Why productivity advice fails ADHD brains
These strategies weren’t made for you
Do you have a planner graveyard? You know, a pile of 23 unused planners and 7 empty calendars, wasting away in a corner of your living room?
Or maybe it’s a virtual graveyard: the 3 productivity courses you bought but never watched. The 13 YouTube videos you bookmarked. The habit-building app you subscribed to three years ago (and still charges you every month). The “focus bootcamp” you signed up for and never attended.
In case no one’s told you yet: none of this is laziness… There are very good reasons why traditional productivity advice doesn’t work when you have ADHD.
Let me tell you about them:
Prospective memory (remembering to do something in the future) is more challenging for ADHD brains1 – which means even the world's prettiest, most colorful planner won’t help if you forget to open it.
Rigid strategies like Pomodoro timers and time blocking don’t account for hyperfocus and difficulties perceiving the passage of time2. Translation: “just set a timer” is not a magic fix.
Many strategies, like “chunking” a big project or creating a prioritized to-do list, add additional layers of decision-making – increasing cognitive load and exacerbating decision fatigue.
ADHD brains process rewards differently3 – and many productivity strategies just aren’t interesting or stimulating enough to keep an ADHD brain engaged (especially once the novelty has worn off).
So yeah, it’s not your fault that the latest “productivity hack” didn’t work for you… because the problem here is misalignment, not lack of effort.
And when the tool doesn’t fit the task, it’s the tool that needs to change — not you.
What actually helps:
Flexible routines that build on what you’re already doing — like putting your medication next to your coffee, instead of reinventing your entire morning routine from scratch.
Support that honors the intensity of the planning phase — because trying to plan the thing and do the thing at the same time is exhausting.
Creative brainstorming to discover tools that fit your unique context… not whatever a productivity influencer on YouTube swears will change your life.
Gentle accountability – like a friend who asks “Hey, how are things going with those emails?” (not someone who scolds you for forgetting).
Space to try differently, not harder (because doubling down on strategies that aren’t working won’t get you anywhere).
If you’ve ever felt like a self-help dropout, you’re not alone – and there’s nothing wrong with you. You’ve just been given incomplete solutions.
If this resonates with you, I’d love to hear! Tell me: what’s in your productivity graveyard? Share in the comments so we can commiserate together.
Warmly,
Taylor
P.S. My graveyard count is half a dozen unopened self-help books, 3 unused self-care apps, and a huge whiteboard calendar that is just sitting in a closet. Your turn!
Altgassen, M., Scheres, A., & Edel, M.-A. (2019). Prospective memory (partially) mediates the link between ADHD symptoms and procrastination. Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorders, 11(1), 59–71. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12402-018-0273-x
Mette, C. (2023). Time perception in adult ADHD: Findings from a decade-A review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(4), 3098. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20043098
Volkow, N. D., Wang, G.-J., Newcorn, J. H., Kollins, S. H., Wigal, T. L., Telang, F., Fowler, J. S., Goldstein, R. Z., Klein, N., Logan, J., Wong, C., & Swanson, J. M. (2011). Motivation deficit in ADHD is associated with dysfunction of the dopamine reward pathway. Molecular Psychiatry, 16(11), 1147–1154. https://doi.org/10.1038/mp.2010.97