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AuDHD Flourishing

18 Please Stop Optimizing

Optimizing (and the related bio-hacking) are really popular... but why? Who are we doing this for, and who really benefits?

This episode spans the last several years of my life starting with my first coaching certification that was literally called Optimize at the time. There were some positive benefits such as better sleep, which on the whole improved my mood.

But in the long run, there's a potential negative side to the advice to optimize.

And at the same time, many AuDHD people will enjoy optimizing at some point, because it's fun! This episode talks about that balance.


The questions near the end of the episode if you'd like to reflect on them:

  • Are you multitasking in ways that don't actually feel good, just for the sake of "efficiency?"
  • Are you expending a lot of mental or other kinds of energy to make something perfect, when it could be really damn good at 95% or pretty good at 80% or passable at 65%?
  • Does your current system seem functional? Is it possible to do less and still have it function okay?
  • What are you currently doing more to avoid failure than to move toward what you actually want?


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