How to be more productive with ADHD

ADHD brains are a lot like water

Water, can be a puddle- spreading out so far in every direction that it ends up just sitting there.

But if we take that puddle and build some walls around it. Taking stone after stone to give it some structure.
And then we give it just even a little bit of tilt.

Well, now we have a river.

And rivers have power. So much power- in fact, that they can power entire cities.

Harnessing the Innate Gifts of ADHD

How do we harness the power of our ADHD brains?

We build the walls that keep the water flowing. And those walls are built by stones made up of supports, structures, and systems.

Supports for ADHD Brains

ADHD Accountability

Accountability can be a magic tool that builds just enough pressure to get an ADHD brain into motion. How do we use this magic? Don’t set deadlines, goals, and plans with yourself-- your brain knows those don’t mean much. Instead, create accountability by setting those deadlines and plans with someone else- particularly someone you respect. That type of pressure actually spurs your brain into action.

Body Doubling

Working with somebody else can be a great way to stay on track and make activities more stimulating. This is called "ADHD body doubling" - having someone present in the moment (even if only virtually), provides accountability and extra motivation for productivity when needed.

ADHD Structure

Time Blocking

Time blocking is a technique where you break your day up into blocks of time and assign each block to one specific task. It allows you to focus your energy on one task at a time and spend less time switching back and forth between tasks. This means that instead of multitasking all day long, you are dedicating chunks of time to single tasks. By assigning specialized times for specific tasks every day, time blocking helps you stay organized, avoid distractions, and make the most out of your day.

Environmental Engineering

Environmental engineering may sound like a term for city planners, but it’s also great for ADHD brains. Our brains are cued by their environment- if we tend to do certain things in certain places, our brains learn that and feel compelled to do those things there. Not only that, but our environment sets our mood as well. So engineering spaces dedicated to productivity and finding ways to make those spaces pleasant and appealing helps set the tone for happy productivity.

Distraction Management

Distractions are everywhere and can derail your productivity. And resisting these distractions can not only feel futile but drains our precious executive functioning capacity. Creating a strategy for distraction management allows us to limit all of that resistance and streamlines our actions so we don’t switch from task to task over and over.

Systems for ADHD Brains

Planning

Planning is a way of externalizing all of the tasks an ADHD brain is constantly juggling and ensuring each one is completed. When you use a planning system, you have space to forecast the obstacles that will likely pop up in your way and block them before they do. It also allows you to match tasks to your energy levels. Want a truly ADHD-friendly system for planning? Download the free ADHD planning system here.

Task Management

ADHD brains are notorious for having 10 million things (that’s the scientifically derived number-wink*wink*) zooming around. And when they all feel urgent and necessary (which they so often do), it can feel impossible to figure out where to start. That’s where task management systems come in handy. Want some ideas on task management systems that actually work for ADHD brains? Check out the bucket-list system here.

ADHD Motivation

Walls around a puddle create a lake. And while lakes are beautiful, they don’t have the innate power of a river. How do we harness the unrealized potential? We give the water some tilt with motivation.

The 4 Ways to Motivate ADHD Brains

Novelty

New, shiny things stimulate an ADHD brain, drawing it into action.

Competition

Getting those competitive juices flowing with a challenge or a goal can often be just the thing to keep an ADHD brain on task.

Interest

It has been said that an ADHD nervous system is essentially an interest-based nervous system. Anything that piques it’s interest is what gets it flowing.

Pressure

The tried and true factor that we all use to get us moving is pressure. We procrastinate to create time pressure. We let things go until people around us put interpersonal pressure on us to do things. It may be the most painful of the motivating factors, but we use it because it’s easy to generate and it works.

So next time you feel like a puddle- don’t beat yourself up.  All the power you need is inside you- the trick is creating the walls and tilt outside your brain to harness it. What’s your favorite way of getting things done?

Ready to shift from
meltdown to mastery?

This online course has been designed specifically to help teach the strategies ADHD brains need to help them move from overwhelm  and meltdowns to confident emotional mastery.

Want to know more about
thriving with ADHD?

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