5 Productivity Tips for ADHD

May 9

Keep reading this post to learn:

⋒ What ADHD is and what people close to me have shared when it comes to their experience

⋒ 5 practical productivity tips that may help you if you have been diagnosed with ADHD

⋒ A little encouragement (from sassy Jess, of course) when it comes to trying new tips or methods

Disclaimer – this blog post is not meant to be medical advice or replace getting help from a mental health professional.

I have noticed an uptick in DMs from people asking for productivity tips that are specific to ADHD so I wanted to put together a blog post that could act as a resource for you if you have been diagnosed with ADHD or you have a friend or family member who has.

Before we really get into the productivity tips that I have for ADHD, I want to lay some groundwork:

#1: If you’ve never heard of ADHD, it stands for Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

According to the Mayo Clinic, it’s a chronic condition including attention difficulty, hyperactivity, and impulsiveness.

ADHD often begins in childhood and can persist into adulthood. It may contribute to low self-esteem, troubled relationships, and difficulty at school or work.

Symptoms include limited attention and hyperactivity.

Treatments include medication and talk therapy.

#2: I have not been diagnosed with ADHD nor am I a mental health professional. This episode isn’t meant to be medical advice or a replacement for support from a mental health professional. I feel like this is obvious but I still want to reiterate!

#3: I have a handful of friends in real life with an ADHD diagnosis who I’ve had conversations with letting me know that these things that I teach through Hustle Sanely have really helped them to be productive as someone with ADHD. This blog post is not me claiming to be an expert on ADHD – this is just me sharing what I have talked about with people who have ADHD.

And lastly #4: A lot of the time, when people struggle in an area, say productivity, and they’re listening to someone else give tips or advice for overcoming the struggle, a wall goes up. People get defensive and instead of softening their minds and hearts to listen to and figure out how to apply the advice in a way that could really help them, their instinctual reaction is to set out to prove why XYZ can’t work for them.

This is one of my biggest pet peeves if I’m being honest with you. It’s just such a waste of energy to me. You can’t say something does or doesn’t work for you unless you try it first. Then, if it doesn’t work for you after you give it a real try, that’s okay. I’m not over here preaching that my approach to productivity is the only way. I’m just sharing what works for me and what has helped thousands of other women (and some men, too) who have applied Hustle Sanely strategies to their lives.

My heart behind this episode is to give you some things to try. I’m not saying I’m an ADHD expert or that these tips are gonna work for everyone.

I encourage you to listen with an open mind, apply these tips (like genuinely try them in your life before knocking them), and if they don’t work for you, move on and find what does work for you instead of throwing rocks at what doesn’t.

I promise you that your energy will always be better spent figuring out how to support yourself over calling out what doesn’t work for you.

Sassy Jess out, now let’s get into the productivity tips for ADHD, shall we?

TIP #1: Find a planning/organization system that works for you and plan your day out the evening before.

Why this helps: Research that has been published in the Journal of Neural Transmission states that people with ADHD have problems staying focused and on task while performing a host of daily activities.

So this tip is helpful because when you have a planning system in place, you don’t have all of your to-dos and schedules floating around in your mind, getting lost among other things. Having a planning system allows you to free up mental clutter so there is less pressure on you to remember things.

You know yourself best so you have to nail down what type of planning system works best for you. This is probably going to take some trial and error. My biggest tip when it comes to choosing what type of system works best for you – don’t go for something super high-tech that has a lot of bells and whistles because those can be distracting.

I know that I do better with a combination planning system – I use a digital platform called Notion to keep track of what I call my “life lists” – so like a list of my routines for the season I’m in, my non-negotiables for the season I’m in, and things like that and then I use a paper system to plan out my weeks and days because that’s what works best for my brain.

When I try to plan out my days and weeks digitally, my brain can’t visualize it well – like I have to write it out with my hands in order for things to really click and for me to feel like I’ve gotten it out of my brain. Planning my weeks and days digitally leaves me feeling overwhelmed so I don’t do it.

Figure out what kind of system suits your planning style and supports how your brain works and stick with it.

When it comes to planning your day out the evening before, this is helping future you and setting her up for success. It takes the guesswork out of what tomorrow will be like and alleviates that feeling of waking up and scrambling to try and remember what needs to be done and how it’s all going to fit into the day.

When you take 5 minutes to create a game plan for the following day, you can get right into what needs to be done instead of spiraling and being distracted by trying to do everything at once.

I recommend leaving your game plan for the following day somewhere that you’ll see shortly after you wake up. So maybe that’s on your kitchen counter.

I’ve learned that visual reminders are really clutch for people with ADHD so create that game plan for the following day and put it where you know you’ll see it the next morning so it’s not forgotten.

Now, I didn’t design the Peacefully Productive Planners specifically for people with ADHD but I’ve gotten quite a few messages from people with ADHD that have said that the way the planner is laid out is helpful for them because it streamlines how to plan for each day – there’s a spot for a daily schedule, daily brain dump, and your daily HS5 habits (which reminder are: Focus 3 tasks – more on this in a bit, your movement, your tidying, and your kind thing for yourself and someone else).

The layout makes it easy to just open it and fill in the blanks basically.

Obviously, you don’t need the Peacefully Productive Planner if that type of planning system doesn’t suit you – I’m just saying it’s an option worth exploring if you haven’t yet!

TIP #2: Have a designated brain dump area.

Why this helps: According to research, mind wandering is a common trait of ADHD.

When you’re trying to complete an important task and you find your mind trailing off to other things, like a new business idea, a book you want to add to your TBR (to be read) pile, what you’re gonna do after work, if you need to stop at the store to get something for dinner, etc. it could be helpful to have a designated area to put those thoughts so they’re not floating around in your mind, robbing your important task at hand of your attention.

I know for me, when I have a thought pop up when I’m trying to work on something else, I can’t stop thinking about it until I get it out somewhere because I get kind of paranoid that I’m going to forget it or that it’s going to fall through the cracks.

I think the key here, is choosing one place to house your daily brain dump list (rather than having random places with little notes all over the palace) and then scheduling some time in your day to work through the brain dump list.

So for example, maybe you use the Hustle Sanely daily planning notepad to plan your days and you use the “Notes & Reminders” section as your brain dump area every day. Every time a random thought pops up and you can’t shake it, jot it down there.

Then when you sit down to plan your next day out (like we talked about in the last tip), spend a few minutes going through each item that you jotted down on your daily brain dump and decide what needs to be done with it – does it need to be added to your weekly task list? Does it need to be one of your Focus 3 tasks for tomorrow? Is it something that can be put on your catch-all task list for another time?

Having a daily brain dump area will give you somewhere to put all of these “random” thoughts so that you don’t have them swirling around in your mind trying to distract you. You’re basically moving them from your brain to your brain dump list.

I think using the brain dump method is more sustainable and realistic than trying to stop the random thoughts from popping up altogether, you know?

TIP #3: Use the daily Focus 3 method to help you prioritize your tasks.

Why this helps: Having a daily Focus 3 helps you to know which tasks on a list are the most important. Someone with ADHD might look at a list of tasks and feel overwhelmed by how many things are staring back at them and not know where to begin because it feels like all of the tasks are important. This is when it can get tempting to task dip – aka do a little bit of one task, then jump to start another one, then go back to the first one, then start a third one, then go back to the second one, and so on. When we do this, we don’t actually get anything done but we make slow, inconsistent progress on a lot of random tasks.

Having a daily Focus 3 makes it clear which 3 tasks are the most important to get done each day.

The Hustle Sanely daily planning notepad and the Peacefully Productive Planner both have spots for you to write out your daily Focus 3 tasks. One of my friends with ADHD sent me this message after using the daily planning notepad:

I mentioned visual cues being beneficial for people with ADHD earlier and this applies here, too – actually being able to write out and visually differentiate the 3 most important tasks of your day is so helpful.

TIP #4: Work in intervals.

Why this helps: The research that I referenced earlier from the Journal of Neural Transmission also found that people with ADHD have trouble with selective attention (focusing on one task for a period of time) and divided attention (focusing on more than one task) when compared to people who don’t have ADHD.

This means that if you have ADHD, you might find it more difficult to focus, whether on one task or multiple tasks, for a long time.

One of my favorite productivity tips for anyone is using the Pomodoro Technique. It’s a very well-known time management strategy that was created in the 1980s by Francesco Cirillo and I think it would be super helpful for those with ADHD! It involves short bursts of work and really helps with building momentum in making progress on a specific task.

All you need is a timer and then you follow these 6 steps:

1. Decide on what task you’re going to work on.

2. Set a timer for 25 minutes.

3. Work on the task until the timer goes off. PS: Each 25-minute interval is called a “pomodoro.”
Pro tip: make a note of where you left off when the timer went off so when you go back to work you can jump right back in.

4. When the timer goes off, take a short break – 5-10 minutes is recommended.

5. If you have finished fewer than three pomodoros, go back to Step 2 and repeat until you go through all three pomodoros.

6. After three pomodoros are done, take the fourth pomodoro and then take a long break (20 to 30 minutes is recommended). Once the long break is finished, return to step 2.

The Pomodoro Technique® helps you hyper-focus on tasks, fight distractions, and train your brain to overcome a short attention span. By breaking your work into chunks and frequently giving your brain and eyes a rest, you’re encouraging yourself to be efficient and accountable in finishing your work.

TIP #5: Build routines into your day.

Why this helps: A lot of the time, it can be challenging for those with ADHD to stay organized and on task – having daily and weekly routines that work for you can help you show up and do what needs to be done each day without expending as much mental energy.

When you have daily and weekly routines built into your life, you spend less time wondering what you need to be doing at any given time so more of your time can be spent actually doing what needs to be done and then you’ll end up with more time to focus on other things that you enjoy.

Sometimes, routines get a bad rap for boxing people in but think about it like this: the goal of routines is to turn desired behaviors into habits that feel like a natural part of your day rather than a chore.

And remember – our schedules and routines are tools, not chains!

A friend of mine who has ADHD used the Hustle Sanely Weekly Skeleton tool to map out all of her daily and weekly routines and she has it hanging on her fridge. She said that the visual cue of seeing it on the fridge every day helps keep her on track to sticking with the routines. She said it’s helpful to see all of her routines laid out in one place, too.

Some examples of daily/weekly routines that might be helpful:
~ Morning Routine (what you do from when you wake up to when you go to work – like taking your vitamins, journaling, walking your dog, etc.)
~ After work routine (maybe this is when you do your daily tidy for 15 and plan out your following day)
~ Weekly Home Reset Routine (listen to episode 166 to learn what this is and how to make one)

There are obviously way more but those are just to get your juices flowing.

That is what I’ve got for you today – 5 productivity tips for ADHD!

To recap, the tips are:

Find a planning/organization system that works for you and plan your day out the evening before.
Have a designated brain dump area.
Use the daily Focus 3 method to help you prioritize your tasks.
Work in intervals.
Build routines into your day.