As someone with ADHD,

I fight days where I’m wildly unproductive.

Not because I don’t care.

Not because I’m lazy.

But because this mind… naturally gets distracted.

A shiny object. A new idea.

A “quick” task that feels fun.

What started as “I’m going to do (X) becomes:

• cleaning my car
• plucking my eyebrows
• reorganising a cupboard
• replying to messages that could absolutely wait until 2037

Whatever gets dangled in front of me that feels easier… wins.

Growing up, I didn’t know what this was.

I was just labelled “the kid who couldn’t concentrate.”

Always daydreaming.

Always staring out the window in the classroom.

But now I can recognise the patterns.

And more importantly, I’ve stopped trying to “fix” it with willpower.

Instead, I built something which I like to call “environment scaffolding” (explained below)

So if this feels familiar and you are looking to be more focused and get more out of your day, these next few tips are for you.

1) Make Time Real

The most productive days of my life are always the same:

The day before, I need to catch a flight.

Because when you have ADHD… time isn’t real.

It drifts fast, as there is always something trying to capture your attention.

But catching a flight!? Makes time real, of a sudden.

They are expensive, and you want to get out of the drizzling English rain!

Suddenly, there’s a hard edge to the day.

A deadline that doesn’t care about your mood.

What could’ve taken a week… gets done today. Because it has to.

Remember when you were given an assignment at school and had a whole month to complete it? But stayed up all night the day before to complete it?

That’s something called Parkinson’s Law: “Work expands to fill the time available for its completion.”

So one of the most effective things you can do is:

Make time visible. Make time loud. Make time unavoidable.

Actionable tools:

• Countdown timers
• A big clock in front of you
• Pomodoro Techinqiue
• A sand timer
• A watch you actually look at
• Anything that drags time out of your head and into reality

I’ve even thought about booking expensive hotel rooms just to work in… because it creates the same “flight energy.”

In 2016, I wrote my first book using this method. I signed an online contract with a friend:

If I didn’t finish the book by a certain date, I had to wire him £1,000.

I had no money at the time.

So I finished the book.

Time became very real, very quickly.

2) State

When I was 21, I left the UK for America on a golf scholarship.

I played for my county and my country, and I nearly went professional at 24.

Every day, I worked on my state so I could be ready to perform. Gym at 6 am, meditation, cold showers, you name it, we did it.

Anything that might give us that edge to perform better and win the tournament.

That mindset has stayed with me, and now I try to apply the same strategy to how I show up for work.

I often get anxious. Working on my “state” first thing puts me in a place where I can actually perform from.

So I wake up and work out straight away, because it shakes off the cobwebs (and stops my brain from opening 37 tabs before breakfast).

But the reason I’ve managed to keep this habit for so long is simple:

Make it fun.

If you want something to last, it can’t feel like punishment.

So I rotate between:

• running
• swimming
• throwing boulders around the garden (yes, really)
• hitting golf balls
• jumping on the Peloton (best purchase I’ve made in ages)

Whatever it is, I make a decision and play like a kid.

You can’t perform from a place of panic and stress — but you can perform from a place of calm.

3) Plan and Act

“Give me six hours to chop down a tree, and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”

I relate to that… deeply.

If you don’t plan your day, your day gets planned for you.

I recently shared how I plan my days. (If like to send you this video - just reply below)

This is the only way I can create big outcomes despite my never-ending impulse to procrastinate, nap, and otherwise fritter away my days with shiny distractions.

Is to spend a lot of time planning the tasks that I should get done and ignoring the rest.

If I have 10 important things to do in a day, it’s 100% certain that nothing important will get done that day.

What you do is more important than how much you do.

And that’s it!

To Recap (as that's what quite a lot)

1. Make time real and reduce it
2. Control your state
3. Plan and act

And on the days where life feels like it’s slipping through my fingers…

You are not alone.

Hope this helps.

Have the best week ahead
Kia kaha & much love,
Chris x