ADHD Entrepreneurs and Money Troubles

It is a well-known fact that we ADHD types easily get into financial difficulties. One reason for this is impulsive decisions, another is emotional instability, and the third reason is that we try to avoid boring things. Often there is also a weakness in cognitive abilities, which makes it difficult to understand abstract things. If there is also difficulty concentrating and an impulsive mind, it is likely that difficult things are pushed aside.

There is also a strong belief in Finnish culture that talking about money is inappropriate. In this country, no one asks how much someone earns or talks about the amount of their wealth. The same is true the other way around; if someone is having financial difficulties, it is not appropriate to talk about them because financial difficulties cause great shame. Shame, in turn, leads to people in financial difficulties putting off seeking help for too long and easily getting into bigger problems.

WHAT CAN HELP?

The first step for people with ADHD is to list all their income and expenses. If you are self-employed, the list should include both your home and business income and expenses. If you find it difficult to start and finish a task, it is a good idea to ask someone for help or sit quietly with you for an hour, for example with a coach. This is called body doubling.

Next, you need to look at what needs to be changed in your payments, such as renewing your loan terms, competing for an electricity contract, or deleting unnecessary apps. It’s also a good idea to rationalize your online payments to one card and write down the due dates. Small streams can grow into much larger if you pay bills with payment reminders or collections.

SOLVING ADHD CHALLENGES

If you often leave boring and unpleasant tasks undone, it is worth creating your own strategy and process so that this does not happen in the future. Undone tasks increase stress, and if they are related to bills, they will cause problems. For example, you can designate two mornings a month to do them. When dealing with impulsive decisions, it is worth learning to stop, literally counting to ten before acting on impulses.

Even though, in the Finnish culture people have always avoided talking about money, now is the time to break this myth and to start talking. Hiding things out of shame only makes the situation worse, but it is worth noting that few people understand the money problems typical of ADHD, and often the advice comes from so-called neurotypicals who believe that everyone behaves like them. That is why NGT Coaching program offers its own money course for ADHD entrepreneurs, where things are discussed and understood from an ADHD perspective.