Magic in the Madness: Ophelia’s Path to Productivity
Join Ophelia's enchanting journey as she transforms ADHD chaos into business productivity with magical hacks and heartfelt wisdom.
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In a cozy corner of the Business Witch Academy, my office was a sanctuary of calm amidst the swirling energies of entrepreneurial endeavors. The room was adorned with a mix of mystical trinkets, neatly organized files, and a gentle aroma of incense that whispered tranquility. The large bay window let in streams of soft, diffused sunlight, creating an atmosphere of welcoming warmth and serenity.
Ophelia, however, was anything but serene. She burst through the door with her characteristic energy of a whirlwind, random bursts of sparkles shooting off like fireworks, eyes wide with excitement and a touch of frantic desperation. She clutched a bundle of papers, scrolls, and half-finished sketches, all teetering precariously in her arms as she flew.
“Cheryl! Cheryl! I’ve got it! I’ve got it!” Ophelia exclaimed, plopping down onto the corner of my desk, causing a few of my papers to flutter to the floor.
I took a deep calming breath to recenter my attention. Open office hours are a challenge for me. The interruptions to my focus and work when someone wanders in, or the distraction of anticipating that someone might walk in, is taxing to my executive function and reduces my productivity. The thought of changing it to scheduled appointments flitted through my mind, but the cacophony that is Ophelia sent it rushing away before I could make myself a note.
I looked up from my computer, my calm demeanor contrasting sharply with Ophelia’s frenetic energy. “What is it that you’ve got, Ophelia?” I asked with a gentle smile.
Ophelia waved her hands in the air, attempting to gather her thoughts. “Ideas! So many ideas! They keep bubbling up like a cauldron that’s been left too long on the fire. I have a plan for enchanted acorn charms you can wear like jewelry, a book of forest spells for beginners, and even a guide to finding hidden magical creatures. What do you think? They’re all great, right?”
Intrigued I said, “Those all sound fascinating, but I thought you were focusing on perfecting your merch designs and finishing your activity book this quarter?” I pulled up a copy of Ophelia’s Quarterly business plan on my screen and showed her. “Didn’t we just put your plan together over the holidays? Why you’re on to something new?”
Ophelia’s face fell. She looked down and twisted her toes into the desk while she stammered, “Well, I uh, you see there was the Quick Sell Mastery course last fall and I’d been working really hard on mastering my sales pitches. And then I started working on a set of Yule designs, but then I disappeared for a few weeks, and now it’s too late. And then I went over to the Dark Side — Study Group, but did you know they have cookies!?! I can’t bake cookies anymore.”
I raised an eyebrow.
Ophelia stammered some more, “I, uh, well, I was going to tell you. I just hadn’t found the right time yet. You see, I might have gotten sand stuck in the oven.”
“Sand? In the oven? How did you… never mind, I don’t want to know. I don’t want to have to try to explain that to Frank when I ask him to come fix it for you.”
“Frank? From Frank N. Stein Zombie Appliances? I love Frank!! He ‘brings the dead back to life’!”
I chuckled. “Yes, that Frank. He does have some fun marketing, doesn’t he?”
Ophelia got a knowing look in her eye. “Oh? OH! You do his marketing, don’t you?”
I nodded in a mini bow.
“Ugh!” Ophelia exclaimed. “I’m so embarrassed. He’ll probably wear that shirt that says, ‘Fire Me…Please!’ or maybe the one that says, ‘I repair what your husband fixed.’”
“No, the second one is from the electrician at Resistance Electrical. For you? Frank will probably wear the one that says ‘I’m only here because you broke something’ “
Ophelia groaned.
“Now, back to your business plan. It sounds like what you’re telling me is that you haven’t reached your quarterly goals and now you’re distracting yourself with a bunch of new and exciting ideas. Sound accurate?”
Ophelia plopped down on the desk, like the wind had gone out of her sails. “Yeah, I guess,” she answered glumly.
“I think the important question to ask right now is why? Why are you procrastinating on creating a new design theme or finalizing your book cover? Without that, you have nothing to sell.”
Ophelia looked up at me in earnest. “I don’t know!” she lamented. “I just don’t know. I know I need to do it. I want to do it. I know it’s important. I can’t have another incident like the time my Sleepy Time acorn made Griffin the groundhog’s pillow smoke like a chimney.”
“Again, I’ll ask why? If we can dig down to the root of the problem, solutions will start presenting themselves. But if we don’t know what the problem is, and we try to solve the symptom, we’ll just spin our wheels. When I suggest you go right now and work on your book cover or your new designs, what is your immediate reaction?”
“Ugh. It feels hard. Everything feels like too much work.”
“Let me point out that you commonly spend almost every waking moment working on something. So it’s probably not actually too much work. So let’s dig a little deeper. If you were going to spend the next 5 hours working on your activity book or writing a new book of forest spells for beginners, which would you rather do?”
“Oh, definitely the forest spells!” Ophelia replied without hesitation.
“Both are 5 hours of work. Why the forest spells?”
“It sounds like so much fun!”
“And the book cover doesn’t?”
“No. It sounds boring. I’ve already created that book. The fun part is over. Making the cover again and again with minor changes to test it sounds boring and tedious.”
“And there you have it.”
“Have what?”
“The root of your problem. You’re procrastinating and finding other things to make you feel busy because the thing you need to do feels boring and uninteresting. This is a really common problem for folks with ADHD.”
“Really? It’s not just me?”
“No, it’s not just you. I struggle with it all the time myself.”
“You? I don’t feel so bad then.”
“Ok, that’s a good start. And the designs?”
“My room is a disaster, I can’t stand to be in there. How can I be creative when I have no room to work? It just feels overwhelming.”
“There you go. Another root of the problem.”
“So what do I do?”
“There are a few things that you can try. I’d start with cleaning up. If that feels overwhelming, try setting a 10 min timer and race it. How much can you get done in 10 minutes? Or pick a small section of your room, like 1 drawer, or 1 pile of things and focus only on cleaning up that bit. Or… no that one probably isn’t a good suggestion.”
“Or what?” Ophelia asked.
“Well, I find that I’m super productive at cleaning when I’m angry, but I dont’ really suggest you go pick a fight with someone just to clean your room. That feels counterproductive.”
Ophelia laughed and nodded. “Any better suggestions?”
“Well, often deadlines will help get an ADHD brain engaged, even in something boring. The sense of urgency flips a switch in the brain helping you to engage.”
“Is that why I’m always waiting until the last minute to do my school projects? The due date makes my brain work?”
“Yup.”
“But this is my own business. I don’t have a boss giving me a deadline. I’m not sure that’s going to work.”
“That’s one of the reasons it’s so important for ADHD and auDHDer entrepreneurs to have a business coach. The coach, me in this case, can help to hold you accountable. You can set a deadline with me and next time we meet up, I will expect you to deliver what you promised.”
“Oh, I see. That’s brilliant! Let’s do it! But wait, you said there are a few things I can try? What else works?”
“Hmmm… We talked about making the boring task more interesting by turning it into a game, like racing the timer. We covered, breaking up the big task into small pieces. Sometimes it’s a little easier to convince yourself to focus on something boring for 1 hour a day until it’s done instead of having to spend a whole day on it. Another option that works really well with the last idea is to give yourself a carrot.”
“A carrot? Is that like brain food or something?” Ophelia asked, confused.
“I don’t mean a literal carrot. I’m referring to the parable about getting a stubborn mule to pull the cart by hanging a carrot from a stick and dangling the carrot in front of the mule. The mule will step forward to get the carrot, but as he moves forward, the carrot does too. So he takes another step forward, and another, and another, and voila! He’s pulling your cart. If you block out an hour a day to work on the boring thing, and block out time after that to do something you love, the thing you love works like the carrot, giving you an incentive to get through the boring work so you can get the reward.”
“Oh! I see. So if I work on the book cover for an hour, then I can spend an hour writing the book of spells, or coloring in my coloring book, or visiting with Gribit in the pond.”
“Exactly. So what do you think? Can we schedule an appointment to meet back here in 10 days time for you to show me the perfected book cover and plan for new designs? 1 hour a day until you get there?”
“I can do it!” Ophelia said with far more confidence than she had a few minutes ago. “You know, Cheryl, this isn’t the kind of thing we typically talk about in class, it’s not in any of the books. If I didn’t have you, I mean specifically you, even if I had a business coach but not one with ADHD, I’m not sure I’d get anywhere with my business. How do other entrepreneurs with ADHD do it?”
“It’s a real struggle, Ophelia. I didn’t have anyone to teach me these things or guide me when I was struggling. I had to figure it out on my own. I’ve certainly wasted a ton of time over the years and made some really costly mistakes. I suspect most people struggle like I have.”
“It would be awesome if you would create some sort of coaching program for business owners like us.”
“I have a coaching group Ophelia and neurodivergent business owners are very welcome to join.”
“Really?!? I’m SO excited. I’d love to connect with others in the same car.”
“Do you mean boat? Others in the same boat?”
“But we’re not near water. Why would we all be in a boat?”
“Never mind. I’ll see you again in 10 days. Go get started on your formulas.”
Ophelia gathered up all her bits of paper, scrolls, pens, and a bright red feather, and zoomed off to the laboratory.
Want more tips, tricks & hacks? Keep your eyes out for next week’s article “Spellbinding Success: Transformative Tips for AuDHDer Entrepreneurs (and, well, Everyone!)”
For even more Life Changing Hacks, check out M.A.G.I.C. in the Madness for 30+ more amzing tips - written by an AuDHDer entrepreneur, but honestly, this stuff works for everyone!
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Stay Magical,
Cheryl
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