22 Productivity Tips For People With ADHD

When you have ADHD (or ADD), it’s really easy to get distracted by something other than what you’re meant to be doing.

Trust me – I know. I was meant to start writing this article ten minutes ago, but I was distracted by a juggling video on Facebook! 🙂

So, here are some tips on how to be more productive when you suffer from ADHD, and I hope you find them useful. In fact, I hope I find them useful too!

4-7-8 Breathing

This controlled breathing technique comes from the practice of yoga, and it is designed to help you calm down after being stressed.

So, in order to improve your heart rate variability, you should repeat the following ritual three times:

1. Breathe in deeply through your nose for four counts.
2. Hold your breath for seven counts.
3. Slowly release your breath, through pursed lips, over a duration of eight counts.

Change Venue

This may not always be an option for you, but if you find yourself distracted and/or bored, moving to a different location can help get you back on track.

For example, you might be able to:

• alternate sitting and standing
• go and work outside for awhile (or inside if you were already outside)
• move to a different desk
• relocate to somewhere like a coffee shop or a park bench

If your movements are more restricted, then even making minor changes to your workstation, for example, can help.

Chunking

When planning a project, it is always advisable to break down all of the necessary tasks into the smallest possible steps (or chunks).

This way, it’s easier to see that you’re making progress, which will help you maintain focus on the overall piece of work.

Compare Feelings

By this, I mean try to compare how you will feel when you have completed a task and how you will feel if you don’t complete that task.

Most people will clearly prefer a feeling of success over one of failure.

So, when you find yourself being drawn by a distraction, think about how you’d rather feel at the end of the day – like you successfully completed your work, or like you failed to accomplish your goals for the day.

Delegate

This may not be an option for everybody, but the more of the detailed aspects of the work you can get somebody else to do, the less likely it is that you will be distracted by minutiae.

If you’re a manager at work, for example, then delegation is almost expected of you.

Otherwise (e.g. if you’re an entrepreneur and/or self-employed), you can outsource pretty much everything these days, either by hiring an assistant who works for you a set number of hours per month, or on an as-needed basis.

And don’t forget, this doesn’t need to about your work only. Why do your own laundry when you can pay somebody to do it for you?

Drink Coffee

While coffee, and in particular, the caffeine it contains, is well known for making people hyperactive, it turns out that it works differently on the brains of those with ADHD. It apparently helps them concentrate more.

Having said that, the jury is still out regarding whether coffee / caffeine is good for you or not.

Eat A Snack

Your brain is your body’s largest consumer of energy – so if you’re having trouble concentrating, fuel your brain!

Of course, you shouldn’t eat just any old snack.

While you may feel tempted, maybe out of habit, to have a sugary snack (e.g. a candy bar or cookie) or soda, you will be better off eating a mixture of dried fruit (because the sugar it contains is still bound to the fiber, which delivers that sugar over an extended period instead of in one quick hit) and nuts or seeds (because they are good sources of protein), such as almonds, cashew nuts, flax seeds, pistachio nuts, pumpkin seeds, and sunflower seeds.

Establish Routines

When you have a set routine for doing certain things, they become almost automatic, requiring little thought (or opportunity for distraction).

So, try to create little rituals for things you do frequently, such as always laying out your desk the same way.

Another aspect of this is having set times to do certain tasks, such as deciding you’ll only check emails three times a day – in the morning, after lunch, and before leaving the office.

Find An Accountability Partner

This may be less important if you work in an office, for somebody else, because your manager, for example, will be keeping track to make sure you complete your assignments on time.

But if you work for yourself, there is nobody looking over your shoulder.

An accountability partner is anybody who can help you stick to your plans by holding you accountable for what you promise to do.

You would typically be in touch with your accountability partner at least once a week, and you would go through all the things you were meant to be doing, detailing where you are with each of them.

This works a bit like setting deadlines – when you know somebody will be checking up on you, you’re more motivated to do what you said you’d do.

And, of course, it doesn’t only need to apply to work-related activities. For example, I know a number of writers who have accountability partners to make sure they are writing every day and producing an agreed number of words over a predefined period.

Get Enough Sleep

This is good advice all around, of course, but if you have something important you need to do the next day, making sure you get plenty of high-quality sleep the night before can help set you up for success – a tired mind is an easily distracted mind.

Listen To Music

Music is powerful, especially when used appropriately, and listening to the right type of music when you’re working can either hinder or improve your productivity.

What is the right type of music?

Well, that depends both on you, and what you are doing.

For me, for example, when I’m doing creative writing (i.e. short stories or poetry, rather than informative articles such as this one) or programming, I prefer to listen to instrumental music (because the human voice can be distracting), and my absolute favourite thing to write to is Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield.

Other things that work for me include piano music, some classical music (e.g. the trio Bond), and, strangely, perhaps, I also find Irish folk music good to work to as well.

When I’m doing other types of work (e.g. administrative tasks), I have a playlist of over 500 pieces of music (both instrumental and with lyrics) that I have on random / shuffle play – because always knowing what comes next would be boring for me.

The other thing to consider is the pace of the music. Some people may find that a fast-paced piece (e.g. Flight Of The Bumblebee or Sabre Dance) is better for them when performing certain tasks, while others may prefer something slower (e.g. Clair De Lune).

The only way to find out what works for you is to experiment – then create playlists of your favourite pieces.

Make Good Use Of Downtime

No matter how productive you may be for most of the day, there will be occasions when you are not scheduled to be doing anything important.

This may happen, for example, while you’re waiting for a meeting to start, or you have to wait for some form of transportation, or the person you were meeting with had to leave for a few minutes.

Why not use that time to catch up on things that would otherwise interrupt your work?

You could contact friends, check the news (or even social media, if you must), read a few pages of a book, write down any ideas that occur to you, or update your To Do list.

Or you could use those minutes to do some quick exercises, or meditation.

Minimalize Your Desk

By this, I mean have as few things on your desk as you can, such as your computer, some water to drink, and if you must have your phone too, make sure it’s turned screen down to minimize distractions.

Morning Exercises

It a good idea to get regular exercise anyway, but doing your exercising in the morning, before work, can provide your body and brain with three vital chemicals – adrenaline, dopamine, and serotonin – to help you feel energized and focused.

Never Try To Multitask

Multitasking has become a bit of a buzzword over the past decade or two, but the truth is, based on the latest research, that multitasking is not a productive way to get things done – quite the opposite, in fact. (I seem to recall an episode of Mythbusters where they tackled this very issue.)

In fact, multitasking is a misnomer – the human brain can only work on one thing at once. So, you’re not really multitasking, as commonly defined – what you’re really doing is rapidly trying to switch from one activity to another and back again.

And as I’ve said elsewhere, every time you are interrupted, there is a recovery time that is required to re-focus on what you were doing before that interruption.

When you add up all of those recovery times, you’ll soon find you didn’t gain anything by trying to multitask.

Quick Exercises

If you find yourself unable to concentrate on the task at hand, you can try doing some quick exercises (if that’s possible, of course).

This might be a very quick jog or walk, or push-ups, stretches, or burpees.

Alternatively, you could try a quick mini-meditation – even two minutes can be beneficial.

And remember, this is not the same as exercising regularly outside of work. That is generally good advice for both physical and mental health, whereas this hack is to help you recover from a distraction during work.

Set Deadlines

Research has shown that one of the best ways to help you focus is to have a deadline for the work you are doing – and this is true for ADHD sufferers too.

If you have no deadline, the work will seem less important, which will increase the chances of you becoming distracted.

So, if you are your own boss, make sure everything you do has a deadline, and if other people are determining what you should be working on, make sure they give you a deadline.

Once you have dates to work to, you can write them on your calendar, or use software to help you keep track of things.

If you work for a large company, there is a good chance you will already have access to software such as Microsoft Outlook, which has a task manager component built in, but otherwise, there are plenty of options out there. (The one I use is called Todoist, which is available via their website on a computer, or via an app on smartphones – with the advantage that all your tasks are always synced, regardless of how or where you use this tool.)

This Is What I’m Doing Now

The idea behind this “brain hack” is that, just before you start work on something that is important or will require intense concentration, you say (preferably out loud, depending on where you are), the words “This is what I’m doing right now.”

This is almost like an affirmation that helps put you in the right mindset to focus on your work without distractions.

Turn It Into A Game

We all have to do boring and monotonous tasks from time to time, but for those with ADHD, it’s even harder to stick at it until it’s done.

We’re curious people by nature, so one way to make any job more interesting is to look for hidden patterns, or create a story about whatever it is you’re working on.

Alternatively, you might be able to come up with a better way of accomplishing the task – so it won’t take as long next time, or it will be more interesting.

Try Using A Standing Desk

One of the biggest give-aways that somebody has ADHD is their inability to sit still for any length of time.

This can be exacerbated if you also suffer from sensory processing disorder (SPD), because they are very similar.

For example, I have both, so when I’m sitting, I have to move around partly because of my ADHD, and partly because I cannot physically sit comfortably in one position for very long (sometimes a minute or two only) because of the SPD.

One solution to this, if you have a desk job, is to swap out your regular desk for a standing desk.

These are, as the name suggests, designed so you stand at the desk, rather than sit at it. They are usually height-adjustable, and may have different surfaces / levels (e.g. one for your computer and monitor, and one for a keyboard).

The advantage is that you can move around a bit more easily, although they also support a better posture.

Use The Two-Minute Rule

This anti-procrastination tip comes courtesy of James Clear, author of “Atomic Habits”, and the rule is very simple:

1. If you estimate that a task will take less than two minutes, then do it right now, because this helps prevent small tasks from piling up and creating an overwhelming To-Do list.
2. On the other hand, when starting a large project, identify one small component that won’t take you too long, and do that first action purely to get the ball rolling.

Write Down Your Ideas

People with ADHD often have ideas that pop into their heads all the time – and not always at the most appropriate time either.

While it’s tempting to go off on a tangent and pursue that new thought, this is rarely, if ever, productive.

So, write down your idea or thought (e.g. in a notepad or on your phone) as quickly as you can, in order to get back to what you were doing before you lose your train of thought. Remember, recovering from an interruption can take longer than the interruption itself.

Conclusion

I hope you found a few suggestions here that you will try – none of them are intrinsically difficult to do.

Additional Resources

These are suggestions for those who wish to delve deeper into any of the above:

1. Atomic Habits
2. Standing Desk
3. Task Manager Software