Help for Adult ADD / ADHD

Managing adult ADD / ADHD: What you need to know

Adult ADD/ADHD can present challenges across all areas of life, from getting organized at home to reaching your potential at work. It can be tough on your health and both your personal and on-the-job relationships. Your symptoms may lead to extreme procrastination, trouble making deadlines, and impulsive behavior. In addition, you may feel that friends and family don’t understand what you’re up against.

Fortunately, there are skills you can learn to help get your symptoms of ADD/ADHD under control. You can improve your daily habits, learn to recognize and use your strengths, and develop techniques that help you work more efficiently, increase organization, and interact better with others. Change won’t happen overnight, though. These ADD/ADHD self-help strategies require practice, patience, and, perhaps most importantly, a positive attitude.

Adult ADD/ADHD self-help: Tips for managing stress and boosting mood

Due to the impulsivity and disorganization that often accompany ADD/ADHD, you may struggle with erratic sleep, unhealthy eating, or the effects of too little exercise—all issues that can lead to extra stress, bad moods, and feeling out of control of your emotions. The best way to stop this cycle is to take charge of your lifestyle habits and create healthy new routines.

Eating well, getting plenty of sleep, and exercising regularly can help you stay calm, avoid mood swings, and in many cases fight the symptoms of anxiety and depression. Healthier habits can also reduce ADD/ADHD symptoms like inattention, hyperactivity, and distractibility, while regular routines can help your life feel more manageable.

All people can benefit from eating well, getting plenty of sleep, and exercising regularly, but if you are affected by adult ADD/ADHD, you stand to gain even more. Focusing on these three areas can help you stay calm, avoid mood swings, and in many cases fight the symptoms of anxiety and depression. Healthier habits can reduce symptoms like inattention, hyperactivity, and distractibility, and routines can help your life feel predictable and steady.

Exercise and spend time outdoors for ADD/ADHD

Working out is perhaps the most positive and efficient way to reduce hyperactivity and inattention from ADD/ADHD. Exercise can relieve stress, boost your mood, and calm your mind, helping work off the excess energy and aggression that can get in the way of relationships and feeling stable.

• Exercise on a daily basis.
• Choose something vigorous and fun that you can stick with, like a team sport or working out with a friend.
• Increase stress relief by exercising outdoors—people with ADD/ADHD often benefit from sunshine and green surroundings.
• As well as relieving stress, relaxation exercise, such as meditation, yoga, or tai chi, can teach you to better control your attention and impulses.

Get plenty of sleep for ADD/ADHD

Sleep deprivation can increase symptoms of adult ADD/ADHD, reducing your ability to cope with stress and maintain focus during the day. Simple changes to daytime habits go a long way toward ensuring solid nightly sleep:

• Avoid caffeine late in the day.
• Exercise vigorously and regularly, but not within an hour of bedtime.
• Create a predictable and quiet “bedtime” routine.
• Take a hot shower or bath just before bed.
• Stick to a regular sleep-wake schedule, even on weekends.

Eat right for ADD/ADHD

Eating healthfully can reduce distractibility, hyperactivity, and decrease stress levels dramatically.

• Eat small meals throughout day.
• Avoid sugar as much as possible.
• Eat fewer carbohydrates, while increasing your protein intake.

Adult ADD/ADHD self-help: Tips for getting organized and controlling clutter

The hallmark traits of ADD/ADHD—inattention and distractibility—make organization perhaps the biggest challenge adults with the disorder face. If you have ADD/ADHD, the prospect of getting organized, whether it be at work or home, may leave you feeling overwhelmed.

However, you can learn to break tasks down into smaller steps and follow a systematic approach to organization. By implementing various structures and routines, and utilizing tools such as daily planners and reminders, you can maintain organization and control clutter.

Develop structure and neat habits—and keep them up

To organize a room, home, or office, categorize your objects, deciding which are necessary and which can be stored or discarded. To organize yourself, get in the habit of taking notes and writing lists. Maintain your newly organized structure with regular, daily routines.

• Create space. Ask yourself what you need on a daily basis, and find storage bins or closets for things you don’t. Designate specific areas for things like keys, bills, and other items that can be easily misplaced. Throw away things you don’t need.
• Use a day planner. Effective use of a day planner can help you manage time and remember responsibilities. Learning to use a planner is just like learning to use any tool—practice makes perfect.
• Use lists. Make use of lists and notes to keep track of regularly scheduled tasks, projects, deadlines, and appointments. If you decide to use a daily planner, keep all lists and notes inside it.
• Deal with it now. You can avoid forgetfulness, clutter, and procrastination by filing papers, cleaning up messes, or returning phone calls immediately, not sometime in the future.

Tame your ADD/ADHD paper trail

If you have adult ADD / ADHD, a major part of your disorganization might be with paperwork—in endless piles or strewn across your kitchen, desk, or office. Take an afternoon to set up a paperwork system that works for you.

• Set up a filing system. Use dividers or separate file folders for different types of documents (such as medical records, receipts, and income statements). Label and color-code your files so that you can find what you need quickly.
• Deal with mail on a daily basis. Set aside a few minutes each day to deal with the mail. Either trash it, file it, or act on it.

Adult ADD / ADHD self-help: Tips for managing your time and staying on schedule

Trouble with time management is a common effect of adult ADD/ADHD. You may frequently lose track of time, miss deadlines, procrastinate, underestimate how much time you need for tasks, or find yourself doing things in the wrong order. Many adults with ADD/ADHD spend so much time on one task—known as “hyperfocusing”—that nothing else gets done. These difficulties can leave you feeling frustrated and inept, and make others impatient, but there are solutions to help you better manage your time.

Understand time

Adults with attention deficit disorder often have a different perception of how time passes. To align your sense of time with everyone else, use the oldest trick in the book: a clock.

• Become a clock-watcher. Use a wristwatch, timer, alarm, PDA, or computer—anything that keeps accurate time and is within your sight at all times. When you start a task, say the time out loud or write it down. Allot yourself limited amounts of time for each task.
• Create a daily ten-minute routine. Attend to filing documents, processing mail, paying bills, and other mundane tasks for the same amount of time each day, and preferably in the same order. If you follow a regular routine, you can be sure you aren’t missing something important. If you have only ten minutes, you’ll know when to stop.
• Give yourself more time than you think you need. For every thirty minutes of time you think it will take you to get someplace or complete a task, add ten minutes.
• Plan to be early and set up reminders. Write down appointments for fifteen minutes earlier than they really are. Set up reminders on your computer or on paper to ensure you leave on time.

Decide what’s first

Because adults with ADD/ADHD often struggle with impulse control and jump from one subject to another, completing tasks can be difficult and large projects can seem overwhelming. To overcome this:

• Prioritize. Ask yourself what is the most important task you need to accomplish, and then order your other tasks after that one.
• Take things one at a time. Break down large projects or tasks into smaller, manageable steps.

Learn to say no

Impulsiveness can lead adults with ADD/ADHD to agree to too many projects at work or make too many social engagements. But a jam-packed schedule can leave you feeling overwhelmed, overtired, and affect the quality of your work. Turning things down may improve your ability to accomplish tasks, keep social dates, and live a healthier lifestyle. Check your schedule first before committing to something new.

Adult ADD / ADHD self-help: Tips for staying focused and productive at work

ADD/ADHD can create special challenges at work. The things you may find toughest—organization, completion of tasks, sitting still, listening quietly—are the very things you’re often asked to do all day long.

Juggling ADD/ADHD and a challenging job is no easy task, but by tailoring your workplace environment you can take advantage of your strong points while minimizing the negative impact of your ADD/ADHD symptoms.

Get organized at work

Organize your office, cubicle, or desk one manageable step at a time. Then use the following strategies to stay tidy and organized:

• Set aside daily time for organization. Set aside 10 to 15 minutes a day to clear your desk and organize your paperwork. Experiment with storing things inside your desk or in bins so that they don’t clutter your workspace as unnecessary distractions.
• Use colors and lists. Color-coding can be very useful to people with ADD/ADHD. Manage forgetfulness by writing everything down.
• Prioritize. More important tasks should be done first. Set deadlines for everything, even if they are self-imposed.

End distractions

Let your workmates know you need to concentrate, and try the following techniques to minimize distractions:

• Where you work matters. If you don’t have your own office, you may be able to take your work to an empty office or conference room. If you are in a lecture hall or conference, try sitting close to the speaker and away from people who chat mid-meeting.
• Minimize external commotion. Face your desk towards a wall and keep your workplace free of clutter. To discourage interruptions, you could even hang a "Do Not Disturb" sign. If possible, let voicemail pick up your phone calls and return them later.
• Save big ideas for later. All those great concepts that keep popping into your head? Jot them down on paper for later consideration.

Stretch your attention span

As an adult with ADD/ADHD, you are capable of focusing—it's just that you may have a hard time keeping that focus, especially when the activity isn't one that you find particularly engaging. Boring meetings or lectures are hard on anyone, but for adults with ADD/ADHD they can be a special challenge. Similarly, following multiple directions can also be difficult for those with ADD/ADHD. Use these tips to improve your focus and ability to follow instructions:

• Get it in writing. If you're attending a meeting, lecture, workshop, or another gathering that requires close attention, ask for an advance copy of the relevant materials—such as a meeting agenda or lecture outline. At the meeting, use the written notes to guide your active listening and note taking. Writing as you listen will help you stay focused on the speaker’s words.
• Echo directions. After someone gives verbal instructions, say them aloud to be sure you got it right.
• Move around. To prevent restlessness and fidgeting, go ahead and move around—at the appropriate times in the right places. As long as you are not disturbing others, taking a walk or even jumping up and down during a meeting break, for example, can help you pay attention later on.

Adult ADD/ADHD self-help: Tips for improving your relationships

Relationships can be problematic for adults with ADD/ADHD due to the inattentiveness, forgetfulness, and lack of impulse control that often accompany the disorder. If you aren’t good at self-regulating your actions toward others, it may cause them to become tense and upset. You may also come off as overly aggressive or as not caring enough to listen closely.

Fortunately, there are ways to improve the way you communicate and interact with friends and family.

Help for your closest relationship

While adult ADD/ADHD can cause issues in many different types of social settings, it can strike deepest and cause the most problems in your partnership, marriage, or with someone you’re dating. Because you’re disorganized, your significant other may feel like he/she has to take care of everything from bills to childcare. If you’re overly forgetful or inattentive, your partner may feel like you just don’t care. But if you both understand the effects of ADD/ADHD, you have a better chance of building a fulfilling relationship.

• Divide tasks and stick to them. The partner without ADD/ADHD may be more suited to handling the bills and budget, while you manage the children or daily chores.
• Develop a communication code. Have your significant other gently remind you to do something or to listen closely by giving you a nonverbal signal you both agree on.
• Take responsibility. ADD/ADHD or not, you are a full half of the partnership, and need to work on the things that are hard on your significant other, including communication.
• Create better communication. Often the simplest solutions work best—like using a dry erase board to write notes and regular to-do lists. To avoid misunderstandings, have the partner with ADD/ADHD repeat things that have been said.

Improve communication

Symptoms of adult ADD/ADHD can often make conversations difficult or uncomfortable for others. You don’t mean to come off as abrasive or uncaring, but your impulsiveness, hyperactivity, or distractibility can get in your way. To interact positively with the people around you, you need to be attentive, responsible, and able to control impulsive behaviors. In other words, mind your manners.

• Listen actively and don’t interrupt. While someone is talking, make an effort to maintain eye contact. If you find your mind wandering, mentally repeat their words so you follow the conversation. Practice not interrupting.
• Ask questions. Instead of launching into whatever is on your mind—or the many things on your mind—ask your friend, spouse, or acquaintance a question. It will let him/her know you’re paying attention.
• Request a repeat. Don't be afraid to ask the person to repeat himself. If you let the conversation go too long when your mind is elsewhere, it will only get tougher to re-connect.

Educate friends and family about adult ADD/ADHD

Educating your loved ones about ADD/ADHD and how it affects your social and interpersonal skills can help alleviate a lot of conflict. If you show that you’re working hard to improve your social skills, your friends and family may also be more willing to accommodate your behavior.

Authors: Robert Segal, M.A., and Melinda Smith, M.A. Last updated: December 2012.