And what I wish they’d known then that I know now. — I can only imagine how frustrated my parents got during parent-teacher conferences. The teachers would tell them I did well on tests, but I sucked at homework. I was put into gifted and talented programs, but also talked too much in class, sneaked science fiction books under the desk during…

Unless you’ve been to one, it’s probably not what you think. I’m pretty sure, if you’ve been reading my articles, or reading the news, watching youtube, surfing social media, etc, you know what ADHD is. If not, there’s a LOT of information about it out there. …

And that’s why I’m creating one from scratch. “Why are you doing an ADHD Open Space, Gray?” That question came to me today, and it’s a fair one. I wasn’t commissioned by any corporation, I’m not an ADHD professional (though I am a professional who has ADHD — gotta figure…

Sometimes the best teaching comes from a Beginner’s Mind — A few days ago I was talking with a friend about her upcoming presentation to a business networking group. “They want me to talk about how to do Instagram Reels!” she said, sounding annoyed. “That makes sense,” I nodded. “When I hosted their social media group, that was the number…

I started time logging for the data — but I’m staying for the surprising side effects. — It’s all Tara McMullin’s fault. I’ve been digging into her book What Works, which sneakily hides in the “goal setting and productivity” genre while really being a viciously accurate analysis and dissection of the whole hustle culture late-stage capitalism world we find ourselves in. It’s the kind of book that…

Improving your productivity can be simple. — I have two timers on my desk. They serve the same purpose: pomodoros, those 20-minute deep-work sessions named after a tomato. One is beautifully analog — an industrial looking gray-and-black twist-dial mechanism that I’ve cranked so many times that it’s no longer really accurate to within more than three or…

It wasn’t my first lesson in gender roles, but it was the most clear. — Thanksgiving in the bicentennial year of 1976 was extra fun. I was seven years old, and my Dad, who worked in law enforcement, had taken us to his partner’s house. …

It’s still going to suck. But with a little preparation, it can suck less. — The good news: we’d finally gotten a really good mattress, and there was a much better chance that my partner and I could improve our sleep. The bad news: that first night on the new mattress, my brain did not want me to go to sleep. I lay there for…

If you plan for the points of failure, you can handle any situation — just ask the Stoics. — “Just so you all know, my notes aren’t showing on this laptop…” The presenter gave a nervous laugh. Ouch, I thought. If only she’d had a printout… Her presentation was actually really good; it’s possible that the raw authenticity that going noteless gives a speaker lent more power as she…