Focus or Flop? Productivity Hacks I’m Testing Right Now

As I continue adjusting to a less structured work environment, I’ve noticed that certain strategies align well with research-backed ADHD management, while others feel like they’re backfiring in real-time. Here’s how my experience stacks up against the science.

✅ What’s Working:

🔹 Stacking Productivity Waves – Instead of forcing a rigid schedule, I’m leaning into task batching, where I group similar activities together and maximize momentum when a focus wave hits. This aligns with research showing structured but flexible work environments help ADHD brains engage without overstimulation (Menon, 2011).

🔹 Managing Hyperfocus (Kind of) – I’ve always relied on 10-day bursts of intense work, followed by a 3-day shutdown. But now, with my energy cycling between 3 days on, 3 days off, I’m adjusting my approach. Research suggests that short, controlled work blocks with scheduled breaks prevent burnout (Buckner et al., 2008), so I’m testing intentional pauses to maintain steady focus.

🔹 Supplement Stack: Lion’s Mane, Tyrosine & L-Theanine – These nootropics support dopamine regulation, cognitive flexibility, and stress resilience—key areas of executive function that ADHD brains often struggle with. Lion’s Mane has been studied for neuroplasticity benefits, Tyrosine aids dopamine synthesis (helpful for ADHD’s dopamine deficiency), and L-Theanine promotes calm focus. While it’s too soon to tell, I’ll report back on their impact in a few weeks.

🔹 Self-Compassion & Awareness – The biggest takeaway? Not fighting my brain. Understanding why my motivation fluctuates has helped me embrace my natural rhythms rather than forcing productivity on “off” days. This aligns with research on ADHD-friendly recovery strategies (Stern & Maeir, 2024).

❌ What’s NOT Working:

🔸 Taking Breaks Mid-Task – Science says frequent short breaks help reset executive function (Whitfield-Gabrieli & Ford, 2012), but in practice, I struggle to return to unfinished work. If I stop mid-task, I can’t switch back. If I push through exhaustion, I resent the break when I take it. Still troubleshooting this one.

🔸 Tricking Myself into Productivity – Without external deadlines, my brain is working overtime to generate urgency—which, ironically, is burning more energy. Research suggests external organization tools like task managers reduce cognitive load (Castellanos & Proal, 2012), so I’m testing structured workflows to see if they help.

Takeaways & Next Steps

• Structuring my work into waves rather than fixed schedules seems to be working.

• My supplement stack is under review—updates in a few weeks.

• Breaks are still tricky, and I need to refine how I transition between tasks.

• The mental effort of forcing productivity is doing more harm than good.

Tomorrow, I’ll dig into a concept that directly impacts motivation, fulfillment, and why external achievements never seem “enough”—The Happiness Baseline. Stay tuned.

What productivity hacks have worked (or failed) for you? Let’s compare notes and rewire together. 👇

References:

Buckner, R. L., Andrews-Hanna, J. R., & Schacter, D. L. (2008). The brain’s default network: Anatomy, function, and relevance to disease. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1124(1), 1–38. https://doi.org/10.1196/annals.1440.011

Castellanos, F. X., & Proal, E. (2012). Large-scale brain systems in ADHD: Beyond the prefrontal–striatal model. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 16(1), 17–26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2011.11.007

Menon, V. (2011). Large-scale brain networks and psychopathology: A unifying triple network model. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 15(10), 483–506. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2011.08.003

Stern, P., & Maeir, A. (2024). Executive function deficits mediate the relationship between employees’ ADHD and job burnout. AIMS Public Health, 11(3), 399–412. https://doi.org/10.3934/publichealth.2024023

Whitfield-Gabrieli, S., & Ford, J. M. (2012). Default mode network activity and connectivity in psychopathology. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 8(1), 49–76. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-032511-143049