ADHD and Habits: Focus, Phones and Procrastination

Phone on silent didn't work. Phone in another room did. Habits, focus, and why David's procrastination was always fear. Part 3 of 4 in our ADHD series.

Rebecca starts with what a habit actually is: an automated behaviour your subconscious runs so your conscious mind is free for the new stuff. Which means bad habits are automated too, and changing one takes real effort. Her tools are small and tweakable: get the phone out of the room, set a timer, give yourself a reward at the end, and reduce the friction (a yoga mat left out in the lounge gets used; one in the cupboard does not). David explains elastic time, why a plank lasts forever and hyperfocus eats three hours, and what Thom Hartmann's Hunter in a Farmer's World taught him about the ADHD need to feel alive.

Then the honest bit. David has been performance-managed for the boring parts of every job he's had, so he built an AI to carry them and negotiated his hours around the times his brain actually works. He never rewarded himself for anything. His procrastination was fear, so he beat it with a bigger fear: tight deadlines. Rebecca's answer is the distinction the whole episode turns on: are you running from something, or running towards it? Same finish line, completely different energy.

Book David mentions: ADHD: A Hunter in a Farmer's World by Thom Hartmann