Rhythms of Focus

• Overwhelm of the Infinite

  Feeling swallowed by the waves of overwhelm? In this episode of “Rhythms of Focus,” Kourosh Dini invites listeners on a gentle voyage through the tumultuous sea of starting something new—whether it’s a project, a piece of music, or simply the next small step on the creative path. Rather than pushing for rigid productivity, Kourosh explores the art of recognizing emotions, honoring the body’s signals, and allowing overwhelm itself to become a kind of map, guiding the way toward mindful agency.Listeners will discover:- Why overwhelm arises and how to meet it with self-compassion, especially with a wandering mind or ADHD- How agency isn’t about forcing focus, but about learning to navigate uncertainty and rekindling a sense of play within chaos- Practical micro-strategies to move forward when the tides feel too strongKey takeaways:- Identify the emotional waves beneath overwhelm to turn anxiety into insight- Use imperfect notes and tasks as trail markers, not obligations- Find rhythm and enjoyment by honoring the present moment, rather than chasing an imagined “better way”This episode features an original piano composition in C Minor, echoing the episode’s themes with swirling, heartfelt music. Subscribe and keep steering your own boat at rhythmsoffocus.com—where agency, mindfulness, and the creative spirit set the tempo.#ADHD #WanderingMinds #MindfulProductivity #Overwhelm #FocusStrategies #SelfCompassion #CreativeAgency #EmotionalWaves #Agency #KouroshDini

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• The Daily Invite

  Agency and trust are vital guiding currents in the sea of wandering minds. Instead of rigid productivity hacks, listeners are invited to chart their own course, embracing mindful practices that nurture self-compassion and creativity.This episode explores:- The hidden dynamics between past, present, and future selves, revealing how trust fuels sustainable change.- Why shame-driven productivity sabotages agency, and how acknowledging "I don’t want to" can heal the cycle of procrastination.- How the simple daily practice of a "visit" transforms tasks into invitations for growth, gently guiding momentum.### Key Takeaways- Replace the pressure of deadlines with the gentle rhythm of a daily invite—paying a mindful visit, then letting go.- Build trust with your future self through repeated, compassionate invitations instead of self-criticism.- Use habit trackers or one-thing lists to support playful mastery and meaningful engagement, one day at a time.This episode features an original piano composition, echoing the theme of growth through rhythm and honoring the wandering nature of the mind. Subscribe and set sail with us at rhythmsoffocus.com—agency and creative potential await.Keywords#ADHD #WanderingMinds #MindfulProductivity #Agency #Creativity #SelfCompassion #FocusStrategies #HabitBuilding #GentleRhythm #NeurodiversityTranscript The Pressure to Not Break a StreakBeating down the door, maybe haunting our dreams, or at least somewhere in memes there's a mascot of a particular language app.This app, which shall remain nameless, is one I actually rather enjoy, but if I miss a day, I'll lose my streak and there's something of a burden to doing that. I imagine many of us have this sort of similar process of not wanting to break the chain. Is there an alternative?  Chasing PrideWe do a thing every day and the number advances showing that I've added a new number to my streak. Haha, the number's growing. I grow proud.There are, however, at least two occasions where I lost that number. Each time, it was somewhere in the hundreds, and I found much opportunity to practice my glowering in those days.The popular method for creating this habit, if you will, is called "Don't Break the Chain." In essence, it's about doing a thing every day and then adding a tally to it every time. And as the number increases, you grow prouder of yourself and somewhere along the way build a habit. Many apps and admonitions for developing habit encourage this path.Running from Failure and ShameHowever, this method is also one that subtly uses the fear of defeat and consequently shame as motivators. If you happen to miss a day, the counter returns to zero. The worry of impending failure is always there. While we haven't failed yet, the voice that is inevitable is always behind us. Since all things must pass somewhere down the line, the chain will break.What is a Measure?Further, while we may grow proud of that number, there's something to consider in that comment by Goodhart, "when a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure." If I only go for that number, I can feel the stagnation in my learning.But if I take the time to be and experience the words, the sentences, play with them until they feel like they're second nature.Well, now I'm learning, but I also risk not meeting the requirements for that day's tick. In other words, the required milestone of work can stand against my learning.The Thing ItselfSo what's important is the thing itself, whatever it is, we're engaging the task, the hobby, the study, the measure that matters is our experience.I describe a practice of a daily invite, in episode 24. In short, it means to one, decide to be with something, two, be and then three. Do that dailyThe steps can seem...

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• ADHD and the Nature of Time

  Wandering Minds often blame themselves when struggling with time. Instead of painting "time blindness" as a personal flaw, what if our struggles are a natural response to a world obsessed with rigidly measured seconds—rather than meaningful rhythms?There is more to time than simply the clock. We have our own internal time. Rather than force our own natural time into something it is not, how could we instead find a synchronized, harmonic approach, where have our own while still meeting the world where it is?Listeners will learn:Why the traditional clock can feel like a hostile force—and how to find harmony within its structureHow connecting with nature’s own cycles can restore a sense of attunement and easeThe Lighthouse Technique: a practical method for making transitions and cultivating agency, using moments of decision instead of alarms that startle and shameTakeawaysReframe time struggles as differences in rhythm, not deficitsUse “lighthouse” reminders to gently guide transitions, supporting agency and minimizing stressAnchor productivity in meaningful decisions, not force or alarms—tuning in to the natural waves of focusThis episode features an original piano composition, "Aging" in C minor, which musically explores the unfolding of time and its emotional textures. Subscribe and sail with us at rhythmsoffocus.com to nurture your agency and find your rhythm amidst the waves.Keywords#ADHD #WanderingMinds #Agency #MindfulProductivity #TimeBlindness #LighthouseTechnique #CreativeFocus #Neurodivergent #RhythmsOfFocus #PersonalGrowthTranscript"Time Blindness" as SymptomI got a thing today at 3pm. I can't do anything until then.Wandering minds such as those with ADHD, often struggle with the clock. So many of our troubles seem to deal with time. Hyper-focused due dates, procrastination, scheduling, dealing with a schedule when life hits and things go awry. Hyper-focused time sink, if not wormhole, fearing that time sink, but then it turns out to be something small.All of these have something to do with time.It'd be easy to point at these difficulties and then call them "symptoms," the word synonymous with "something wrong with you." But what if it's not about being wrong so much as it is about being out of sync with this increasingly artificial structure of time that surrounds us.What even is a "second"?  Let's consider a central unit of a clock for a moment. This idea of time being so important to our lives. The second.The second was first considered as this thing, this entity by a Persian scholar, Al Biruni, around the year 1000, as some fraction of the lunar cycle. It's since been defined and refined to further experientially distant concepts, things further away from us.Somehow in our scientific pursuits, we finally landed on something in 1967. The second was defined as the duration of 9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the Cesium-133 atom. And somehow this fundamental unit of time is how we're supposed to relate to each other.Time is a Matter of NatureWandering minds often do better when in nature. The woods, the beach, the sun, the intense, the calm, all seem to work better within our rhythms there. Nature seems to ease concerns, scatter feelings of being inept, all being replaced with this attunement to the now. This depth of reality, relaxation into being.What's strangely not obvious is that time itself is a matter of nature. It's experienced. Without consciousness, there is no time. Without time, there's no consciousness.Clocks are Human ConstructionsOur culture has adapted, churned, and twisted time to suit itself, much like the rest of nature. We look at...

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• A Major To Do List Mistake

  Discover the secret rhythms that guide a wandering mind—especially when the “energy goes poof.” In this episode of Rhythms of Focus, Kourosh Dini dives into the emotional undercurrents that make lists and to-dos feel overwhelming, unraveling the real reasons our energy fizzles out and motivation slips away. Rather than rigid productivity, explore why tuning in to the present moment—like adjusting the strings of a well-loved instrument—fosters lasting agency and self-compassion for adults with ADHD and wandering minds.Listeners will uncover:The hidden emotional loops that sabotage progress with to-do lists, and how to break them.A practical, mindful approach for tuning choices in real time, empowering daily momentum.Key TakeawaysRevitalize your to-do list by updating it as a living tool, not a harsh judge.Reframe frustration as the start of a conversation with your past, present, and future selves.Treat decisions as “sharpening the ax”—practice tuning your actions to the moment rather than pursuing perfection.This episode features an original piano composition, “Winnie,” capturing the spark of creative beginnings.Subscribe to Rhythms of Focus and visit rhythmsoffocus.com to continue your journey toward agency, mindfulness, and a rhythm that’s truly your own.Keywords#ADHD #WanderingMinds #MindfulProductivity #Agency #DecisionMaking #ToDoLists #DailyRhythms #SelfCompassion #FocusStrategies #PianoOriginalTranscript The Energy Goes PoofUp in the morning, ready and raring to go. I don't know what I'll do yet, but I've got the energy.I know what I'll do. I'll take a look at my list and just start taking things on. Ah, wait. Here we go. Alright. Yeah. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. I already did that. I, I forgot about that. Oh my goodness. The deadline for that one's. Oh my goodness. It this long pass. This is coming right up. What does this even mean?I am horrible at this.Lemme just go lie down for a second and maybe I'll watch something. It'll come to me. I know. I, I, I'll do something.The energy we once had has now gone poof. What just happened?Approaching a ListOne of the biggest mistakes in managing our lists, our tasks, is about how we approach them.There are many task managers out there. I use one myself, OmniFocus, which I've written a book on, it's pretty darn good if I do say so myself. There's things, there's to doist many, many other possibilities including pen and paper, which I also use. All of these promise in some way or another to help you get things done.And you'd think that this promise is that it's linked to somehow it'll tell you what to do. Just tell me what to do already. You want to look at this thing and just have a way to move forward. Why wouldn't we want that?Decisions are heavy. Have a listen to episode 18 if you're interested in hearing about quite how heavy they can be.But of course, we look at that task manager and it never seems to happen. Instead, even when we've poured our heart and soul into some list, hoping, dreaming that we'll be able to focus where we want to or need to, while everything else patiently waits for us to appear at just the right time. Somehow it doesn't work.We meticulously work on it. We delve into some hyper-focus attention tunnel to make that perfect system itself, this meta productivity of sorts. And once we step away though, there it is falling apart. No matter how well we've curated a list, when we get back to it, there are things on there that are still not done seemingly mocking us. There are things that need to be in a completely different order, uh, things that shouldn't be there until something else happens. The wording of...

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• Dr. Fuschia Sirois and the Vital Importance of Emotion in Procrastination

  Exploring Procrastination, Self-Compassion, and Emotional Management with Dr. Fuschia SiroisIn this episode, we delve into the roots of procrastination with Dr. Fuschia Sirois, a professor of social and health psychology at Durham University, who has over 25 years of research experience in procrastination and its relationship to emotions. The discussion covers how self-compassion can play a critical role in managing procrastination, the impact of societal norms on our productivity, and the importance of addressing emotional responses to improve motivation and reduce procrastination. Dr. Sirois introduces her TEMPO toolkit, designed to help individuals manage procrastination by addressing the emotional causes behind it, providing practical strategies and exercises for better emotional regulation. This episode offers valuable insights for anyone looking to understand and overcome procrastination through a compassionate and emotionally intelligent approach.00:00 Introduction: The Mystery of Avoidance01:45 Special Guest Introduction: Dr. Fuschia Sirois02:02 The Procrastination Conference Connection02:36 Understanding Self-Compassion03:51 The Role of Responsibility in Self-Compassion08:46 Cultural Norms and Self-Criticism16:46 Global Perspectives on Self-Compassion27:25 Procrastination and Social Norms Research28:39 Generational Differences in Procrastination29:14 Self-Perception and Social Norms30:07 Financial Procrastination and Its Impact32:26 Introducing TEMPO: A New Tool for Managing Procrastination33:35 Understanding and Addressing Emotional Roots of Procrastination39:59 The Role of Perfectionism and Creativity49:39 Planning, Risk, and Self-Compassion52:02 Defensive Pessimism and Contingency Planning54:41 Conclusion and ResourcesTagsProcrastination, Self-Compassion, Emotional Intelligence, Productivity, Mental Health, Overcoming Perfectionism, Personal Development, Behavioral Psychology, Mindfulness, TEMPO Toolkithttps://fuschiasirois.com/https://durhamuniversity.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eJzXFb6SBwNPI46https://www.youtube.com/@fuschiasirois601  Introduction: The Mystery of Avoidance What is it that makes us avoid the thing to do? Is it the fault of social media? Are we inherently lazy? Is there just something wrong with me? Well, what if I were nice to myself? Would that do something, and how could I even do that in some way that I felt genuine? Would that do anything?  Special Guest Introduction: Dr. Fuschia SiroisDear listeners, I've got another special treat for you today. We're joined today by my special guest, Dr. Fuschia Sirois. Fuchsia's, a professor in social and health psychology at Durham University, with over 25 years of research in procrastination and its relationship to emotions.We'd connected actually at the procrastination conference in Utrecht, Netherlands, in the summer of 2025.A lovely city, by the way. Understanding Self-CompassionAt the end of one of the lectures, sitting in the audience, she had made this comment about self-compassion, and that self-compassion shows up in recognizing responsibility, taking it on, and maybe the pain that can come with that. That's where self-compassion really starts to shine. I thought, I get it. This makes sense.So later on that day, I approached her, had a conversation with her, and she really had this way of, um. Recognizing the importance of emotion, not just in procrastination, which is her field of research, but really in who

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