A slightly different morning at home. Today, there will be no swim, because a parent-teacher meeting on Teams awaits. The missed swim instead gave way to a long, warm shower — not at all the same as walking down to the lake, but still lovely. Perhaps that’s what it’s all about — finding structure and balance in everyday life, even when the day doesn’t turn out as planned.
Morning Without the Lake – But Not Without Stillness
My coffee stands beside me as my thoughts wander between schoolwork and household tasks. Right now, a bit of anxiety lives in my body — piles of papers waiting to be read and reflected on. I know I need to find structure; however, I don’t want it to become like last time. Back then, I studied around the clock and felt anxious whenever I wasn’t studying.
This time, I want balance. I’ll ask AI to help me create a structure for my studies and everything else that needs doing. What did we actually do before AI? How did we manage to fit the puzzle pieces of life together?
Studies, Solitude and a New Kind of Companion in the Search for Structure and Balance in Everyday Life
After the meeting, I’ll return to my reading. The subject interests me, and when it does, words flow more easily. My ADHD helps here — when curiosity takes over, focus follows. But I miss classmates — someone to discuss and practice with. For now, AI has become my conversation partner. It works, but it’s not the same as having another person to share ideas with.
It’s quieter this way. Still, in the quiet, there’s also space to listen inward.
Yesterday, my little one wanted to rearrange his room. It happens fast when he does it — furniture moves, but not much else. When I rearrange, I want to clean behind, underneath, and around everything. The small clutter probably slept with him last night. He can sleep with anything — Lego pieces, chips, you name it. Everything except spiders and wasps.
It’s in those small moments that everyday life truly lives. That’s where warmth hides — right in the middle of all the stress.
Thoughts of Hugo and the Ache of Longing
Yesterday, I saw on Instagram that little Hugo, my grandson, was sick. It feels strange to only learn what happens in my grandchildren’s lives through social media. We live just a mile apart, yet contact travels through a screen. He’s grown so much now. I imagine his words are clear, that you can understand everything he says.
Those thoughts hurt, but I try to turn them around: it’s good that he gets to rest while he’s ill. My little one. I would have liked to bring ice cream and a comic — the kind of things you bring to someone who’s sick. But some wishes have to remain just that — wishes.
A New Day, a New Choice
Today is the first day of the rest of my life, and therefore a reminder that change starts now. A good day is something you create yourself, regardless of what happens. Because what truly matters is not what happens — but how we choose to respond to it.
AHA – Between the Lines of Structure and Balance in Everyday Life
Between the lines, this text is about daring to find balance when life tilts. It’s about living with ADHD and learning to manage what might otherwise take over. It’s also about longing — for closeness with my son and grandchildren, but also for the presence of a study partner to share ideas with. And about the ability to shift perspective, to find gratitude in the middle of absence. It’s a story of self-awareness, acceptance and small victories in everyday life.
Reflection – Finding Structure and Balance in Everyday Life
Maybe that’s how life teaches us: sometimes we have to give something up to rediscover ourselves. Today I choose to skip the swim but instead create stillness. It’s in those small choices — between the shower, the coffee, and the thoughts — that life truly happens.
What I’m Grateful for Today
This morning, I began by thanking life for letting me wake up to a new day, even without the swim. I’m grateful for the chance to breathe in this morning, for the warm water running from the tap, and for the joy of a long shower. Not everyone appreciates that simple pleasure — but I do. I’m also grateful that I dared to begin this education, even though it awakens both performance and anxiety. Even my anxiety gets a thank-you today — it reminds me that I’m human, alive, and still learning. And I’m grateful that Instagram exists — because without it, I wouldn’t even have seen a picture of little Hugo or known that he was sick. It hurts, but it also heals — because through the screen, I still get to see him, to know he’s there, in the middle of life.
Questions for You, Dear Reader
How do you find structure and balance in everyday life? When life feels heavy, what helps you return to calm? Can you relate to the wish to be enough — and the need to rest?
Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments. I read every one of them.
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Live today. Dare to feel life, and let life teach you. Yesterday rests behind us, having taught us what it could. Tomorrow is not yet a memory, nor something we know. Right now — this is where we can live and breathe. – Carina Ikonen Nilsson
There are days when the words don’t want to come. When the body speaks louder than the mind and the world feels still, almost silent. Today is one of those days. Sometimes it feels as if both the body and the words need rest – as if stillness itself wants to speak. Maybe I need to step back from the words for a while, let the body have its say and let the lake, the wind and the silence take their place.
Ideas are not plentiful today. It feels as if the words have run out. It might be because of the pain in my neck, or simply because I have nothing new to tell.
In earlier years, this would have frightened me. The thoughts would come: have my words run out? Do I need help to find them again? But now I simply feel that maybe I need to rest from the words. Because they usually show themselves to be there, just behind the noise. They haven’t yet found their way into this morning – maybe they’ll arrive another day. Sometimes the words just need to rest in the body, to be rocked into a quiet song.
By the Lake
Yesterday morning at the lake. The jetties lay still and the world held its breath. Here, both the words can rest and the body can speak.
I went down to the lake to bathe. Only one of us “bathing sisters” swam; the rest of us stood with our hands above the water, letting our bodies cool down. I was first into the water and first back out again.
The feeling in my body after a swim is always wonderful. For a short while the pain disappears and my whole body fights to regain its warmth. Energy rushes through me and my thoughts slow down.
Even though the swims are wonderful and give me strength, I don’t think I’ll swim today. I’m thinking that I probably need to go to the health centre and get my neck sorted out. It’s been almost a week and a half now and the pain isn’t going away. Maybe I can get something stronger than Alvedon or Ipren, because right now it feels as if I can’t stand it any longer. I thought it was just a bit of neck pain, but the pain keeps changing and gives strange sensations in my body.
Reflection
In the past I would have been afraid that my words had run out. Now I think that perhaps it’s just like the body – it needs recovery to have strength again. The words aren’t resting to disappear; they’re resting to come back with new force.
AHA
It struck me today that words and the body are alike in some ways. When I give them rest, when I allow space for silence, both the words and the body find their way back into their own flow.
Between the Lines – My Voice
Between the pain, the swims and the silence lives a longing for balance. To dare to pause, to dare to be without words for a while – that is perhaps also a kind of strength. Life goes on anyway, and one day both the body and the words will awaken again.
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Final Reflection
It’s as if the body and the words work together in their own way. When one needs rest, the other carries the stillness. I think maybe this is how life tells me to slow down a little, to let the morning be quiet without rushing anything forward.
Perhaps it’s not about finding my way back to the words, but about letting them find their way back to me – when the time is right.
I live today, right now. History teaches me to rest in body and soul. Tomorrow waits out there in the future – a day I cannot live today. But what I do now can grow into something tomorrow. Right now is always, because this is where life is lived. – Carina Ikonen Nilsson
ADHD in everyday life is not just a diagnosis – it is a lived experience. It holds strengths, chaos, emotions and intuition, all at once. Here I share my own experiences of living in the in-between – where it sometimes hurts, but where joy and presence also grow.
ADHD in everyday life can sometimes feel like a rollercoaster. One day there is endless energy and ideas flow freely, while the next day it feels heavy to even get started. That is why even the simplest everyday tasks can feel overwhelming.
I have learned that both sides are part of me. On the one hand there is strength in creative thinking and the ability to find new paths. On the other hand it also means struggles with structure and the feeling of not always being enough.
Feeling All the Feelings – All at Once
Feeling emotions all at once is a big part of my life. Emotions live in my body constantly, for better or worse. Sometimes they hurt deeply, while at other times they are wonderfully bright, when joy sparks from the smallest things.
When emotions take space, they often find a way out through creativity.
Sadness can be painful, but when the crying is over, my tears are truly dry. Anxiety, chaos, grief and insecurity mix with intuition – the ability to sense when someone is not telling the truth or means something completely different than they say. All of that lives in my ADHD – both the good and the hard.
Sometimes I curse it, but at the same time I am often grateful. Because when my emotions tell me something, they are usually true. My intuition lives in the moment, and therefore it often turns out to be right. There is something in the air – and I can feel it, long before it is visible.
When Things Don’t Go as Planned
What really throws me off is when things don’t go the way I had imagined. For example, if I go to the accountant I have had for many years and suddenly meet someone else, it can cause real chaos. That is exactly what happened this spring.
The Accountant Who Was Replaced
I had an appointment and sat calmly waiting for him to call my name. But when the time came, a woman came out instead and said my name. In that moment I was thrown back several years. It has taken me a very long time to let go of the anxiety around those visits. Through many years, and with the help of a very good accountant who understood both me and my anxiety, I had learned not to panic.
But this time, when it wasn’t him but his daughter, the anxiety came rushing back in full force – just like before. I cried out loud: “No, what is this, I usually have Christer!” My accountant quickly came out and calmed me down. He explained that he had already told his daughter how my visits usually go and that I find them difficult. She was well prepared – but for me, it didn’t matter. In that moment I was entirely in my ADHD – time and space disappeared, and the reaction came before I could even think.
When Work Changes the Plan
The same thing happened at work. If I had thought that I would be in the unit and the manager suddenly said: “No, you have to be in the meeting,” it hurt in my whole body. Change became so much harder than it might have looked from the outside. All the emotions were triggered and drained so much energy.
(Today I no longer work there, but when I did, this was a big part of my everyday life.)
Small Tools That Make a Difference
Over the years I have found small tricks that actually help. First of all, I make lists – but they are always short and simple. Secondly, I stick to routines, because the same morning ritual every day reduces stress. In addition, I try to create pauses, small gaps between activities. Finally, I use reminders on my phone, instead of carrying everything in my head.
Google Calendar and a cup of coffee – small tools that bring structure to everyday life.
In the past I wrote lists of everything, down to the smallest detail. But I have grown older and learned that I can manage quite well with simpler supports. Today I know that the important tasks must be done first – even if they feel like the most boring in the world. The fun things can wait until afterwards. Except… I’m not really telling the truth here. Blogging always comes first.
Because here on the blog everything is fun – even if SEO, keywords and optimization sometimes feel complicated. But that’s when I have my SEO-expert, the AI, with me. He (or maybe she, or just a machine?) helps me along the way. And even if I have to steer and correct now and then, it is still a great help with those things – for me they are just “back cover text.” The AI has read the book and the back cover, and that is where it comes in handy.
FAQ – Common Questions About ADHD in Everyday Life
What does ADHD in everyday life feel like? For me it is a mix of creativity, impulsivity, joy and frustration. One moment full speed, the next a sudden stop.
What are the strengths of ADHD? Creative thinking, spontaneity, persistence in what truly engages, and a strong emotional presence.
How can you create balance? Small routines, structure and understanding from others make a big difference. Accepting both the strengths and the struggles is essential.
Closing Words
ADHD in everyday life is not something I want to get rid of. It is part of me – both the wild and the still, the strong and the vulnerable. By accepting the whole spectrum I can also find ways to balance it.
Strength in Meeting Young People
It has also given me many advantages in my professional role. When I met young people with similar struggles, I truly understood what was happening on the inside.
I remember once, a long time ago, when I was new at a workplace. Some colleagues discussed a girl and said: “We have told her over and over, but she still does it.”
I joined the conversation and asked: “What do you think that is about?”
They answered that they didn’t know – that she was ignoring them.
I said: “She actually doesn’t understand what you mean, and she doesn’t know what else to do instead.”
The colleagues replied: “But we have told her not to do it.”
I repeated: “Yes, you’ve told her what not to do, but she doesn’t understand why – and she doesn’t know what she should do when her body tells her to move.”
That conversation didn’t change anything at the time. I was new, and my words probably didn’t carry much weight. But to me it was clear. It is in those exact situations that my ADHD becomes a strength – because I can see, feel and understand in a way that isn’t always visible from the outside.
When Words Find Their Own Way
And honestly, today I was supposed to write about something completely different – about being a grandmother. But these words found their way instead. They wanted to be written, and sometimes that’s how it is – the moment itself decides what needs space.
Maybe you recognize yourself? Or maybe you live close to someone with ADHD? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments – it makes a difference when we share our stories.
Reflection
Between the lines of this text live both strength and fragility. I am not writing about perfect solutions, but about everyday reality – where failures and successes walk side by side.
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