Jessica McCabe: ADHD and Creativity

0:00I'm so excited to talk about this. It's the first time I've ever spoken live about ADHD and creativity, which is hilarious cuz that's what I do for a living. Both. But who am I? He talked about it. But I'm a creative person with ADHD. I have created many things at this point in my life. I've created a YouTube channel. I have created a company, a New York Times best-selling book. Thank you, which I

0:23forgot to bring. Still have ADHD. You have a copy? Can I borrow it? I will sign. Oh, okay. If anybody has one I can borrow, I will put it here and I will sign it so hard. Oh my gosh. Thank you. Thank you so much. What's your name? Melissa? All right, thank you. All right, cool.

0:49Thanks. I have created songs, talks like this one, and I've even made a baby. So. But I I also really struggled, and a lot of people don't maybe realize the extent to which I struggled. But I've struggled with abandoned projects, with the guilt and shame of the money I wasted, and the time I wasted, and the people I let down. I told my sister I would make a baby

1:13blanket for her kid. 12 years ago. At this point I owe him a quilt. I don't know. But I've experienced and still experience a lot of self-doubt. Unfulfilled potential. I have an entire TED Talk about that. And burnout from trying to reach that potential in a way that was not okay for me. Basically, I get it. I actually started How to ADHD because I was burned out and because I was having such a hard time reaching my potential. Because I failed so hard to do it is why I decided I needed to learn about my brain and how

1:46I might be able to work with it. Since then I have developed a deep understanding of ADHD, of the creative struggle and the process, and of tools that can help. That understanding comes from my personal experience as a creative, um from ADHD research, and a decades worth of talking to other ADHD experts, other creatives, other people in the ADHD

2:09community all around the world. And I'm going to try and share it all with you in the next 18 minutes. My hope is that by the end of this talk, you will have one new tool in your creative toolbox, um feel more inspired to be creative in your everyday life, and recognize even better the ways in

2:28which you already are. So, first things first, let's get on the same page. Creativity is one of those words that we throw around a lot, but what do we mean by creativity? What is creativity? When we think of creativity, we might think of things like drawing and painting and writing a book. Anything else?

2:47Crochet? Yeah, crochet. What is it? YouTubing. Yes, YouTubing, making YouTube videos. Singing? Yeah, dancing. Yeah, a lot of creative expression, right? Yeah, problem solving. Danny's ahead of Danny, you have inside knowledge here. Yeah, creativity is actually broader than just creative expression. The research definition of creativity is the generation of ideas or products that are

3:12original and useful or valuable. That could mean a piece of art. It could mean creative expression. It could also mean a creative solution to a problem. Like when Dr. Patrick would count thought to put a sock on the doorknob of his front door to remind himself to change the laundry before he leaves. Creativity is not limited to artistic expression. It factors into

3:37troubleshooting skills, problem-solving. Creativity is also multi-dimensional. Um how many of you have heard of divergent thinking? Okay. So, that's one aspect of creativity that those with ADHD tend to be really good at. There's also others. Um Dr. Holly White, who is a researcher who specializes in creative cognition, has identified three types of creativity that those with ADHD seem to be better at than our neurotypical peers. One of

4:03them is divergent thinking. For those of you haven't heard of this, it's basically it's the ability to generate many alternative options to single open-ended problems, brainstorming multiple different solutions. So, there is one problem, you come up with 17 different solutions. And probably not intentionally or in any sort of organized way, divergent thinking tends to happen spontaneously and in a non-linear manner. Think shower

4:29thoughts. But there's also conceptual expansion. Conceptual expansion is the formation of new and unusual associations to existing concepts. Basically, loosening the boundaries of concepts to create new novel ideas. In this case, the concept of fruit. This is from one of the research papers by Dr. Holly White. Um, on the left is alien fruit that was created by the non-ADHD group. It looks like fruit, right? Wonky fruit, but fruit. On the right, it's still fruit. This is created by the not by the ADHD group. On the right is from the ADHD group. It

5:09still looks like fruit. Still has stems and seeds. It also has hammers and claws and tongues. Creative. And then finally, overcoming knowledge constraints. So, that is about resisting the constraints of prior knowledge. Ignoring what is already known to be true or standard, so you can come up with an original toy idea or a product that uh a name for a product that doesn't incorporate elements from other

5:41examples you've been shown. Um, these two concepts, by the way, are very related. Overcoming knowledge constraints is easier for those with ADHD largely because of our capacity for conceptual expansion. Together they represent my new favorite research term unconstrained cognition. Unconstrained cognition. I just I don't know, it's one of the fun things. Now you can tell people I have less constrained cognition

6:06because I have ADHD. To be clear, this does not mean that everyone with ADHD is more creative. That's not how research works. Um we are not a monolith. Also more research is needed. Not all studies agree. Creativity, it turns out, is a a difficult thing to measure. Um however, we can all create. We all do create. Which is

6:26good because creativity is important. Creative expression is good for emotion regulation. Um drawing your feelings can help you understand and work through them. Poetry and music and dancing and storytelling all give us somewhere to put our big feelings. Creativity also boosts dopamine. Have you ever made up a silly song just to get a toddler to put her pants on?

6:53It's amazing. Better than doom scrolling. Um hang on, let's make a list. Benefits of creativity. So, good for emotion regulation, boost dopamine. Creativity also boosts happiness. There are studies on this. I did not have time to find them. And creativity is empowering. As we create, we get better at creating. Um also coming up with a great solution to a problem or finishing a creative project

7:17that we can point to and say I did that. That's empowering. It's a factual reminder that we are capable humans for the days in which we forget. Um on my worst brain days, I can point to my book and say I did that. I did a thing. I can do hard things. Creativity also turns ADHD traits into strengths. Um traits that are sometimes seen as problems can be assets in creative context. Daydreaming might get you in trouble in class, but idea exploration, right? Impulsivity, taking

7:51creative risks. Hyperfocus, deep creative immersion. Fast thinking, hyperactivity, right? Rapid brainstorming. Sensitivity, emotional depths in art and story. So, why do we struggle if we're so creative? And we have all these strengths, why do we struggle with actually applying that creativity? What gets in the way? What gets in your way? Perfectionism. Yeah. Maybe we're stuck and unable to move forward with the thing you're trying to create because you're worried it won't be perfect. Or maybe you're stuck and can't move away from the thing you're trying to create because it's not perfect yet. Um rewriting the first three slides of your talk 17 times when you haven't finished writing the talk,

8:38that's perfectionism. Um perfectionism is related to anxiety, which about half of adults with ADHD have. Um anxiety is fear or worry out of proportion to the potential threat. Perfectionism is the fear of something not being right that is out of proportion with how problematic it would actually be. It's related to rejection sensitivity as well. Uh if it's perfect, nobody can

9:05criticize it, right? Um and rejection sensitivity stems from emotion dysregulation combined with actual lived experiences of getting things wrong and being criticized for it. So, it's understandable that we might be struggling with perfectionism. This is why I don't often cook even though I would like to. You can't criticize food I didn't make. How many of you have trouble getting

9:30started? Okay, yeah. Task initiation can be really hard in general for people with ADHD. If there's something that's wrapped up in your identity like your creativity, it can be even harder. Inertia is a thing. An object at rest tends to remain at rest. Um going from not doing to doing can be really hard, especially if you have ADHD because you probably also have shorter time horizons, which means the point at which something lands on your mental plate is something you should probably get started on is much closer to the deadline. And also creative projects often, unless it's what you're doing for a living, don't have deadlines. So, it's

10:03really easy for that to be even harder to get started on because there's so many other things in the way. Um Trouble finishing. I'm very good at starting crochet and knitting projects. I have not yet finished a scarf. Once the ooh shiny wears off, once the challenging part is done, once that all that's left is repetitive, lengthy, or boring, then there's my biggest struggle at the

10:31moment. I have a 2-year-old and I run a business. So, not enough time and energy, right? Sometimes it's because you're in a relationship. Sometimes it's because you're a parent. Um it's work-related, friend-related. For whatever reason, you don't have enough time or energy left at the end of the day. Um for some, there's the complication of chronic illness, uh not having enough spoons to get through the day, much less take on an extra project. And then sometimes you're spending what little time and energy you do have ruminating on how you're not spending your time or energy well, and if you were spending your time and energy well, then you would have time

11:05for the Yeah. Okay, I you do relate. I wasn't sure. Taking a risk on that one. Um but then of course there is too many ideas. Idea overwhelm. I see this a lot. I experience this a lot. Those with ADHD tend to be, again, significantly better at divergent thinking than our neurotypical peers. But we're no better at convergent thinking, which is narrowing those ideas

11:30down. If you're a great at convergent thing or sorry, if you're a great at divergent thinking, but you're not any better at convergent thinking, this is math, right? Like too many ideas, this happens. You probably have more ideas than you can possibly act on and as a result, idea overwhelm. So, what's a brain to do? This is my loot box toolbox. Word play is also conceptual

11:55expansion. These are strategies to support creativity I have collected over the years and decades of being a creative with ADHD. The ones I've chosen to include here are basically power tools. Very effective, many different uses. They're also not physical tools, more like strategies. So, I did my best to come up with physical representations

12:17of them.

12:24Fix. Do it badly. This will make sense in a moment. Write a shitty first draft. Try to come up with the worst possible idea instead of the best. I I love that there's a fan of the of the bad idea. That's great. Um idea maxing, I made up that word, but it's based on a really like really great strategy that actually exists of trying to come up with as many ideas as possible. Don't worry about

12:51quality, just go for quantity. Wrong answers only. Why? Why would you do this? If you want to create something that's good, why would you want to do something that's bad? These techniques work because perfectionism triggers idea evaluation before idea generation. You interrupt the idea generation process because you're trying to judge or edit or censor your ideas as you're coming up with them, which shuts those

13:20ideas down. How many of you start to tell somebody about a great idea and they're like, that's and you want to keep talking. Right? Like you feel shut down, you're not going to want to share. So, that that happens for us as well. Um creativity research shows that idea generation works best when judgment is

13:38temporarily suspended. Many ideas are generated. So, rather than trying to come up with the best idea, just come up with a ton. Probably there's going to be a really good one in there. Um or editing happens later. Separating creation and evaluation allows more original ideas to emerge. So, basically generate the clay before you try to shape the clay, and you'll have better clay, more clay to

14:02work with. There we go. That's my excellent terrible sculpture. Um limits. Creativity loves limits. Limits can help with convergent thinking. They can help us overcome perfectionism. They can also help with motivation. So, um this is what this is how I like to think about limits. Time, tools, and rules. Cuz it rhymes. It's easy to remember. But time, tools, and rules. These are three limits you can put in place. So, some examples, um time. I'm only going to journal for 5 minutes. Or I only have a week to get a video done. Or I can you know, that's actually how I started with YouTube. I can get as perfectionistic as

14:43I want about a video, but I only have a week. So, I can get as perfectionistic as I want as long as it's ready to post on Tuesday. That limit helps. Um tools. Make dinner using only one pot. Um write a song using only the ukulele and your voice. Or rules. For these slides, this was the rule. Simple text, same white backdrop

15:06throughout. And abstract art. Narrowing down the possibilities means you're less likely to get overwhelmed by choice, and then you can still be creative within those limits. That is a white backdrop, but we made it look like crumpled paper to evoke an ADHD coded canvas. As a result, we're proud of the slides and we finished them.

15:31And reward your creativity.

15:38Not just for finishing, for doing it, for doing the work. Why? For those with ADHD, smaller, more frequent rewards ideally as close to the action as possible are more motivating than bigger delayed rewards. I actually don't need these M&M's right now though because I find creating and giving talks on topics I'm excited about to people with ADHD intrinsically

16:02motivating. The reward of doing something you enjoy is immediate, which means it's going to be highly motivating for our brains. So, if you can, work on projects you enjoy doing, do that. But for the parts that aren't as enjoyable, adding extra incentive rewards, like giving yourself a sticker every time you pick up an instrument can be critical because the reward of finally being able to play the ukulele well

16:36feels too far away.

16:43Taking breaks. Okay, so there's a problem here. In my YouTube studio, I have the power of movie magic, which means I can put any prop I want in my toolbox and pull any prop out that I want. I do not have the benefit of movie magic here and the prop that I wanted does not

17:02actually fit in the toolbox. So, I asked for the help of an actual magician. Thank you, that was amazing.

17:16This is a kite. Um Thank you. He actually does really incredible magic. Um you'll see it in a bit. Um when you're struggling to create uh to finish a creative project or solve a critical problem, stepping away to do something like fly a kite feels like it makes no sense. It feels like you're doing something wrong because in our very productivity-focused culture, we are taught that you don't get to have fun until you're done. So, if you're stuck, if you're not done, why would you go fly

17:45a kite? But creativity doesn't work that way. Stepping away from a problem, from a project, gives fresh insight. Even a 5-minute walk. Go for a 5-minute walk. You might come back and realize, "I was working on the same sentence for an hour. It is not any better than when I started. Um I can

18:05move on." But you can also step away for longer. Many writers throw their manuscripts in a drawer for a month, go do other things, and then come back to edit because they have a fresh perspective. Also, time off from creating is critical. Not just taking a break from whatever it is you're trying to be creative about, but actually time where

18:27you're not having to create. Um people often think that when they get to quit their day job and do what they love for a living full-time, right? I get to create full-time. They're going to get so much more done. They're going to get so much more writing done or or painting or crafting or whatever it is. And usually the opposite is actually true. Despite the fact that they have more time, they're getting less creative work done. And it's because they're never off duty. They always feel like they're supposed to be doing the thing, and then that turns into procrastination, and it actually doesn't get done. So,

18:59having time where you're not allowed to create can give your brain space to a to uh generate ideas or um to feel that intrinsic motivation of like, "Man, I wish I wasn't at my my right now. I wish I could be at my easel." If you can be at your easel anytime, it's a lot harder

19:14to experience that. So, give yourself time off from creating, too. Other people.

19:29Most creativity, caveat, right? Most creativity is going to involve periods of deep work where you are alone. That is where the trope of the writer alone in a cabin in the woods comes from. Um it is important to carve out solo creative time for yourself. That said, most creatives don't create entirely alone. We use other people, we turn to them for collaboration, for inspiration, for body doubling, accountability, feedback, help help narrowing our ideas down, or in the case of my hotel room last night, um I asked Kira, "Hey, can I read these three slides to you and you tell me if I can move on?" Cuz otherwise, I'm not going

20:05to. And she did. So, the level of other people's involvement is that is right for you is going to depend on the project and how you like to work, but again, creatives don't work entirely alone. They typically do talk to other people or AI or rubber ducks or hand puppets. Does that make sense? Yeah? Okay, cool. Um I don't have time to get into each of these, but I want to point something out really quickly about feedback, especially given our struggles with rejection sensitivity. In case nobody's ever told you this before, just because somebody gives you feedback doesn't mean they're right, and it

20:41doesn't mean you have to take it. You are the creative. This is something I learned in Hollywood. It is up to you to decide which feedback is going to make your thing worse, which of it is going to make it better, or just different in the ways that they think it should be different. It's up to you to take the feedback and decide what to do with it, whether or not to

21:01implement it. But I have to share this really quickly because this somebody handed this to me. Inspiration Inspiration for a rainy day is a file that I created when I first started and stuff like this went into it. Somebody wrote, "Sorry to bother you, but I'm going to thank you every day that I see

21:18you." So, the days when I don't want to create, I can look at stuff like this and be inspired. Treating your ADHD. This is the last tool I'll talk about right now. Okay? A lot of people I actually probably do What time is it? Say it after. I don't have Yeah, okay. Um a lot of people worry that ADHD meds will hurt their

21:45creativity. Good news, there is research on this. Um and most researchers researchers have not found that stimulants hurt creativity in adults or children with ADHD. This might be surprising. It can definitely feel like it does. Um but what might be happening here Um I talked to Dr. Carolyn Lentz Purcell about this, a few other ADHD researchers. Um what can be happening is that we get used to our thoughts working a certain way and when that changes it can be disconcerting and our initial reaction is that's bad, not good, right? It's weird for us to have one thought and be able

22:22to follow it to its completion. Just not used to that, right? Maybe you're not used to being divergent in your thinking in a way where you can also follow through. Where you can chart a different path and then stick to it. We need more research here, but in the meantime there is more to creativity than coming up with ideas. It's about being able to communicate those ideas, flesh them out, execute on them and ADHD meds can help

22:48with all of that. If you do feel like meds are getting in the way of your creativity, um talk to your doctor about it and try to get specific about your experience because it is possible that you should be on different meds or different dose and then that can be addressed. So, here's a recap of the strategies I just talked about. Feel free to take a

23:06screenshot. Pick one. One new tool to try this week. Like actually pick one. Right now. Got one? Got one? All right. Um good, because your creativity matters. And that's not just because you might come out with more outside the box ideas. It's also because your perspective, your life that you've experienced, your communication style, even your struggles, all of these things contribute to you having something to

23:40offer that maybe no one else can. And that matters. My hope is by the end of this talk you would have at least one new tool in your creative toolbox, um feel inspired to be even more creative in your everyday life, and recognize the ways in which you already are. Let me know how I did. I'd love the

23:59feedback.