 I'm a big fan of reading and this is the funny part.

00:06:07.980 Maybe you can't read because you get distracted really quick.

00:06:10.860 Well, what happens with me is I've taught myself that if I

00:06:13.660 start to read in bed, I go to sleep.

00:06:15.160 So it's funny now that when I'm reading a book I literally

00:06:17.460 will fall asleep just because that's what's been programmed

00:06:19.600 in my mind so be sure to get yourself a little reading light

00:06:22.920 and a book and every night fall asleep with the book

00:06:25.240 on your chest and it's a great way to go to bed,

00:06:27.220 your mind will go to sleep, wear the sleep mask,

00:06:29.520 white music on or white noise on and you will sleep.

00:06:32.840 So ideally at least seven hours, I try to aim for eight.

00:06:37.120 Four, morning routines.

00:06:39.200 I'm a big fan of rituals to really just take all the best

00:06:43.200 practices that I learn, habits stack them into my day so I

00:06:46.740 don't have to think about it.

00:06:47.640 So I have a morning ritual.

00:06:48.900 If you don't have one, I highly recommend the book Miracle

00:06:52.280 Morning by Hal Elrod and it will walk you through his framework

00:06:55.820 called Savers.

00:06:56.540 Mine is a variation of that.

00:06:58.240 I've been doing mine before his book was written but it's an

00:07:01.380 incredible book and it'll just walk you through it.

00:07:03.320 But the big thing for me especially with ADHD is

00:07:05.260 meditation.

00:07:06.520 Your mind is so powerful and if you're not meditating for at

00:07:09.820 least five minutes just eat and you're like,

00:07:11.900 oh I can't meditate, every time I sit down my mind races.

00:07:14.460 Yes, I agree, but if you can learn to take control of that,

00:07:18.440 if you can just sit there in silence and just be in awe of

00:07:22.380 how your mind kind of goes all over the place and just bring

00:07:25.040 it back, great app like Headspace to just help you understand

00:07:30.020 how meditation works, whatever it is for you,

00:07:32.620 if you're not meditating and you want to get off medication

00:07:36.660 and self-medicate your ADHD a little bit,

00:07:39.360 I just don't know how you're going to do it because it's just

00:07:41.300 part of exercising the muscle which is your mind and ability

00:07:44.900 to focus and just be aware of what's going on and really just

00:07:50.100 the, I'm just in awe of how our minds work and how we can have

00:07:53.640 kind of two different views of what's going on in reality.

00:07:57.080 So morning rituals, to me it's everything from what I eat,

00:08:02.080 my exercise, my gratitude journaling, meditation,

00:08:05.820 the movement part, that's just locked in.

00:08:07.620 But that, if I don't start off my day with that then my whole

00:08:09.820 is just whoosh, up four, roll the dice

00:08:12.860 and we'll see what happens.

00:08:14.200 Five, 30 minute Pomodoro work blocks.

00:08:17.960 So my mind works best when I know exactly what I'm working on

00:08:21.500 and I focus it in on a 30 minute window.

00:08:24.460 Essentially I do 25 minutes of work, five minutes of rest

00:08:27.340 and that rest is usually breathing techniques,

00:08:29.300 stretching, standing up, moving around, whatever it is

00:08:32.740 but for 25 minutes I have a timer set,

00:08:34.880 I know exactly what I'm working on and I go deep

00:08:37.440 and there's just something about the gamification

00:08:39.580 of having that 25 minute timer and I'll link up a tool I use

00:08:42.480 below called BeFocus but it just allows me to just not easily

00:08:48.160 get distracted and go get browser blindness where I jump

00:08:50.620 on Facebook or you, I mean for many of us it is second nature.

00:08:54.700 I'm a hotkey guy.

00:08:55.600 All of a sudden my fingers without even thinking about it

00:08:58.200 open up the browser and start typing Facebook and I'm like 0.95

00:09:00.660 what the fuck am I doing here?

00:09:02.940 So if you're having those issues consider setting a timer. 0.98

00:09:05.600 Pomodoro is an incredible technique, super simple to allow

00:09:08.980 you to focus on your work.

00:09:10.820 Six, energy management.

00:09:12.720 I truly believe that like there is a circadian rhythm

00:09:17.080 to life and to seasons, et cetera,

00:09:19.700 our day follows a certain energy pattern in flow.

00:09:23.160 And for me, what I've learned,

00:09:24.600 and it could be different for you,

00:09:25.600 some people they swap it for night versus morning,

00:09:27.900 in the morning is when I do my best work output,

00:09:31.400 meaning any creative work, anything I wanna create

00:09:34.800 or things that I know I'm gonna have a hard time doing

00:09:36.980 like reviewing financial statements or whatever it is in

00:09:40.780 the business, reviewing contracts.

00:09:42.540 I need to do that first thing in the morning when my mind is

00:09:45.980 most aligned with what I need it to do.

00:09:50.380 And then what I do is I then load my whole afternoons talking

00:09:53.820 to people from an energy point of view.

00:09:55.480 So I just think that if you don't know what your energy flow

00:09:58.940 is for the day, really consider studying it,

00:10:02.220 understanding how you feel and mapping to that so that you can

00:10:05.780 put the right types of tasks and work in those windows.

00:10:09.120 Like I don't do meetings before lunch.

00:10:10.620 The reason why is because I don't want to use that time

00:10:13.960 that I know I can be focused and create something

00:10:16.300 when I can just push my meetings to the afternoon.

00:10:18.160 Now maybe you're not in a position to be able to do that

00:10:20.660 but there's probably other elements from an energy flow

00:10:23.540 in your day that you can restructure

00:10:25.260 and what I call day partying.

00:10:26.740 You can change the time of day that you focus on those tasks

00:10:30.340 and those pieces so that you can get the most

00:10:32.840 out of your focus.

00:10:34.180 Seven, music.

00:10:35.840 Now if you made it this far, you probably don't have ADHD.

00:10:39.180 I'm kidding, it just means the content's on point.

00:10:42.120 But for real, I used to play background music while I worked.

00:10:46.660 I do my best work in coffee shops and busy airports.

00:10:50.760 I use Vivo on my Apple TV so that I can play that in the

00:10:53.340 background, it's just like a music video,

00:10:54.600 it's like the modern day MTV.

00:10:56.300 But now what I do is I actually have an app called

00:10:58.340 Focus At Will and you know there's science behind it but

00:11:01.700 it's different channels.

00:11:02.900 You essentially complete a questionnaire and it'll tell you

00:11:05.240 what kind of music based on who you are.

00:11:07.900 Again, it could be Hocus Pocus.

00:11:09.200 All I know is those tunes, I use the up tempo channel on

00:11:13.740 Focus At Will, for me just totally gets me in the zone.

00:11:16.740 So if I map that with my 30 minute Pomodoros and I have my

00:11:21.320 music playing in the background, I can be anywhere at any time

00:11:24.020 and just boom, crank out some work.

00:11:26.060 So if you don't incorporate some level of auditory distortion

00:11:31.100 in your workday videos.

00:11:32.860 You just don't want to have stuff that you're watching.

00:11:34.480 Definitely don't put on, you know,

00:11:36.980 don't go binge watch House of Cards on Netflix.

00:11:39.940 Put stuff that you don't have to listen to but is there

00:11:41.940 and it's kind of a beat and a rhythm and it'll help you.

00:11:44.080 I know it helps me really stay focused when I'm,

00:11:46.980 I need to get something done immediately

00:11:48.820 and I can't waste any time getting into that zone.

00:11:51.380 Eight, block time.

00:11:53.020 One of the most important habits that I have

00:11:56.500 is that I know exactly what I'm doing

00:11:59.020 on a 15 minute interval throughout my whole day.

00:12:02.120 Some of you might think that's crazy

00:12:04.200 over-scheduled and structured.

00:12:06.140 That's cool, you can think that.

00:12:07.580 I can show you my results.

00:12:08.960 They speak for themselves.

00:12:10.540 The reason why I'm able to put out so much content

00:12:13.960 and deliver so much value to my coaching clients,

00:12:16.120 to be able to build businesses, invest in other companies,

00:12:19.660 be value-added, be present for my family,

00:12:22.400 take incredible amount of vacation every year

00:12:25.260 is because it's all structured.

00:12:27.700 I don't need to know what I'm doing this afternoon.

00:12:29.660 I just know that it's packed because I review my day

00:12:31.980 the night before and I review my week on Sundays.

00:12:34.680 So block time is the habit of actually scheduling,

00:12:37.480 going in your calendar, dragging and dropping and putting

00:12:39.980 in the description of that calendar entry exactly what

00:12:43.140 you're going to do to move the needle forward.

00:12:45.720 So that way I don't sit there and I call it bleed time

00:12:49.720 between different events or you know you have a meeting

00:12:52.120 with somebody and they keep talking and you have nothing

00:12:54.060 scheduled in your calendar so you keep talking.

00:12:55.660 all of a sudden a 30 minute meeting went to a 60 minute

00:12:57.820 meeting, all those things add up.

00:13:00.600 So I'm a big fan for focus point of view to really help me

00:13:04.000 mitigate the ADHD is to block time with the specific tasks I

00:13:08.140 want in the description and then use my Pomodoro timer to

00:13:11.400 make sure that I execute in those 30 minute windows.

00:13:14.680 Nine, build a team, a support network.

00:13:18.380 People around you, now many of you guys are saying,

00:13:20.760 Dan I do not have the financial means to do that and I can

00:13:24.220 I understand that, but I will tell you this.

00:13:26.260 Ever since I was in junior high school

00:13:29.560 and there was class projects or there was activities

00:13:34.600 or we were playing a sport or playing in the backyard

00:13:37.600 with my friends, building a tree house, et cetera,

00:13:40.100 I got really good at corralling and recruiting people

00:13:44.940 to help support me in what I was creating, okay?

00:13:48.280 And to me, that's no different than your life.

00:13:50.180 There are certain things that you would love to do

00:13:53.080 for eight hours a day that other people,

00:13:54.980 and you probably don't think this is true, I guarantee it.

00:13:57.160 I know for a fact, my bookkeeper Sandy is amazing.

00:14:00.720 She loves to do bookkeeping and spreadsheets and numbers 0.83

00:14:04.160 and if I took that away from her and I said,

00:14:06.060 hey, you're gonna start to write blog posts,

00:14:08.520 she would freak out because she doesn't like to do that. 1.00

00:14:11.400 If I said, hey, we're gonna stick a camera in front of you

00:14:13.600 and we're gonna record some videos,

00:14:15.040 she'd be like, oh my God, no way, I quit. 1.00

00:14:17.780 So I know for a fact there are people in your life

00:14:21.380 that would support you in a certain area

00:14:23.280 and you could swap out certain tasks,

00:14:25.120 you could ask for favors, you could look for leverage.

00:14:27.780 You just need to have enough self-worth

00:14:29.660 and the value you bring to other people

00:14:31.020 to be able to ask for it.

00:14:32.500 That's the biggest challenge.

00:14:33.420 I'm not gonna get into that whole bag of whatever

00:14:37.300 but you need to bring people into your life

00:14:40.600 to support you in the things you struggle at

00:14:42.560 because I know for a fact there are people out there

00:14:45.240 that love to do that work.

00:14:47.100 The things you hate to do, other people love to do

00:14:49.340 And if you can bring that in and tweak your day

00:14:51.780 and tweak your projects so that you can have that,

00:14:54.540 and it takes time, years maybe, but you build towards that,

00:14:58.220 one day you will wake up and realize that ADHD

00:15:01.460 is 100% your superpower.

00:15:03.680 It's the reason why you're so energetic and creative

00:15:07.260 and able to produce outcomes that other people are

00:15:11.500 in awe and inspired by instead of making it a crutch

00:15:15.340 or a deficit or a weakness.

00:15:18.500 And that to me is my hope for,

00:15:20.160 especially for all the kids watching this,

00:15:21.680 if you're watching with your parents,

00:15:23.480 just know that, again, I felt broken at eight

00:15:26.740 and there were people that showed up in my life

00:15:28.440 and showed me that there was possibilities

00:15:30.180 and they believed in me in a way

00:15:31.620 that I didn't believe in myself at the time.

00:15:33.680 And through that journey of entrepreneurship

00:15:36.480 is the ultimate personal development program.

00:15:39.320 And for me, programming became a new addiction

00:15:41.720 where I could really get focused on

00:15:44.220 kind of going deep on something that wasn't illegal

00:15:46.720 or got me in trouble.

00:15:48.420 And since then, I just decided I don't want to take medication

00:15:52.220 to deal with my ADHD and that was a decision I made

00:15:55.060 probably eight years ago and it was a transition

00:15:58.220 and I added all the things I'm talking about

00:16:00.140 and many other stuff I'm probably forgetting

00:16:02.300 to just say, no, I'm going to own this,

00:16:04.500 I'm going to tweak it, I'm going to work my way through it

00:16:06.980 and I can tell you it's been almost 10 years

00:16:10.040 since I made that decision, it's probably the best one.

00:16:11.880 I show up as me, as Dan, not as somebody else

00:16:15.380 and it feels absolutely freaking amazing

00:16:17.180 and I hope this for you.

00:16:18.260 So quick recap, one is nutrition, two is sweat every day,

00:16:22.960 three is ensure I get incredible sleep,

00:16:25.740 four is focus on my morning routine,

00:16:28.580 five is the Pomodoro technique,

00:16:31.440 the 30 minute focus of work productivity,

00:16:34.500 six is energy management, seven is music,

00:16:38.080 eight is block time, and then finally,

00:16:40.540 nine is build a team of supporters.

00:16:43.660 If you've gone through the transition yourself,

00:16:45.780 or if you feel like you're going through it now

00:16:47.420 and you need some support, just leave a comment below.

00:16:48.920 There's incredible people that are part of the community

00:16:50.520 that can relate.

00:16:52.020 Also be sure to check out the other video on ADHD

00:16:55.320 is my superpower.

00:16:57.020 You will, just so you know, when you go watch it,

00:17:00.020 it's the 100% contrast, okay?

00:17:02.320 That was Dan Martell three years ago,

00:17:04.220 and this is Dan today, and maybe I was a little bit chubbier.

00:17:08.320 Maybe I didn't understand how video worked and all this stuff.

00:17:11.220 I've done video every week for the last three years,

00:17:13.520 so go check it out.

00:17:15.220 Maybe it'll inspire you to start a new creative endeavor

00:17:18.480 because it's been probably the biggest blessing in my life

00:17:20.980 is having a community of folks like yourself

00:17:23.400 watching these videos so that I can serve in a bigger way.

00:17:25.820 So, hope this video finds you incredibly well.

00:17:28.340 If you liked it, be sure to click the like button.

00:17:30.280 Leave a comment below.

00:17:31.400 Subscribe to my channel.

00:17:33.160 Super appreciate you guys watching.

00:17:34.580 I'll see you in the next video.

00:17:35.860 Were you there when Dan asked me about the shirts I wear?

00:17:38.740 A lot of people ask me, like,

00:17:39.840 where do you get your shirts?

00:17:40.760 Your shirt game's on point.

00:17:41.760 I'm like, uh, well, I don't know

00:17:45.220 Thank you.

Dan Martell - July 09, 2018

How I Manage My ADHD Without Medication

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