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Core ADHD symptoms

The are three main core set of symptoms experience by people with ADHD. They are inattentiveness, hyperactivity and impulsivity. In this guide we are going to focus on inattentiveness. For a person with ADHD inattentiveness is described as: 

• Distracted easily
• Difficulty organising
• Easily bored
• Switch from one task to another
• Difficulty planning
• Difficulty concentrating

It is important to understand that these experiences are not temporary and will have been present throughout childhood and adulthood to some degree. For some people with ADHD difficulties may increase in adolescence and adulthood, due to changes in home, studies, and work environments. These changes place more demand on attention, which expose people difficulties as inattentiveness. These symptoms of inattentiveness will not be short lived. The experience will be across different areas of the person’s life, at home, work, when studying, when socialising and carrying out everyday tasks. Some people may experience these difficulties with symptoms of depression or anxiety, which can also seriously impact on attention. However, these difficulties for the person with ADHD can be present without symptoms of depression or anxiety.

Compensatory strategies for ADHD inattentiveness

For ADHD-related inattentiveness we encourage people to develop a set of compensatory strategies. These strategies involve behavioural techniques and environmental adjustments. 

1. Organisation – time & date management

Difficulties in organisation is due to problems in working memory, so start by support your memory by writing and recording times and dates through memory aids:

• Start a daily diary, planners or calendars, try both paper and digital versions.
• Use multiple reminders on your mobile phone or digital calendar, e.g., 1 day before, 1 hour before, 10 minutes before the appointment.
• Write checklists for repeated tasks, use note pad, sticky notes, whiteboards, or digital apps.
• Block out in your day, and in your diary buffer time, this is free time to help manage if tasks take longer than planned.

2. Time Management 

People with ADHD described time blindness, also referred to as temporal myopia. This is a difficulty in sensing and managing the passage of time. Try these strategies:

• Where a watch and have clocks in every room of your home.
• Use your mobile phone stopwatch as a visual aid.
• Add a third extra time for tasks, and or start recording how long regular task actually take.
• Work on a task in blocks of time, try the Pomodoro Technique, e.g., 25 minutes work and 5 minutes break, then repeat.
• Schedule difficulties tasks when you know you will be most focused. Then schedule easy tasks when you know your mental energy is likely to be low.

3. Procrastination & Task Paralysis 

People with ADHD commonly experiencing procrastination, putting things off, avoiding starting, and common thought is “oh I don’t have enough energy now, I’ll do it later”. Another difficulty has been referred to as task paralysis, with so much to do, the ADHD brain feels completely overwhelmed and it’s hard to know where to start. Instead of aiming to complete a task, aim to:

• Plan to work for 5 minutes.
• Aim to read one paragraph.
• Write one sentence.
• Answer 1 email or mobile phone message.

4. Buddy system or Body Doubling

People with ADHD may benefit from using a buddy system, in other words completing the task with someone else to help you keep focused. As new version of this theme is body doubling, and groups online through videos stream join groups working together over a set period of time on a particular task or goal. You can also try: 

• Working alongside a colleague.
• Studying with a friend.
• Virtual co-working sessions.
• Checking in regularly with an accountability partner.

5. Breaking down tasks

Linked procrastination and task paralysis is the idea when feeling overwhelmed by the scale of a task, you break the process down into smaller tasks and complete them. Doing this builds momentum over time. Here are two examples:

Example 1: Laundry

Task 1: Collect and place all used clothes in laundry basket.  

Task 2: Split laundry into whites, colours & dark clothes.

Task 3: Take whites to the washing machine, put on the first load.

Task 4: At end of washing cycle, unload washing machine & hang white clothes to dry.

Task 5: Iron clothes if needed.

Task 6: Put clothes away.

Don’t start second laundry cycle for colours, until you have all the whites put away. As a rule, complete 1 cycle of each task (example here washing white only clothes), before your move to the second cycle of tasks (example here washing colour clothes). 

Example 2: Report/Essay 

When writing a write report for work or an essay, again think about breaking tasks down into smaller steps. 

Task 1: Open, name, & save document.

Task 2: Create headings

Task 3: Draft introduction

Task 4: Draft each section 

Task 5: Review and edit

Task 6: Final proof-read

Schedule in your calendar each task over a week, to help set a realistic time frame for the work to be complete.  

6. Minimise Decision Fatigue

It appears part of procrastination, may be linked to too much choice, or different approaches to decision making which can leave the ADHD person feeling overwhelmed and fatigue. 

• Establish routines, follow your plan and not your mood, as the activities appears in your schedule to reduce decision making.
• Prepare the night before, for work, studies or going to activities to give yourself more time when having to make decisions.
• Use templates, check lists for frequently completed.
• Automate recurring activities where possible, i.e., set up direct debits for bills your regularly have to pay, do the same activity on the same day each week. Make it automatic in nature.

7. Environmental Changes 

The ADHD brain can sometimes seek more stimulus from the environment, so people with ADHD can work well in busy places. However, interestingly other people with ADHD may seek low stimulus environments, they find the need to work or study in silence. This can help increase attentiveness.

• Keep essential items, keys, phone, wallet in designated locations.
• Keep important items in see though plastic boxes.
• Decluttering the workspace & home.
• Low stimulus environment, noise-cancelling headphones, work in a quiet place with little distraction.
• High stimulus environment, use ambient sounds (e.g. rainstorms, ocean waves, or indoor hum) can helpful, many sounds tracks can be found on the internet. Have TV or radio on in the background.
• When working on a computer, close unnecessary browser tabs.
• Keeping mobile telephones out of reach during focused work.

8. Increase Interest and Engagement

Many people with ADHD described tasks as boring and uninteresting and so can be easily distracted by other more interesting activities. It common to start on one activity and 20 minutes later finding yourself working on a completely different task. Attention in ADHD is often interest or enjoyment rather than importance-based, which can create a lot of problems. Try some new approaches:

• Turn boring tasks into a game.
• Creating small rewards, every 25 minutes as with the Pomodoro Technique, do something rewarding in the 5-minute break.
• Split your time into, alternating between less interesting and more interesting activities every 30 minutes.
• Adding novelty where possible, do cleaning tasks whilst listening to favourite music or radio station. 
   

9. Manage Energy and Physical Health

Inattentiveness, which is part of our working memory, which to strongly influenced by our energy levels. Energy levels are affected by a number of factors:

• Experiencing poor sleep.
• Low levels of physical activity.
• When stress levels are high.
• Poor diet and or inconstant meal routine, meals are missed due lack of planning or scheduling.  

New compensatory strategies, to develop healthy habits:

• Regular sleep schedule.
• Daily exercise.
• Reduce stress by planning and scheduling activities and tasks over the week.
• Make sure you are hydrated, have a regular balanced nutritious diet.

Making these strategies work for you 

It’s important to recognise that putting new approaches into practice can be challenging, especially if you’ve experimented with similar ideas before without much success. Change often takes time, and it’s okay to move at your own pace. Having support can make a significant difference. Consider choosing someone you trust such as a friend, family member, or partner who can encourage you and help you apply these strategies in everyday situations. Working alongside someone else can make the process feel more manageable and less isolating. Rather than trying to implement everything at once, focus on one small step at a time. Building habits gradually can lead to more sustainable progress.

Considering medication

Medication is one possible option, but it isn’t suitable for everyone. It’s important to think about how ADHD affects your wellbeing and daily life. If it seems appropriate, you will be offered an appointment to discuss medication in more detail.

Other Adult ADHD service support 

Please consider evidence-based treatments. If your find your inattentiveness causes significant problems with daily functioning across different areas of your life, you may want to consider:

• Adapt ADHD medication assessment (if not already prescribed).
• Adapted CBT for ADHD, available for those with depression and anxiety in your local NHS trust NELFT.
• ADHD coaching, for those who want to focus on practical problems due to inattentiveness.
• Occupational Therapy for developing strategies for work or education.

We have a range of professionals who form the multidisciplinary team who can support you. We offer support from ADHD coaches and specialist occupational therapist, to help with the practical difficulties throughout the diagnosis processes. We have medical staff such as specialist nurses, psychiatrists and pharmacist, who will support you with the diagnosis, and if you decided to take medication. Finally, we have psychology staff, which includes assistant psychologist, practitioner psychologists and cognitive behavioural psychotherapist, to help support you with your mental health needs. The multidisciplinary approach allows the service offer tailored support for your current needs, now and into the future.