Jesse J. Anderson

Puyallup

Writer at Extra Focus

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extrafocus.com

Articles

The Inbox of Shame: Why ADHD Brains Struggle With Digital Communication (And What To Do About It)

1 month ago | extrafocus.com | Jesse J. Anderson |Chris Guillebeau

Hey friends,I’m really excited to have as an Extra Focus guest writer this week!Chris is a New York Times bestselling author and his latest title, Time Anxiety, is directly relevant for people with ADHD. He also created the NeuroDiversion conference that launched this year (you can join the waiting list to find out when tickets become available) and writes the newsletter .
How to Overcome That Setback You Already Know Is Coming

1 month ago | extrafocus.com | Jesse J. Anderson

Hey friends,Maybe you’re like me, and when things are going well you start to feel this sense of dread… like you know something is just around the corner, waiting to mess everything up. The cliche of “waiting for the other shoe to drop” where I’m not just worried about it happening, but actually expecting it to happen.
Breaking Through the Activation Barrier

1 month ago | extrafocus.com | Jesse J. Anderson

Hey friends,One of the biggest ADHD challenges is something I call the activation barrier. When you know exactly what you want to do in the moment, but there’s this invisible wall that you can’t seem to break through and actually start doing the thing.
Accepting Who I Am

1 month ago | extrafocus.com | Jesse J. Anderson

Hey friends,For much of my life, I felt broken. Something was wrong, everyone else could see it. And I spent decades trying to figure out how to fix it. Blaming myself every time I “screwed up” again. Whether it was me being late to an appointment (or job interview), forgetting some important detail, or just not being to motivate myself to finish that really important project. Worse, it seemed like everywhere were solutions that claimed to be just what I was looking for.
The ADHD Entrepreneur’s Edge: Why Your Chaotic Brain Might Be Your Greatest Advantage

2 months ago | extrafocus.com | Jesse J. Anderson |Skye Waterson

I’m super excited to welcome back Skye Waterson for this week’s guest column. Skye is the founder of Unconventional Organisation and writes the newsletter. She is also an ADHD coach, researcher, and hosts The ADHD Skills Lab Podcast. This guest post about ADHD and entrepreneurship is quite timely as I’ve been exploring this even more in recent weeks. I’ve often heard that entrepreneurship and ADHD go together well, but I love how this dives into the research behind how and why that is true.
The Neurotypical Struggle to Understand People with ADHD

2 months ago | extrafocus.com | Jesse J. Anderson

Hey friends,One of the most frustrating parts of ADHD is how it often looks to others. Without knowing what ADHD really is, most people are just confused by how those with ADHD behave. It doesn’t make sense to them. They ask themselves “why?” about everything we do. Why would you do it that way? Why didn’t you prepare for this? Why are you making things more difficult? Why do you keep getting in your own way? Why don’t you just use a planner/alarm/etc?
The ADHD Community is Incredible.

2 months ago | extrafocus.com | Jesse J. Anderson

First off, thank you everyone for the incredible outpouring of encouragement, opportunities, and support after I announced getting laid off last week. You are an amazing community and my inbox was absolutely flooded (in a good way)!I’m trying to respond to everyone, but it’s going to be a bit before I can fully catch-up. Thank you so much to anyone that said something or did something to help me and my family out in this situation.
Laid Off

Mar 26, 2025 | extrafocus.com | Jesse J. Anderson

Welp. I’ve been laid off from my job. For the past year I’ve been working at a startup, and yesterday I was informed that I’m one of several employees they are letting go to try to preserve some of their remaining runway. I’m still feeling pretty numb. And now I have to try to figure out what’s next.
Out of Sight, Out of Mind: The ADHD Friendship Curse (And How to Beat It)?

Mar 18, 2025 | extrafocus.com | Jesse J. Anderson

I’ve been accused of being a terrible friend before, which really really hurts. It hurts because I feel like I’m trying so hard to be a good friend, and I get blindsided when someone accuses me of not following through or that our friendship is one way only or some other hurtful description. Yet another case of my actions not lining up with my intentions.
How to Create ADHD-Supportive Workplaces That Benefit All

Mar 13, 2025 | extrafocus.com | Jesse J. Anderson

This week I spoke as part of a panel at SXSW and it was amazing! I’d never actually been to SXSW before and had no idea how massive of a conference it was. SXSW basically takes over all of downtown Austin and has some huge speakers like Mark Cuban and Conan O’Brien (who I got to see!).