Struggling to focus with ADHD? 6 psychologist-backed strategies to improve concentration and make everyday tasks easier
A common frustration for people with ADHD is not being able to focus where they would like to. While everyone has their own way of doing things, expert psychologists recommend these tips.
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As many as six per cent of the US population have ADHD, rising to 11 per cent in children, and while diagnosis of the neurodevelopmental condition is at an all-time high, it doesn’t necessarily mean people with ADHD have been given good guidance on how to navigate the world in ways that will be less stressful.
This often comes up with the attentive element of ADHD, especially when having to focus on a specific task. As brain chemistry and structures that affect motivation, reward processing, and impulse control are wired in less typical ways, it can mean that working in the way everyone else seems to simply will not work, or will feel far less comfortable.
Fortunately, there are small tips and tricks that psychologists have identified that can help people with ADHD to have a better understanding of themselves and their ways of finding motivation, reward, and ultimately focus (even in the most boring of tasks).
Bring the reward closer
Dr Nick Zygouris, Consultant Clinical Psychologist at strongerminds.co.uk, says that “people with ADHD can find it particularly hard to get started on tasks where the payoff feels a long way off. Recent research on ADHD and procrastination suggests that this can be partly because boring or effortful tasks do not feel rewarding enough in the moment.”
His advice for working with this sensation is to stop relying on finishing the task to feel satisfaction. Instead, Dr Zygouris says to “try and create a reason to start now. Work alongside somebody, make your progress visible, give yourself a small reward after finishing a section, or pair a dull task with something you enjoy.” He adds that this can be especially useful where the difficulty is in motivation as opposed to knowing what it is you need to do.
Set yourself up for focus
For people with ADHD it can be easy to lose a lot of time trying to pick up on a task that you have stopped partway through. While we all enjoy leaving things completed, a work schedule, life getting in the way, or simply balancing priorities can make this impossible, and picking these tasks back up can be a frustrating process.
“A way in which I find can make doing this easier is to write down the exact next action in one sentence – this helps you to leave whatever you’re working on ready to go,” explains Christine Schneider, Clinical Psychologist, Cambridge Therapy Centre.
She adds that this allows some people to “remove the mental effort of reorienting yourself when you come back to the work. This happens because when your working memory is already under strain, rebuilding the whole task from scratch can feel disproportionately difficult. Therefore, an easy visible restart cue reduces that friction and makes it much easier to get moving again.”
Make distraction slightly more difficult
While distractions are natural and impact concentration for anyone, knowing ways to make distraction a less convenient choice can be helpful for building attention span. In doing this, Dr Zygouris says, “you do not need to create the perfect distraction-free environment. Even making distractions a little less easy to reach can help.”
These can be fairly simple (even if we occasionally fail to do them, or stick to the plan). For instance, Dr Zygouris says “placing your phone somewhere you cannot easily pick it up, closing the tabs you are not using, and turning off your notifications for half an hour.” Can all be surprisingly effective.
Other strategies like blocking out noise, or making the sensory experience more enjoyable can help too. Ultimately, he adds that “these strategies will not work in exactly the same way for everybody with ADHD – but the idea is to switch from how can I focus better to what is distracting me that I can do something about.”
Use breaks before you’ve completely exhausted your attention
The pacing of tasks is another instance in which people with ADHD may find they have a different process to most people. “People sometimes compensate for difficulty starting by working for hours once they finally become absorbed. That can feel productive, but repeatedly ignoring hunger, movement, rest and other needs can leave someone depleted afterwards.” Explains Dr Martina Paglia, Clinical Psychologist and Founder of Mind a Porter.
Sometimes, that ADHD blast through the night can be something of a super-power, but it can’t always be relied upon within a typical working environment. Dr Paglia says that “timers can be useful not only for starting work, but for reminding you to pause, check in with yourself and decide deliberately whether to continue.”
Ultimately, it isn’t about making sure you are working as other people do, but about helping yourself to do things in manageable ways that meet the expectations of a working day (and beyond it).
Move before you need to concentrate
Another useful tip from Dr Zygouris is to utilise movement. “Exercise can be surprisingly useful just before a task that needs a lot of focus. Recent research in adults with ADHD suggests that even one session of exercise can make it easier to stay on task and ignore distractions,” he explains.
Movement doesn’t mean intense physical exertion such as going to the gym or running to work instead of catching public transport. “It can be a brisk walk before sitting down to write a report, for instance”. He says. It could even be putting on some music and dancing for five minutes before sitting down to get into the task at hand. Whatever works!
Breathwork can help to focus attention
Breathwork has a direct impact on the nervous system, and helps us to reset this part of the body. However, meditative breathing exercises tend to take a lot of time and intentional focus, which can be difficult for people with ADHD. Dee Parker, the founder of BREATHE INTO says that “using the breath as an anchor for attention, rather than trying to force the mind to concentrate” might be a better solution for some.
Parker says she recommends “a very short focus reset”. To do this, “take three easy, conscious breaths, allowing the exhale to be slightly longer than the inhale. Then choose one physical sensation of breathing, perhaps the air moving through your nose or the movement of your ribs, and follow it for another three to five breaths. Each time your attention wanders, simply notice it and return to that sensation.”
In doing this, it isn’t important to maintain perfect focus, but it’s more about noticing that your attention has wandered “and gently bringing it back is the practice,” Parker says.
Breathwork isn’t a treatment for ADHD and shouldn’t replace appropriate medical or psychological support, but it can be a simple, accessible tool to use alongside those approaches, Parker explains.
Ultimately, it’s about working with who you are
ADHD doesn’t look identical in everyone. “Someone with prominent hyperactive or impulsive symptoms may experience concentration differently from somebody whose difficulties are predominantly inattentive,” says Dr Paglia. Additionally, life will impact our energy reserves. “Anxiety, sleep, mood, environment and the demands being placed on the person can also affect how manageable their ADHD feels.” Dr Paglia adds.
The aim with these tips, and generally in finding focus isn’t to force an ADHD brain to work exactly like everybody else’s. It is to understand where the friction occurs and to build strategies and environments that reduce it, making life less like swimming upstream.
