Bonus Episode 15: Runway Week – Part 1 – Start the Year Right by Doing this FIRST if you have ADHD

Runway Week Kickoff: Pick One Word and Build a Mood Board

I’m calling this Runway Week, five days of putting a few things in place before the year really takes off, because we’re still building the plane while flying it, and that’s okay. Each day spells out a letter in the word FIRST. Today’s letter is F, for focus.

Focus isn’t really the problem, regulation is

We know ADHD isn’t a deficit of attention, it’s a regulation issue, we’re plenty capable of hyperfocus. So instead of trying to force sustained daily focus on a resolution, I choose one single word to represent the whole year.

Why a mood board instead of a vision board

I’m not personally drawn to the traditional vision board concept, but I like calling it a mood board, since it just needs to plant you back in the mindset of your chosen word without demanding constant conscious attention. Last year my word was “strengthen,” it carried enough layered meaning to apply to my physical health, my business, and my family relationships all at once. This year I considered “minimize,” since decluttering is a major goal, but landed on “step” instead, because it stretches further: taking the next step in my business, stepping toward a more decluttered home, and quite literally getting more physical steps in each day since I’d noticed my activity steadily declining and felt it in my body.

How to make it visible without making it a task

I used Canva, which has a built-in vision board screensaver mode, dropped in a few quotes and images that spoke to my word, and set it as my iPad’s lock screen since I use that device daily. It’s not something I consciously look at every single day, sometimes it sits in the background for weeks before resurfacing in my mind in some unexpected way, but it’s there. If you prefer something more analog, cutting and pasting images onto a physical board or hanging something on the fridge works just as well. The format matters far less than simply having something that quietly holds your chosen direction in view.

If you’ve already done this step

If you’ve already picked your word and built your own version of this, use that extra bit of time today for something small that makes you feel accomplished instead, making the bed, clearing the sink, or thinking about dinner well before it’s actually dinner time.

Your practical, actionable step

Pick one word for the year, something with enough layered meaning to stretch across a few different areas of your life, and create some visible version of it, digital or physical, somewhere you’ll naturally see it without needing to actively remember to look.

Until next time, continue to choose joy.