My Philosophy

COACHING WHO YOU ARE

Not your to-do list

If you’re exhausted by your brain, your inner critic, you’re tired of waiting to be happy when you’ve finally “earned” it and you are ready for a fundamentally different approach to living with your ADHD brain, you’re in the right place.

Think of ADHD and you’ll think of “deficits” – what we lack:
focus, inner discipline, consistency. (That’s wrong, by the way).

Even when we think ‘I’m not broken’ and ‘What if my brain is just designed for a different kind of work?’ success still comes down to the idea that we must be DOING rather than than BEING to feel okay with ourselves.

plants calm adhd in homes
ADHD Coach Katherine in field of sunflowers because nature helps her ADHD brain feel calm.
change the system not you

The research all says one thing: that our executive functions are affected by ADHD and that means that we cannot – or should not – be shamed into working like everyone else does.

As a family ADHD coach, I know that coaching parents is more effective than coaching their children – but that assumes that the parents are NOT ADHD (and/or autistic) which is unlikely AND that the right thing to do is that we try and shape ourselves and our children into the ‘way things are done now’…

I don’t know about you but when the data AND my instincts start shouting, I have to pay attention.

I felt so conflicted that I almost stopped calling myself an ADHD coach.

ADHD Coach Katherine
Katherine Sanders // Founder

After working with countless intelligent, gifted, skilled ADHDers, I’ve come to understand something fundamentally important:

I don’t want to make you more productive inside a broken system – I want you to proudly, happily own or reclaim your humanity in a world that measures our worth by output.

The conflict is ADHD and modern life – but not how you think.

In my work, I’ve seen that intelligent, sensitive, capable ADHDers aren’t struggling with what most people think: You’re not lazy – You’re not unmotivated – You’re not undisciplined.

The deeper truth is that most people, whether they have ADHD or not, are putting off happiness until they reach some random, externally-acceptable level of productivity or achievement.

We’ve been taught to believe that joy, rest, and pursuing what we love are rewards that come after we’ve proven our worth through work.

For those of us with ADHD, this approach is particularly devastating. Our brains are wired to engage deeply with what interests us and struggle with tasks that don’t provide immediate meaning or stimulation.

When we try to force ourselves to “earn” happiness by first completing all our obligations, we create an impossible barrier to both joy and productivity.


The real challenges aren’t about productivity or trying harder:
Not feeling good enough 

Constantly trying to prove your worth through productivity

The inner judge 

Battling the beliefs that say you must ‘earn’ your right to happiness and rest

Buying into a system

Trying to thrive in environments that treat people as “units of production”

Delaying Joy

Waiting to be happy until you’ve checked all the boxes society tells you matter

My Compass: The Principles That Guide My Work

1. The Rat Race Is For Rats, Not Humans.
As Jimmy Reid said, “A rat race is for rats. We’re not rats. We’re human beings.” I refuse to help people become more efficient at a game that ignores or despises their humanity. True success isn’t about climbing faster: we need to choose a different path altogether.
2. Joy first, not last
Happiness isn’t something to be earned after you’ve checked all your boxes. For ADHDers especially, joy and engagement are pre-requisites for sustained action, not rewards for it. When we start with what brings us alive, our natural drive to accomplish emerges organically.
3. Frameworks, flexibly
Fixed systems break under the weight of ADHD curiosity and need for novelty. What works instead are flexible frameworks, or ‘modular approaches’ that can evolve with you rather than constrict you. These frameworks should serve your humanity, not the other way around.
4. Every Human Has Value
Your worth isn’t measured by your output or productivity. You have value because you exist – as a unique consciousness in the history of the world, and simultaneously as part of our shared human experience. Both of these truths matter.
5. Self-Trust Over Validation
The path forward isn’t about proving yourself to others or measuring up to external standards. It’s about rebuilding trust in your own judgment, recognising your internal signals, and learning to lead yourself from within.

My goal, as a coach and as a human being, is to fully BE as much as I can, and to reflect back to every person I meet, that they have value, that they are unique in the history of the world – and at the same time, let them know that they’re part of this clan, this group of so many other wonderful, unpredictable humans I’ve met before.
Both of these things are true and both are powerful.

Katherine xo

The Lightbulb ADHD Approach

I don’t offer productivity fixes or one-size-fits-all solutions. Instead, I provide a journey that honours your unique brain while creating a fundamentally different relationship with how you work and live:

Step 1: Clear Out the ‘Static’

We begin by identifying the invisible rules and mental clutter that keep you stuck in overthinking loops.

This means recognising the conditioned beliefs about productivity, worth, and how you “should” be that create constant background noise in your mind.

We’ll reduce decision friction, work on your immediate pain points, and create more space so you experience relief fast, without adding more to your plate.

Step 2: Build a Flexible Frame

Together, we develop a flexible, modular way of working that evolves with you instead of breaking down when boredom hits.

Unlike rigid systems that collapse when your needs change, this framework adapts to your natural rhythms and interests.

You’ll learn to adjust and iterate without self-judgment, making decisions with clear choices instead of overwhelm.

Step 3: Trust the Process

The final stage involves shifting from the need to be ‘fixing yourself’ to genuine self-leadership.

You’ll redefine success beyond productivity, recognise your internal signals, and develop self-trust that doesn’t require external accountability or pressure to function at your best.

This means understanding the emotional state – the inner judge/good girl conditioning that tells you joy must be earned, then having the strength to choose a different path forward.

What Makes my Approach Different

01. Question your systems

Instead of helping you adapt to an inhuman system, we question our beliefs, the system itself and build one that honours your humanity

02. Your happiness monitor

Instead of treating joy as a reward for productivity, we recognise that joy is the foundation from which sustainable action grows. Instead of postponing happiness, we start with what makes you come alive and build from there

03. Understand your ADHD

Instead of battling your ADHD traits, we work with them as a part of your brain that needs the right accommodation, setting and ‘frame’ (supports) to allow you to be your very happiest, most fulfilled self

ADHD Coach Katherine
this is for you if you:
  • Are tired of measuring their worth by their productivity
  • Have tried traditional approaches that left them feeling more broken, not less
  • Sense there’s a deeper issue than just finding the right planner or productivity app
  • Are ready to reclaim your human worth in a world that often reduces people to their output
  • Want to engage with their ADHD as a brain difference and a different way of being, not just a disorder to ‘manage’
Think we’d be a good fit?

Let’s Work Together

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