The Top 10 Tips ADHD Adults Need To Have Better Focus Every Day

Sometimes I know the challenge for you may be starting. Then there are other times when you start, sort of. But just can’t seem to find the traction you need to focus and attend the way you want. There are all sorts of ways your ADHD may be contributing to this challenge. Knowing how your ADHD symptoms affect your ability to focus and attend will help you choose the right strategies to follow through with what’s important to you.

It’s Your ADHD Brain Wiring

One of the first keys to unraveling this conundrum is to understand your unique brain wiring.  

I like to think of the ADHD brain as a stimulus-seeking heat missile. In fact, attention deficit is a misnomer. Because, it’s not that you have a deficit of attention. Rather, it’s that you pay attention to everything! So, even when you want to listen to a conversation or tend to a task, you may easily get distracted by the conversation outside your door, the air conditioner whirring and, oh right, suddenly remembering you need to call the doctor.

Aside from distractions, your ADHD brain is fickle when it comes to getting in gear. 

So, again, even when you want to focus, you can’t always depend on your brain to fire on all cylinders when you need it to. It can even feel sometimes like the gears in your brain are just all gummed up and stuck, right? You may have got it out of first gear to start. But then it just does not rev up enough so you can keep going. 

The trick is to figure out how you, not your ADHD brain, can be in charge.

#1 Have Compassion For Yourself 

The first step is to have self-compassion.

But right now, when you have a hard time persisting, your default might be to get down on yourself, even shame yourself. Remember, when you shame yourself, you believe you have a character defect. If this were true, there’s just no solution. As a result, you may avoid certain tasks because it feels like a lost cause to try.

Whereas, if you can treat yourself with self-compassion when you have a hard time persisting, you will be in a better place to figure out what you can do next to get in gear. You might say to yourself, “My brain just isn’t cooperating today. What do I need right now?” When you do this you’re both giving yourself the compassion you need and being curious.

And this curiosity can help you be creative in figuring out what strategy might help you get going.

#2 Make Sure It Is Meaningful to You

It’s also important to remember your ADHD nervous system is interest-based, as opposed importance-based. This means you may find it hard to engage with a task even when it is important to you, but not intrinsically interesting. Yet, you can engender some of this motivation when you have a visceral connection to the meaning and purpose of what you are doing. Even when it doesn’t immediately light up your brain.

The example I like to use is of a former client, a professor, who regularly neglected his administrative duties, such as reviewing articles, emailing, writing recommendations, etc. He would start and then get easily distracted by something, yes, more interesting. 

But, since he wanted to be seen by his colleagues as a professional, it was important to him to do these administrative tasks. So he put “be a pro” (for professional) in his calendar with his administrative time. And, much to his surprise, he started following through. Because every time he saw “be a pro” he connected to the meaning and purpose of doing these tasks — being seen as a professional.

And that helped him persist through the 2 weekly 45-minute blocks of admin time. 

#3 Do Just Enough Planning

To focus and attend you also need to know what you are trying to accomplish — your objective — and how to accomplish that objective. Otherwise, without this clarity you may give up. That makes sense, right?

For example, I often see people get tripped up writing emails because they lack clarity on what they are trying to say — the objective of the email — and/or do not have all the information they need to write the email. Consequently, because writing the email feels too hard, they default to doing something else that is easier or more interesting. And tell themselves they’ll come back to it later. Right, later.

I know creating a plan to write an email may seem like a lot to do. And you don’t want to do too much planning. For example, when writing an email, you might ask yourself:

• What do I want the reader to understand or do after receiving the email? What do I need to write to convey this? What should I not include?
• What do I want the reader to understand or do after receiving the email? What do I need to write to convey this? What should I not include?
• Do I need to find more information before I can write the email?

It will always be easier to focus and attend when you do just enough planning. So, whether it’s an email, creating a business plan, or painting your deck, think about what you could do in advance that would help you focus and attend when you are ready to work.

#4 Create The Right Environment

You also need the right environment to be able to focus well, of course. And since this will look different for everyone, you’ll need to figure out what you need by experimenting. The following are just a few options to consider when thinking about what the right environment may look like for you.

To start, remember your ADHD tendency is to pay attention to everything! So, to maximize your chances of focusing on your primary tasks, make sure to minimize distractions. That may mean turning off notifications, finding a quiet place to work, using an internet blocker, and having a sheet of paper next to you to write down unrelated ideas as they pop into your head.

At the same time, your ADHD brain needs enough stimulation. So, if absolute quiet makes it harder for you to work, you might work in a coffee shop, on your porch, or wherever works for you. Also, make it fun, if you can. Go ahead, crank up the music. You may also want play with a fidget. Do whatever works for you! 

If working alone doesn’t cut for you, you may want to work with a body double, somebody who is by your side while you work. Though this person could be in the same physical space as you, they don’t need to be. You could also work with a virtual body double over Zoom or with a service like Focusmate.

#5 Pay Attention to Timing

You know timing also impacts your ability to focus. And, just as with your environment, this will also be very individualized. So, you will want to experiment to find out what timing works best for you.

To start, remember we all have a limited amount of willpower which dissipates throughout the day. This may mean you do boring tasks first thing in the morning. It could also mean doing tasks that involve a lot of executive functioning skills, like planning and decision-making, early on in the day.

In addition, you’ll want to consider how long you can focus and attend to a task. So, rather than forcing yourself to work for long periods of time, you may choose to work in short spurts, maybe 25-minute Pomodoros. Then again, you may choose to use your ADHD hyperfocus superpower and work for longer periods of time. There’s no right answer to this question.

And, if you are taking ADHD medication, consider the timing of when you do a particular task to when you take your medication if you think that may make a difference.

#6 Consider How Medication Can Help

Though by itself it will not be enough to manage your ADHD, medication can form the cornerstone of a holistic ADHD treatment plan and help you focus and attend. As ADHD expert, Dr. Thomas Brown, explains, stimulant medication works because: 

…increased dopamine in the synapse can act almost as a kind of ‘Viagra’ to encourage the brain’s response to the task. Thus [stimulants] may counter the chronic problem with motivating oneself to do necessary, but not intrinsically interesting tasks.

Though your symptoms will remain while the medication is active in your system, medication will help minimize their impact. As it can help you self-regulate so you can better focus and attend to the tasks you choose. 

#7 Invest Regularly

If you decide to take medication and adopt some of the strategies I suggest here, you will still have off days when it is difficult to focus. Frustrating, I know. But one of the hallmarks of ADHD, after all, is inconsistency. Rather than fighting this tendency, one way to approach this is to be more accepting of this and use the investment strategy of dollar-cost averaging. 

When you use this as an investment strategy, you invest regularly whether the market goes up or down. You don’t stop putting money in or pull your money out when the market declines. Because your expectation is that you will come out ahead in the long run.

Similarly, you can approach some of your work this way by scheduling regular times to work and staying with the schedule even when you have off days. You know, days when your brain just isn’t cooperating, and you don’t feel you are getting a lot done or maybe even doing your best work.

The key is to try not to despair when this happens, but rather to expect some off days. I know, in the beginning, you might not trust that this will work. But, as you practice and experience the long-term payoff of working this way, it will get easier. 

For example, this is the way I write my blogs and podcasts. I work for 45 minutes every day, give or take. Some days I’m on fire and get a lot done. Some days, not so much. But every two weeks I have a finished product. 

Is there someplace you could apply this strategy?

#8 Schedule Play First

When you can’t focus on your work and end up procrastinating, according to Neil Fiore, author of The Now Habit, it is a symptom of your fear and anxiety about being able to start and finish your work. And, no doubt, the executive functioning challenges of your ADHD contribute to this fear and anxiety. As these challenges make it harder for you to start and finish work. So, addressing these challenges is important.

At the same time, aside from your ADHD challenges, as Fiore points out:

we’re taught that work should be difficult and unpleasant and that playing and relaxing are frivolous wastes of time.

If you have this mindset, too, you likely dread your work. As a result, you may avoid it — procrastinate. Then you feel guilty and do not think you deserve to have free time. But when you don’t get the downtime you need, you feel stressed, resent work even more and, yes, end up procrastinating.

Definitely a vicious cycle!

Part of the answer is to make sure your need for fun and relaxation is met by scheduling time for them. I know this will be a heavy lift. Because you may have more on your plate than you think you can do. At the same time, I think you will be more productive when you do this.

Because your work will no longer completely prevent you from doing what you would rather be doing. Hopefully, you will dread it less. So you will also procrastinate less, maybe even find you are pulled to do your work when you return to it, and be better able to focus and attend. Nice, right?

Can you start by scheduling 1/2 an hour a day of downtime or playtime?

#9 Be Willing To Withstand Some Discomfort

Part of the key to experimenting with the above strategies is a willingness to be with some discomfort. As you will feel uncomfortable. Because trying to learn new strategies and create change is hard. You know that. And, if your not willing to be with some discomfort, you may give up too easily.

If this is your tendency sometimes now, you can address it by first noticing when you feel uncomfortable while starting to work. It might be a knot in your stomach, a buzzing in your head, or some other sensation. Pause and take time to be with the discomfort. Then compassionately remind yourself:

This is hard to do. What do I need right now?

With this compassionate approach and a few deep breaths, you might be able to get back to your work quickly, rather than avoiding it. Alternatively, if the source of the discomfort is a roadblock, of course, you will need to address that before you can move forward. This may include asking for help to do the task.

Where do you want to practicing being with some discomfort?

#10 Take a Break!!

Then there are other times, when you try. But you just can’t attend or focus. Rather than digging in, the answer might be to call it a day! Really. Giving yourself a break and taking care of yourself. This might include taking a nap, going for a walk, talking with a friend, eating or something else. Then you might be able to return more refreshed the next day.

Yes, I know, I suggested above that you need to withstand some discomfort. At the same time, ADHD adults need to know when to quit, too!

Next Steps For You

If you’ve gotten this far in the article, that’s great! 

But, of course, even after reading these suggestions, you may forget them when you most need them — when you’re trying to focus and attend. Some people find it helpful to post a brief checklist of strategies where they are most likely to see it. 

Maybe you could put a checklist next to your computer?