

Time administration and group have by no means come naturally to me. When life turned unmanageable—a relentless since my second baby arrived—I seemed to the consultants. Not as soon as did I consider listening to my very own rhythm and physique. Productiveness, I believed, was one thing to grasp, not one thing to know.
Then I hit a wall.
I used to be uninterested in feeling like this, so I finished preventing my very own nature. I finished taking productiveness recommendation from individuals who don’t have ADHD.
For years, I had been making an attempt to contort myself into somebody I wasn’t—structured, disciplined, and neatly organized. An individual who may comply with a system designed for a mind that didn’t work like mine. Why had I ever believed I may handle my time the identical manner they did?
The shift was refined however modified the whole lot. I’m unstuck, not languishing, shifting forward with function. I do know I’ll get caught once more, however I additionally know this: I’m achieved chasing options that have been by no means meant to work for me.
At the moment, I’m sharing what does work—how I get issues achieved with out draining myself within the course of. As a result of after we work towards who we’re, burnout isn’t a risk. It’s a assure.
Notes on Productiveness, Relaxation, and Worthiness
A notice on productiveness.
I outline productiveness as doing what I stated I’d do—for myself, for others—in a manner that is smart for my life. I spent two years making an attempt to heal burnout by “resting,” solely to really feel worse with every passing day. Seems, relaxation isn’t simply stillness. Some sorts of relaxation are energetic, and studying to revive that modified the whole lot.
A notice on relaxation.
Completely different sorts of relaxation comply with completely different sorts of productiveness. Understanding what you want means realizing your limits. Making an attempt to operate like somebody with out ADHD solely pushed me farther from these alerts. ADHD brains want several types of relaxation—emotional, psychological, inventive, bodily, passive.
I don’t recharge by watching TV. I recharge by studying, cooking, taking lengthy walks, and practising Pilates. To outsiders, it’d appear to be I’m all the time going, however this type of motion restores me. Typically, organizing a junk drawer is self-care. Different occasions, it’s a warning signal. After I’m mentally drained, TV helps. After I’m emotionally overwhelmed, it makes me really feel caught. Studying the distinction modified the whole lot.
A notice on worthiness.
We’re taught to measure our price by what we produce. A part of my midlife journey has been rejecting that, untangling my worth from my output, and specializing in making slightly than measuring. In case you’re within the thick of that, this submit will not be what you want right this moment.
Your price just isn’t your work. However making—creating, shifting, shaping one thing from nothing—is an expression of you. It’s life-giving. It’s confidence-building. It’s the factor that may pull you out of a spiral earlier than it takes maintain. After I began honoring my interior drive to create, productiveness stopped being one thing I chased. It turned the pure results of discovering my circulation. Momentum, not depletion. Creation, not extraction. And that modified the whole lot.
After I began honoring my interior drive to create, productiveness stopped being one thing I chased. It turned the pure results of discovering my circulation. Momentum, not depletion. Creation, not extraction. And that modified the whole lot.
Dwelling with Limitations, Each Psychological and Bodily
I’m a working mom with hobbies, a social life, and a deep appreciation for night time’s sleep and every day bodily motion. I don’t wish to give any of that up. So, I settle for that I don’t have lengthy, uninterrupted stretches for deep-focus work like I used to.
I additionally settle for that generally I don’t know if I want relaxation or momentum. The one method to know is by tuning into my physique, and that requires emotional regulation, which can be laborious to entry once you’re overstimulated.
My means to entry my most “productive” self is proscribed and never constant. Understanding I’m not all the time going to make the suitable alternative helps me discover some grace slightly than falling right into a disgrace spiral. I used to make my incapability to get issues achieved imply one thing about me as a human being. We don’t do this anymore. Some days I may give myself what I want. Some days I simply mess up. Life goes on.
Attaining optimum productiveness on daily basis is unrealistic. After I do yoga, my physique can really feel fully completely different from someday to the following. Brains are like that too. There are occasions when work and life really feel like an uphill battle. Switching duties feels tougher than it must be. And there are seasons the place effectivity simply isn’t within the playing cards—accepting that has been key to discovering a manner by.
As a result of I don’t have hours to ease into focus, I’ve needed to hack my system. In doing that, I realized three important ideas that assist me get issues achieved with a neurodivergent mind: simplicity, urgency, and momentum.
Right here’s how they form my every day life.
3 Rules I Comply with for Improved “Productiveness”
Precept 1: Simplicity
I keep easy methods for capturing concepts, documenting duties, and organizing all the above. The secret is that the processes are straightforward to repeat and the whole lot is simple to entry—nothing is ever too sophisticated. That is paramount.
I take advantage of the Notes app and Reminders app on my cellphone in addition to Notion to save lots of concepts and duties. I additionally write issues down on paper as a result of I’ll by no means be a completely digital particular person. The mind processes handwriting fully in a different way than typing. Except for Notion, the apps on my cellphone are VERY easy and straightforward to make use of.
I take advantage of the bucket system for digital recordsdata (and bodily objects in my residence), one thing I first realized about from KC Davis, creator of The way to Preserve Home Whereas Drowning. I take advantage of digital buckets to prepare recordsdata on my laptop in these classes: To-Do Lists, Writing, Enterprise Initiatives, Content material Creation, Household, Our House, Studying, Finance, Psychological Well being, Cooking, Journey, Bodily Well being, and Purchasers.
Precept 2: Urgency
These of us who’re deeply conversant in procrastination realize it’s a nasty behavior that “works” as a result of we get issues achieved as soon as we really feel the strain of time. Nonetheless, I found that once I procrastinate and rush to get the whole lot achieved rapidly, I really feel like my work is missing as a result of I don’t have time to apply deep work and get all my concepts out. To interrupt the cycle of procrastination, I must create my very own urgency. This precept comes into play through the timer I take advantage of (extra on this under).
Precept 3: Momentum
With any motion, I’ve lengthy identified the toughest half is getting began, which is why creating momentum is so essential. As a result of transitions are so troublesome for individuals with ADHD, the precept of momentum retains us going.
To create my every day momentum, I carried out a morning routine that’s pared all the way down to the fundamentals and prioritizes essentially the most difficult factor first. I stand up, brew espresso, and sit all the way down to work instantly. This creates a pure inflow of dopamine that may carry me by the day. I used to meditate and stretch earlier than attending to work, and now I do it after I end one thing that takes a variety of focus. I really feel superb and able to sort out something once I use momentum like this.
4 Productiveness Instruments I Swear By
For a similar causes I’m a fan of utilizing pen and paper, I like bodily instruments that aren’t on my cellphone. Listed below are the 4 I all the time have at my desk.
1. Keep on Monitor Planner: This planner helps me plan the main points of every week.
2. Timer: That is for practising the Pomodoro approach and for simulating and creating urgency and constraints. I’ve three of them.
3. The Brick: The Brick blocks choose apps on my cellphone for a set period of time. Having a bodily device to restrict my digital entry is essential for me. Brick wins for its simplicity.
4. Apple Headphones: To lock in and tune out. White noise, sound bowls, EDM, rap. Doesn’t matter what it’s so long as I can’t hear what’s happening round me.
I additionally flip to a couple choose assets and other people for recommendation on productiveness:
My Work Routine
On Sunday night time or Monday morning, I mind dump the whole lot into my Keep on Monitor Planner—duties, concepts, and notes I’ve collected all through the week in my Notes and Reminders apps. Then, I take advantage of the Eisenhower Matrix to kind what’s pressing, what can wait, what will be delegated, and what’s simply noise. I hate planning, however I’ve realized that pushing by this step makes the whole lot else simpler.
When it’s time to work, I take my brick and timer wherever I am going—whether or not it’s my workplace, the eating desk, or a espresso store. I placed on my headphones, choose a job, and set a timer: 25 minutes for small duties like emails and captions, 45 minutes for deeper work like writing and design. The timer retains me from falling into perfectionism (which is simply procrastination in disguise).
I additionally set agency bodily and digital boundaries. My cellphone stays out of attain, my texts are on mute, and if my workplace divider is up, my household is aware of I want uninterrupted time. It’s not good—children nonetheless stroll in—however it helps everybody be extra aware about what pressing truly means.
On the finish of the day, I ask myself: Do I must push by or name it an evening? If I really feel like ending my to-do checklist will show I “labored laborious sufficient,” I am going to mattress. If wrapping up one final job will assist tomorrow’s momentum, I give myself 30 extra minutes. No inflexible guidelines—simply tuning in.
I used to make my incapability to get issues achieved imply one thing about me as a human being. We don’t do this anymore. Some days I may give myself what I want. Some days I simply mess up. Life goes on.
The Energy of Discomfort
I not take ease without any consideration as a result of I understand how laborious easy issues will be. I used to attend for the right circumstances to write down—now I jot issues down in the midst of a grocery retailer. I comply with ease when it presents itself.
However discomfort is all the time there.
When huge tasks really feel overwhelming (howdy, writing a e book), I take into consideration Phil Stutz’s string of pearls idea—progress is simply including one small motion at a time. Some pearls aren’t nice, however the level is to maintain including them. Getting began is 80% of the battle, and resistance by no means absolutely disappears.
Over time, I’ve come to understand the ache of doing laborious issues. It’s stripped my ego from productiveness and proven me the meditative energy of merely doing. The ache of making comes from caring a lot that we’re afraid—and that’s stunning.
We don’t must boss-babe our manner again to hustle tradition, however perhaps we swung too far within the different course. I do know I did. Now, I consider self-care as self-respect: How can I make decisions right this moment that honor what I care about most?
There’ll all the time be elements of the method we hate, however the extra we do them, the higher we get at pushing by. And in doing so, we convey what we deeply care about to life.


Kate is the founding father of Wit & Delight. She is presently studying find out how to play tennis and is endlessly testing the boundaries of her inventive muscle. Comply with her on Instagram at @witanddelight_.