Zac Erickson

I often feel like there are not enough hours in the day. Can you relate? Then I here’s some good news: you’re most likely sleeping away some of the most valuable time of your entire day.

Being a graduate student and a father of two kids (a 3-year-old son and a 1-year-old daughter) is really hard. Having ADHD really doesn’t help either. Finding time to do homework assignments, marking, research, writing, and attending meetings is a constant uphill battle.

Many of the most productive people I follow online all have one characteristic that I wish I had: they are morning people. I have been impressed by their ability to utilize the hours of the day when most of us are completely unconscious. For parents, the morning is even more precious because kids are asleep.

Last week, I made a commitment to myself that I would work toward becoming a morning person. I spent almost an hour doing some brainstorming and researching, and came up with a strategy on how to become a morning person.

This is a huge PSA to any and all people with an Internet account of any kind. I don’t know all the details of how this works, but essentially there has been a pretty significant bug revealed that may have exposed passwords and credit card numbers over a wide range of websites, including Facebook, Google, Twitter, and more. My advice: change as many passwords as you can think of ASAP.

Mashable has pretty good coverage of the issue, including a list of websites you should know about that are affected. Also, spread the word and let as many people as you can know about this. Were all affected.

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Dear Matt Walsh,

I have seen posts from themattwalshblog.com shared by some friends on Facebook. These people are strong valued, conservative Christians who love to read and share thoughts that are in line with their own values. I have read many of the posts myself, and you seem to be a very thoughtful person with some genuinely helpful and intelligent things to say. So here’s the deal:

Your blog is toxic.

Well, Captain America: The Winter Soldier is here and its a torrent of action. You should absolutely see it. I have been a fan of Marvel Comics ever since middle school. Back then, it was all about the Spider-Man and X-Men cartoons, and the Avengers were “the other guys” that kids didn’t really know about.

Today, however, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (or MCU as you might have seen around the web) may very well be the modern day equivalent of Greek mythology. Now that Captain America 2 is here, the question on your mind is, of course, “What’s Next?!” I think I have a few ideas, so let’s take a look at everything we know so far.

Needless to say, this post comes with a HUGE SPOILER WARNING for everything currently released in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Having said that, let’s dive in…

General Conference is here yet again! I don’t get as many chances as I would like to ponder and reflect on my life. I always look forward to the first weekends of April and October, and this weekend is no different. If you’re like me, however, it can be difficult to get the most out of General Conference. I would like to offer 5 ways to get the most out of conference. (Note: for those who don’t know how to tune in to General Conference — for free– go here for more information)

Winning the 2013 Shire ADHD Scholarship was a big deal for me in a lot of ways. One of the most unexpected things for me was the opportunity to do some press interviews. Speaking with reporters can be intimidating if you’ve never done it before. I’ve compiled a list of tips that will help you present yourself in the best way that you can.

Last week I was featured on the local news about the Shire ADHD Scholarship. Check it out! I was also featured on their website. I’ve been interviewed almost half a dozen times in the last couple of weeks, and its been kind of a whirlwind. I’m going to post something in the next few days about some of the lessons I’ve learned in the process. In the mean time, enjoy the video!

This post is part of an ongoing series on issues relevant to individuals with ADHD. While it may be specifically directed ADHD issues, the topics discussed are applicable to everyone, including students, parents, writers, business people, and YOU!

A large part of my Neuroscience Masters thesis is based upon behavioural tests with rats. It might sound exciting, but in reality it represents watching rats doing the same task over and over again for days on end. It is, quite possibly, the most boring thing that I’ve ever had to do in my life. For someone with ADHD, that is an enormous roadblock on the path towards success. Someone without ADHD would probably be able to get through those clips in about a week of hard scoring (the term we use for collecting data from video footage), but it takes me much longer because I have a hard time sitting for a long period of time doing them. In fact, one of the worst parts of having ADHD is the procrastination. Doing important (even essential) things that you don’t want to do sucks.

There is a certain blogger that I see popping up online that drives me crazy. I’m not going to tell you who it is, because I really don’t think the world is a better place with him getting extra traffic. He usually chooses a hot topic, draws a moral line in the sand, and then berates and insults those who would disagree with his view. People I know on Facebook are constantly sharing links to his blog posts, and it drives me mental. Surely, they don’t actually share this guy’s attitudes, do they? Let’s just keep it simple, folks. Let’s all remind ourselves of Thumper’s Rule:

“When Plan A falls through, you really need to embrace Plan B and love life anyways.” – Me. Just now. Genius.

That’s the lesson I’m learning right now. Over the past couple of weeks, I found out that three of the four counselling psychology graduate programs I applied for did not accept my application for admission. The fourth program has placed me on a waiting list, but 6 of the 12 people who will receive admission before I do need to bow out in order for me to be accepted. TL;DR:  my Plan A for this fall has fallen through. Now that I have a bit of time between me and the disappointment of rejection , I’m seeing all of this as a pretty exciting opportunity. I have always felt like I needed to be developing a following online, establishing some authority in a given field, and looking for the kind of people I want to interact and do business with online. I’m still in the very early stages of figuring out where I really need to carve out my niche, but in the mean time I have a couple great people I have been following that I think people like me will appreciate.