I got diagnosed with ADHD 7 years ago I always started things worked on them super intensely only to move on to something completely different 3 weeks in I was never able to achieve any long-term progress because my brain kept chasing the newest thing I drowned in self-doubt shame and jealousy because everyone else around me was always able to try harder and I just couldn't force my brain to do that like they could I thought I could never do that however everything changed once I got diagnosed and read a bunch of scientific papers to figure out
that for the ADHD brain trying harder simply doesn't work and that you need to make things easier instead specifically I came across three strategies that completely changed my relationship with work I now actually enjoy working on whatever I need to without the anxiety and shame attached these three strategies allowed me to upload three videos per week consistently for over 4 years and not only fulfilled my dream of becoming a full-time content creator but also becoming one of the biggest in the ADHD space all the while achieving more than I could have ever imagined before we
get into the strategies we need to understand what happens in our ADHD brain when we start something new can you guess what it is that's right every time you start something new your brain gives you a massive hit of dopamine which keeps you engaged motivated and focused on that task however when the feeling of novelty Fades so does the dopamine and you have to rely on Willpower to follow through this usually happens in our brains when we approach week three hello so how do we solve this well chances are you've been approaching this novelty issue
from the completely wrong angle you see Society nowadays is built on the notion of hustle culture which tells us to just try harder work longer push it to the Limit simply drain your brain of all this energy because that way you'll get it done well what if I told you that if we try harder we actually work against our ADHD brain all the while completely eradicating our mental health why because with ADHD your brain is wired for interest not importance which makes it almost impossible for you to force yourself to do something your brain is
kind of like a Carefree Surfer it's always trying to catch the waves and enjoy the ride as much as possible so much so that it doesn't hear you calling from the shore to come and give you your surfboard back and so if we try harder we fail from the beginning we try to control the waves which any Surfer will tell you is simply impossible but how can we stay consistent without trying harder it almost sounds too good to be true but it isn't let's dive into the strategies I'm not exaggerating when I tell you that
everything changed for me once I learned about our brain's spiky profile it's almost never talked about but we adhders aren't just really bad at things but really good at things as well and the catch is there's no in between it's all or nothing for us you may be incredibly creative but terrible at organizing you may be a great risk taker but can't focus on small details for the life of you now a typical people are more even they have their strengths but they're also kind of all right at everything because they're able to try harder
right but living with ADHD is like being a photographer with a selective camera lens you capture stunning photos and specific settings but produce completely blurred and unfocused ones in others we have these huge Peaks and valleys and so if you as the photographer don't know why you're guaranteed to get low To Mediocre results in the long run that is unless you begin to play to your strengths and Outsource your areas of weakness whenever you can you have permission to ask for help on your weaknesses I'm going to repeat that one more time you have permission
to ask for help on your weaknesses just knowing that was a GameChanger for me because even though we often feel like we're a burden when telling people that we need help if you think about it you're really only looking out for everyone's best interests if if you focus on what you're good at I've now gotten to the point where I no longer feel guilty for not being able to do something because I know about my Peaks and valleys which has propelled me forward because I also know where I should be focusing my energy instead and
so finding out what your strengths are here are a few classic ADHD strengths in case you're unsure will massively increase the enjoyment and longevity of your work because it's also more interesting to work on things you're good at you don't have to force yourself AKA try harder and so remember play to your strengths and value your uniqueness in the work you're doing and once you've done that you got to make things even easier by figuring out your processing modality if you're trying to sustain something for a long time chances are you need to consume information
daily even if you don't realize it you're probably learning every day especially if that's something you're working on is new if you have to do your taxes you may be watching YouTube videos or you may be talking to your tax adviser on what to do but maybe you shouldn't be doing that let me explain the preferred way each of us learn and consume information is different and if we don't know what works best for us we're going to crash and burn and throw in the towel a few weeks heck a few days in guaranteed why
because again our brains are wired for interest and certain learning styles make topics either a lot less or a lot more interesting for you independent of what that topic is but what learning styles even exist well in short we can learn and consume information visually watching this YouTube video for example verbally like reading something intuitively which is where you rely on your subconscious mind to draw connections emotionally listening to your feelings conceptually which is when you need the big picture very common amongst adhders as well as auditory listening to someone on talk tactile which is
through touch and lastly kinesthetically which is learning or consuming through physical activity these are our different processing modalities now chances are a few of those immediately jump out at you if so those are the ways you need to consume and learn so you don't crash and burn remember we can't do effort but it can affect effort a lot if you're expected to listen to someone for 2 hours if you're a visual learner for example it can feel like trying to watch TV with your eyes closed you're just not getting the picture to find out what
your preferred processing modalities are if you don't know yet just ask yourself what ways of consuming makes things interesting and fun for me are you more the podcast listener or the Netflix documentary Watcher do you need to talk to people to really understand Concepts do you need to watch a video you probably do which is why you clicked on my friendly face today hey thanks for being here consider liking this video if you're liking it so far if you know your processing modality the obvious question arises what can you now do with this information how
can this help me finish what I start let's say you're a student and you're a visual learner but your lecturer likes to explain things verbally in that case you now know that you need to find a YouTube video to watch on your topic compared to neurotypical people you really need to personally I'm a visual learner which which is why I also create videos on YouTube I'm also a verbal and conceptual processor because teaching you guys what I learn really helps me internalize it as well thanks for that by the way now your learning styles won't
be black and white most of us are multi- Learners we have a few favorite processing modalities and so let me know which modalities you identify with most in the comments down below knowing these will be a GameChanger in sustaining effort especially if you're currently trying to learn something new but this next strategy will completely change the way you work let's move on to the last and most important strategy which is sprinting instead of marathon running more often than not we are sprinters and not marathon runners when it comes to work if you're working on something
for a longer time and want to stay consistent you need to take this into account but what is working in Sprints actually mean and how do you do it it means you work best in short bursts which is which is why you need to set up your work in a way that helps you do that for instance with strategies like the Pomodoro Technique it structures are time into 25-minute intervals allowing our brains to get motivated by that feeling of urgency and then also reminds us to take breaks I have a 3-hour YouTube video which gives
you six of these intervals and is a great place to start if you want to test this out for yourself now let's remember what Dr halwell said our brain has a race car engine with bicycle brakes and so while it can be difficult to stop working it's also absolutely essential to not burn yourself out brakes are one of if not the most important part of being able to finish what you start especially because breakes make things New Again mind blown you got to learn to trust your Sprint phases which in turn also means to take
time off catching yourself when you feel a bit stressed and taking a mindful second toart pause and then if necessary taking a bit of a longer break my brain used to cringe at the thought of a break as well like just sitting there and doing nothing I couldn't bear it that's physical pain right there that is until I learned about fire breaks shout out to Katie fredman for this one a fire break still stimulates you but in a different way it's an invigorating brain break that helps you forget and distresses you about your current project
it's doing something completely out of the ordinary like switching up environments listening to music taking a drive it's about reorienting your brain to help it regain a sense of novelty for your task because you had a completely different Focus for a few days I actually recommend making a list of the types of fire breaks you want to have so you can always come back to them and actually also schedule these into your calendar for the week when writing the script for this video I took a day off by hiking into one of the most beautiful
nature reserves in Croatia and I came back so inspired these pauses will help you be more intentional about your work which will make it even more interesting fun and less exhaustive helping you finish what you start and so just remember to Sprint instead of jog actually if you stayed until the end here I have one more surprise strategy for you this one wasn't only a crucial piece in my journey of becoming hyper consistent but it also allowed me to finally start using my time effectively and efficiently by freeing myself from the constant ADHD paralysis and
procrastination if you want to know what the strategy is and how it changed my life click the link in the video description to the next free video breaking down exactly how you can apply this into your own life in it we will dive deep and you'll see exactly how this strategy has the power to set you free from procrastination and executive dysfunction without having to rely on any willpower and discipline until then stay inspired watch this video on my top life lessons and I'll see you very soon
