ADHD Productivity That Respects Your Body & Brain

0:00Hello brains. If you haven't seen my video confessing how I often neglect myself in order to be productive, you can check that out here. Um something kind of revolutionary occurred to me recently, which is what if we don't have to? Like what if we can be productive and even have productivity hacks that are actually good for us,

0:18that are kind to our brain and our body. So, I put out a post asking you, the community, for your best productivity hacks that are actually kind to your brain and body, and you delivered. I think there were like 283, there were 283 comments to that post. I have not read through them yet because I wanted to be able to react to them live and give my thoughts. That's always fun and terrifying, mostly fun. So, my team dug through, curated some some that were really cool and outside the box, and some that were just really good tried and true advice, and I'm about to read through them. So, let's see. I am very

0:54curious what you came up with because I don't think I've ever seen a post like that. I don't think I've ever seen somebody focus specifically on what's going to help you be more productive that is also going to help you be well, that is also going to help you as a human, that is going to be kind to you, that is going to be kind to your brain, kind to your body. It feels like you have to choose, right? Be productive or be able to take care of yourself. What if both? So, let's find out. An old man who was diagnosed with autism late in

1:20life gave me this advice some years ago. Imagine what you're going to do 5 seconds from now. Not in a motivational, I can do this way, just as a sort of mental buffer. Like, if you're having trouble standing up, imagine standing up in a few seconds. Mentally replay it if needed, if you need a little extra loading time. Does that make sense? I'm not good at wording things and I don't Yes, you are. This is great. I really, really like this. Oh, I forgot to mention you can also break the action into smaller ones if full one doesn't work. Like, if you can't stand, imagine moving one leg instead. I really like

1:48this so much because it taps into something that people with ADHD tend to be really good at, which is imagination, creativity. It's similar to what I do in the morning, I shared in this video, um, when I want to get out of bed, but I can't get out of bed, which is like move a little bit at a time, like move my

2:04toes and then my feet and then my knees. And once my whole body is moved, then it's easier to move. It is very kind to yourself because it's not asking yourself to do anything. It's just asking yourself to imagine doing the thing and then that kind of paves the way to being able to do it. I like this so much better than the brute force with which we often try to do things. Like, I need to do this thing, so I'm just going

2:25to like whip myself into shape, right? Like I'm just going to be hard on myself and like make myself do the thing and that kind of gear grinding, forcing yourself to do stuff, it takes a toll. Like we might get the thing done, but at what cost? And so I really like things that completely eliminate the cost. I talk about sometimes like laying down the tracks in advance, that can make it a lot easier to do things. Anything that makes productivity easier and more effective is great because now we're reducing stress, we're reducing friction, we're

2:54greasing the wheels as uh, as Dr. Patrick O'Count would put it. Really love that one. Basically I use a timer, but I also assign myself a role. Like for the next 5 minutes I will be my own office assistant, agent, accountant, etc. Whichever role handles the task I keep putting off. Keeping the timer to a short number is essential. That makes sense. Keeping the timer to a short number because you can't like pretend to be your own accountant for like 4 hours, probably. Like that novelty would wear off. I like this so much. It reminds me of Encanto, there's a scene where, um, Bruno talks about how, oh, he doesn't

3:28handle this, that's this person and he doesn't do this, it's this person, but he keeps just like changing costumes. He's got like a bucket on his head and like something to spackle. And I forget exactly why, but he gave reasons for why like these other people handle these things and I think one of them was that he was scared. He's like, "No, no, no, like that's too intimidating for me, but this person can handle it." It makes it less stressful, it makes it less daunting, it makes it more fun. I feel like play is something that those of us with ADHD tend to really need. It's definitely something that I

3:59need. I'm guessing it's something that you need, too. But, we're told that we can't have it because we haven't gotten our work done. Being reminded that we can play as we work is helpful. We don't have to wait until we're done with work to play. We can be playful as we work and often in ways that are going to help us work. I feed my cats treats at the same time I'm theoretically supposed to be taking my night meds. They will make me aware it is time to take my meds in a way my alarm has never been as effective about. This is something that I really

4:30like and came up in a recent conversation with somebody that I was doing a one-on-one call with. This idea that we can pair a habit with another habit that we already have is something that's often recommended in ADHD circles. If you struggle to take your meds, brush your teeth and have your meds right there so that while you're brushing your teeth, you can take your meds. If there's something you do every day and that is wake up, um pair the next activity with that so that it's not like floating in the ether. You You're

4:56not having to remember to do the habit. anchored. It's tied to another habit. We are often much better at taking care of other people than we are ourselves or our animals than we are ourselves. And so, by tying a habit that takes care of us to a habit that takes care of someone else or something else, that would work really well. So, you might forget to take your meds, but your cat's not going to forget that they're getting their treats, right? I kind of want to extrapolate that to something that's work related. Like, when I sit down at my desk, I drink a glass of water. I am

5:28doing something productive, but I'm pairing that with something that is good for me. Body doubling is huge for me. Just having someone to talk to on the phone while doing dishes or friend help me clean. Even a podcast on while I'm organizing. Enough distraction from the ick and much needed socializing and friend time. Really good point and actually embarrassingly not something that I had really considered. Body doubling is something I talk about all the time because it is often easier for us to get things done if there's a sort of gentle accountability that comes with having somebody else in the room. The way I think I put it in my book is body

5:58doubling works because if you didn't do something, someone will know. And if you did do the thing, someone will know. And that can be really helpful in getting the thing done. But it it is also meeting an important need, which is human connection. I'm like actually embarrassed that I had not put that together. [laughter] It speaks to like, I don't know, society and the state of ADHD that everything is so focused on, "Hey, you're struggling to be productive? Here's how you could be more productive." We forget that

6:30meeting other goals is important, too. We struggle with self-care. We struggle with getting enough social connection. This like extreme emphasis on productivity that I am also guilty of, by the way. Like, I like being productive. I like being empowered. I like getting done what I want to get done, and it makes me feel good about myself, and it makes me feel empowered, and it provides for my family. I like being productive, and I think I'm at a point in my life where I'm no longer willing to do it at my expense. I make an incredibly long to-do list every so often and leave it on my desk. It's

7:04mixed with urgent items, less urgent items, and items I would love to get to. If dishes get done and I'm locked into clean mode, I can check what tasks my brain will latch onto next, urgent or not. If I spend the next half hour purging socks with holes from my drawer instead of sweeping next, so be it. For me, it's easier to look at a list than to try to come up with something on the spot. It's essentially separating thinking of what you want to do from trying to do it, especially if, like me, working memory is a relative area of weakness for you. Working memory, I have

7:32a video about it here. It's our ability to hold information in our head while we work with it. I especially like that not even worrying about categorizing properly that list, just get everything out of your brain. I call it a brain dump. It first of all eases the cognitive load of we're trying to hold all of this stuff in our head. Then when we have the energy, when we have the time to go do something, we don't have to put ourselves on the spot and be like, "Ah, I've got 10 minutes to do

7:55something, but like but what?" Externalizing is one of those things that's just generally recommended for people with ADHD. Really anybody, right? Like if if you're trying to hold your entire schedule in your head, unless you've got very little going on, it's going to be hard. There's a reason why people use digital calendars. A common thing that I hear in the ADHD community is, "If it's not in my calendar, it doesn't exist." I've used a lot of different tools over the years to help me externalize anything from bullet journals to to-do lists, just, you know, writing down everything on a on a piece

8:23of paper to project management systems. XTiles, by the way, sponsor of this video, is really good for that. I've talked about XTiles before, how great it is for quickly capturing information so you can quickly dump information out of your head. You can use it as a second brain. It's a great place to just dump everything out of your brain, organize it in a way that you need. There even templates you can use if you don't want to start from scratch, and then you can customize the templates to whatever works for you. Most of what I would say I'm using it for right now is creating a

8:52space where I can put all the things that I want to do when I have time to do them. Like make my life more doable or find and create joy. I did a video earlier in the year on the 2026 bingo. I put my 2026 bingo card in there. Whether you use XTiles or something else to help externalize your brain, I think it is really an important thing to do because it will help us be more productive cuz we'll be more likely to do the thing because we will be more likely to remember to do the thing cuz we don't have to remember, it's there. Somebody

9:20else is holding that information for us. Dump it out on a piece of paper. Dump it in your bullet journal. Dump it out in XTiles. Put it somewhere that is not your brain. You can check out XTiles using the link in the description. Huge thanks to them for supporting this channel and for helping us work with our brains, not

9:33against them. Opposite of your brain-heavy tasks, I love listening to cleaning / decluttering podcast while I clean or declutter because it keeps my brain on task in a way that doesn't make me feel guilty. I like this because it's it's kind of body doubling and kind of scaffolding. Anytime we're trying to learn or grow, having the support in place that we need to do that can make it easier to do. So, having a cleaning or decluttering podcast on makes sense because maybe you're getting some guidance as you're trying to do the thing. There's some There's some scaffolding, there's some support so that you're not having to try to figure

10:03out how to clean a bathroom by yourself. Like there's somebody cleaning along with you. There are tasks that are brain heavy. This is a way to lighten the load. I work from home on my computer and something that really helps is changing positions often. I have a huge Pilates ball I can bounce on, a standing desk, and will also often be on the couch, too. Sitting in an office chair, however comfy and supportive it may be, and mine is, for hours on end, doesn't do it for me. The Pilates ball is great for meetings if your co-workers can

10:25stand you going up and down the screen. Couple of benefits there. One is moving your body is good for your body. The other is that moving your body to a different position can spark new thoughts, can get you out of a rut if you're stuck, can give you a break so that if you're hyperfocusing on something and you're maybe like going over and over and over the same thing that you're not really making progress, going to sit on the couch can can disrupt that just a little bit. If you're bouncing uh hard enough on that ball, it's also good for your brain because it's releasing dopamine and

10:54norepinephrine and maybe a little BDNF. That sounded inappropriate. It's not. It's brain-derived neurotrophic factor. It makes your brain grow. [laughter] Doing tasks like taking out the trash and tidying up the moment I get home and still have momentum. Oh, I love that. The way inertia works is if you are not doing the thing, you're going to continue to not do the thing. If you are doing a thing, you're going to continue doing a thing. So, using that momentum, getting home and you're already in productivity mode, just carrying it forward into things that will benefit you personally as opposed to just your work, your boss, the customer, or

11:29whatever it is. It basically tricks my brain and body into realizing it's go time and I just keep moving until I've completed the necessary tasks and can take off shoes and put on pajama pants and go into rest mode. The temptation is to just go and do the big sit right away. Big sit as as as someone on our team, our community manager Harley, calls it. But once I've done the big sit, like I'm not getting back up. I have learned, and it's hard, that anything that I want to get done around the house needs to get done while I'm still up, like while I'm still walking

11:57around before I sit down. In my job I do a form of time boxing. I make an appointment with myself and in the description I write what I want to accomplish or problem I need to solve. Mostly I can't finish a task or get interrupted and don't know where I left or what I'm supposed to do. So I set the appointment and the link to the document and then I write what I wanted to do next. So even if I don't get to do the task next day, I will know where to continue. Works also with sticky notes and I email myself things I remember during the day that I need to do but

12:23can't do this exact moment so I have a visual reminder. An appointment with myself is so smart. If I show up to a meeting with somebody else, I'm probably going to prep for that meeting. I'm probably going to look at the notes and see what did I say I was going to do last time. Did I do it? If not, like how can I make sure I do it this time? This feels

12:39like so outside the box that I love it. Taking something that is a productivity hack and repurposing it for personal use. The productivity hack being time box a meeting, set an agenda, write down what you accomplish, what you would have done next, all of that. Put all the information in your in your calendar. That's all like just best practices for being productive at work, but you're taking that same format, that same productivity format, and you're applying it to what you want to get done personally. Hacking productivity for personal use, I like it. I find it more enjoyable and productive to space practice time into one or two weekly

13:13sessions than several one-hour sessions per week. I developed my guitar skills that way and this allows me to practice two different things weekly without stressing out. Okay, this to me is just a general best practice, which is when you can, work with your brain, not against it. If you're the kind of person that will do better if you practice daily, and if you start missing days, you're just not going to pick it back up, then do it daily. If you're the kind of person that's like having to to task switch and switch into practicing multiple times a week is actually really hard for me, but one or two deeper, longer sessions is

13:49easier, then do it that way. Listen to your brain. Like if your brain's like, it's easier for me to do it this way, and there's no reason not to do it that way, do it that way. As my incredible partner, Dr. Raphael Bocamazo, puts it, burnout is essentially chronic unresolved stress. So, if we're able to be productive in a way that is not going to be horribly stressful for us, that is going to be actually stress-free or lower our stress levels, that's going to be helpful in avoiding burnout. I keep reminding myself that anything that deserves to be done deserves to be poorly done. I have an

14:23entire song about that. It's called do it badly. Check it out. This is just so heartwarming. It's so cool to me, first of all, that we can talk about ADHD so openly now, but second of all, that people understand their ADHD so well that they're creating systems that work for their brain, and then we're able to share them with each other. When I started this channel 10 years ago, the information as to like how the ADHD brain works and how to work with it, not against it, it existed, but it wasn't accessible. It was in research papers, and it was behind paywalls, and you had to go to a specialist to like get this

14:57information. And now we're taking that a step further and going, okay, but what if that's not enough? What if being able to be productive as someone with ADHD isn't enough? What if we also deserve to be healthy? It's just kind of blowing my mind right now that that's where we're at. These are great. If you want to read more, probably just look at the comments on this video, but I will also link to the post where there are hundreds of of comments like this. Thank you so much for doing this. I I think this is super cool. Thank you to X-Tiles for sponsoring this content. It's really

15:26cool what they're doing, that they care so much about being productive in a way that works for ADHD brains. They're very dedicated to supporting this community and having calm, stress-free productivity. And thank you to our brain advocates and all our Patreon brains for supporting content like this. Also, my producer tells me that a lot of people mentioned body doubling as a productivity hack that's actually good for them. We do have a thriving body doubling community over on our Discord through Patreon. For just five bucks a month, you can be part of the most knowledgeable ADC community on the

15:54internet and get body doubling support. We just added a $25 tier for people who would like curated learning paths, and we have a bi-weekly Q&A with me. We just started this. It's going to be topic-based, so we'll have one on time management, one on making friends as a neurodivergent adult. Whatever you're interested in, please join us. Let me

16:12know, and I will host a Q&A about it. That's at patreon.com/howtoadhd. Let us know in the comments below if you have a productivity hack that is actually good for you. It's actually healthy. Like, subscribe, click all the things, and I will see you next video. Bye, brains.