From Procrastination to Productivity: ADHD Brain Hacks You Need to Know

Many of my clients ask me, “How do I stop procrastinating?” As an AuDHD person myself, I understand firsthand how frustrating it can be when you keep waiting until a deadline or that magical burst of energy comes to start a project. The unpredictable nature of “Am I going to be a rockstar employee today or binge TikTok/Reddit/FFXIV/etc. for the next 8 hours?”

Nearly every neurospicy client I’ve worked with at some point says to me, “Why can’t I just __________?” You can fill in that blank with study, focus on work, work out, do the dishes, get out of bed; the list goes on and on. The answer is you can’t do things you’re not genuinely interested in because our brains are stupid. Blame science, genetics, or late-stage capitalism. The fact is the ADHD brain has lower levels of dopamine, which is the neurotransmitter that allows us to feel pleasure and happiness. Because we’re low on dopamine, we seek it out more, meaning it’s easy to play 6 hours straight of Final Fantasy XIV, but doing 10 minutes of laundry takes an act of Congress and a lot of self-shaming.

The good news is there are strategies you can implement today that will help you get over the low dopamine hump and get the dishes done; let’s start with I.N.C.U.P.

What is I.N.C.U.P.?

This amazing framework has helped me and so many of my clients understand how to hack our motivation and work past executive dysfunction. It stands for Interst, Novelty, Challenge, Urgency, and Passion.

Let’s break it down and look at why it works and how to implement it:

Interest

It can be hard to find the motivation to do things you’re not interested in, so let’s solve that by creating interest in our space, routine, or task. Ask yourself, what would make this task fun, silly, captivating, or pique my curiosity?

Here are some ideas to try:

• Personalize your work/study space with items that inspire you, such as photos, plants, or artwork. (Create visual appeal because we don’t like to stay long in boring spaces.)
• Use colorful stationery or tools that you find enjoyable to use. (Brightly colored notepads or silly pens are just better)
• Integrate interactive elements like whiteboards or pinboards to visualize progress and ideas. (Out of sight truly means out of mind for the ADHD brain).
• Create a vision board with goals and milestones to stay motivated.
• Create a playlist of your favorite music or ambient sounds to enhance your mood and provide an extra layer of stimulation. (Being understimulated is a motivation killer, but so is being overstimulated, your goal is to strike a nice balance.)
• Rotate decorative elements or desk setups regularly to keep your space feeling fresh. (This staves off the acclimation of your interesting decor, think of seasons or holidays to swap things out.)
• Incorporate aromatherapy with scents that you find energizing or calming. (See the stimulation note from above on why this works.)
• Use visual reminders of positive affirmations, such as post-it notes or stickers. Remind yourself of your strengths and abilities. Positive self-talk can boost motivation and confidence. (We’re hard-wired to love a good ego stroke!)

Novelty

We’ve all seen what the power of novelty can do, it’s the new and shiny. The New Year’s resolution to go to the gym; you’ll go religiously for three weeks then never again. Or that new water bottle increased your water intake, but only until it needed to be washed, and then you forgot about it. Understanding how novelty impacts dopamine is the first step in changing this quirk into a strategy.

Here are some ideas to try:

• Change your study or work environment regularly, such as moving from a desk to a coffee shop or a park; or even just another room in your office or home.
• Introduce new study methods, like using flashcards, apps, or gamified learning tools.
• Use different media for learning, such as videos, podcasts, or infographics.
• Try incorporating standing desks or different seating arrangements to break the monotony.
• Invite friends to study/work/clean with you and engage in body doubling. (Virtual body doubling can work too!) 
• Experiment with different time management techniques, like the Eisenhower Matrix or time-blocking.
• Use apps or tech that can enhance your productivity, like smart pens or voice assistants to set reminders or timers.
• Switch between digital and analog tools, such as alternating between typing on a computer and writing by hand. Studies show handwriting increases critical thinking and memory.
• Physical activity can help stimulate the brain. Take regular breaks to move around, stretch, or even do a quick workout.

Challenge

Who doesn’t love a good challenge? I call this one my “spite play.” Anyone ever tell you that you ‘can’t’ do something, and it just made you that much more motivated? Lay down a challenge for yourself and see if it increases your ability to do the thing you’re avoiding.

• Set small, achievable goals and gradually increase the difficulty to build confidence and momentum.
• Participate in study groups or work alongside others to create a sense of friendly competition.
• Take on timed challenges, like working for 25 minutes and then taking a 5-minute break (Pomodoro Technique).
• Engage in peer review sessions where you critique each other’s work, adding an element of accountability.
• Engage in online challenges or contests related to your work or study area.
• Set up milestones with increasing complexity, rewarding yourself as you achieve each one.
• Create a visual challenge board on a whiteboard or fridge. I like to use magnets or pins that I can move from one side of the board to the other each time I finish a challenging task. That sense of accomplishment is almost as good as getting a gold star on your work in school.

Urgency

I feel like this needs very little explanation. The neurospicy brain loves a good sense of urgency, waiting until the last minute and then going into overdrive. Manipulate this category by lying to yourself about when things are due. Have three weeks to do a project? Nope its due this weekend.

• Set clear goals, use visual aids, calendar reminders, voice assistants, write it on your hand.
• A little healthy gaslighting of yourself, cross out due dates on assignments or projects and write in your own that are sooner.
• Give yourself a hard time limit, with a fun reward following it. Like I have to clean the room by 3pm because I’m meeting someone for a boba.
• Try using this Priority Planner template I created based on the Important-Urgent Matrix. I prefer to have a few printed and on my desk for the random thoughts that come up throughout the day. Like when I’m writing my dissertation and I think to myself, “I should refill my prescription soon,” or “I wonder if dolphins can have ADHD?” To use it, when a thought pops up, ask yourself is this Urgent (time-sensitive, deadlines, store will close, etc.) to determine if it goes in column one or column two. Then ask “Is this important to me or for me?”
  ‘Important For’ are things like your goals, meeting your needs (going to the pharmacy), and assignments due soon.
  ‘Important To’ are the things that fill our cup, self-care, gaming, yoga, relaxing, reading a book, going to the gym, texting a friend.
  Things that are not important go into either the interrupting or distractions box. Interrupting can be random texts from your boss to do an urgent but not important task, these are things that can likely be delegated or wait until the end of the day. Distractions are things we probably should not do or plan to do another day, like google if dolphins can be neurodivergent. If I have time after everything else and I’m still interested in this later then I can spend some time going down a random rabbit hole.
  Finally, at the bottom is just a space to write the random thoughts that pop into our head, your grocery list, reminder to check the mail, or band names for the My Chemical Romance cover band you’ll never start.

Passion

Everyone’s favorite, of course I can spend hours on a passion project, but how can we tie our daily life into being motivated by passion? Try finding ways to pair your passions with your tasks.

• Connect the tasks or study material to your long-term goals and aspirations, reframe boring assignments or classes as things you need to do to get to your goal.
• Find real-world applications of what you’re learning to make it more relevant and exciting.
• Pair your work with passion projects or hobbies that you can look forward to; For instance I can’t play video games until this chore is completed.
• Regularly revisit and update your vision board or goal list to keep your passions aligned with your tasks.
• Regularly offload all your thoughts and tasks onto paper or a digital note. This can help clear your mind and organize your thoughts. During a study session, give yourself permission to write down the random thoughts or tasks you want to look up later, but not permission to actually look them up at that moment.

Phew! That was a lot! If you got through all of that without skimming you deserve a gold star.

Now, obviously, this list is not all-inclusive, and there are more strategies that could fall into the INCUP model… but I have ADHD, and this post took me three months and six strategies to restart writing before it was finished. I would love to hear from you what strategies you use to combat procrastination, feel free to leave a comment below or send me an email.

Best,