This is why you can’t just tell us to look at a clock more often, wear a watch, or set a timer. I’ve heard several people with ADHD describe hyperfocus as a state where time actually ceases to exist. They may forget to pay bills or start the dishwasher, but many people with ADHD can turn on laser focus and spend hours on a single task - as long as it’s something that engages their interest. More often than not, an ADHDer stuck under the hyperfocus spell doesn’t have the self-awareness or willpower to break it.įortunately, you can try a relatively easy trick to bring a hyperfocuser back to reality. In this post, I’ll to talk straight to people helping someone with ADHD. If you do that, don’t forget the most important thing about superpowers: you need to learn to control them. You may not know about its counterpart, hyperfocus. Judging from the ubiquity of the “look! a squirrel!” cliché, most people know all about ADHD and distraction. It strips us of the choice as to where our attention focuses. While the first D in ADHD stands for deficit, ADHDers don’t start out with less attention than everybody else. I could write infinite variations on this theme.

Person with ADHD sits down in front of a video game to play for 10 minutes. Here’s a familiar story: person with ADHD promises to complete a household chore (e.g. This post was adapted from my book Order from Chaos. To receive expanded versions of new audio posts and other bonus content in your favorite podcast app, become a supporter of The ADHD Homestead on Patreon. Use the player above to listen to the text of this post.

Hyperfocus and adhd