Taking Control: The ADHD Podcast

• You Don’t Have to Be Productive All The Time

  GPS is Now Open! Visit https://takecontroladhd.com/gps to learn more and take control of your planning today!What if the relentless chase for productivity isn’t a sign of progress—but a trap?This week on Taking Control: The ADHD Podcast, Pete and Nikki return to the idea they began exploring with Dr. Ari Tuckman: the Productivity Trap—a psychological cul-de-sac where effort doesn’t equal accomplishment, and perfectionism becomes performance. But this isn’t just about missed deadlines or overloaded to-do lists. It’s about identity. About shame. About what it means to be “enough” in a world that rarely says you are.From a deceptively simple mantra—“You don’t have to be productive all the time”—springs a story of emotional reckoning. Pete recounts how Nikki’s offhand remark evolved into a viral merch moment, while Nikki shares coaching experiences that reveal the heartbreak (and humor) of managing ADHD in a culture obsessed with output. They dissect the nuance between urgent and important, spotlight how AI can support executive function, and confront the myth that productivity is linear.This is not a conversation about how to get more done. It’s a conversation about why we believe we must.Links & NotesYou Don't Have to Be Productive All the TimeSupport the Show on PatreonDig into the podcast Shownotes Database (00:00) - Welcome to Taking Control: The ADHD Podcast (02:03) - Support the Show on Patreon! (02:41) - Merch Announcement! (05:19) - The Productivity Trap 🎯 Ready to turn your planning chaos into clarity? Take a look at Guided Planning Sessions (GPS)—from getting started to mastering your weekly routines. Whether you’re just picking your tools or refining a system that finally sticks, GPS gives you the structure, support, and community you need to make it happen. Explore more and join today at TakeControlADHD.com/services/GPS. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

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  37:22
• The ADHD-Productivity Trap with Ari Tuckman, Psy.D, CST

  GPS is Now Open! Visit https://takecontroladhd.com/gps to learn more and take control of your planning today!It’s not that people with ADHD don’t want to be productive. It’s that they’re often trapped in a paradox: striving to do more, while silently blaming themselves for not doing enough. That tension—between internal ambition and external expectations—is the focus of this conversation with returning guest clinical psychologist Dr. Ari Tuckman.In this episode, Ari joins Pete and Nikki to explore the deep psychology of productivity, the social pressure to “look busy,” and the subtle ways perfectionism becomes a form of avoidance. Along the way, they discuss the myth of the perfect planner, why your to-do list is lying to you, and what happens when you finally admit you just don’t want to do the thing. With humor, heart, and a healthy dose of hard-earned insight, Ari introduces lessons from his new book, The ADHD Productivity Manual, revealing how managing productivity starts not with apps or alarms—but with radical honesty.Because the real challenge isn’t doing more—it’s knowing what matters enough to do at all.Links & NotesThe ADHD Productivity Manual by Ari Tuckman, Psy.DSupport the Show on PatreonDig into the podcast Shownotes Database (00:00) - Welcome to Taking Control: The ADHD Podcast (01:37) - The Productivity Trap with Ari Tuckman (02:46) - The ADHD Productivity Manual by Ari Tuckman (04:37) - Where is the ADHD Productivity Groove? (21:29) - Perfectionism (25:23) - Getting Clear (27:57) - "I don't wanna" 🎯 Ready to turn your planning chaos into clarity? Take a look at Guided Planning Sessions (GPS)—from getting started to mastering your weekly routines. Whether you’re just picking your tools or refining a system that finally sticks, GPS gives you the structure, support, and community you need to make it happen. Explore more and join today at TakeControlADHD.com/services/GPS. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

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  39:19
• ADHD Duos • The Flooded Brain: ADHD, Emotion, and the Biology of Overwhelm with Dr. Dodge Rea & Dr. Sharon Saline

  GPS is Now Open! Visit https://takecontroladhd.com/gps to learn more and take control of your planning today!Imagine your brain as a control room. On most days, the switches flick and the dials turn just as they should. But then something small—an unanswered text, a missed deadline, a critical glance—trips the wrong lever. Suddenly, that control room is submerged. The signals blur. The system floods.This week on Taking Control: The ADHD Podcast, Pete and Nikki sit down with two returning champions of clarity and compassion: Dr. Sharon Saline and Dr. Dodge Rea. Together, they unravel the hidden mechanics of emotional flooding—not as a character flaw, but as a neurological response shaped by fear, history, and a sometimes-overzealous amygdala.Through stories, science, and metaphor (including rogue trains and Wile E. Coyote’s ill-fated cliff dives), they reveal what happens when the ADHD brain short-circuits under pressure—and what we can actually do about it. Along the way, you’ll learn how shame disguises itself as control, how the body signals what the mind can’t process, and why sometimes the most strategic thing you can do is… go to the bathroom.This is a conversation about reframing of the narrative so many ADHD adults carry with them: that being overwhelmed means being broken. It doesn’t. It never did.Links & NotesLearn more about Dr. Sharon Saline: drsharonsaline.comLearn more about Dr. Dodge Rea: dodgerea.comSupport the Show on PatreonDig into the podcast Shownotes Database (00:00) - Welcome to The ADHD Podcast (01:37) - Support the Show: Become a Patron Today https://patreon.com/theadhdpodcast (03:18) - Emotional Flooding with Dr. Sharon Saline and Dr. Dodge Rea (22:15) - The Consequences (25:49) - Is Emotional Flooding a sort of Trance? (29:31) - The Regulation and Recovery Process (40:59) - The Five C's (45:29) - The g.r.a.c.e. Sequence 🎯 Ready to turn your planning chaos into clarity? Take a look at Guided Planning Sessions (GPS)—from getting started to mastering your weekly routines. Whether you’re just picking your tools or refining a system that finally sticks, GPS gives you the structure, support, and community you need to make it happen. Explore more and join today at TakeControlADHD.com/services/GPS. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

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• ADHD Duos • Overwhelm, Executive Function, and the Fight to Stay Present with Tamara Rosier & Brooke Schnittman

  GPS is Now Open! Visit https://takecontroladhd.com/gps to learn more and take control of your planning today!There’s a moment—maybe you’ve lived it—when the email goes unanswered, the dishwasher remains unloaded, the phone rings but your hand doesn’t move. You’re not tired. You’re not lazy. You’re just… stuck.We call it overwhelm. But what if that word is too small? What if what you’re feeling is your brain's way of saying, This system is not working for me?In this episode of our Duos series, we bring together two people who have spent their careers listening to the quiet, misunderstood signals of ADHD: Dr. Tamara Rosier, author of Your Brain’s Not Broken and You, Me, and Our ADHD Family, and Brooke Schnittman, author of Activate Your ADHD Potential.Tamara talks about emotional flooding—those tidal waves of feeling that hit before a single task is done. Brooke explains how to pause just long enough to choose a different direction. Together, they unpack why ADHD-related overwhelm isn’t a sign of failure, but a clue. A trailhead. A door.Because maybe, just maybe, the problem isn’t that your brain is broken. Maybe it’s that the world was built for a different kind of mind. Maybe the first step isn’t pushing through. It’s listening.📚 Links & NotesYour Brain’s Not Broken by Dr. Tamara RosierYou, Me, and Our ADHD Family by Dr. Tamara RosierActivate Your ADHD Potential by Brooke SchnittmanCoaching With BrookeADHD Center of West MichiganGuided IFS Therapy Session / Exercise for Inner Healing | Dr. Richard Schwartz & Dr. Andrew HubermanSupport the Show on PatreonDig into the podcast Shownotes Database (00:00) - Welcome to Taking Control: The ADHD Podcast (02:43) - Introducing Brooke Schnittman and Tamara Rosier (04:46) - Overwhelm (20:24) - Techniques to Break The Pattern (44:09) - Learn More! 🎯 Ready to turn your planning chaos into clarity? Take a look at Guided Planning Sessions (GPS)—from getting started to mastering your weekly routines. Whether you’re just picking your tools or refining a system that finally sticks, GPS gives you the structure, support, and community you need to make it happen. Explore more and join today at TakeControlADHD.com/services/GPS. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

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  47:32
• ADHD Duos • Break Free from Shame Spirals with James Ochoa, LPC & Dr. Nachi Felt

  GPS is Now Open! Visit https://takecontroladhd.com/gps to learn more and take control of your planning today!Shame is a formidable force—an emotional wildfire that can either illuminate our path to growth or consume us in cycles of self-blame. For individuals with ADHD, this complex emotion is often amplified, lingering far beyond its utility as a corrective signal. But why? And more importantly, how do we break free?This week on The ADHD Podcast, hosts Pete Wright and Nikki Kinzer embark on an exploration of shame spirals with two powerhouse guests: James Ochoa, LPC, renowned ADHD pathfinder and author of Focused Forward: Navigating the Storms of Adult ADHD, and Dr. Nachi Felt, an ADHD specialist and professor at Columbia University where he teaches Psychopathology and helps direct the Cognition and Neuroscience Research Lab.Together, they dissect the neurobiology of shame, its insidious tendency to hijack our presence of mind, and the ways in which ADHD uniquely intensifies its grip. James and Nachi offer profound insights into the role of self-awareness, self-acceptance, and the often-overlooked power of resourcing—the practice of cultivating internal and external tools to navigate emotional turbulence.From the interplay of trauma and shame to the game-changing realization that the same agency that allows us to sit in shame also allows us to stand up and move forward, this conversation is both a course in emotional resilience and a rallying cry for self-compassion.With humor, wisdom, and a touch of Brooklyn-style candor, this episode invites you to challenge your inner narratives, embrace the possibility of rewriting your personal stories, and ultimately, reclaim your incredible sense of self-worth.Resources & Links:Take Control ADHD Discord CommunitySupport the Podcast on PatreonJames Ochoa’s Work & BooksDr. Nachi Felt’s ADHD ResourcesDig into the podcast Shownotes Database (00:00) - Welcome to Taking Control: The ADHD Podcast (01:49) - Support the Show! (04:17) - The Nature of Shame Spirals 🎯 Ready to turn your planning chaos into clarity? Take a look at Guided Planning Sessions (GPS)—from getting started to mastering your weekly routines. Whether you’re just picking your tools or refining a system that finally sticks, GPS gives you the structure, support, and community you need to make it happen. Explore more and join today at TakeControlADHD.com/services/GPS. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

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  49:36

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