Episode 53: ST Rappaport

Focus and Chill - productivity tactics for AuDHDers and other neurodivergent folks

Welcome to episode #53 We’re thrilled to be joined by ST Rappaport today.

ST Rappaport is a brain engineer who works with ADHD entrepreneurs to unleash their potential via Peak Brain Performance. ST assists them in optimizing their ADHD so they can remove overwhelm, get more done in less time, and enjoy growing their business again.

Welcome to the show ST!

Questions

1. Can you tell us about your experience with neurodiversity? When did you realize that you weren’t neurotypical? What challenges did you face? What is it like now?
   1. From young age
      1. Felt like she didn’t fit in.
      2. Didn’t like constraints
         1. Didn’t like school
            1. 1st day of 1st grade
         2. Thinking in a box
   2. College in England was much better
      1. Left two years ago
   3. Key challenges after school
      1. Personal development
         1. Self-awareness
      2. Never had a boss
         1. Always run her own ship
            1. Photography business.
            2. Creative journal expressive arts
               1. Creating with non-dominant hand
      3. Internal locus of control
         1. Creating her own environment
2. How is your sleep? How do you switch off at night?
   1. Making the rules for herself is fine (just when other people tell her what to do)
   2. Does believe in the power of sleep (but struggles sometimes to get enough sleep)
      1. Goes in seasons
         1. Sometimes sleep is less of a priority when working on something else.
            1. Deadlines.
   3. Wind down routine:
      1. Think about three wins from today + anticipate 3 good things that will happen tomorrow
      2. Visualisation of calm
      3. Journal
3. How do you fit exercise into your life?
   1. A priority even higher than sleep
      1. First thing in the morning
         1. Go running - part of habit.
            1. 45-60 zen time, thinking time.
            2. > 60 minutes, listen to something to avoid
   2. Novelty key - different types of exercise
      1. Strength and cardio
      2. Swimming
4. What "work" projects are you concentrating on?
   1. Coaching ADHD entrepreneurs (loves it)
      1. Meaningful transformation not just hacks
         1. 28 thinking skills
         2. Coachees come to the conclusions themselves
         3. Try to solve the root issue
            1. Why do you want to procrastinate while working?
            2. It’s ok if you’re conscious that you’re putting on a band-aid until you can find the root cause.
   2. Podcasts + YouTube vids
5. What do you do to optimize productivity during your working hours?
   1. Band-aids
      1. Work with your brain, not against it.
         1. Get to the sweet spot of challenge/flow:
            1. Make easy tasks harder (do it really fast/add fun)
            2. Break hard tasks into smaller ones.
      2. Pomodoro with a twist
         1. Has a list of tasks
            1. After 10 minutes, change tasks. Doesn’t matter where she is at
            2. Gets her to work faster
      3. Taking breaks
   2. Surgery
      1. Interpret the procrastination as a signal.
         1. Which sub-task is challenging?
            1. Is it
               1. Boring?
               2. Repetitive?
            2. Which part does my brain not like? In the seemingly smallest tasks, there are big sub-tasks
            3. By pinpointing the part it doesn’t like, you understand the why.
         2. Same thing with jobs/roles/gigs
            1. Identify what you don’t like.
6. COMMERCIAL BREAK
7. How about the rest of the time? What do you enjoy doing in your off time?
   1. Travel + research beforehand (do things that the locals would do - authentic experiences)
   2. Dancing/painting
   3. Deep conversations
      1. Finding time to talk with strangers:
         1. Appropriate event (networking event, podcast)
         2. Prioritize it if it’s important (time scarcity)
      2. Strategies for escalating small talk
         1. Questions:
            1. What’s been the highlight of your week?
8. What does your morning routine look like and how has it evolved over time?
   1. Brain sharpest in the morning
      1. Workout
      2. Shower
      3. Into the most important task
         1. Prepared the night before
            1. Make it as easy as possible
               1. Workout clothes
               2. Any documents open
9. Where can people connect with you or find your work?
   1. Lifepixuniversity
   2. 28 thinking skills
10. Do you have any final words or asks for our audience?
    1. Stop caring what other people think.

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