ADHD Focus Strategies That Actually Work (From People Who've Tried Everything)
I need to start with what this article is not.
This is not medical advice. This is not a treatment protocol. This is not a substitute for working with healthcare professionals who actually understand ADHD.
What this is: a collection of strategies that people with attention challenges have found helpful, gathered from conversations, forums, and personal experimentation. Some of these might work for you. Many probably won't. The goal isn't to prescribe a solution—it's to share options you might not have considered.
If you're struggling significantly with attention, please talk to someone qualified. This is a blog post, not a diagnosis or treatment plan.
Why Most Focus Advice Fails for ADHD
Standard focus advice assumes a neurotypical baseline. "Just eliminate distractions." "Use willpower." "Build habits."
For many people with ADHD, this advice isn't just unhelpful—it's demoralizing. It implies that focus is simply a choice, and if you can't choose it, you're not trying hard enough.
That framing is wrong.
ADHD involves differences in brain function, particularly around dopamine regulation and executive function. The strategies that work often need to account for these differences rather than ignore them.
What follows are approaches that work with how ADHD brains tend to function, not against them.
Strategies That People Report Actually Helping
1. Body Doubling
What it is: Working in the presence of another person, even if they're doing something completely different.
Why it might help: External presence seems to activate focus systems in a way that working alone doesn't. The other person doesn't need to monitor you or interact with you—just being there helps.
How to try it: Work in a coffee shop. Get on a video call with a friend who's also working (cameras on, mics muted). Use a virtual coworking service.
Important note: This doesn't work for everyone. Some people find other presences distracting. Experiment to see if it helps you.
2. Shorter Sessions Than You Think You Need
What it is: Instead of planning 2-hour focus blocks (and failing), plan 15-minute blocks (and succeeding).
Why it might help: Success builds momentum. Completing a short session feels better than failing a long one, and that feeling can carry into the next session.
How to try it: Start embarrassingly short. 10 minutes. If that works, try 12. Build from success rather than recovering from failure.
The counterintuitive part: Short sessions often add up to more total focus time than ambitious long sessions that fall apart.
3. Movement Before Focus
What it is: Physical activity immediately before attempting to focus—a short walk, jumping jacks, stretching.
Why it might help: Movement affects dopamine and norepinephrine levels. For some people, a burst of physical activity primes the brain for focus in a way that sitting still doesn't.
How to try it: Before your next focus session, take a 5-minute walk. Just around the block. Notice if the session feels different.
4. Making the Task Visible
What it is: Having a physical, visible representation of what you're working on and your progress.
Why it might help: Out of sight, out of mind is particularly true for ADHD. Visual reminders keep the task in awareness when your brain wants to drift to something else.
How to try it: Sticky notes on your monitor. A notebook open to the task. A timer visible on screen. Anything that keeps the current work in your visual field.
5. Changing the Environment
What it is: Moving to a different physical location when focus breaks down.
Why it might help: Environment and mental state are linked. A new environment can reset attention in a way that forcing yourself to continue in the same spot can't.
How to try it: If you've been at your desk for a while and focus is gone, move to a different room. A coffee shop. A library. Even a different chair.
6. Externalized Motivation
What it is: Creating external stakes, deadlines, or accountability rather than relying on internal motivation.
Why it might help: Internal motivation systems work differently with ADHD. External structures can provide the activation energy that internal intention doesn't.
How to try it: Tell someone what you'll complete and by when. Use a commitment device. Work with a coach or accountability partner. Make the stakes real and external.
All of these strategies help some people some of the time. None of them work for everyone all of the time. If you've tried something and it didn't work, that doesn't mean you did it wrong—it might just mean it's not the right strategy for your brain.
7. Embracing Hyperfocus (Strategically)
What it is: Instead of fighting hyperfocus, directing it toward useful tasks when it appears.
Why it might help: Hyperfocus is often framed as a problem (and it can be). But it's also a state of intense concentration. The challenge is channeling it.
How to try it: When you notice yourself entering hyperfocus on something useful, protect that time. Cancel other things if you can. Ride the wave. The challenge is noticing it early enough to direct it.
The trap to avoid: Hyperfocusing on something unimportant because you can't disengage. This is the dark side. Having strategies to exit hyperfocus matters too.
8. Reducing Friction Dramatically
What it is: Making the desired task as easy as possible to start.
Why it might help: ADHD often involves difficulty with task initiation more than task completion. If starting is the hard part, make starting trivially easy.
How to try it: Leave your work document open overnight. Have everything you need already set up. Reduce the steps between "I should work" and "I am working" to as close to zero as possible.
What Hasn't Worked (For Many People)
Just as useful as what works is what often doesn't:
"Just try harder" — If trying harder worked, you would have done it already.
Complicated productivity systems — Systems with many steps and requirements often collapse. Simplicity tends to work better.
Guilt and self-criticism — These don't improve focus. They just make you feel bad while still not focusing.
Comparing yourself to neurotypical standards — Your brain works differently. Measuring yourself against people with different neurology is a losing game.
Finding What Works for You
The frustrating truth is that ADHD presents differently in different people. What works for one person might be useless for another. This means experimentation is required.
A framework for experimenting:
- Try one thing at a time. Otherwise you won't know what helped.
- Give it a real shot. Not one day—at least a week or two.
- Track what happens. Not just "it worked" or "it didn't"—what specifically changed?
- Be willing to drop what doesn't work. Don't force strategies that aren't helping.
Something to Try This Week
Pick one strategy from this list—whichever resonates most. Try it consistently for a week. Not occasionally—every time you try to focus.
At the end of the week, assess: Did it help, hurt, or make no difference?
If it helped, keep it. If it didn't, try something else.
This is slower than finding a magic solution. But there probably isn't a magic solution—just a combination of strategies that work for your particular brain.
The Bigger Picture
Focus strategies are tools, not solutions. For many people with ADHD, these tools work best alongside professional support—therapy, coaching, and for some, medication.
If you're struggling significantly and haven't talked to a professional, please consider it. These strategies might help at the margins, but they're not a substitute for proper evaluation and support.
That said, I hope something here is useful. Even one strategy that helps a little is worth knowing about.
This article is for informational purposes only and is not medical advice. ADHD is a real condition that often benefits from professional treatment. If you think you might have ADHD or if attention difficulties are significantly impacting your life, please consult a qualified healthcare provider.
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