Your ADHD Summer School Project: Weird ADHD Hacks

When I’m coaching, I prefer not to hand out strategies immediately, because ADHD management is never a one-size-fits-all solution. That would be too easy. 

At the same time, I love me some examples of what works for other folks. I have vivid memories of moments when things suddenly “clicked” for me in school, such as when a teacher shared a student’s example of an assignment. Even though my assignment would look nothing like theirs, seeing an example helped me visualize what was possible for me and move forward. 

And so, class, for today’s lesson, I’m sharing some ADHD hacks that are currently working for me. Your assignment is to see if any of these examples spark an idea for you, and to notice what happens if you decide to try something different this week.

I’ll share my two gold-standard strategies right off the bat (for anyone who’s read my blog before, you know what’s coming): body doubling and talking out loud. Quick note on talking out loud: it has to be with the right person. If no one is available, I’m talking to myself or to my pet snails (their names are Escargot and Bear, and they are fabulous listeners). I will use body doubling and verbal processing until the day I die. My other strategies come and go depending on my situation and my ever-changing interests. 

So, without further ado, here’s a list of weird stuff I do to get myself going on something when all I want to do is avoid:

When the To-Do List Scares Me

1. Write each task on a Post-it note and stick them in a random cluster on the wall. Cover each Post-it with a new Post-it, and number them at random. I call my husband or a friend and have them pick a number, and I have to complete the task waiting behind that number. It sounds ridiculous, but I swear it gets me on a roll when nothing else is working.
2. Here’s another Post-it hack: I write one task per Post-it, using one color for work and one color for non-work tasks. I slap them on the wall in two groups, take a picture of it, and text that picture to a buddy. I tell them I’ll text them in x amount of time, and those Post-it clusters will look smaller. I feel that tasty little dopamine boost with every Post-it I rip from the wall, crumple up, and throw into the recycling.

The Messy-ass Room

1. Picking up a super messy room, or tackling a messy-ass desk (smartphone required; I steal my husband’s phone since I’ve switched to a dumbphone): Take a picture of the messy-ass room. Edit by drawing a grid over the picture, so the room is divided into small squares. Pick a square to start with and begin putting everything away in that small square. Watch yourself keep going. It’s like magic.
2. I promised weird things, and this one does not disappoint. This also requires a smartphone. Set up your smartphone to capture a decent shot of the messy area in question. Record yourself cleaning the area. It’s like body doubling with yourself. Whenever I feel myself getting pulled away, I remember the recording and stick with it. The reward is watching the recording back in fast motion. It is so oddly satisfying. 

When You Feel Like Hiding

1. When you feel like hiding…do it! This one came about during the lockdown days of Covid, when we were all pretty stir crazy and borderline nuts. I started dreading my home office. There was no coffee shop or library to escape to. So, I made my own Narnia. Mine was a space I had fixed up for the kids to use underneath the stairs, which they never used, so I made it my own.
   
   Narnia is for emergencies when nothing else seems to cut it. Home office Abby ain’t getting it done, but Narnia Abby ALWAYS gets it done. I set up shop in Narnia, and down there I use all the strategies that I know help me (I’m in my lucky shirt, my Time Timer, I’m co-working via zoom with my friend in 25 minutes spurts with 5 minute movement breaks, I have my protein-packed brain snacks and cozy pillow, and I’m kicking ass and taking names).
    
2. Okay, this one isn’t as much fun, but it’s key to everything for me. When you feel like hiding, NOTICE you feel like hiding, and do the opposite (aka The Costanza Method of ADHD Management). Your dopamine-starved ADHD brain is going to do ANYTHING to get you to avoid doing the uncomfortable thing.
   
   When I notice that icky avoidant feeling, I say it out loud, and I (very painfully) grab my phone and text someone about it, which usually kick starts the problem-solving process. This is often the first step in all of these hacks. 

Self-Care Hacks

1. Vulnerable disclosure alert: I hate brushing my teeth at night—the longest two minutes of the day. So I started brushing my teeth with my kids before their bedtime. It’s less boring than watching them brush their teeth for two minutes straight, and I know they’re doing the full two minutes; my toothbrush timer is on too. Sometimes we’ll walk to the basement and back upstairs again while brushing, which we’ve timed to take about two minutes. On a good night, I say no to late-night snacks because I’ve already brushed. On other nights, I’ll snack anyway, but I’ll do a quick once-over before bed instead of the whole two excruciating minutes.
2. My morning routine is my pride and joy. Allow me to show it off:
• 5:50 am: Alarm goes off, I take the meds on my nightstand along with a full glass of water (so I know I’ve drank at least one glass of water in a day), and go back to sleep.
• 6:00 am: Alarm #2 goes off in the bathroom, starts quietly, and gets progressively louder. I run to the bathroom to turn it off before it wakes up my kids.
• A checklist with my morning routine stares back at me. Item one = wash face. May as well, I’m already standing in front of the sink. Check the facewashing box, get the dopamine hit, and I’m rolling, baby!
• Next steps on my list: brush teeth, make tea, load of laundry, 10 minute workout, wake up kids, pick out clothes, shower (while listening to my favorite podcast, with timer in shower to remind myself that time is indeed passing, and an old lady shower bench in case I don’t feel like standing), breakfast with fam. I just love checking all the boxes on that little checklist. 

Ok, class, did any of these spark an idea for your ADHD hack? Take a moment to jot it down (because we can’t always trust our working memory), give it a try, and report back in a week. 

Grading rubric: “A+” if you tried something new, and talked or wrote about how it went. Maybe it worked, perhaps it was a bust, but you did a thing and learned something about yourself.