Beyond the To-Do List: How to Master the ADHD Cycle of Procrastination and Hyperfocus

People with ADHD tend to be especially sensitive to reward in their environment. When something feels interesting, the brain can pour an unusually high level of attention into it, says Owen Scott Muir, MD, a dual board-certified psychiatrist in Stamford, Connecticut, who specializes in ADHD and lives with ADHD himself. “This gives rise to a relative deficit in the ability to allocate attention to things that are boring,” he adds.

Many important tasks, such as certain household chores, fall into the boring category. Even when you know these tasks matter, your brain often registers them as not worth the effort and wants to avoid them, says Dr. Muir. That avoidance is what we usually call procrastination, even though it’s really about how motivation and reward are processed in the brain, he says.

One helpful starting point is understanding your own attention limits, and a timer cube can help you do that, says Muir.

A timer cube is a simple six‑sided device with preset time intervals. Flip it to the side you want, and it starts counting down. It’s low‑tech, easy to use, and less distracting than your phone, says Muir.

To find your baseline attention limit, set the timer for five minutes and try working on a low‑interest task. If you stay focused, increase the time slightly, and try again. When you reach the point where your attention slips, you’ve found your natural limit, explains Muir.

If you take stimulant medication, you can repeat the same process after taking your dose, says Muir. Now you have two numbers: how long you can focus without medication and how long you can focus with it. You can also test different tasks to see how they compare. Maybe you can read a low-interest book for 10 minutes, but when you take your medication, you can do it for 20.

Once you know your attention limit, don’t push past it, says Muir. When the timer goes off, stop, get up, and move your body before starting again. Forcing yourself to keep going once your attention is gone usually leads to frustration and low‑quality work, which drains energy without much payoff.

“The Pomodoro technique, or as I like to call it, the 25/5 method, involves taking frequent breaks while completing a task. This is usually 25 minutes of work, followed by a five-minute break,” says John Puls, a licensed psychotherapist and adjunct professor of social work at Florida Atlantic University.

That five-minute break should be relatively active, like taking a walk, standing up, or stretching, says Puls; it’s also best to avoid activities that are likely to suck you in for a long time. “Scrolling on social media for five minutes is not a good use of the break time,” he says. Make sure you keep your timer nearby so that you can hear it when it’s time to get back to work.

• Choose one task to work on.
• Set a timer for 25 minutes (or adjust based on your attention limit from the timer cube exercise).
• Work on the task until the timer goes off.
• Take a five-minute break and move your body.
• Repeat the cycle as needed.
• After three or four rounds, take a longer break of 15 to 30 minutes.
• Adjust the timing if needed based on what feels sustainable for you.

If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by a big project but then found yourself able to start once you wrote down the first step, you’re already using task chaining.

For example, if you have to write a research paper, you’d set aside time for reviewing the requirements of the paper, finding your research sources, outlining the paper, completing a rough draft, and completing a final draft, explains Puls. Each smaller step feels more concrete and manageable and gives your brain a clearer target, which can prevent procrastination.

And don’t forget to reward yourself for completing each step, says Dr. Brown. Say you finish outlining the paper, take a timed break to do something you enjoy, such as making yourself a cup of tea, before moving to the next piece. These small rewards give your brain the dopamine boost it needs to stay motivated.

• Write out your full goal or project.
• Ask yourself, “What’s the very first thing I need to do?”
• Write that step down, then ask, “What comes next?”
• Keep going until you’ve listed every step, even small ones, like “open the document” or “gather supplies.”
• Ask yourself if each step seems small and manageable — if not, break it down into smaller steps.
• Complete one step at a time.
• Finish one step before moving to the next.
• Give yourself a small reward after completing each step.
• Focus on the next thing on your list, not the entire project.

Not everything on your list carries the same weight, and assigning every task the same importance can quickly lead to feeling overwhelmed, says Ann Childress, MD, a board-certified psychiatrist and president-elect of the American Professional Society of ADHD and Related Disorders.

Once priorities and timing are clear, create a schedule to help yourself turn those plans into action. Childress recommends blocking time not only for focused work but also for breaks. Including both in your schedule can help you stay on track. Implementing the Pomodoro technique for scheduling breaks and work time can work well alongside focusing on high priority tasks.

To make your schedule work, it’s helpful to also manage distractions. Childress recommends setting boundaries with social media and email during your scheduled focus time.

To prioritize your tasks:

• List out everything you need to do.
• Identify which two or three tasks are most important or time-sensitive.
• Break those priority tasks into smaller steps.
• Schedule your most important tasks for the times of day when you focus the best.
• Block specific times for working on each task.
• Schedule timed breaks and silence distractions between work blocks.

Your ability to get started with tasks also depends on how well rested your brain is. “Getting full and restful sleep — going to bed at the same time and waking up at the same time every day — is the best medicine for making sure you’ve got the ability to pay attention when you need to,” says Muir.

To get consistent, restful sleep:

• Go to bed and wake up at the same time each day, even on weekends.
• Talk with a healthcare provider if you have ongoing sleep problems, loud snoring, or daytime fatigue.

  [13]

  [14]

• If you take stimulant medication, work with your prescriber to time your dose so that it wears off before bedtime.

  [15]

• Track how your sleep affects your focus to find patterns.

As you learn to manage the cycle of procrastination and hyperfocus, remember that progress comes in small steps, and noticing those steps is important. “So, reward your progress and celebrate your success,” says Childress.

• Notice when you’re being hard on yourself and try to soften that voice.
• Use mindfulness or breathing exercises when you feel overwhelmed.
• Acknowledge what you accomplished, even if it’s less than you planned.
• Keep in mind that countless others with ADHD have similar struggles.
• Adjust strategies that aren’t working.
• Remind yourself that managing ADHD is a process that takes time and patience.

• The ADHD cycle of procrastination and hyperfocus is connected to how your brain processes reward and motivation.
• Strategies like the Pomodoro technique, task chaining, and using a timer cube can help you work with your brain’s natural patterns.
• Consider scheduling important tasks for when your focus is naturally strongest, implement consistent sleep habits, and celebrate small wins.
• If you experience ongoing sleep problems, loud snoring, or daytime fatigue, talk with a healthcare provider, as conditions like insomnia and obstructive sleep apnea are common in people with ADHD and can worsen attention difficulties.