If you take one thing from working with ADHD, it’s this: externalise executive function rather than trying to hold it all in your head. Instead of relying on yourself to self-manage, remember everything and stay on track through sheer willpower, you push that work out into the environment. That way it doesn’t depend on you having a good day.
In practice that looks like visual deadline reminders you can’t avoid seeing. Alarms. Anything that does the remembering so your brain doesn’t have to. Alison, one of our coaches, is a particular fan of the Pomodoro technique, twenty-five minutes of work followed by a five minute break. The external alarm builds structure into a day that otherwise has none of its own.
Why the alarm matters more than it seems
The alarm isn’t nagging you. It’s doing a job your brain shouldn’t have to do alone. It also catches you drifting. You set the intention, in these twenty-five minutes I’m doing this, and if you notice partway through that you’ve wandered off, that’s the moment you get to say, right, back to this. Then you’re free to scroll all you like in the break.
This is the same logic behind something we wrote a while back on how to overcome procrastination, where the fix isn’t more willpower but making the next step small enough that you don’t need any. Externalising executive function works the same way. You’re not asking yourself to be more disciplined. You’re building a structure that catches you when discipline runs out.
If this sounds familiar and you’d like some help putting structures like this in place, we’re always happy to talk it through.
If this sounds familiar at work, our ADHD leadership coaching helps leaders and managers build support around what gets in the way.
