Morning Systems That Actually Work (for ADHD + Perimenopause)

Unapologetically Imperfect – Season 2, Episode 10

If every “perfect morning routine” you’ve ever seen feels like it was built for someone else’s brain (and personal assistant), you’re not imagining it.

In this episode, we break down what actually works when you’re navigating ADHD, perimenopause, and the kind of life where your nervous system is already on edge before coffee.

We cover:

• Why traditional morning advice fails ADHD and perimenopause brains
• How executive dysfunction, cortisol misfires, and time blindness sabotage your start
• What Core Anchors, Transition Rituals, and MVP Menus actually do (and how to use them)
• How to build a flexible, body-based system that works—even on chaotic days

No rigid schedules. No shame spirals. Just structure that flexes.

This is the final episode of our 5-week Summer Bridge Season before we kick off our full Fall arc—focused on Focus & Flow.

• 🧠 Attentional Control Theory & Cognitive Load
• 🧬 Dopamine, Cortisol, and Circadian Rhythm changes in perimenopause
• 🎯 Core Anchors (baseline stabilizers)
• 🔁 Transition Rituals (mode shifters)
• 🧰 MVP Menus (backup plans for hard days)
• 🎶 Playlist timing & Implementation Intention Theory

• Create a simple morning “playlist” with 2–3 anchor actions
• Pre-decide one thing the night before
• Pick one MVP task based on your energy level—and call it a win

🌅 Want to Rebuild Your Mornings Too?

Morning Reclaim is open now.

This is Jen’s ADHD-and perimenopause-friendly morning reset for smart, high-functioning women who need systems that work on real days—not just perfect ones.

💻 Live sessions. No fluff. No shame. Just structure, rhythm, and tools that meet you where you are.

🧠 Great if your mornings feel like sabotage—or if you need a reset that sticks.

Rolling enrollment now. Join here

🔗 Links + Resources:

• Join the Balance Life Lab – low-cost, low-pressure community for women with ADHD, perimenopause, and real-life chaos
• Morning Reclaim – build a flexible morning rhythm that works
• Follow Jen on Facebook for more executive function + hormone-fueled truth bombs

Follow the show, text this episode to a friend, or post it where your people hang out. Because we all need backup.

Keep being unapologetically imperfect. You’ve got this.

If you’ve ever walked out of a doctor’s office wondering if you were gaslit—or just going crazy—you’re not alone. The truth? You’re not broken. You’re in a system that still ignores the very real realities of perimenopause.

This episode is a smart, strategic, and unfiltered deep dive into what to do when your doctor doesn’t listen—and how to stop doubting what you know in your bones is real.

We talk about:

• Why “your labs are normal” is not the full story
• How perimenopause symptoms are dismissed as anxiety, aging, or attitude
• The lab work that actually matters (hint: it’s not just hormone panels)
• What to say, how to say it, and how to protect yourself in the exam room
• Why HRT safety depends on proper clot risk screening—and what to ask for
• How to rebuild self-trust when you’ve been dismissed too many times

This one’s packed with tools, stories, and a full breakdown of the labs to request (including when they matter and when they don’t). Whether you’re considering HRT, feeling ignored, or just want to feel seen, start here.

• Why most doctors get less than 4 hours of menopause training
• When hormone panels help—and when they’re useless
• The difference between oral and transdermal estrogen (and why it matters for clot risk)
• How to speak your doctor’s language using CBT-based communication tools
• What “learned helplessness” looks like in women’s healthcare—and how to break the cycle
• How to track symptoms + labs to build a clearer health picture
• When to say “enough” and fire your provider

🩺 Mentioned Labs & Screening Tools:

We cover these in the episode—ask your provider when considering HRT or if you're getting dismissed:

• ✅ Full Thyroid Panel (TSH, Free T4, Free T3)
• ✅ Vitamin D, B12, Iron/Ferritin
• ✅ Cortisol (AM, especially with fatigue)
• ✅ Hormone Panel (Estradiol, Progesterone, Testosterone, FSH, SHBG)
• ✅ Bone Density Scan (if 40+)
• ✅ Clotting Risk Labs (if family/personal risk or considering oral estrogen): PT/INR, aPTT, Factor V Leiden, Prothrombin G20210A, Protein C & S, Antithrombin III, Homocysteine, Antiphospholipid Antibodies

• Feel dismissed, overwhelmed, or brushed off
• Are considering HRT and want to know what’s safe for your body
• Have symptoms but keep hearing “everything looks normal”
• Want language and strategy to self-advocate without shutting down
• Need the reminder that you’re not too much, too loud, or too dramatic

📲 Subscribe, follow, and share this episode with the friend who keeps wondering, “Is it just me?”

👀 Bonus: Want a symptom tracker or lab request script? DM me LABS and I’ll send it your way.

🌅 Want to Rebuild Your Mornings Too?

Morning Reclaim is open now.

This is Jen’s ADHD-and perimenopause-friendly morning reset for smart, high-functioning women who need systems that work on real days—not just perfect ones.

💻 Live sessions. No fluff. No shame. Just structure, rhythm, and tools that meet you where you are.

🧠 Great if your mornings feel like sabotage—or if you need a reset that sticks.

Rolling enrollment now. Join...

S2, Ep 8 – Functioning-ish: Out of Sight, Out of Mind

Object permanence isn’t just for babies. In ADHD brains, it messes with your memory, your relationships, and your ability to act on what you care about.

You bought the birthday card. You meant to text back. You love them. And still—it doesn’t happen.

In this episode, Jen dives deep into the ADHD phenomenon of object permanence—why people, tasks, and even your most important relationships fall off your mental radar the second they’re not in front of you. This isn’t flakiness. It’s executive dysfunction.

This episode gives you language, tools, and strategies to name what’s happening and start building real bridges back to the people you love—even when your brain drops the thread.

• What object permanence actually means in an ADHD brain
• Why your brain forgets people, messages, and plans—without meaning to
• How executive dysfunction, emotional queuing, and working memory all collide
• The guilt spiral: how forgetting leads to shame, which leads to shutdown
• Real stories (like Jen’s lost friendship with “Bill”) that show what this looks like in life
• How to repair when you’ve disappeared—and how to explain it without shame

• Relational Reminders – recurring name-based nudges tied to routines
• Visible Love Lists – post-its, pics, or digital cues to reconnect intentionally
• Message Hacks – low-pressure ways to stay connected when your brain is maxed
• Object Anchors – physical prompts that bridge thought to action
• Emotional Cueing – how to pair emotion + reminders so your brain notices
• Scripts to Explain It – how to share the real story behind the silence

This isn’t just about memory. It’s about preserving connection in a brain that doesn’t naturally do it. If your friendships live in your heart but not your text thread, if you carry guilt about the people you love but haven’t reached out to—this episode will help you name it, normalize it, and start rebuilding with systems that support how your brain actually works.

Morning Reclaim is open now.

This is Jen’s ADHD-and perimenopause-friendly morning reset for smart, high-functioning women who need systems that work on real days—not just perfect ones.

💻 Live sessions. No fluff. No shame. Just structure, rhythm, and tools that meet you where you are.

🧠 Great if your mornings feel like sabotage—or if you need a reset that sticks.

Rolling enrollment now. Join here

• Join the Balance Life Lab – low-cost, low-pressure community for women with ADHD, perimenopause, and real-life chaos
• Morning Reclaim – build a flexible morning rhythm that works
• Follow Jen on Facebook for more executive function + hormone-fueled truth bombs

This episode is for the friend who disappears for weeks and comes back with love and guilt in equal...