15 ADHD-Friendly Tips to Fire Up Your Focus

A wandering mind is common for people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Whether you’re talking to your boss or best friend, you might easily lose track of conversations. Or get easily distracted and forget what you were working on. Or miss details and make careless mistakes.

But this isn’t an oversight on your part. An inability to focus is a prominent symptom of ADHD. While you can’t fully control your capability to pay attention, you can find strategies that help you sustain it. Here are 15 tips to try.

1. Focus your energy on problem solving. It’s common for people with ADHD to get frustrated with their focus troubles and blame themselves. But gently remind yourself that this is a symptom of ADHD. Instead of being self-critical or judgmental, use diminishing attention as a reminder that it’s time to try one of your focus-fueling tools, said Lucy Jo Palladino, Ph.D, clinical psychologist and author of Find Your Focus Zone: An Effective New Plan to Defeat Distraction and Overload.

2. Employ some background noise. Having background noise helps drive out distractions, according to Stephanie Sarkis, Ph.D, a psychotherapist and author of 10 Simple Solutions to Adult ADD: How to Overcome Chronic Distraction & Accomplish Your Goals. When you’re studying or working, she suggested turning on your ceiling fan, a white noise machine or music on low volume.

3. Clear your workspace. “Visual clutter can impair focus,” Sarkis said. So to pay better attention, clear the disarray from your desk before sitting down to work, she said.

4. Dissect tasks and projects. It’s hard to focus when you’re overwhelmed by a big project and iffy on everything it entails. “Chunk your goal into manageable sub-goals,” Palladino said. She gave the following example: “Divide ‘Start writing this paper’ into ‘Outline 3 main points,’ ‘Plan intro,’ ‘Write first page of rough draft.’”

5. Get support from loved ones. According to Palladino, relying on people who are rooting for you can help. She suggested remembering your cheerleaders — who might be your parent, partner, child or coach — and keeping their photo close by. A 2003 University of Wisconsin study found that flashing the names of certain friends and family helped students work longer on concentration-heavy tasks.

6. Use an accountability partner. Another way to ask for support is by having an accountability partner. This could be your friend or an ADHD coach. “Make a deal with them that you will text or email them with your tasks that day, and then text or email that person as soon as you finish each task,” Sarkis said.

7. Paraphrase conversations. Paraphrasing what a person said helps you digest the conversation, ensure you understand them and formulate a response, according to Sarkis.

8. Use a “concentrated distraction.” For instance, when you’re sitting in a meeting or lecture, fiddle with a mini-Koosh ball under your desk, Sarkis said.

9. Have visual reminders of your goals. For both short-term and long-term goals, have a tangible touchstone that connects you to your objectives, Palladino said. For instance, you might keep a piece of paper with your graduation date, a photo of the car you’re saving for or the amount of money you’ll earn after finishing a project, she said.

10. Move while you work. Constantly moving can help you focus better on the task at hand, Sarkis said. One way to incorporate movement is to sit on a large exercise ball by your desk.

11. Encourage yourself along the way. Use positive self-talk to help you pay attention, Palladino said. For instance, you might remind yourself of your past successes, such as “Last term, I finished my 20-page history paper on time,” she said. Positive self-talk is helpful when it’s simple and direct, such as “I can do this,” she added.

12. Concentrate on certain words. According to Palladino, repeating anchor words like “focus” can block distractions. Another option is to create a mantra based on your task, such as “Expense report; expense report; expense report,” she said.

13. Write down everything. “If someone tells you they need you to complete some tasks, either ask for it in an email or in writing, or tell them to hold on while you get paper and a pen, or your digital device,” Sarkis said.

14. Practice healthy habits. As Palladino noted, engaging in healthy habits helps improve attention long-term. This includes: “regular sleep, physical exercise, good nutrition, limited caffeine intake, reasonable planning and — to the extent possible in today’s world — a distraction-free work environment,” she said.

15. Get a proper diagnosis. If you haven’t been diagnosed with ADHD, but you’re noticing difficulty with paying attention and these other symptoms, see an ADHD specialist for an accurate assessment. If you have ADHD, medication is a huge help. “ADHD is a neurobiological disorder, and medication can help your brain work more effectively,” Sarkis said.

New York Times Article Blames Parents for ADHD

by Ruth Hughes, PhD

A week ago the New York Times published an article by Alan Sroufe, "Ritalin Gone Wrong," that questions the need for medication in the treatment of ADHD. Even worse, the author claims that parents and environmental stressors are the major causative factor in ADHD. A firestorm of reaction, both positive and negative, has uncovered some deep rifts in our public understanding of ADHD. There are those who are jumping on the bandwagon and decrying families that think a pill is all that is necessary to help a child with problems. (I don’t know any families like this, but I’m sure there must be one somewhere.) And there is the ADHD scientific and advocacy community, who are appalled that information so flawed would appear in the New York Times.

While there is much to be upset about in these claims (and I have been very upset!), there are several assertions that are worth recognizing. There are bad parents in the world, people who do not have the skills, the resources, or the will to be good parents. And the impact on their children, who may or may not have ADHD, is usually negative. Helping these children is one of the major challenges of our society.

I also agree that pills alone rarely are sufficient treatment for ADHD. As the mother of a now-adult son with ADHD, it took a lot more than medication to help him become a productive adult. CHADD always encourages a combination of treatment, parent training and support, school support, and behavioral interventions for any child with ADHD. Medication can help a child focus and be more amenable to learning, but the skills and external supports also need to be put in place.

What is most troubling (and enraging) about this article is that we are back in the dark ages, blaming parents, particularly mothers, for a child’s ADHD. In the article’s most egregious example the author, Alan Sroufe, claims that along with other stressors, ADHD is caused by “patterns of parental intrusiveness that involve stimulation for which the baby is not prepared. For example, a 6-month-old baby is playing, and the parent picks it up quickly from behind and plunges it in the bath. Or a 3-year-old is becoming frustrated in solving a problem, and a parent taunts or ridicules. Such practices excessively stimulate and also compromise the child’s developing capacity for self-regulation.” Excuse me! Does Dr. Sroufe or anyone with a fundamental knowledge of ADHD really believe such nonsense? There is no scientific basis for his claim of “parental intrusiveness” as a factor in the development of ADHD. He is espousing theories that are now decades old and have long since been debunked and surpassed by our research on this disorder.

What is most disturbing, though, is how many people want to believe that it is Mom’s fault. Not so long ago we blamed depression, autism, schizophrenia, and many other mental disorders on parenting. We now know that there are genetic and neurological causes for these disorders just as we know there are genetic and neurological factors in ADHD. Only if we confront this stigmatization and discrimination whenever we see it or hear it, will it disappear once and for all from our culture. Every one of us must confront these beliefs, if we are to set this to rest once and for all. Speak up and speak out. Do not let these beliefs continue to flourish.

CHADD and a number of other ADHD experts responded to theTimes article, pointing out the inaccuracies and errors, and countering the claims made by Dr. Sroufe. While they take many different approaches to confronting these issues, all provide great information.

CHADD’s Letter to the Editor of the New York Times

Dr. Edward Hallowell, Response to NY Times Piece “Ritalin Gone Wrong”

Dr. Harold Koplewicz, “Righting the Record on Ritalin”

Time Magazine Columnist Judith Warner, “ADHD: Is Stigma Back in Style?”

In addition, Dr. Max Wiznitzer from CHADD’s Professional Advisory Board has submitted an article to the New York Times as a counter to the article by Dr. Sroufe. We are waiting to hear if it will be published, but will share with all of you in the near future.


Ruth Hughes, PhD, is the CEO of CHADD.