How I created “Vision Bored” - A unique ADHD coaching event in Brighton
Supporting ADHDers visualise their future.
I moved to Brighton in 2022, as like many other ‘down from Londoners’, I found myself yearning for the sea air during the Covid pandemic. So I made the leap and moved to my soul-city, Brighton where I received my formal diagnosis of ADHD after years of being dismissed as ‘too normal’.
Despite the challenges I’d faced as a late diagnosed ADHDer, the thing I’ve always relied on is my love of awe and discovering novel, interesting things. That’s how I stumbled across Puzzle Bored - a café in Brighton designed for the neurodivergent community. It felt like a safe haven: somewhere I could sit alone, complete a puzzle, sip a coffee, and just exist.
The call to coach
After many years in the corporate world, I started to daydream about becoming an ADHD coach - I wanted to help others avoid the years of needless suffering I’d gone through. To have words to describe experiences and to ultimately, feel seen, heard, and understood.
It was at this time that I threw myself into my own personal healing. I tried everything! Trauma-informed life-coaching with an amazing coach Angela, humanist therapy, reflection, journaling, nature therapy with a local group called Brighton Outdoors, and ultimately, unmasking. Slowly, I began to quieten my loud inner critic and become someone I actually enjoyed being around again.
This spring, I went to an event hosted by Leanne Maskell, founder of ADHD Works, called AuADHD by the Sea. It felt amazing to feel like part of a community and so I decided that day that I would definitely join her next coaching cohort.
A lightbulb moment over a puzzle
On one sunny Sunday before my course started, I popped into Puzzle Bored. I was frantically trying to complete a complex fungi puzzle before closing time.
As it was such a nice day, Mark, the owner, kindly let me finish so I got that little dopamine hit by completing the puzzle, which lead me to think about the cafe’s name. Puzzle Bored is a word play on ‘board’ which I thought was genius! Maybe I could run a vision board workshop here for ADHDers… ‘Vision BORED?
I casually mentioned the idea to Mark - I was about to begin a coaching course and was thinking of creating a vision board workshop designed for ADHDers. He was open to it in principle, so I started working on the concept. I’d organised plenty of corporate events in the past, but never something this personal.
I returned with some poster designs, and after a few rounds of feedback, we landed on one that felt right.
Science not fluff - why vision boards work for ADHDers
Neurodivergence comes with so many gifts, but we can often struggle with visualising the future, and can additionally experience what’s called aphantasia - a difficulty in imagining the future. In addition, executive dysfunction, time blindness, and object permanence all make long-term planning feel abstract or even impossible. But vision boards help externalise what’s inside us by creating clarity, focus, and connection.
I was conscious to make sure the message was not just ‘fluffy arts and crafts’, but to pull in what I had learnt about the brain and coaching techniques.
Having dipped my toes into the world of neuroscience during my previous corporate role at Wellbeing with Cari, I became aware of Dr. Tara Swart, a neuroscientist and author of The Source. I found it fascinating to learn how our brains actually work and how much we can influence our mindset through small, consistent actions.
Dr. Swart describes vision boards as “action boards.” The process of selecting, cutting, arranging, and sticking images down helps encode your goals into your subconscious. When your brain sees those images regularly, it starts to treat them as familiar and attainable. That’s why I believed a practice like this could be particularly powerful for ADHDers.
The first ‘Vision Bored’
The event took place, we had a full house! The ‘vision-bored-ers’ sourced images, cut and committed to their dreams by sticking as I told them ‘Sticking is committing!’ Everyone left with a board and seemed to enjoy themselves! The event reminded me why I wanted to do this in the first place - to help others tap into their potential.
Vision Bored is now running monthly at Puzzle Bored - the last Thursday of each month. I’m also exploring themed versions, or maybe even an online offering!
Final thoughts
I’m just starting out on this new path, but I know I’m not alone.
If any part of this story resonated, drop me a comment, share with a friend, or come say hi on Instagram @bloom_and.spark.
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