Hyperfocus: Taking Care of Business

Previous posts went over three key strengths and weaknesses of attention deficit hyper disorder, starting with hyperfocus and an aversion to disinterest. Let's talk about these in more detail and start getting into using hyperfocus to see how we can really take care of business. These are like two sides of the same coin, and can be the best friend or worst enemy of the ADHD crowd. Since flipping a coin can either be heads or tails, we ideally want to start flipping that coin like Harvey Dent; with both sides being heads (if hyperfocus is heads).

You might be asking yourself, "isn't hyperfocus what the Millennium Falcon uses to enter light-speed?" It's almost like that. As mentioned before, those of you with genuine ADHD may have noticed that you can obsess over anything that strongly piques your interest for hours on end, without rest. Alternatively, if you have no interest in what you are trying to focus on, your mind will automatically shift to something much more interesting. This makes it a real challenge to even get focussed on mundane or dull tasks.

Using studying, as an example, there is a trick that I have found works very well for achieving hyperfocus, with otherwise undesirable tasks. Many people will recommend studying for thirty minutes to an hour, each day, in order to prepare for a test. While this works for most people, an ADHD individual will not get anything done within a thirty minute time frame. It takes roughly up to two hours, in order to lock onto something.

The trick is to find something much more interesting, to begin focusing on. For some, it might be watching two episodes of something that you love to watch, reading a book, playing a video game, going for a quick run or anything else that generally causes ceaseless obsession. From there, set a timer, or decide on a time to force yourself to stop doing whatever you have locked onto, then begin working on your studies, homework, office work or whatever else needs to be addressed. Your mind will take a while to come out of your intense focus, giving you time to divert that focus to something that is actually important. This makes it much more effortless to begin obsessing over your work. Since hyperfocus can result in obsessively picking away at your tasks, this will allow sustained focus for hours on end.

The reason this works is because once the ADHD brain goes into deep focus, it will remain in a state of wanting to obsess over whatever is in front of you, at the time. The challenge that comes into play, is learning how to force yourself to shift your focus from whatever triggers hyperfocus, on to something different. Doing this takes a lot of practice, but works very well, when there is business to be taken care of.

My recommendation for timing is to carve out at least seven hours of undisturbed time to focus and work on major projects. Trying to study or work, the same way as everyone else in the world, puts ADHD'ers at a disadvantage. If you work the way your brain works, you will always net better performance results, so give this a try!

In my next post, I will go into further suggestions on how to leverage hyperfocus, and avoid being torn down by failing to accomplish uninteresting goals. Until then, put on some nice headphones and listen to a tune...