ADHD: How To Actually Finish What You Start (3 Easy Steps)

Summary

This 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

00:00

🔄 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.

05:02

🌟 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.

10:04

⏱ 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.

Keywords

💡ADHD

ADHD, or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity. In the video, the speaker discusses their personal experience with ADHD and how it affected their ability to maintain focus and progress on tasks. The video's theme revolves around strategies to overcome the challenges posed by ADHD.

💡Dopamine

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter associated with reward and motivation. In the context of the video, it is mentioned that starting something new triggers a dopamine release, which keeps individuals engaged and focused. The speaker explains how this novelty effect fades over time, leading to a decrease in motivation unless managed properly.

💡Hustle Culture

Hustle culture is a societal concept that promotes the idea of working harder and longer hours as a means to success. The video criticizes this notion, suggesting that for individuals with ADHD, trying harder can be counterproductive and lead to mental exhaustion rather than progress.

💡Interest vs. Importance

The video discusses how individuals with ADHD are more driven by interest rather than importance when it comes to tasks. This concept is key to understanding why traditional productivity methods may not work for them, as they are more likely to engage with tasks that naturally interest them rather than those deemed important by others.

💡Spiky Profile

A 'spiky profile' refers to the pattern of strengths and weaknesses often seen in individuals with ADHD, where they may excel in certain areas but struggle in others. The speaker uses this term to illustrate the all-or-nothing nature of ADHD, emphasizing the importance of leveraging one's strengths and seeking help for weaknesses.

💡Processing Modality

Processing modality refers to the preferred way an individual learns and consumes information. The video mentions various modalities such as visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning. Identifying one's preferred modality is crucial for setting up an effective learning and working environment, especially for those with ADHD.

💡Pomodoro Technique

The Pomodoro Technique is a time management method that involves breaking work into intervals, traditionally 25 minutes in length, followed by short breaks. The video recommends this technique for individuals with ADHD to maintain focus and productivity without overexerting themselves.

💡Sprinting vs. Marathon Running

This concept from the video contrasts the idea of working in short, intense bursts (sprints) with the more traditional, prolonged effort (marathon running). The speaker suggests that individuals with ADHD may be more effective in short bursts of focused work rather than long periods of continuous effort.

💡Fire Breaks

Fire breaks are a type of break that involves engaging in a completely different activity to refresh the mind and regain a sense of novelty for the task at hand. The video uses this term to describe a strategy for preventing burnout and maintaining interest in ongoing projects.

💡Executive Dysfunction

Executive dysfunction refers to difficulties in executive functions such as planning, organizing, and initiating tasks. In the video, the speaker mentions a strategy that can help overcome executive dysfunction, allowing individuals with ADHD to use their time more effectively and avoid procrastination.

💡Consistency

Consistency is the ability to maintain a regular pattern of behavior or action, which is a challenge for many individuals with ADHD. The video's strategies are aimed at helping the speaker and viewers achieve consistency in their work and productivity.

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