6 productivity tips that actually work for ADHD brains

Let me start with a confession: I hate the word “productivity.”

“Use the Pomodoro technique.”

“Wake up at 5am and journal about your goals.”

“Have these 12 supplements to boost your brain power.”

If you have an ADHD brain, or just a beautifully nonlinear one, you know the real struggle: it’s not knowing what to do. It’s doing it. It’s remembering what you were doing before you opened 15 tabs. It’s keeping your butt in the chair long enough to start. It’s starting.

The truth is, most “productivity hacks” weren’t made for brains like ours. They were made for the neurotypical spreadsheet-loving few, not the idea-hurricane, dopamine-chasing creatures that we are.

But don’t despair. Because there are tools that work, and they’re not about discipline. They’re about designing your environment to help your brain thrive.

Here are a few that have worked for me, our FLOWN community, and some of the most brilliant ADHD minds I know.

1. Externalise everything

Your brain is a creative masterpiece. It is not a reliable storage unit. Sticky notes, whiteboards, voice notes, index cards, apps like Notion or Todoist, pick your weapon. The key is getting the swirling thoughts out of your head and into the world where they can’t vanish mid-thought.

Think of it as building scaffolding around your genius so it doesn’t collapse under its own brilliance.

2. Body doubling = Game changer

This one is so powerful, it honestly feels like a cheat code.

Body doubling means working alongside someone else, even silently. They’re not helping you, they’re just there. And somehow, magically, you become 10x more likely to do the thing you’ve been avoiding for days, 10x less likely to wander off track.

It’s not about being watched. It’s about being witnessed. It’s about being stimulated just enough that your brain is engaged, but not so much that you get distracted by it. You’re tapping into behavioural hacks that turn subtle social pressure into a directive that says, “Alright then, let’s go.”

At FLOWN, we’ve built a whole platform around this because it works. I’ve seen people who couldn’t send an email for three hours finish a report in 40 minutes once they body double with others.

3. Create microstructure, not rigid routines

ADHD brains tend to reject strict systems, but we love frameworks.

Think time-boxed sprints, theme days (Marketing Mondays, Admin Tuesdays), or working in 90-minute focus blocks with breaks. Enough structure to create traction, but flexible enough to not feel like a straitjacket.

One member of our community calls this “gentle scaffolding.” Not a prison, but a platform.

4. Turn tasks into challenges

You know what ADHD brains hate? Boring.

You know what we love? Games, urgency, novelty, adrenaline.

So make the task a challenge. Can you write that proposal in 22 minutes and 13 seconds? Can you clean your inbox before your kettle boils? Can you beat your own high score for “emails sent without rage”?

One FLOWN user said she imagines her to-do list as a video game boss fight. You want dopamine? Gamify it.

5. Permission to be weird

This is not a tip, it’s a mindset shift.

You might work better standing up. Or pacing around. Or blasting binaural beats in your headphones. You might need to work in a dark room wearing noise-cancelling headphones and a hoodie like you’re about to hack the Pentagon.

Cool. Do that.

ADHD productivity isn’t about mimicking someone else’s system. It’s about discovering your rhythm, your quirks, your weird little rituals that trick your brain into doing the work.

I once met a guy who could only write code while wearing ski goggles. Was he mad? Maybe. Was he productive? Absolutely.

6. Lower the barrier to “Start”

The hardest part of any task with ADHD is the first 10 seconds.

So stack the deck in your favour. Open the doc before you go to bed. Pre-pack your bag the night before. Write yourself a note that says “JUST DO 5 MINUTES.”

Momentum is sneaky. Once you’re in, you’re in.

Embrace the chaos, but guide it

You’re not broken. You’re just wired differently. You’re not lazy, you’re bored, overwhelmed, under-stimulated, or all three.

The secret is not trying to become someone else. It’s about creating a system – your system – that channels your brilliance without fighting your nature.

As I like to say: you don’t need discipline. You need design. And when in doubt? Do a BDM – a Bold Decisive Move. Change your environment. Say yes to that weird idea. Try a body doubling session. Buy a whiteboard. Rename your to-do list “Epic Quest of Destiny.”

Just making the decision to do something novel can spark a desired shift in the rest of your life.

There is a sign in my pilates studio that says it wonderfully: “One day… or Day One! Your choice.”

Because when you work with your brain – not against it – you’re unstoppable.

To find out more about how we help ADHDers find their flow and focus, have a look here.