23 Ways to Make Living with ADHD 10x Easier

People always ask me: How do I make living with ADHD easier? So I thought I'd compile everything I know into 23 ways to make living with ADHD 10x easier. These come from my own experiences and conversations with hundreds of ADHDers. Your experience may be different—there's no one-size-fits-all approach. You'll need to experiment and find what works for you.

Timing and Structure Strategies

When you do things matters as much as what you do. ADHD brains have natural rhythms that, when respected, make everything easier.

1. Deep Work in the Morning, Meetings in the Afternoon

This is a game changer. Your ADHD brain has peak focus capacity in the morning (typically the first 2-4 hours after waking). Use this precious time for work requiring deep concentration. Save meetings, admin, and lighter tasks for afternoon when your focus naturally wanes.

Protect your morning focus time fiercely. No emails. No meetings. No distractions. This is when your brain actually cooperates.

13. Focus in 90-Minute Stints (Try 60 if You're Just Getting Started)

Research on ultradian rhythms shows our brains naturally cycle through roughly 90-minute periods of high alertness followed by low alertness. Work with this rhythm, not against it.

Focus for 90 minutes, then take a real break (15-20 minutes). If 90 feels impossible, start with 60. The key is consistency and actual breaks—not just switching to different work.

23. Opening Ceremony for Each Day of Work

Set intentions for what you're going to accomplish today. This 5-10 minute ritual signals to your brain that work is beginning and provides direction. Without it, ADHD brains often wander aimlessly all day. Understanding daily minimum wins helps you set realistic daily intentions.

Physical Health Foundations

ADHD isn't just mental—physical health dramatically impacts symptoms. These strategies provide measurable improvements.

2. Team Sports (Fulfills Movement and Social Connection)

ADHD brains need movement and novelty. Team sports provide both, plus social accountability that helps you actually show up. The combination of physical exertion, social connection, and variable gameplay hits multiple ADHD needs simultaneously.

7. Cold Water Exposure (Of Any Kind!)

This is HUGE and backed by science. Cold exposure triggers massive dopamine release—exactly what ADHD brains need. Start with cold showers (even just the last 30 seconds). Work up to longer exposures. The alertness and mood boost lasts hours.

This is one of my personal favorites. The immediate effect on focus and energy is undeniable.

8. Cod Liver Oil Supplements

Omega-3 fatty acids (especially EPA and DHA found in cod liver oil) support brain function and may reduce ADHD symptoms. Not a magic cure, but a helpful foundation. Take with food for better absorption.

17. Direct Sunlight (First Thing You Do Every Morning!)

Morning sunlight exposure (within 30 minutes of waking) regulates your circadian rhythm, improves sleep quality, and boosts alertness. 10-15 minutes minimum. This single habit improves ADHD symptoms all day by fixing your sleep-wake cycle.

18. Meditation and Breathwork (HUGE!)

Yes, meditation with ADHD feels impossible. Start with 2 minutes. Use guided meditations. Focus on breathwork if sitting still is torture. The improvements in emotional regulation and focus are massive when practiced consistently.

Nutrition Strategies

3. Single Ingredient Foods (Especially During Work Hours)

Processed foods cause blood sugar spikes and crashes that amplify ADHD symptoms. Single ingredient foods (apple, chicken breast, almonds, eggs) provide stable energy. Save complex meals for evenings when focus doesn't matter as much.

4. No White Bread or High Sugar Carbs

Blood sugar crashes hit ADHD brains harder. High glycemic carbs cause rapid spikes followed by crashes that destroy focus. Choose complex carbs (oats, sweet potatoes, whole grains) that provide steady energy instead.

Environmental Design

Your environment either supports your ADHD brain or sabotages it. Design it intentionally.

6. Standing Desk (Ones That Go Up and Down Are Best)

ADHD brains need movement. Sitting still all day is torture. Adjustable standing desks let you switch positions throughout the day, satisfying the need for physical variation while working.

11. A Cool Bedroom (Temperature Wise - Leads to Better Sleep)

Optimal sleep temperature is 65-68°F (18-20°C). Cooler rooms improve sleep quality dramatically. Better sleep means better ADHD symptom management the next day. Many people discover that when they finally fix their ADHD sleep problems, everything else becomes more manageable.

15. Clean Work Environment (Otherwise the Mind Subconsciously Worries About Mess)

Visual clutter creates mental clutter. Your ADHD brain tracks every item in your peripheral vision, using precious cognitive resources. A clean workspace frees up that mental bandwidth for actual work.

21. Location-Based Productivity

Train your brain to associate locations with specific activities: Coffee shops for learning, office for deep work, coworking spaces for meetings. This environmental cueing reduces decision fatigue and helps initiation.

Auditory and Focus Tools

12. Binaural Beats / Brown Noise / White Noise

Background sound masks distractions and can help ADHD brains focus. Brown noise often works best (deeper than white noise). Experiment with different types. Understanding what sounds work for ADHD focus is crucial.

Psychological and Mindset Strategies

5. Personal Reward Systems

Your ADHD brain needs external rewards since internal motivation is unreliable. Create immediate rewards for task completion. Finish focused work → 10 minutes of gaming. Complete morning routine → favorite coffee. Make rewards immediate and specific.

14. Work Out Your Deepest Why and Put It Somewhere You Can't Miss Every Day

Figure out the thing that gets you out of bed every morning. Not surface-level goals. Your deepest, most compelling reason for doing what you do. Write it down. Put it where you'll see it daily. When motivation fails, purpose carries you.

19. Done is Better Than Perfect

Perfectionism and ADHD create paralysis. Embrace "good enough." Finished beats perfect every time. Ship the messy version. Iterate later. Progress over perfection, always.

Technology and Tools

16. Block Phone Usage for Wake Up Times (Use Opal or Alternative App)

Morning phone scrolling destroys your day before it starts. Block social media and distracting apps during morning hours. Protect your peak focus time from the dopamine drain of endless scrolling.

20. Change Your Alarm Tone Every Week

You hate your alarm because you've heard it hundreds of times. Changing it weekly prevents that association from building. Wake up in a better mood because you hate your alarm less. Simple but effective.

22. Speech to Text on Windows (Press Windows Button + H)

Writing is hard for many ADHD brains. Speaking is easier. Use speech-to-text for emails, documents, notes. It's faster and feels more natural than typing for many people with ADHD.

External Systems and Support

9. Constant Brain Dumping (Get EVERYTHING Out)

Your working memory is limited. Trying to hold everything in your head is exhausting and futile. Dump every thought, task, worry, and idea into an external system immediately. Free up that mental space for actual work.

10. Systems That Understand and Work Alongside Your Brain

This is the big one. If I had to pick one single thing that makes my life easier, it's without a doubt systems that work alongside your ADHD brain (closely followed by cold exposure!).

I'm not just saying this—I genuinely believe it. Most productivity systems are built for neurotypical brains and adapted for ADHD as an afterthought. They fail because they demand executive function to use the very tools meant to compensate for executive dysfunction.

**Claudia by Neuro** was built FROM THE GROUND UP for ADHD brains. It:

• Accepts chaos as input and returns structure as output
• Requires zero setup or maintenance
• Adapts to your current capacity automatically
• Handles brain dumps without requiring you to organize them
• Works especially well on low-capacity days when everything else fails

Systems designed for your brain work fundamentally differently than systems you have to force yourself to use. Understanding what makes ADHD support truly sustainable changes everything.

Remember: There's No One-Size-Fits-All

Please remember: This is informed by my own experiences and conversations with hundreds of ADHDers... but your experience may still be different.

There is no one-size-fits-all approach. Ultimately, you have to experiment and find out what works for you.

Don't try to implement all 23 at once. Pick 2-3 that resonate most. Try them for 30 days. See what sticks. Add more gradually. Small changes compound over time.

The strategies that help most are the ones you can actually maintain. Sustainability beats optimization. Good enough done consistently beats perfect done once.

Making life with ADHD easier isn't about becoming neurotypical. It's about building an environment, routine, and support system that works WITH your neurology rather than demanding you constantly fight it.

You deserve tools and strategies that make your life more manageable. Start with one. Build from there. You've got this.

By Josh Budd | Founder @ Neuro Notion