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By Kennedy Chinn

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Reading a long article is hard for individuals with ADHD, so here’s how you can find what you’re looking for. The list of advice is under Strategies. How and why these strategies work is in the section above it, Types of Tasks. An explanation of why ADHD becomes challenging in university is in “Why Am I The Only One Struggling With This?” and University is The True Revealer.

“Why am I the only one struggling with this?”

In recent years, increased awareness of ADHD has led to further normalization of the disorder. This normalization is both beneficial and harmful–on the upside, undiagnosed individuals are more likely to seek treatment. On the downside, constant discussion and frequency at which “successful” individuals come forward with their diagnosis can make the disorder seem less debilitating. 

Individuals with undiagnosed ADHD into adulthood often learn to overcompensate at a cost to their mental wellbeing. For example, an individual understanding that they have a tendency to be late to events (and not yet knowing it is a part of a disorder) may overcompensate by showing up significantly in advance to safeguard themselves from their own mind. This sounds ideal, right? But constant compensation is draining.

ADHD used to be seen as the disorder for hyperactive boys getting distracted by squirrels out their classroom windows. It used to be seen as a personality trait, or a personal flaw. Now, individuals with undetected ADHD find themselves asking: why is everything so much harder for me? Why isn’t everyone else struggling as much as I am? Or, worry they’re just lazy, since they’ve gotten this far without anyone noticing. 

Despite the diversity in ADHD symptoms, a shared feeling of constantly struggling with everything remains persistent. Individuals may question why they put off doing their laundry but rearrange their house in a sudden burst of energy. Or, why they only started seeing signs when they got older–or started attending university.

University is The True Revealer

Everyone falls flat on their face in their first year of university. It’s a completely new experience–no punishments for skipping, no teachers to hold you accountable, no in-class work time–even when you think someone is functioning well, something is slipping. University is hard for everyone. But it is especially difficult for people with ADHD.

A study at the National Library of Medicine found that only 15% of young adults with ADHD held a four year post-secondary degree, while 48% of the control group did. (Source 1, Source 2)

 This statistic is alarming. A lack of ADHD individuals within higher academic institutions or careers that require post-secondary education means not only a decrease in diversity, but less of a chance that active accommodation will be advocated for in these positions. This creates an effect similar to survivorship bias–ADHD individuals in a position to advocate for change either have the privilege to do so, or their symptoms aren’t as severe. Therefore, those with severe ADHD fall even further behind, as they are not the ones speaking about their struggles. 

There is no easy solution. But there are strategies. 

Types of Tasks 

ADHD individuals struggle with starting tasks, sticking with tasks, stopping tasks, and organizing them. Which, of course, involves basically everything that ever has to happen. Advice is tricky to give when ADHD impacts everyone differently–and becomes even more challenging when considering each task needs different advice. Because of this, I’ve divided tasks into two categories: Momentum Tasks and Start and Stop Tasks.

• Momentum Tasks: These are tasks that you have to complete in a single sitting or two, or requires significant set up and take down to work infrequently. For example, painting a room requires moving out furniture, putting tape on the wall, and actually painting it—it’s easier to complete this in a day so you can avoid having to set it up again. Another example is deep cleaning a room, as it would be inconvenient to sleep in the pile of boxes you emptied on top of your bed. This also includes tasks that require you to be “in the zone” for.

• Start and Stop: These are tasks that you can pick up and put down, or are meant to be completed in a short period of time. These tasks can include responding to emails or going through flashcards. This is any task you find you need frequent breaks from or can be completed quickly.

Distinguishing these is beneficial for time management. If a task is a Momentum Task, it’s probably not the best idea to start it an hour before leaving for class. A Start and Stop task, however, may fill that time. In general, Momentum Tasks should be done with a clear schedule, or at least when there is less of a time constraint. Start and Stop tasks are exhausting to do repeatedly, and can be completed during breaks. Your tasks may not fit neatly into a single category, but it helps to consider the structure of the task itself.

Key note: ADHD makes keeping good habits hard. Strategies may stop working after some time. Forgive yourself for this. Try not to think of habits as something you must maintain forever, and rather as a streak. For example, trying to workout every day may work for a week or so but slowly you get busy, or the motivation dies… then suddenly you stop working out at all. Then you don’t start again, because the idea of doing it every day becomes intimidating. Make your goal keeping the streak going for as long as you can. 

Strategies

This is divided into two sections: Career and Lifestyle. Career covers anything school or work related–studying, time managing, etc. Lifestyle covers anything related to health, cleaning or wellness. Each category is further divided by what you struggle most with.

Career

Studying for The Thing

1. Bring flashcards EVERYWHERE: You can read the heading—10 minutes to kill waiting for your bus? Flashcards. 5 minutes before your class? Flashcards. Waiting in line? Flashcards. This way, you’re not only getting more repetition, but you’re learning to recall information in a space that isn’t the classroom, so you’ll have an easier time when you get into the testing centre.
   1. Bonus: Be honest with yourself—are you more likely to get distracted using your phone for flashcards? Or are you less likely to use the flashcards if you have to remember to bring them? Either way has its benefits and downsides. Flashcard apps have the benefit of looking casual, but physical flashcards don’t have Plants vs. Zombies. 
2. Make it fun: Give yourself something that you use solely when you study. Maybe it’s a flavour of tea you only drink, a type of gum, background music, a highlighter, a pen—whatever it is, make that special. Whenever you crave what you associate with studying, it becomes a little more exciting to get back into it.  
3. Pretend you’re a prof: Grab the lecture slides and an empty study room! Try to teach the lectures from memory! Anywhere you find you stumble, read up on it, then explain it again. You may look like you’ve gone crazy, but it helps to find any gaps in learning. 
4. Explaining it to yourself: If you can’t explain it, you don’t understand it. It’s that simple. When looking over your notes, explain them using little to no overlapping words between that and what the professors use. This forces you to get to the core of what you’re actually studying.
   1. Bonus: Make the notes stupidly easy to understand. I’m talking ridiculous. If you need to remember someone from history that wears a big hat, calling him “Big Hat Guy” next to his name in your notes may be useful for you. 
5. Baseline/basic knowledge: Create a simple timeline or bullet pointed list of how something progressed, then slowly add in more and more details as fit. ADHD brains have a hard time with putting steps in the right order, but if you have a baseline, it makes it slightly easier to figure it out mid-exam.
6. Do the work NOW: Write down everything you remember from that lecture right after class. Take 3 minutes to do it. Even if it’s poorly written, or just a list of odd facts, the act of attempting to recall the information will strengthen your memory. 
7. The Boogie Board: If you find that writing and rewriting by hand helps you remember, but you run out of paper—the Boogie Board (or an equivalent knock off) helps with this. Once you click the button, the notes you wrote will never return. Re-writing a definition fifty times has never been less wasteful!
8. Lie to yourself: Pretend what you’re doing is so cool! Pretend that you’re in the Legally Blonde (2001) cast, or in Whiplash (2014) with ambition and a terrifying teacher. Pretend you’re an 1600s scientist doing secret experiments in the pursuit of knowledge! If that doesn’t work, pretend you’re in a 2000s movie and your mom won’t let you rehearse with your emo band until your homework is done! The possibilities are endless. If your brain won’t let you do something unless it’s fun, then lie to yourself until it’s fun. It’s insane, but it’s effective.
   1. Bonus: You can even go a step further and dress for the part. I wouldn’t recommend doing illegal experiments, though. 

Managing The Thing

1. Sort tasks by energy level: Sort your tasks by the amount of physical and mental energy they take. A physical task is anything that gets you up and moving but doesn’t require a lot of brain power, while a mental task is the opposite. For example, if you start your day off with the mental task of studying, you can take a break by doing the dishes. This way you can avoid burnout while still getting things done.
2. Calendar apps/checklists: “Get a checklist!” Is the advice you’re probably sick of hearing—but the trick is to find a calendar app that has a built-in checklist. The things to look for are: ability to move tasks around, ability to order the tasks chronologically/by importance, and an easy ability to add tasks. A traditional checklist gets scary when it lists everything you have to do. A traditional calendar doesn’t have the support for minor tasks such as ‘send email’ or ‘take clothes out of dryer.’ This way, you can add tasks like booking time off your calendar—you can put a chore on a day you will have the energy and time to do it, that way it isn’t hanging over you constantly. Many apps fit this, for example Structured, an IOS and Mac app.  
   1. Bonus: Non-monthly calendars are good if you struggle with deadlines at the beginning of months. If it’s the 28^th and you have something due on the 3^rd, that’s 6-7 days… not a month from now. 
3. Syllabus Spreadsheet: Every syllabus is formatted differently. It takes a moment too long to find a deadline—and suddenly you’ve forgotten what you’ve just opened your phone to do. Here’s the tip: Write out all the due dates for all your classes in one document. No more navigating 12 pages of policy to find out if something is due today or tomorrow—just see the first date on the list. It also allows you to see when you’ll have overlapping due dates easier, so you’ll know what to start early on.
   1. Bonus: This is easily achieved in Google Sheets or Excel. If you put the date it’s due in a column beside the title of the assignment in an acceptable format, and then click on the downward arrow at the top of the sheet (Labeled A-Z), go down to “sort A-Z” and it will automatically sort it by next due date. You can also colour code it!
4. Give your pet a treat before a daily task: Need to take some kind of medication at the same time everyday? You may forget, but your pet won’t. Give them a treat or feed them right before you take it. Then, you have a loud, moving alarm that won’t leave you alone until you get it done!

Prepping for the Thing

1. Assignment Outlines FIRST: There’s a slim chance you’ll remember everything you’re supposed to include in an assignment after reading the outline. Put each requirement in highlighted brackets in the document you are doing the assignment in. Once you finish that section, remove the highlighted text. You can also use these requirements as document headers. Doing this first means it’s less likely to miss something when you close the outline. This may look like the following, but can be adjusted accordingly depending on the project:
   1. [Dissection on the first reading] [Connection to the second reading] [Conclusion]
2. Different deadlines: Set two different deadlines–one you tell your employer, and one you tell yourself. Tell your employer you will get a task done by a day that’s a few days after the time you plan on getting it done. This way, you either get it done early or on time, and you have more flexibility. 

Starting the Thing

1. Do it stupid: It’s easy to get wrapped up in the perfectionism of a task, and thinking about the amount of energy required to start gets overwhelming–so here’s an idea: do it poorly. Start doing the work, and make a minor or sloppy mistake. That could be messing up a flashcard, putting ‘worst version’ on the first draft of an essay or doing a question wrong. If perfectionism is paralyzing you, mess it up early so you feel more comfortable. 
2. Make it easy: Similar to the previous tip, but instead of messing up, you start with the easiest task possible. Make it almost embarrassing that you are unable to do something. If you’re putting off reading a paper for class, tell yourself you’ll only read the abstract. Once you do that (and even if you only do that) it’s easier to continue with the rest of the task.
3. Set Your Watch AHEAD: Setting your watch behind a few minutes works great for the first week or so. Then, you remember it’s a few minutes behind, so you slowly start feeling more comfortable showing up later and later… and suddenly you’re back to being late with a watch displaying the wrong time. Setting your watch a few minutes ahead forces you to do the opposite—plan to be early. The stress remains. If your event is at 9:00, your watch will show 9:05, so you’ll force yourself to show up when it shows 8:55 just to be safe, making you a whole 10 minutes early.
   1. Bonus: If possible, try to set it at an uneven number (ie. 3 minutes and 35 seconds) so doing the “my watch is 5 minutes ahead” math becomes less straightforward. 
4. Habit chaining: Habit chaining refers to adding a new, desired habit onto an already established routine. For example, if you consistently brush your teeth before bed, but want to get better at deleting screenshots from your camera roll, doing those tasks around similar times will help make it routine.
   1. Note: I recommend keeping tasks with similar mental energy together. If you need to build a habit of something you constantly procrastinate, tying it to a task may cause you to avoid both. When this works, it’s great–just don’t add too much onto a habit or routine, or you’ll risk breaking it. 
5. Torment playlist: Have a song you hate? Perfect. Put that into a playlist of other hated songs–and don’t let yourself turn it off until you’ve started your task. Because nothing, absolutely nothing, is worse than listening to Dance Monkey by Tones and I. 
6. CD Player: If you like to listen to music while working but get distracted changing songs and making playlists, get a CD player. Burn your playlists into a few discs. This way it is harder to change or repeat a song, and you’ll be less likely to be distracted.
   1. Bonus: You can also have dedicated CD’s/playlists to a certain task or time! 

Sticking with the Thing

1. Square brackets: Square brackets were mentioned above for structuring, but you can also use them to jot down an idea to come back to later. If you were on paragraph two of an essay and have an idea for paragraph five, go a few lines down and summarize that idea in square brackets. This way you don’t forget the idea, but also can go back to where you currently were. 
2. Distracted sheet: “Distracted sheets” are similar to TikTok’s “Yap Sheet” where an individual writes down everything they want to tell the other person, and then they discuss it after they get their work done. This is just like that–but on your own. Remember you have to text someone back? Jot it down. Want to Google the cost of replacing your broken phone? Jot it down. Now you can remain on-task without abandoning your train of thought.
3. Phone lockdown: There are a few ways of doing this. First, you can give your phone to a friend or roommate and tell them to hide it until you’ve completed your work. You can also install a screentime app that locks your phone for a certain amount of time–either way, try to get off of it!
4. Having a separate space to do work: Having a separate space to work–whether requiring a commute or even just being a dedicated corner in your dorm–can help you remain locked in. Getting up and being distracted by something else becomes a little less likely.
   1. There’s a contingency. Having a separate space, especially a public space or one that requires commuting may cause procrastination, since starting work becomes more of a hurdle. Proceed with caution!
5. Getting a watch: On the subject of phones, having a watch reduces the amount of times you check your phone for the time. Even unintentionally, there’s a chance that you will pick up your phone and get distracted by a wall of notifications. Having a watch also allows you to check the time without having to pull your phone out of your pocket–which may be needed when you have your hands full!
6. Non-negotiable rules: The moment you make a small exception for a rule you set for yourself is the moment it falls apart. So, try and keep the habit for as long as possible–and make that goal achievable.
7. Noise cancelling: Complete sound blockage will keep you from getting distracted or overwhelmed by sounds in your environment.
8. Timelapse: Film a time-lapse of your study session. Suddenly, taking four snack breaks in less than an hour seems less enticing… and it’s rewarding to rewatch at the end!
9. Barricade the Room: With fire safety in mind, don’t let yourself leave the room until you’ve gotten through X amount of chapters. At the least, make it more challenging to leave. That may mean putting a locker lock on your door (and giving your friend the code) or putting a weighted blanket on your lap.
10. The Angler Fish Method: Invest in a headlamp. Seriously. It creates a spotlight of where you need to focus. Cleaning your room has never been easier—turn off all the lights, and the headlamp will eliminate any potential distractions around you. If you don’t want to purchase one until you know if it will work for you, try having your laptop or tablet on full brightness while you sit in the dark. It’s unbelievable how well this works. 

Finishing the Thing

1. Scary Timer: Have a timer set that makes a very loud and unpleasant sound when it goes off. Now, tell yourself you have to finish the task before the alarm goes off.
   1. Bonus: If you start the timer and task in the middle of the night, make sure the alarm is loud enough to wake the other residents. The fear of waking the rest of the household may be worse than the fear of an unpleasant sound.
2. Pomodoro Technique: This technique is quite popular, so this will remain brief. The Pomodoro Technique is where you do a task for 25 minutes and then take a 5 minute break. This repeats four times, and then you get a longer break of ten minutes. If you find that your task is exhausting and requires rest, this is a good idea.
   1. It also allows you to tell yourself “okay, I’ll do this side task in x number of minutes,” since you’re already planning on breaking during that time. 
3. Deal with the hard task first (while you have the interest): This doesn’t inherently apply to tasks you may be procrastinating (as stated above, avoiding a task becomes easier when it is scarier to start) but rather strong and sudden interests. If you have the motivation in the beginning and know you are likely to lose it later, do the most boring part of the task first. This way you can stumble downhill until you complete it.
4. Make it a Tutorial: While this is primarily something you do during a task, talking to yourself out loud as though you are making a tutorial for the task you are working on prevents you from missing details. Sometimes when something becomes routine, making sure you don’t make any dumb mistakes is hard.
5. Buy a Time-Locked Safe: Put a treat or reward in a safe with a timer and work until that timer goes off. They are around $30-$50 but can have many purposes. You can use this to lock your phone, medication (so you’ll know you didn’t double-dose), or anything that may be a distraction.

Lifestyle

Health

1. Big water bottle: Having a large water bottle prevents you from having to fill it up as often. Which means it’s easy to constantly drink out of it. It is also useful to have a water bottle with a straw–taking a sip only takes a second, and you’re less likely to spill on your laptop after forgetting to put the lid back on.
2. Fridge magnets/whiteboard: Write out everything you have in your fridge, and everything you can make out of it.
3. Dinner Menu: Work from a “menu” of dinners. List all of the dinner options you can reasonably make, and at the beginning of the week pick 2-4 to make (and eat the left overs on the other days). After deciding, you can make your grocery list based around this menu and plan.
4. Prep Proteins: Cooking ground chicken, beef, or other meats/proteins in bulk is useful to reheat for quick meals. The hardest part of cooking is already done. Throwing in some vegetables makes it a salad, putting it in a tortilla makes it a wrap…you can have variety without dirtying a lot of dishes.
   1. Bonus: Burger patties (of any kind) are smart if you are worried about expiry dates. These can be frozen and easily reheated without losing a lot of quality, and you can “mash” them for the ground version of the protein.
5. A Sharpie on a String: Put a sharpie or dry erase marker on a string beside your fridge. Highlight, underline, or re-write the expiry dates on the package so it’s easy to see and remember. Putting the sharpie on a string or magnet means you won’t misplace it or use it for another purpose.
   1. Bonus: You can write the day you opened an item on anything that says “Use for only 2 weeks after opening” or similar. You can also write the day you prepped or made the food. 
6. Yes, You Can Buy the Pre-Cut Fruit & Salad: If you wanted apple slices as a snack, that means you have to wash the apple (and clean out your sink while you’re there) and then cut the apple (wash the cutlery, clean the cutting board), put it in a bowl (more dishes on the pile)…and suddenly you’re eating handfuls of chocolate chips. While pre-cut fruit is pricerier, you’re more likely to eat it. Besides, if you let the fruit or vegetables go to waste, it’s spending money.
   1. Bonus: If fruit is out of your budget, frozen fruit works just as well for a little less of a cost. This can be microwaved or just eaten frozen–still tasty.
   2. Double Bonus: “Salad kits” are a game changer. They are pre-cut, bulk bags of a variety of vegetables. Sometimes they also include salad dressing. You can pull them out of the fridge, mix it with your proteins, and a healthy lunch appears with no effort.
7. A staple that doesn’t expire: Stock up on canned or just-add-water foods (oatmeals, soups, mashed potatoes) so when you can’t go grocery shopping you have other options than spending money eating out. Water activated foods are especially handy if you have a kettle, and even have options such as chicken teriyaki and pasta!
8. Buy the same groceries every time: This is similar to the “Dinner Menu” tip, but if you consistently buy the same items you don’t have to think about budget, amount, what to make etc. as much as you normally would. 
9. Don’t move anything you’ll forget: If you need to use something in multiple places, get a duplicate and leave it there. Need a laptop charger for work? Buy one for your office. Keep forgetting the lip chap in your coat pocket? Get a few and put them everywhere you may use them.
10. Recurring purchases: Somehow, the process of running out of shampoo and remembering to add it to your grocery list seems impossible. If you order online and set it as a recurring purchase, you don’t have to worry about this anymore. Set the date to arrive slightly before you run out.
    1. Bonus: if you don’t want to order online, try to buy this as a staple every week when grocery shopping. In the example of shampoo, buy a travel sized bottle that will run out before your next trip. That way, it forces you to get into the routine of getting it every time, rather than trying to remember if/when you bought it last.
11. Electric toothbrush w/a timer: Two minutes in a plank is hell, two minutes on your phone feels like nothing–why trust your perception of time when it comes to brushing your teeth? An electric toothbrush with a two minute timer lets you completely zone out while brushing your teeth. 
12. Lamps on an automatic timer: You’re running late. You have all the lights on in your apartment–lamps, ceiling lights, bathroom fans—you have no time (and don’t remember) to turn them off. Putting all your lamps on a timer saves you both your electricity bill and bulbs.
    1. Bonus: If you love candles but know you’ll leave an open flame, get a candle warmer! They still work for scented candles and usually have a timer built in. It’s also less of a hazard if you have pets, small children, etc. 
13. Early wake up? Prep it now: If you aren’t a morning person or have an irregularly early morning the next day, prepare everything you need to do in the morning the night before. Put tomorrow’s clothes at the foot of your bed, textbooks in your backpack, breakfast in the fridge–do everything you can to make it as easy as possible for yourself. Less chance of being late, less chance of calling out sick. 

Cleaning

1. Clean the shower while you’re in it: It’s easier to pick up a squeegee and sponge once or twice a week and clean the shower while you’re in it. You can keep the water running, and don’t have to worry about making the task a big deal.
2. Invite a friend over: Invite a friend to hang out at your house in the near future. You may not clean for yourself, but you will clean for a friend.
3. Scary Music & a Headlamp: Headlamps have become quite the staple in this list. Turning off the lights in your house, putting on intense music makes it feel like you’re being chased–perfect! You’ll clean a lot faster.
   1. Bonus: An alternative to the headlamp is using a flashlight, or cleaning at night time with few lights on. 
4. Dedicated “day” to cleaning: Plan for a “cleaning day.” Put it in your calendar. Arrange it as though it is a day trip somewhere. Prep food, a checklist, everything. Make it seem like a holiday. Then, once the day hits, it’s easier to clean.
5. Restrictive Timers: This advice has been thrown around a lot. The best way to utilize this is to set a timer slightly under the amount of time something will take you, and complete it in or before that time.
   1. Bonus: If you can’t treat timers as law, set a stopwatch and try to beat your highscore. Maybe even text a friend, and end up in a competition with them. 
6. Allotted Timers: You may have heard the saying ‘work will expand to fill the time allotted,’ used in a negative way. But you can utilize this. Set a timer that’s a long amount of time (but not so long that you would need to take a break) and work for the entire period. Don’t let yourself do anything else. If you have to spend the whole time cleaning, you have to keep picking up new chores until the timer runs out.
   1. Bonus: Don’t worry about spending this time ‘productively.’ As long as you remain cleaning, it’s okay. Even if you’re reorganizing the spice cabinet with laundry to put away.
7. Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Keep this in mind when creating organization systems! If you can’t visibly see something, you will forget it exists. Drawers are your enemy. Stick to having transparent bins. Labels are an option, but there’s a chance you’ll put something where it doesn’t belong.
   1. Bonus: You can use this to your advantage. Anything sentimental but distracting you can hide where you can’t find it–but maybe make a note of where you can find it for later. 
8. Make the things to clean impossible to avoid: If putting something away will only take a few minutes, but you know you won’t have time to, then put it somewhere you can’t avoid. If a poster falls off your wall and you don’t want to hang it up, put it on your desk. This way you have to clean it up before you use that space.
   1. Note: Be careful about how much this may pile. In the example of the desk, if you know you have to put up the poster before you get work done, you’ll be more likely to ‘freeze’ and procrastinate said work. Make sure these things will only take you a minute or two to do.
9. Library System: Have a whiteboard or sheet of paper where you mark or write down when you last moved something you don’t use too often. Like taking out a book at the library. This may be things like Christmas decor, guest room items, cold medicine/thermometers, etc. 
10. No-Fold Laundry Systems: Look into getting a “No-Fold Laundry” system set up for yourself. It consists of pull-out bins that you can safely place your clean laundry into, instead of hanging it up.
11. Different Laundry Bins: Speaking of laundry, sort your dirty laundry into two or three separate baskets. You can sort it by pants and shirts, lights and darks, house clothes and outside clothes etc… Then, when you’re running out of shirts, you can wash the “shirts” bin. And you don’t have to sort through it!
12. “Cleaning Show”: Have a long and engaging show to put on while you clean. Here’s the twist–you can only watch it while you clean. This works best if the episodes leave you on a cliffhanger, so you’ll always want to clean more.
13. Look up “Life Hacks For Moms”: Look, if your brain sounds like a five year old on a sugar rush, you might as well learn to treat it like one. So perhaps unsurprisingly, “life hacks for moms” is an effective way to learn how to make your life more manageable.
14. Get Rid of Closet Doors: If you’re cringing at the idea of someone seeing into your closet, this is for you. This ties into the ‘Out of Sight Out of Mind,’ but not seeing into your closet means you have the incentive to shut the door and ignore the mess. Having no doors on your closet not only means you can see into it, but you’re less likely to lose the items in there. 
15. Be distracted: Let your mind wander while you clean. Put on some music and think through your thoughts while you work. Even if you’re paying half attention to the task, get it done. 

Spending

• Money or Item? Before you decide to impulsively spend something, ask yourself if you would rather have the money or the item. If you would prefer the money, don’t buy it.
• Item or Something Else? Adding onto the last advice, if you are having a hard time visualizing the money you’re spending, think of 2-3 other things you could spend it on. Is it still worth it to purchase?
• Purchase Decision Flow Chart: If you search “Purchase Decision Flow Chart” or “Should I buy this chart” online, you will find a long list of questions that guide you through the process of deciding whether or not to purchase something. These may be a points system (ie. if you answer ‘yes’ it’s 1 point, and once you get to 5 you can purchase it) or a flow chart. Questions asked may include If I had to move out in a hurry, would I take it with me? and If I lose my job, will I regret it? 
• Rounding down the numbers: This is mostly applicable to smaller, novelty purchases, but after a paycheck you can only spend rounding down to the nearest zero. For example, you may have $235 in your account, and spend $35 that week, saving the other $200. If you’re on a tighter budget, you could even only spend $5. Mentally rounding down to “exact zeros” takes both the spending guilt away and allows you to feel confident with the money you’re saving.
• “Chore Chart:” We all want stickers, even as adults. List the chores that are mostly one-off or occasional goals (ie. call to book a dentist appointment, text that friend you haven’t spoken to in months, update your resume, do taxes, etc.) and give a small, monetary reward for it. This is now your completely “free” spending budget. Treat it like a gift card–have fun.
  • Bonus: Money rewards for these tasks can vary, depending on the number of tasks on your list, your income, budget etc. But when combining it with the other tips it may become less effective if it’s not a lot of money. If you’re “Rounding down the numbers,” and have a $10 budget that week, but your tasks are a $5 reward… it feels less tempting. However, if you have only 2-3 tasks on this list at $20 each—it’s more worth it. 
  • Double Bonus: Never ever tell yourself to go over budget and “do the task after.” You won’t. We both know you won’t.
• Accept the Allowance: No one is perfect when it comes to spending. Instead of feeling an absurd amount of guilt over buying an Iced Capp for the second time that week, and telling yourself you will never spend money on treats again—give yourself a small allowance. Then, tell yourself you must spend that money. This way, you don’t feel bad when you spend it, but you also don’t think about overspending.
  • Bonus: You can even limit these treats/rewards on certain days. I.e., only getting coffee before your 8am class on Tuesdays and Thursdays. 

Social/Relationships

• You don’t have to say you have ADHD: Open communication and honesty is good in close relationships, especially since ADHD plays a huge role in them. However, you don’t always have to say the things you do are because of your ADHD–here’s an example. If you forget something at work, saying “Sorry, I have ADHD” can be met with judgement from coworkers. But if you say instead “Sorry, I have a bad memory” it tends to be less divisive.
  • Note: It is important to ask for accommodations and communicate the fact you have ADHD. This isn’t to say you should hide your ADHD or feel ashamed over it, but sometimes it just… causes conflict. Sometimes even attributing mild mistakes (even if they are a real symptom of ADHD) can make it seem like you are undermining the severity of the disorder itself. Ask yourself if it’s worth it to explain everything about ADHD.
• Find ways to explain yourself: ADHD traits can be hard to explain to someone who doesn’t have it. After all, how do you explain being completely frozen on your couch, scared, ashamed and unable to move for hours–all because you have to take your laundry out of the dryer? There are a lot of places that describe ADHD to people who don’t have it. Don’t be afraid to borrow from those when others ask.
  • Bonus: Here are some examples
    • General explanations: “It’s like having to carry a handful of marbles, but everyone except for you gets a bag to put them in.” or “It’s like running a race but you’re the only one with ankle weights on.”
    • Procrastination: “If I told you I would give you $500 to put your hand in boiling water, your brain wouldn’t let you do it, no matter how badly you want to.”
    • Mental noise: “It’s like having 5 theatre kids in your head at once, each one starts singing a different song the moment they hear something vaguely related to it”
• “Remind me to say ___:” Instead of going on a rant when you interrupt, you can tell the other person something along the lines of “remind me to say something about _____ once you’re done.” It’s a win-win, because now you won’t forget what you were about to say and you can listen to the other person intently.
  • Bonus: If this is during a meeting, you can also write down a key word or two in a notepad so you can remember what to say. Technically, you can also do this in day-to-day conversations, as long as you tell the person in advance what you’re writing down.
• Mental Parroting: If you’re in a really important conversation, repeat each word they say in your mind. You may take a moment to respond, but at least you’ll stay on track.
  • Note: Try this on a normal, not crucial conversation first. Sometimes this can lead to meta-focusing–where you focus more on not being focused than paying attention.
• Solo Alphabet Game: If you’re bored, but can’t look bored, play the alphabet game in your head. When someone says a word that starts with “A,” you can then listen for a word that starts with “B,” and so on. While you may not be the most intent listener, you’ll find you will understand more than if you just let your mind completely wander. 
• Mark a message as “unread”: Instead of avoiding reading a message because you don’t want to respond, mark it as “unread” if you aren’t going to respond immediately. The message will still have the notification, so you’ll know you have to get back to them.
  • Bonus: You can also do this if the message has a ‘task’ attached to it. If your roommate asks you to “add toilet paper to the grocery list,” you can mark it as ‘unread’ until you do that.

Mental Wellness

• You do have to mope sometimes: Especially with ADHD, emotions can be all consuming and stick with you for the whole day. If moping isn’t a complete option, set a timer for a few minutes and tell yourself to experience all of that emotion for the entirety of the time period. After that, it feels at least a bit more manageable. 
• Brain dump before bed: Everything you think, want to do, have to do–put it all in bullet points or simply write it down. You can revisit it in the morning, or just use it as a place to vent out the day.
• Don’t fear “Cutting the Lawn with Scissors”: Accept the fact that doing things “wrong” or “inconveniently” may be the best for you. Sure, cutting the lawn with scissors will take awhile, but if maintaining a lawnmower seems like a more intimidating task then do the former.
• Doesn’t have to be pretty: Similar to the previous advice, but having your things neatly placed in minimalist drawers and containers may not be doable for you. For example, if putting away your shoes in the closet each time you get home only causes you to forget you put them there (if you remembered to), it may be better to have a shoe rack by the door instead. Sometimes, organizing a mess is better than trying to maintain organization. 
• Telling yourself when it will be over: When it’s late in the day, a task that you’ve been putting off is weighing on your mind and you know it’s easier just to get it done, and yet you find you still can’t start–you can make it less intimidating. Saying this will take me 5 minutes, it is 10:35, so I will be done at 10:40 makes starting less fear inducing. 
• Set a timer to relax: Treat relaxing like it’s a task as important as getting things done. Instead of falling into the trap of “not working but not relaxing,” setting an exact timer for relaxation might be of use. Anytime the productivity guilt forces itself into your mind, you can say that you must wait until the timer is over. 
• Be honest with yourself: There’s no sense in pushing through a life you cannot do, and will feel bad about when you can’t maintain. 
• You have limited priorities: It is well known that everyone has different goals. But it is less-considered that the amount of goals one can have is limited. For example, if someone’s top priority is staying in good shape, of course they’re going to be in good shape! If your top priority is your studies, then maybe it’s worth reconsidering comparing yourself to them in that regard.
  • Bonus: Writing your top priorities out and reminding yourself of them may be useful.
• Future you is still you: You aren’t going to magically change. You aren’t going to suddenly wake up with perfect motivation, the skills, the attitude, etc.–do the thing you’re waiting to be “better” for now, and see where it goes.
  • Bonus: No, seriously. While it isn’t an excuse to avoid self improvement, you have to be honest about what you can really do. If you can’t maintain a beautiful spice cabinet now, you probably can’t later. Don’t try and trick yourself into waiting to become an unrealistic ideal before you make your life attainable.
  • Double Bonus: This is worth considering when it comes to careers as well. For example, if you currently don’t have the energy to be on your feet 24/7, reconsider picking jobs that require this. Otherwise you’ll be exhausting yourself.
• You can have that easy job: It sounds counterintuitive to say to someone with ADHD that they don’t inherently have to have a job they enjoy–we can’t do something unless we enjoy it! Having a secure career that allows you to appreciate your hobbies on the side is perfectly okay. It doesn’t have to define you.
• Pick your poison: While this advice works universally, this is especially essential for ADHD. Choosing a career is challenging with so many interesting options. Take a step back from passion to consider what would be a hard no-go in a job. Is it workplace politics? Is it constant sitting down? Is it repetitive, unchanging? Is it physically demanding? From here, you can narrow down what you’re actually willing to deal with.
  • Bonus: This can be used to make many choices. If you find yourself overwhelmed with the amount of things you enjoy, narrow down what you don’t like. Would you hate cleaning out a coffee maker after making one cup? Would you hate having to style your hair every morning? Now, your options are more clear.
• Think in a different accent: This one is strange, but it does work! If your brain is moving too fast, or you find yourself ruminating on self depreciation, try thinking in a different accent. It distances you from your thoughts, and lets you process them in a slightly hilarious way.
  • Bonus: Pretending your anxious thoughts are another person makes it easier to ignore them. It’s even easier if they sound distinctly different. For example, maybe the thought that all your friends secretly hate you is being said by a southern conspiracy theorist who blames everything on aliens. Easier to analyse, easier to detach from. 

Conclusion

ADHD is a disorder for a reason. It can consume your life in ways that a list of symptoms fail to capture. While online resources made by non-professionals (such as this one), may be useful, please consult a certified individual for a diagnosis. These tips can help individuals without ADHD as well, and none are one-sized-fits-all. With that in mind, finding a professional who can tell you to wear a headlamp while working is unlikely. Having a strong support group of other ADHD-affected individuals, licensed professionals, and close relationships goes a long way in learning to manage it. 

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Sources

• (1) Kuriyan AB, Pelham WE Jr, Molina BS, Waschbusch DA, Gnagy EM, Sibley MH, Babinski DE, Walther C, Cheong J, Yu J, Kent KM. Young Adult Educational and Vocational Outcomes of Children Diagnosed with ADHD. J Abnorm Child Psychol., 2013 doi: 10.1007/s10802-012-9658-z. 
• (2) “Supporting Students with ADHD.” Campus Mental Health, https://campusmentalhealth.ca/infosheets/supporting-students-with-adhd/#:~:text=What%20makes%20ADHD%20difficult%20in,with%20which%20these%20students%20struggle