The 2 things that distract the ADHD brain every time

( and what to do about them)

We all do it. In fact, I was doing it 30 seconds before I wrote this sentence.

Wander off, throw ourselves down rabbit holes, pursue endless tangents… basically, we just get distracted. 

Our thoughts, our social media, our web browser, our children, our partners, our phones, our bodies, hell...even a passing chipmunk- they all can distract us.

And of course, the ADHD brain knows distraction better than any other brain. Distraction is its almost constant companion, greatest enemy, and sometimes closest friend.

Above all that, though, distraction is…well, distracting.

It takes away from the thing you are doing. It makes it hard to finish anything, and it can make a 5-minute task take 5 hours.

But did you know that despite the seemingly endless number of things that can distract you at any moment- there are only 2 types of distractions and that you need to respond to each type differently?!?

The 2 Types of Distractions

External distractions:

External distractions are everything that takes you off course that comes from outside of your brain.

They are the chimes, buzzes, chatter, sights, and stimuli that enter your brain through your 5 senses. They interrupt your flow, concentration, and effort and divert your attention from the task at hand. Because these distractions live outside of you and have to travel into your brain’s awareness, it can be helpful to think of them as tied to your 5 senses:

Vision:

The messy pile on your desk, your friend that just walked by your office window, the brownie sitting beside your keyboard, the browser button on your computer screen, or that frisky squirrel playing keep away from a robin overhead. These are the things that you see that pull you and your brain away from your task.

Hearing

The chimes and notifications, the ringer of your phone, the chatter of your colleagues outside your door, or the sound of your kids screaming in the next room. All the things that you hear that trigger your brain to go in another direction.

Touch

Many ADHD brains are extra sensitive to touch. So, an itchy tag, an uncomfortable bra, or a waistband that is one burrito too small can all nag at your brain and steal your focus.

Taste (Internal Sensations) 

Okay- so taste probably doesn’t factor in that often, but hunger and your body’s other internal signals (I talking to you tiny bladder!) might. Your body’s signals may start out as a quiet hum. But ignore them for long, and they will soon be screaming so loud only the worlds strongest hyperfocus will. be able to resist them.

Smell

This may seem like an odd one, but smell is one of our strongest senses. The ADHD brain is particularly sensitive to it and so that a rotting banana peel in the garbage or your boss’s new cologne can suddenly be the thief that robs your brain of all of its focus and momentum.

Internal distraction:

Internal distractions are the focus thieves that come from inside your own brain. They’re your thoughts, your sudden brilliant ideas, your newest passions, and your random musings. Your brain is naturally wired to have 100 thoughts at a time (no, that is not a researched-based number). When your brain’s conductor is tired, not fully fueled, or worn out, it can’t tell which thoughts to play loudly and which need to quiet down until a better time. So your brain becomes a scanning radio- switching from one channel to the next, never landing on one long enough to figure out what song is playing, let alone start singing along.

The causes of internal distractions are the things that deplete that conductor, like:

• Stress

• Low blood sugar

• Not enough exercise/ movement

• Not enough medication

• Fatigue

• Emotional overwhelm

• Rejection Sensitivity

• Anxiety

• ToDos

The power of avoiding (not resisting) distraction:

Every time you have to resist a distraction, you use up the precious resources of your brain’s conductor. 

Every time you don’t resist and, instead, follow a distraction, you use up even more precious resources- following the new thought/ action, switching back, figuring out where you were, getting started again.  

Because it takes so much extra energy to resist, I always recommend avoiding as many distractions as possible- if the brownie doesn’t sit on your desk taunting you, you aren’t nearly as likely to stop your work to eat a brownie as if it does. If you silence your phone, you are less likely to stop your work and start chatting with your sister about the color of her new bathroom tile. If you wear noise canceling headphones you are less likely to gaze off into space while you hang onto every tantalizing word of the whisper argument from the couple beside you.

Avoiding the distraction allows you to save your brain from that exhausting merry-go-round of internal and external cues.

How do you avoid distractions and stay focused? Check out how to manage distractions with an ADHD brain.

What distractions are your brain most prone to? What are the things that derail your focus? Take this quiz and find out

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