We’ve all been here: you’re sitting at work, trying to stay on task and focused, but the day is halfway over and your mind is starting to drift. No matter how hard you try, you can’t get back on track. ADHD is making your workday a struggle. 

Creating a productive ADHD working schedule is tough. It’s so hard to avoid getting distracted, and if you’re not able to get back to work, you’ll risk your job.

We’re here to offer up a few ADHD hacks that might help you stay on track at work. Read on to learn more.

1. Keep a Consistent Schedule in a Planner

This might seem impossible when you have ADHD, but it’s a real game-changer. Maintaining a consistent schedule, both during and around your work hours, will make you far more productive when it’s time to finally get to work.

If you work an in-office job, a lot of your schedule will be made for you. You have to be in the office, out of the office, and on your breaks at specific times. Use a planner to block in those times.

Around those times, block in everything else that you have to do. Use your planner as a visual guide. Even if the thing that you have to do is mundane, writing it down will help you keep track of it.

If you work from home, it’s even more important to maintain a consistent schedule. While working from home has plenty of benefits for people with or without disabilities, it can be challenging for people with ADHD who struggle with focus and productivity. 

Make sure that you wake up at the same time every day, even if you’re making your own schedule. Consistency is key.

Try to create habits on work days. Make breakfast at the same time (eating a healthy breakfast will help with focus, especially if you take medication), aim for the same amount of work done, and stop at the same time (even if you haven’t been as productive as you would have liked).

You have to trick your brain into following a schedule. It will become a habit if you stay consistent. 

2. Take Breaks the Right Way

Breaks are good for workplace productivity for most people, but anyone with ADHD knows that a short break can turn into the end of a productive workday if you’re not careful. This doesn’t mean that you should skip breaks altogether. It means that you have to be careful with your breaks. 

Resist the urge to look at your phone and scroll through social media on your break. You can get yourself into the internet rabbit hole that way, and before you know it, you’ve lost time and you don’t even feel rested.

Try getting up and walking around during your break, or doing something similarly active. You can play a short game if it’s something that you can play a round of in a matter of minutes. Don’t get into anything that has the potential to be a timesuck.

3. Start Your Day on the Right Track

For people with ADHD, the idea of starting the day with work is distressing. It can cause them to be avoidant and resist productivity altogether. Make your mornings (or whatever the beginnings of your workdays are) as stress-free as possible.

Give yourself plenty of time before work starts. Have a healthy (or at least filling) meal with some form of protein. If there’s something that you enjoy doing in the morning, like playing a game, doing yoga, or watching a show, give yourself time to do so. 

When you start working, try to start with a simple and easily accomplished task. This will make the rest of the day seem more “doable” and it’s a great motivator. If you start with something challenging, you’ll be more likely to dawdle. 

4. Break Down Tasks into Smaller Tasks

Do you struggle with executive dysfunction? If so, you know how impossible even the easiest tasks can seem. To beat this, break every task into an even smaller task (even if the task was small to start off with). 

Write each step of your task down into your planner.

So what does this look like in practice? Let’s say that you need to write something for work. Instead of just “write article,” it will look something like:

• Open word processor
• Read brief
• Find resources
• Create outline
• Write draft
• Edit
• Complete article

This might seem silly, but breaking it down into small pieces will give you a “checklist” that’s easy to accomplish. Ticking off each part of your list may give you a little dopamine boost and it will be easier to keep track of everything. 

5. Avoid Excess Distractions

Distractions are the enemy. Whether you work at home or in a traditional workplace, do your best to avoid anything that might distract you. 

If you know that you get distracted by coworkers, don’t be afraid to set boundaries with them. If possible, consider making a little sign that you can place near your desk when you need to stay focused so your coworkers know that you don’t have time to chat. 

Keep your phone on silent (or vibrate) and keep it out of arm’s reach. 

If you work from home, avoiding distractions is tough. Use a browser extension to block social media or other fun websites from yourself during your work hours.

6. Use a Personal Reward System

Tedious work is difficult for people with ADHD because there’s no obvious reward at the end of it. If you have a job that you find particularly rewarding or engaging, you might not have a problem. If your job is boring, you’re going to need to find a way to make it fulfilling.

We recommend a personal reward system. 

Set small goals for yourself. Even something as small as completing all of your tasks on your checklist for one day is big enough for a reward.

Rewards don’t have to be expensive or extravagant. Your reward could be taking a bubble bath, giving yourself an extra few minutes of television time, or getting a nice snack on your way home from work.

A reward system allows you to “gamify” your workday.