ADHD: How To Actually Finish What You Start (3 Easy Steps)
Summary
TLDRThis video script shares the journey of an ADHD individual who discovered strategies to overcome the challenges of maintaining focus and consistency in work. Diagnosed seven years ago, the speaker found that traditional 'hustle culture' advice to 'try harder' was counterproductive for their ADHD brain. Instead, they adopted three key strategies: leveraging their strengths, identifying their preferred learning modalities, and working in sprints with breaks to maintain novelty and motivation. These methods not only improved productivity but also led to a fulfilling career as a content creator in the ADHD space.
Takeaways
- 😀 The speaker was diagnosed with ADHD 7 years ago and struggled with maintaining focus and progress on tasks due to constantly seeking novelty.
- 🔄 Upon diagnosis, they learned that 'trying harder' is not effective for ADHD brains and that making tasks easier is a better strategy.
- 🎯 Discovering three key strategies transformed their work-life, leading to consistent productivity and success as a content creator in the ADHD space.
- 🧠 The ADHD brain is stimulated by novelty and dopamine, which fades as the newness of a task wears off, typically around the third week.
- 🏄♂️ The concept of 'hustle culture' is counterproductive for ADHD individuals, as their brains are wired for interest, not importance.
- 🌊 The brain of a person with ADHD is likened to a 'carefree surfer', always seeking the next wave of interest rather than forcing oneself to stay on one wave.
- 🏔 Understanding one's strengths and weaknesses is crucial for individuals with ADHD, as they often have 'spiky profiles' with peaks of excellence and valleys of difficulty.
- 🤝 There's permission and encouragement to ask for help with weaknesses, as focusing on strengths can lead to more efficient and fulfilling work.
- 👀 Identifying one's processing modality—such as visual, auditory, or kinesthetic—is key to sustaining effort and interest in tasks.
- ⏱️ The strategy of 'sprinting' in work intervals, like the Pomodoro Technique, is more effective for ADHD individuals than long, continuous work periods.
- 🔄 Taking 'fire breaks'—short, stimulating breaks that reorient the brain—helps to maintain novelty and interest in ongoing tasks.
Q & A
What is the main challenge faced by individuals with ADHD when trying to maintain long-term progress on tasks?
-The main challenge faced by individuals with ADHD is the tendency to start tasks with high intensity but quickly move on to something different after the novelty fades, leading to a lack of long-term progress due to the brain's chase for new stimuli.
How did the speaker's perspective change after being diagnosed with ADHD?
-The speaker's perspective changed significantly after the ADHD diagnosis, realizing that trying harder is not effective for the ADHD brain and that making tasks easier and adapting strategies is the key to progress.
What are the three strategies mentioned in the script that helped the speaker to change their relationship with work?
-The three strategies mentioned are: understanding the ADHD brain's spiky profile and playing to strengths, identifying and utilizing one's preferred processing modality for learning and consuming information, and adopting a sprinting approach to work instead of marathon running.
Why does the speaker suggest that 'trying harder' is counterproductive for individuals with ADHD?
-The speaker suggests that 'trying harder' is counterproductive for individuals with ADHD because their brains are wired for interest, not importance, making it difficult to force themselves to do something that is not inherently interesting to them.
What is the 'spiky profile' of the ADHD brain, and how can understanding it help individuals with ADHD?
-The 'spiky profile' refers to the tendency of the ADHD brain to excel in certain areas (peaks) and struggle in others (valleys). Understanding this can help individuals with ADHD to focus on their strengths and seek help or outsource tasks in their areas of weakness.
How can identifying one's processing modality improve the consistency and enjoyment of work for someone with ADHD?
-Identifying one's processing modality can improve consistency and enjoyment by allowing the individual to consume and learn information in a way that is most engaging and interesting to them, thus reducing the need to 'try harder' and increasing the likelihood of sustained effort.
What is the Pomodoro Technique, and how can it be beneficial for individuals with ADHD?
-The Pomodoro Technique is a time management method that involves breaking work into intervals, traditionally 25 minutes in length, followed by short breaks. This can be beneficial for individuals with ADHD by providing a structured way to work in bursts, which aligns with their tendency to work best in short, intense periods.
What are 'fire breaks,' and how do they differ from regular breaks?
-Fire breaks are a type of break that still stimulates the brain but in a different way, such as switching up environments or listening to music. They differ from regular breaks in that they provide a change of focus, which can help to rekindle interest and novelty in the task at hand.
How can taking mindful pauses and fire breaks help individuals with ADHD to be more intentional with their work?
-Taking mindful pauses and fire breaks can help individuals with ADHD to reset their focus, regain interest in their tasks, and approach their work with a fresh perspective, making the work more interesting and less exhausting.
What is the additional strategy mentioned at the end of the script, and how can it help with ADHD-related procrastination and executive dysfunction?
-The additional strategy hinted at the end of the script is not fully described, but it is suggested to be crucial in helping the speaker become hyper-consistent and overcome ADHD-related procrastination and executive dysfunction without relying on willpower and discipline.
Outlines
🔄 Overcoming ADHD with Strategic Work Habits
The speaker shares their personal journey with ADHD, diagnosed 7 years ago, and the struggle with maintaining long-term focus due to the brain's tendency to chase novelty. The diagnosis led to the discovery that 'trying harder' is not effective for ADHD brains, which are wired for interest rather than importance. The speaker introduces three strategies that transformed their work relationship, enabling consistent productivity and success as a content creator in the ADHD space. The strategies involve understanding the ADHD brain's response to novelty and dopamine, the societal pressure of 'hustle culture,' and the need to align work with one's strengths and interests.
🌟 Leveraging Strengths and Processing Modalities
This paragraph delves into the importance of identifying and capitalizing on one's strengths, which are often starkly contrasted with weaknesses in individuals with ADHD. The speaker emphasizes the permission and importance of seeking help for areas of weakness while focusing energy on strengths. Additionally, understanding one's processing modality—how one best consumes and learns information—is crucial for sustaining effort and interest. The speaker outlines various modalities such as visual, verbal, intuitive, emotional, conceptual, auditory, tactile, and kinesthetic learning, and suggests finding and applying the preferred modalities to maintain interest and prevent burnout.
⏱ Embracing Sprints Over Marathons for Consistency
The speaker discusses the concept of working in sprints rather than long, exhausting marathons, which is more aligned with the ADHD brain's capabilities. They introduce techniques like the Pomodoro Technique to structure work into short, focused bursts with breaks to prevent burnout. The importance of taking breaks, including 'fire breaks' that provide a novel stimulus to refresh the mind, is highlighted. The speaker shares personal strategies for maintaining consistency and overcoming procrastination, offering a link to a further video for an in-depth exploration of these techniques.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡ADHD
💡Dopamine
💡Hustle Culture
💡Interest vs. Importance
💡Spiky Profile
💡Processing Modality
💡Pomodoro Technique
💡Sprinting vs. Marathon Running
💡Fire Breaks
💡Executive Dysfunction
💡Consistency
Highlights
The speaker was diagnosed with ADHD 7 years ago and struggled with maintaining focus and long-term progress due to constantly chasing new interests.
After diagnosis, the speaker discovered that 'trying harder' is not effective for ADHD brains and instead, making tasks easier is key.
Three strategies were identified that transformed the speaker's relationship with work, leading to consistent productivity and success as a content creator.
ADHD brains are wired for interest rather than importance, making it difficult to force oneself to do something uninteresting.
The speaker emphasizes that understanding the ADHD brain's response to novelty and dopamine is crucial for developing effective strategies.
Society's 'hustle culture' is counterproductive for individuals with ADHD, as it drains mental energy and goes against the brain's natural wiring.
ADHD individuals often excel in areas of interest but struggle with tasks that do not capture their attention.
The concept of 'spiky profile' in ADHD is introduced, where individuals have extreme strengths and weaknesses.
Playing to one's strengths and outsourcing weaknesses is a game-changer for individuals with ADHD to achieve more.
The importance of identifying and leveraging one's processing modality for effective learning and task completion is discussed.
Different processing modalities such as visual, auditory, and kinesthetic are explained, and their impact on learning styles is highlighted.
The Pomodoro Technique is recommended for structuring work into sprints to maintain motivation and prevent burnout.
The speaker shares personal experience with 'fire breaks' as a method to refresh and regain interest in ongoing tasks.
Taking mindful pauses and breaks is essential for preventing ADHD-related stress and maintaining consistent work.
The final strategy discussed is 'sprinting instead of marathon running' to align with the ADHD brain's natural work patterns.
An additional surprise strategy is teased for the next video, promising to address ADHD-related procrastination and executive dysfunction.
The video concludes with an invitation to learn more about overcoming procrastination and enhancing time management for ADHD individuals.
Transcripts
I got diagnosed with ADHD 7 years ago I
always started things worked on them
super intensely only to move on to
something completely different 3 weeks
in I was never able to achieve any
long-term progress because my brain kept
chasing the newest thing I drowned in
self-doubt shame and jealousy because
everyone else around me was always able
to try harder and I just couldn't force
my brain to do that like they could I
thought I could never do that however
everything changed once I got diagnosed
and read a bunch of scientific papers to
figure out that for the ADHD brain
trying harder simply doesn't work and
that you need to make things easier
instead specifically I came across three
strategies that completely changed my
relationship with work I now actually
enjoy working on whatever I need to
without the anxiety and shame attached
these three strategies allowed me to
upload three videos per week
consistently for over 4 years and not
only fulfilled my dream of becoming a
full-time content creator but also
becoming one of the biggest in the ADHD
space all the while achieving more than
I could have ever imagined before we get
into the strategies we need to
understand what happens in our ADHD
brain when we start something new can
you guess what it is that's right every
time you start something new your brain
gives you a massive hit of dopamine
which keeps you engaged motivated and
focused on that task however when the
feeling of novelty Fades so does the
dopamine and you have to rely on
Willpower to follow through this usually
happens in our brains when we approach
week three
hello so how do we solve this well
chances are you've been approaching this
novelty issue from the completely wrong
angle you see Society nowadays is built
on the notion of hustle culture which
tells us to just try harder work longer
push it to the Limit simply drain your
brain of all this energy because that
way you'll get it done well what if I
told you that if we try harder we
actually work against our ADHD brain all
the while completely eradicating our
mental health why because with ADHD your
brain is wired for interest not
importance which makes it almost
impossible for you to force yourself to
do something your brain is kind of like
a Carefree Surfer it's always trying to
catch the waves and enjoy the ride as
much as possible so much so that it
doesn't hear you calling from the shore
to come and give you your surfboard back
and so if we try harder we fail from the
beginning we try to control the waves
which any Surfer will tell you is simply
impossible but how can we stay
consistent without trying harder it
almost sounds too good to be true but it
isn't let's dive into the strategies I'm
not exaggerating when I tell you that
everything changed for me once I learned
about our brain's spiky profile it's
almost never talked about but we adhders
aren't just really bad at things but
really good at things as well and the
catch is there's no in between it's all
or nothing for us you may be incredibly
creative but terrible at organizing you
may be a great risk taker but can't
focus on small details for the life of
you now a typical people are more even
they have their strengths but they're
also kind of all right at everything
because they're able to try harder right
but living with ADHD is like being a
photographer with a selective camera
lens you capture stunning photos and
specific settings but produce completely
blurred and unfocused ones in others we
have these huge Peaks and valleys and so
if you as the photographer don't know
why you're guaranteed to get low To
Mediocre results in the long run that is
unless you begin to play to your
strengths and Outsource your areas of
weakness whenever you can you have
permission to ask for help on your
weaknesses I'm going to repeat that one
more time you have permission to ask for
help on your weaknesses just knowing
that was a GameChanger for me because
even though we often feel like we're a
burden when telling people that we need
help if you think about it you're really
only looking out for everyone's best
interests if if you focus on what you're
good at I've now gotten to the point
where I no longer feel guilty for not
being able to do something because I
know about my Peaks and valleys which
has propelled me forward because I also
know where I should be focusing my
energy instead and so finding out what
your strengths are here are a few
classic ADHD strengths in case you're
unsure will massively increase the
enjoyment and longevity of your work
because it's also more interesting to
work on things you're good at you don't
have to force yourself AKA try harder
and so remember play to your strengths
and value your uniqueness in the work
you're doing and once you've done that
you got to make things even easier by
figuring out your processing modality if
you're trying to sustain something for a
long time chances are you need to
consume information daily even if you
don't realize it you're probably
learning every day especially if that's
something you're working on is new if
you have to do your taxes you may be
watching YouTube videos or you may be
talking to your tax adviser on what to
do but maybe you shouldn't be doing that
let me explain the preferred way each of
us learn and consume information is
different and if we don't know what
works best for us we're going to crash
and burn and throw in the towel a few
weeks heck a few days in guaranteed why
because again our brains are wired for
interest and certain learning styles
make topics either a lot less or a lot
more interesting for you independent of
what that topic is but what learning
styles even exist well in short we can
learn and consume information visually
watching this YouTube video for example
verbally like reading something
intuitively which is where you rely on
your subconscious mind to draw
connections emotionally listening to
your feelings conceptually which is when
you need the big picture very common
amongst adhders as well as auditory
listening to someone on talk tactile
which is through touch and lastly
kinesthetically which is learning or
consuming through physical activity
these are our different processing
modalities now chances are a few of
those immediately jump out at you if so
those are the ways you need to consume
and learn so you don't crash and burn
remember we can't do effort but it can
affect effort a lot if you're expected
to listen to someone for 2 hours if
you're a visual learner for example it
can feel like trying to watch TV with
your eyes closed you're just not getting
the
picture to find out what your preferred
processing modalities are if you don't
know yet just ask yourself what ways of
consuming makes things interesting and
fun for me are you more the podcast
listener or the Netflix documentary
Watcher do you need to talk to people to
really understand Concepts do you need
to watch a video you probably do which
is why you clicked on my friendly face
today hey thanks for being here consider
liking this video if you're liking it so
far if you know your processing modality
the obvious question arises what can you
now do with this information how can
this help me finish what I start let's
say you're a student and you're a visual
learner but your lecturer likes to
explain things verbally in that case you
now know that you need to find a YouTube
video to watch on your topic compared to
neurotypical people you really need to
personally I'm a visual learner which
which is why I also create videos on
YouTube I'm also a verbal and conceptual
processor because teaching you guys what
I learn really helps me internalize it
as well thanks for that by the way now
your learning styles won't be black and
white most of us are multi- Learners we
have a few favorite processing
modalities and so let me know which
modalities you identify with most in the
comments down below knowing these will
be a GameChanger in sustaining effort
especially if you're currently trying to
learn something new but this next
strategy will completely change the way
you work let's move on to the last and
most important strategy which is
sprinting instead of marathon running
more often than not we are sprinters and
not marathon runners when it comes to
work if you're working on something for
a longer time and want to stay
consistent you need to take this into
account but what is working in Sprints
actually mean and how do you do it it
means you work best in short bursts
which is which is why you need to set up
your work in a way that helps you do
that for instance with strategies like
the Pomodoro Technique it structures are
time into 25-minute intervals allowing
our brains to get motivated by that
feeling of urgency and then also reminds
us to take breaks I have a 3-hour
YouTube video which gives you six of
these intervals and is a great place to
start if you want to test this out for
yourself now let's remember what Dr
halwell said our brain has a race car
engine with bicycle brakes and so while
it can be difficult to stop working it's
also absolutely essential to not burn
yourself out brakes are one of if not
the most important part of being able to
finish what you start especially because
breakes make things New Again mind
blown you got to learn to trust your
Sprint phases which in turn also means
to take time off catching yourself when
you feel a bit stressed and taking a
mindful second toart pause and then if
necessary taking a bit of a longer break
my brain used to cringe at the thought
of a break as well like just sitting
there and doing nothing I couldn't bear
it that's physical pain right there that
is until I learned about fire breaks
shout out to Katie fredman for this one
a fire break still stimulates you but in
a different way it's an invigorating
brain break that helps you forget and
distresses you about your current
project it's doing something completely
out of the ordinary like switching up
environments listening to music taking a
drive it's about reorienting your brain
to help it regain a sense of novelty for
your task because you had a completely
different Focus for a few days I
actually recommend making a list of the
types of fire breaks you want to have so
you can always come back to them and
actually also schedule these into your
calendar for the week when writing the
script for this video I took a day off
by hiking into one of the most beautiful
nature reserves in Croatia and I came
back so inspired these pauses will help
you be more intentional about your work
which will make it even more interesting
fun and less exhaustive helping you
finish what you start and so just
remember to Sprint instead of jog
actually if you stayed until the end
here I have one more surprise strategy
for you this one wasn't only a crucial
piece in my journey of becoming hyper
consistent but it also allowed me to
finally start using my time effectively
and efficiently by freeing myself from
the constant ADHD paralysis and
procrastination if you want to know what
the strategy is and how it changed my
life click the link in the video
description to the next free video
breaking down exactly how you can apply
this into your own life in it we will
dive deep and you'll see exactly how
this strategy has the power to set you
free from procrastination and executive
dysfunction without having to rely on
any willpower and discipline
until then stay inspired watch this
video on my top life lessons and I'll
see you very soon
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