Let’s be honest here, sticking to any type of long-term plan when you have ADHD is hard. And investing is the ultimate long-term game. So, how do we, the easily distracted, executive dysfunction, be good at investing? Let me tell you how I do it and how I trick my ADHD brain into being going at investing. Take what will serve you, and leave what won’t.

I’m Trish & I was diagnosed with ADHD almost 10 years ago. Since then, like you all, I’ve navigated life and finances by using the best of what being neuro-spicy has to offer. I’ve also found a few ways to work around some of the challenges. I’m also a member of the Verve Money team.

Money Dates

On the first of every month, I do all of my financial admin in one go. It’s my ‘money date’ and I sit there for 30 minutes and put my hyper-focus to work. It’s literally sitting in my calendar and repeats every month. I don’t do detailed tracking because that’s overwhelming to me and I’m a big-picture person. This is how it goes: 

• I keep a spreadsheet to track my net wealth and big metrics: super balance, savings, investments and debt.
• I transfer out all of my bills, savings, and most importantly of all, my investments. These are typically the same every month so it’s quick work. 

And at the end of that 30 minutes, I reward myself. Because sometimes we have to give ourselves the damn gold stars. Trust me, they still hit just as well as when I was 12. And it makes this little session feel good, instead of like a chore.

If you’re prone to time blindness or accountability, setting a consistent time (like a deadline) and place to focus on your finances or investing is actually helpful.

Make it a Game

Do you feel like foreign currency is Monopoly money while you’re travelling? Investing can feel like that too. Intellectually I know that it’s real money and that I’ve purchased shares of different businesses. But, in all honesty, I’ve gamified it all in my mind and this is how I trick my ADHD brain into being good at investing and this helps in two ways. 

One, when the market goes down (and it does) it doesn’t feel personal and I don’t stress about short-term dips in performance.

Two, it makes investing FUN. And that is the key to sticking to investing consistently and for the long term. I want to win the game of financial freedom. Because of that, I’m strategic in how I invest and I get excited for the first of every month when I get to put a little more into my portfolios. 

How can you make investing fun? It doesn’t have to be a game, but think about what gets you motivated, and apply it to your investing strategy. It will help keep you motivated and engaged for the long run.

Justice

Justice is another way I trick my ADHD brain into being good at investing. Did you know that having an inflated sense of justice is an ADHD thing? I didn’t. But when I read about it, I was like ‘Hey, that’s me’. And when I thought about the power that money holds, it was an added motivator to not only understand investing, but how to use my investing dollars for good. 

For me, one of those justice areas is gender equality. Did you know that only 42% of direct shareholders are women? And a woman’s average portfolio worth is 45% less than a man’s? Add that to the gender pay gap (13.3%) & super gap (23%). Imagine if more women were able to invest more. Imagine a world where we build the financial power of women and together invest towards a better future for everyone. 

What’s your ‘justice’ point? And how can you use that to motivate you towards your financial goals or investing style? There are ways we can all invest towards our values, including investing ethically with Verve Money. Verve Money doesn’t invest in industries like fossil fuels, weapons of war or gambling. We also invest at least 20% of each portfolio in climate impact investments. 

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