ADHD Parenting & Mental Load: How to Create Less Chaos Without Burning Out (with Amy Briggs of Aviva)

If you’re an ADHD parent who feels constantly overwhelmed — even on days when “nothing big” happens — this episode is for you.

In this New Year, Less Chaos conversation, Danielle sits down with Amy Briggs, a speech-language pathologist turned tech founder, to talk about the invisible weight parents carry every single day: the mental load.

Amy shares what she saw firsthand while working with families — parents drowning in schedules, emails, school portals, and unspoken responsibilities — and why traditional organization advice fails neurodivergent families. That insight led her to create Aviva, an app designed to reduce cognitive overload instead of adding another thing to manage.

In this episode, we talk about:

• What mental load actually is — and why ADHD parents feel it more intensely
• Why “just get organized” doesn’t work for neurodivergent brains
• How parental overwhelm impacts kids’ emotional regulation and development
• What real support systems look like (hint: not more planners)
• How to create less chaos without chasing perfection or burning out

This episode isn’t about becoming a better parent.
 It’s about building systems that hold you when your brain is already maxed out.

🎧 Perfect for ADHD moms, neurodivergent parents, and anyone craving less chaos and more capacity this year.

Connect with Aviva 👉 Aviva App

This Month's Sponsors:

📱 Talkspace 

Therapy that fits real life. With Talkspace, you can message or chat with a licensed therapist right from your phone, no face-to-face required. Perfect if you’re shy, anxious, overwhelmed, or just communicate better in writing. 

🎒 Miacademy 

An online learning platform that makes school feel less like a daily power struggle. With engaging videos, games, quizzes, and built-in rewards, Miacademy helps K-8 kids stay motivated while giving parents tools to track progress without hovering. 

🛒 Insight Family Market

A thoughtfully curated marketplace created by an educator and parent who actually gets neurodivergent families. Insight Family Market brings together sensory-friendly clothing, adaptive tools, educational supports, and wellness essentials that are chosen with real life in mind — not trends or quick fixes. 

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📧 Have questions or ideas for future episodes? Email us at [email protected].

Support the show

Danielle is the host of Chaos & Caffeine, a fast-growing ADHD parenting podcast where she interviews leading psychologists, clinicians, researchers, and neurodivergent advocates about what actually helps ADHD kids thrive in the real world. Through science-backed conversations and very real mom-in-the-trenches storytelling, the show helps parents navigate executive function challenges, emotional regulation struggles, learning differences, and the everyday chaos of raising neurodivergent kids.

Each week, Danielle translates complex ADHD research into practical tools parents can actually use — from building routines that support developing brains to helping kids strengthen focus, flexibility, and self-regulation skills.

Listen to the podcast and explore expert interviews at:
https://linktr.ee/chaosandcaffeinepodcast

Danielle frequently speaks and writes about ADHD parenting strategies, executive function development, emotional regulation, screen use and attention, learning challenges like dyslexia, and building resilient neurodivergent families.