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ADHD Tips

You may be wondering if you have ADHD or you may already have a diagnosis. Here are some handy tips to help understand ADHD and make life a little easier.   

Table of Contents

What is ADHD?

ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) is a lifelong neurodevelopmental condition characterised by a consistent pattern of inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity. Signs of ADHD usually appear before the age of 12 and may affect a person’s ability to pay attention (inattentiveness), manage high energy levels (hyperactivity), and control impulses (impulsivity). These patterns may influence how individuals focus, manage tasks, and engage with their surroundings.

ADHD is highly heritable and often runs in families; it can be present even if no one has been formally diagnosed before.

ADHD involves differences in how the brain uses certain chemicals, including dopamine, which affects motivation, focus, and impulse regulation. Tasks that are new, interesting, urgent, or challenging are often easier to start and complete because they naturally stimulate the brain. More routine or low-interest tasks can be harder to begin, even when someone wants to do them.

  1. Inattentive – focus, organisation, and memory difficulties 
  2. Hyperactive – restlessness, fast actions, or fast thoughts (this can be internal, not just physical) 
  3. Combined – features of both 

ADHD Challenges

Please remember these are just a few examples. 
ADHD looks different for everyone. If your experience doesn’t match what’s described here, your experience is valid.

Finding Motivation
...particularly for boring, routine or maintenance tasks. This and other issues relating to Executive Function skills are very common in people with ADHD. 
Concentrating
...on mundane or repetitive tasks. People with ADHD can spend hours on things that motivate them or that they want to do. Some find it help to be in a noisy environments where others can find it the worst. 
Working memory challenges.
Some people with ADHD find it hard to hold information in mind. This can look like forgetting what someone just said, losing track of a task you started, misplacing items, or struggling with things like mental maths or reading an analogue clock.
Being Still
Fidgeting, tapping or having to get up to move around. You may find it difficult to stop working or to press pause on your brain’s activity. Being constantly on the go physically or mentally can lead to tiredness, fatigue or even burnout.
Impulsivity
For some people with ADHD, decisions can happen quickly, especially when emotions are high or something feels exciting or urgent. This might look like speaking before thinking, changing plans suddenly, buying things on impulse, or struggling to pause before acting. It can also show up as finding it hard to wait, interrupting, or choosing the more interesting task first.
Emotions
Emotional outbursts, shutting down or sensitivity to perceived rejection or criticism (known as Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria). Being very sensitive to perceived unfairness and injustice is also common.
Losing Track of Time
Wait, is it 3pm already? While one of the strengths of ADHD is that you can hyperfocus on interesting activities, hyperfocus can mean getting deeply absorbed in something interesting, which sometimes makes time pass without noticing. It can also be hard to estimate how long tasks will take, or how much time has gone by, so being late or running over on activities is common.
Sleep
Many people with ADHD have sleep difficulties, like taking a long time to fall asleep, waking during the night, or struggling to wake up on time. Sleep deprivation is common and can make symptoms feel stronger during the day. Medication can sometimes help by reducing restlessness and racing thoughts. Regular routines, daytime movement, and eating well can also support better sleep, but sleep will still vary from person to person.
Sensory Issues
You may find that you experience sensations (sights, sounds, smells, tastes and textures) in extreme ways. You may feel easily overwhelmed or want to take risks to get more stimulation. Sensory overload can cause mental shut down, irritability, over-reaction, emotional outbursts or impulsive actions. 
Tiredness and Burnout
Fatigue is a common experience for people with ADHD, even with enough rest. It often comes from the constant mental effort needed to focus and stay organised. Many people with ADHD spend much of their life masking - hiding or compensating for their ADHD symptoms to fit into school, work or social settings. It’s a strategy that helps you get by, but it can be exhausting. 
Relationships
All these challenges with organisation, time management, communication, emotional regulation, object permanence issues (it’s easier to forget items, people, tasks when there aren’t visual cues or prompts), and constant tiredness can strain relationships with partners, family members and friends. 
Work
ADHD can present unique challenges in the workplace, but with the right adjustments and support, you can thrive. You may struggle with time management, organisation and focus. On the plus side, you’re more likely to have some unique strengths like resilience, creativity and innovation, energy and enthusiasm, adaptability and flexibility. You are also more likely to be able to hyperfocus on creative tasks
Feelings of missed potential
Some things you have achieved have been easy because you were engaged, or felt rushed because you weren’t, leaving you feeling as if you have never done your best. Remember that success looks different for everyone. 

There are tons of ways to tackle these – check out the life hacks below!  

ADHD Strengths

Please remember these are just a few examples. 
ADHD looks different for everyone. If your experience doesn’t match what’s described here, your experience is valid.

Empathy & Insight

Many adults with ADHD develop strong empathy and awareness of others’ feelings, often because they’ve had to navigate challenges of their own. This can make them thoughtful, supportive friends and colleagues.

Spontaneity & Adaptability

Having ADHD can make people more spontaneous and help them adjust quickly to new situations, which is really useful in fast-paced settings.  

Multitasking & High Energy

A lot of people with ADHD can do brilliantly in busy places and are great at juggling multiple tasks at once. Their high energy and knack for changing things up fast can really help when quick decisions are needed. 

Creativity & Innovation

People with ADHD often think and solve problems in a creative way called divergent thinking. This helps them come up with more unique ideas and creative answers than people who process in a typical way. They are also able to spot links that other people might overlook – super helpful in areas like art, design, music, and writing. 

Hyperfocus

One of the challenges with ADHD is in staying focused. The flip side is that when something catches your interest, you are able to zero in on it and be totally absorbed. When this happens, you can get a lot done and handle tough tasks easily. A lot of creative people have ADHD, which helps them practice their skills for hours without taking a break. 

Plenty of people with ADHD have gone on to achieve great things. Their successes don’t remove the challenges that come with ADHD, but they demonstrate what’s possible when environments and support systems work with people’s strengths. 

Grab Some Life Hacks!

Some of these strategies may seem a bit weird and friends and family may give you a funny look when you try them, but if they work for you, then that’s what counts!  

Focus and Task Management

A morning routine can make a huge difference to the start of the day and can literally be life changing. 

For example: 7:00 get up → 7:05 coffee → 7:15 exercise → 7:45 shower → 8:00 breakfast → 8:15 teeth → 8:20 get ready → 8:30 leave the house for work.

Breaking the morning into timed steps can make the start of the day smoother.

Pick tools that you’ll actually look at. Some people prefer paper planners, wall calendars or written reminders because they stay visible. Others find digital calendars and reminder apps more convenient. Use whatever helps you keep track of tasks and deadlines.

Bright sticky notes, reminder cards, and mind-mapping can help keep information in sight and easier to remember. These tools are useful for organising ideas, planning projects, and highlighting priorities. If you prefer digital options, free mind-mapping tools like Coggle and MindMeister work well. 

25 mins work, 5 mins break, repeat 3 times, then break for longer. Improves focus. https://pomofocus.io/. Some people may find they can only focus for 5-10 minutes to start with – that’s OK. 

Use a spelling or grammar checker like Grammarly, or try “rubber ducking”, where you explain your work or problem out loud to an object like a rubber duck to help clarify your thinking. 

Background music, particularly classical or instrumental, can really help some people with ADHD maintain focus. 

Rewarding yourself in some way for completing tasks or doing things on time can be very helpful in creating additional motivation. 

Having someone else in the room (be it virtual or physical) can really be helpful, particularly with mundane tasks, or tasks you have been putting off for a long time.   

Apps such as Loop, or journals, can be helpful to show you what you have done and give concrete proof of achievements.  

Other Strategies 

Regular exercise increases brain dopamine levels. Set an alarm, start small and use a motivational tool like the couch to 5k app to help boost the rewards of doing exercise. 

Focus on whole foods like fresh fruit and vegetables, nuts and seeds, eggs, poultry, fish, pulses, whole grains, and dairy or unsweetened alternatives. Ultra-processed foods, sugary drinks, and sweets can cause energy crashes, so keeping them low can make a noticeable difference.

Recognise and challenge negative self-talk (e.g. I’m a failure). Identify how you judge actions or mistakes related to ADHD symptoms and recognise that they’re part of the condition. Working with your brain is far easier than working against it. 

Focusing on strengths can really help to offset the negative impacts of ADHD e.g. forgetting to do things, letting people down, not remembering what people have said. Try this short strengths questionnaire. The questionnaire may help you find out more about your strengths.

5 minutes of positivity at the start of the day can work wonders. List 3 things to be grateful for. 

There’s nothing quite like spending time with people who understand you and are having the same challenges. 

Remember that progress moves at different speeds. Many people with ADHD need the pressure of a deadline to finish tasks and that’s when most of the work is done. You might not have half the work done at the halfway point and that’s ok!  

Getting Assessed

If you’ve been referred for an ADHD assessment but not yet been seen, here’s some of what to expect. An ADHD diagnosis is made by a healthcare professional with experience in ADHD and is based on ADHD symptoms which:   

 

  • Have been present for at least 6 months  
  • Started before the age of 12  
  • Happen in at least two settings (e.g. home and work/college)    
  • Cause significant challenges with friends/family, studies or the workplace  
  • Aren’t better explained by a mental disorder (e.g. post-traumatic stress) 

 

If you are diagnosed, you will almost certainly be offered medication, which many ADHD individuals find helpful. The process of increasing the dose slowly (known as “titration”) may take a few months.  

Other Support 

The key is finding what works for YOU. Don’t struggle alone – support and strategies make all the difference.  

Resources for People with ADHD

Remember that not everything you read on the internet is true or helpful, but these sites contain lots of useful and practical support information for people with ADHD! 

CNWL Adult ADHD Website
CNWL are one of the NHS Mental Health Trusts in North West London and their website has loads of information. Their recorded webinars are also really helpful
Visit the Website
Additude Magazine
Lots of helpful articles and resources. 
Visit the Website
ADHD UK
A helpful UK-focussed website, by people with ADHD for people with ADHD.
Visit the Website
ADHD UK - Access to Work Information
Some very helpful information about the Government’s Access to Work scheme which can help with free coaching support and funding for reasonable adjustments to the workplace.
Learn More
ADHD Adult UK
They run a regular podcast and a Discord server which has some useful areas such as Body Doubling (working quietly alongside other people to help with accountability). 
Visit the Website
CAAS' Resources for Adults
A North West London charity, set up to support local people with ADHD and autism. 
Visit the Website
Inflow
Their blog contains lots of short articles on ADHD. 
Read the Blog
Russell Barkley’s YouTube channel
Loads of very helpful (quite scientific) information on here from an expert. 
Watch Here
Think ADHD
Lots of useful articles about the real-world impact of ADHD. 
Read Here

Recommended Books

How to Thrive with Adult ADHD by James Kustow. Vermilion Publishing. If you have, or suspect you have, ADHD, or you simply feel stuck – drowning in half-finished tasks, unhelpful habits and a perpetual feeling that you can’t seem to ‘get it together’ – then this book is for you.  

The Smart but Scattered Guide to Success: How to Use Your Brain’s Executive Skills to Keep Up, Stay Calm and Get Organized at Work and Home by Peg Dawson and Richard Guare. Guilford Press. Not specifically targeted at ADHD, but a brilliant book with loads of strategies to make you less scattered and stressed.  

How to ADHD By Jessica McCabe. A guide to working with your brain, not against it.