Hi, I’m Shelly, your ADHD bestie and the person behind Shelly in Real Life, a cozy corner of the internet where adulting with ADHD doesn’t have to feel so chaotic.
I’m a product leader at YouTube (currently on maternity leave), new mama, longtime creator, recovering perfectionist, and someone who didn’t get my ADHD diagnosis until my 30s.
Like so many high-achieving women with undiagnosed ADHD, I spent decades living in this weird paradox: crushing it at work while my personal life felt like constant chaos. I could lead product launches at Google but struggled to maintain basic routines at home. I powered through everything by sheer force of will, but I was completely burnt out and constantly wondering why “simple” things felt impossibly hard.
๐ง Getting diagnosed changed everything. Suddenly, it wasn’t about trying harder or being more disciplined. It was about understanding how my brain actually works and building systems around that.
After more than a decade of blogging (from foodie deep dives to travel itineraries to creative hobby experiments), this space has evolved into what it’s meant to be: helping Type-A women with late ADHD diagnoses figure out how to actually function without the constant burnout.
๐๐ปโโ๏ธ My mission: Help you eat healthier, get organized, and build systems that work with your ADHD brain, not against it.ย
If you’re juggling a million things, starting projects you never finish, loving the idea of organization but struggling with follow-through, or exhausted from years of masking and trying to fit into neurotypical systemsโฆ you’re in the right place.
Here, you’ll find food for the ADHD Body, Mind and Soul:
- Body: Time-bound wellness challenges and healthy-ish eating that work for ADHD brains (no “forever” commitments, no toxic diet culture)
- Mind: ADHD-specific frameworks and the deeper mindset work using my State โ Story โ Strategy approach
- Soul: Organization systems that are both functional and aesthetically pleasing (comprehensive guides that help you make faster decisions and actually take action)
I’m not here to sell you a fantasy or pretend I have it all figured out. But I HAVE figured out what works for my ADHD, dyslexia, and aphantasia, and I’m sharing what’s actually helping.
Think of me as your online body double. Someone showing up consistently, sharing strategies that actually work for how our brains operate, not how everyone tells us they should.
My hot cheetos-and-champagne philosophy? ๐ฅ Spicy, but keep it classy. We’re here for balance and systems that work, not toxic productivity culture or perfectionism that makes you want to quit.
Whether you’re a long-time reader, here for my cleanse guides, or stumbled across one of my foodie recommendations, I’m really glad you’re here. โจ
โจ Start here:
- My Free 63-Page Cleanse Guide – Time-bound wellness that works for ADHD brains
- State, Story, Strategy: My Content Framework – My foundational philosophy for managing ADHD
- The Bathtub Model of Stress – a 3-step framework for recovering from burnout
- Follow along on Instagram @shellyinreallife – Follow along in real time, come say hi ๐๐ป
Thanks for being here. Let’s make adulting with ADHD a little easier (and a lot more fun). โค๏ธ
