ADHD Mums

She mentioned a friend called Kel. That was it. That was the whole thing. Twelve seconds, and you'd filed her under no vacancy, decided your kids didn't match, and worked out she already had a Tuesday person.
Then the term ended and you didn't sign up again, and she probably has no idea any of it happened. This episode is about the forecast you make in the first few seconds, and whether it was ever true.
Related Episodes
Every RSD episode in one place → https://tr.ee/RSD
Navigating School Pick-Up & Social Settings — how ADHD and autistic mums read social situations, how neurotypical people do, and how to bridge the gap → https://adhdmums.com.au/product/surviving-school-pick-up/
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Nine good comments in the performance review. One 'area for growth'. Three days later you can still quote the one, word for word. You couldn't name a single one of the nine.
That's ADHD rejection sensitivity, and the usual fixes don't touch it. Don't take it personally. Keep a praise folder. You've tried. There's a reason the nine never land, and it's not that you're too sensitive.
More episodes on RSD
If this one hits, listen next: Why You Can't Accept Kindness: Masking, Surface Acting and the Wall That Blocks Love In
Free Resources Available here
References
Mylett et al. (2026). Social camouflaging in adults with ADHD. Research in Neurodiversity.
McKinney et al. (2024). Camouflaging in neurodivergent and neurotypical girls. JCPP Advances.
Wicherkiewicz & Gambin (2024). Camouflaging, life satisfaction and depression in women with ADHD. J Autism Dev Disord.
Swann, De La Ronde & Hixon (1994). Authenticity and positivity in marriage and courtship. JPSP.
Kwang & Swann (2010). Do people embrace praise even when they feel unworthy? PSPR.
📬 Listener Questions & Community
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You did Pilates every week for a year. Then you bought the reformer so you'd never have to drive there again. You haven't done Pilates since.
Now there's a new idea that won't leave you alone, and it feels exactly like the last one did on day one. So how do you know if this one's real?
That's the ADHD hyperfocus question a listener sent in. She's been a teacher for 27 years. For the last few years something's been building in her: she wants to start a neurodivergent-affirming school. She's even gathered a small group who want in. But she's asking whether it's her real direction, or just another collection of ADHD ideas.
I didn't feel qualified to answer that. I've moved house more times than I'd like to admit, and I once had a magnificent pros and cons list for a move to acreage. Every reason on it was true. Two years later, we're moving back to the beach.
So I went looking for a better way to tell a hyperfocus from a real passion than checking how strongly you feel it. The feeling is where most of us go first. It's also the one thing that can't give you the answer.
There's the graveyard of hyperfocuses: the garden beds, the online course with no modules done, the podcast that got two episodes. Most of us read that pile as a verdict on our character. It might be the most useful data you've got. Then there's the advice ADHDers get about new ideas, like 'finish what you start before you start something new'. That one was never going to work for a brain that makes this many ideas.
And there are three tests to try before you quit the job, or buy the gear.
Related episodes:
When You Keep Starting the Same Thing – And It Never Gets Finished
Tis the Season to Overspend: ADHD Mum vs. Impulse Shopping

Free guides: I gave away 16 guides I used to charge for. Grab the one that fits at adhdmums.com.au/resources
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References
Hoogman M, Stolte M, Baas M, Kroesbergen E. Creativity and ADHD: a review of behavioral studies, the effect of psychostimulants and neural underpinnings. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 2020.
White HA, Shah P. Uninhibited imaginations: creativity in adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Personality and Individual Differences, 2006.

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Give away bad for biz - free resources
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You rolled forty identical socks into pairs the night before your mum arrived. Then unrolled them all on Monday.
The hack works. It's worked for six months. So why does it feel like you're getting away with something?
This Mum Hacks starts with a voice memo about forty pairs of identical white socks and ends with a confession about mine. In between: the two piles every objection from your inner critic falls into, the one question that sorts them, and why a sociologist would say you might be running your whole house like the guest toilet.
More mum hacks: The Mum Hacks collection
Free guides and printables: ADHD Mums free resources
References
Goffman, E. (1959). The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. Anchor Books.
📬 Listener Questions & Community
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Give away bad for biz - free resources
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A nurse who gives out meds all day found May's script in her glove box in July. Still in the chemist bag.
She bought the pill box with the days on the lid. Put it next to the toothbrush, like everyone says. It worked for two weeks. Then one morning she looked straight at it, and she was already in the car.
The verdict she landed on: careless with the thing that matters most.
It might not be that. Your brain files anything that never moves as background. The fridge humming. The shirt on your back. The pill box that's sat by the toothbrush for a fortnight. The filter doesn't check how much something matters. It only checks whether it changed since yesterday.
This Mum Hacks episode is about why 'next to' fades, why 'in the way' doesn't, and a quick check for when a hack that was working quietly stops.
Related Episodes
QUICK RESET: The Hallway Hook That Saved My Sanity → https://adhdmums.com.au/podcast_episode/episode-38-quick-reset-the-hallway-hook-that-saved-my-sanity/
Mum Hacks: 'I Wasn't Consistent Enough.' It Lasted Eight Months. → https://tr.ee/baskets
All the QUICK RESET episodes → https://tr.ee/quickreset
All the ADHD medication episodes → https://tr.ee/medication
Resources
A Guide to ADHD Medication → https://adhdmums.com.au/product/a-guide-to-adhd-medication/
ADHD Mums free resources → https://adhdmums.com.au/product-category/free-resources/
📬 Listener Questions & Community
🎙️ Ask a Listener Question (voice)
Voice notes are preferred when possible — hearing your voice helps add context — but you’re very welcome to submit a written question instead.
Send a WhatsApp voice or written on 0403 457 313
All the top rated episodes sorted by topic
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Mentioned in this episode:
Give away bad for biz - free resources
Free Resouces