Focus Clarifies Functions

Client Description
Single professional female, disengaged from stressful executive position with Fortune 100 Company. Severe ADD.

Challenge
Client had floundered for a year following outplacement from overly stressful executive position. Now freelancing her special skills, she faced a critical deadline for creation of a substantial medical research project. She said she " just didn't know where or how to start and could not stay focused." She felt like a failure and was highly critical of herself.

Insight
Depression and ADD often go hand-in-hand. Client explained that she had been abused as a child and attributed her current situation to that trauma. Client's "confusion" centered around her perception that she knew what she was doing (whether professional or personal) but didn't know how to get anything done.

Solution/Results
Medical Research Project

• Our first action was to listen, listen, and then listen some more.
• We helped create definition of the project and the steps required to completion.
• Using time blocking, we were able to help manage the project to completion.
• We used a process called "body doubling" to help her stay focused on the project at hand.
• We evaluated her Excel skills and trained her accordingly. Next we formatted her work and converted database (Filemaker Pro) and imported data into Excel (the format the company wanted).

Home/Home Office Organization

• We helped organize her laundry room, basement, and garage, including storage solutions and systems.
• She learned to assign herself particular days and/or blocks of time to accomplish specific household tasks - one morning for laundry, one evening for bill paying and one afternoon for shopping for food and preparing meals.
• She learned to work in blocks of time and quickly she noticed she was not feeling overwhelmed anymore.
• The client learned quickly and made lasting changes.

Client Comment
"If I had had you when I worked at ______, I would still have my job!"

"I've just gotten off the phone with someone asking me for a reference for Working Order. There are no words to describe the amazing transformation I've undergone…it is exciting to know that someone else is going to find the help they need, like I did."