Dan Aberhart sits down with Kate Sauser, a 25-year-old fifth-generation grain farmer from Churchbridge, Saskatchewan who is simultaneously Policy Manager at Grain Growers of Canada, a national-level hockey referee, a university instructor, and a master's student who submitted her thesis half an hour before this recording. Kate has ADHD, was diagnosed at 23, and has built a time management system around how her brain actually works rather than against it. The conversation covers the time block structure she uses daily, why she reframes ADHD as an engine rather than an obstacle, the night she came up with her tattoo, and the PhD she walked away from when she hit the wall of overcommitment. Her closing message to the farmer who feels buried: stop asking why you don't have enough time and start finding where it's actually going.
In agriculture, being busy is practically a badge. Ask anybody how they're doing and you'll get some version of underwater. So how does a 25-year-old fifth-generation grain farmer from Churchbridge, Saskatchewan, who also writes federal grain policy, finishes a master's thesis, teaches university, and referees hockey across the country, have more room in her day than most people do? Kate Sauser has ADHD, a system she built around how her brain actually works, and a tattoo on her wrist that reads "everything in time." This is the episode where she explains it.
Topics and Timestamps
0:00 -- Dan's opening: the busy badge and introducing Kate Sauser
3:10 -- "Why aren't you doing it all?" -- Kate's philosophy on time and the Einstein quote
6:18 -- Burnout, intentional rest, and learning to say no
9:02 -- Core values, long-term goals, and what a farm-kid work ethic actually gives you
10:49 -- Living with ADHD: the time block system that works with the brain, not against it
14:26 -- Diagnosis at 23, medication, and the fear of losing the sparkle
17:14 -- The farm: Churchbridge RM 211, fifth generation, and what farming means as identity
22:33 -- From Daughters of the Vote 2020 to Grain Growers of Canada
24:55 -- What policy impact actually looks like, and changing minds one conversation at a time
26:45 -- The master's thesis: reduced tillage and a 35.3% drop in Saskatchewan CO2 emissions
30:28 -- AI, social media, and the biggest challenge facing farms right now
33:51 -- Where "everything in time" comes from: the night she figured it out
35:20 -- Working with time vs. against it: trust, discipline, and the Billy Joel lesson
39:18 -- The PhD she dropped: what overcommitment actually feels like
40:57 -- Closing: "Who cares? Find the time."
Resources Mentioned
Albert Einstein: "Time is relative, its only worth depends on what we do as it is passing"
Billy Joel: "Vienna" -- "Slow down, you're doing fine. You can't be everything you want to be before your time."
Google Calendar -- Kate's primary scheduling tool
ChatGPT -- Kate uses it for daily task planning, meal planning, and workouts
Connect with Growing the Future
Website: growingthefuture.ca
YouTube: Growing the Future
Instagram: @growingthefuturepodcast
LinkedIn: Growing the Future