ADHD Chatter Podcast12 Unhinged ADHD Hacks That ACTUALLY Work (don't judge til you try)
Alex Partridge on twelve unconventional ADHD hacks to boost focus, motivation, and confidence.
In this episode of ADHD Chatter Podcast, featuring Alex Partridge and Alex Partridge, 12 Unhinged ADHD Hacks That ACTUALLY Work (don't judge til you try) explores twelve unconventional ADHD hacks to boost focus, motivation, and confidence The hosts present 12 low-cost ADHD “hacks” aimed at reducing procrastination, overwhelm, and time-blindness through simple constraints and micro-starts.
At a glance
WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT
Twelve unconventional ADHD hacks to boost focus, motivation, and confidence
- The hosts present 12 low-cost ADHD “hacks” aimed at reducing procrastination, overwhelm, and time-blindness through simple constraints and micro-starts.
- Several tools focus on dopamine management—building healthy stimulation intentionally (dopamine menu, slower mornings) instead of defaulting to doomscrolling and avoidance.
- Boundary-setting is framed as a core productivity skill, with “start with no” positioned as the most impactful habit for preventing overcommitment and burnout.
- The episode emphasizes breaking tasks down (one dish, three-item to-do list) and using short deadlines (song timer, laptop battery) to trigger action and focus.
- Emotional regulation and environment are addressed through RSD coping cues (bracelet/positives list) and auditing your social circle to protect self-belief.
IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING
5 ideasTrain attention like a muscle with “pinch your thoughts.”
Choose a nearby object and deliberately notice its details to crowd out distractions; repeated practice builds the skill of directing focus on demand.
Prevent overcommitment by making “no” your default response.
Saying yes creates downstream stress (double-booking, shame, ghosting); starting from no preserves energy and you can always convert to yes later if it truly fits.
Use a dopamine menu to replace reflexive doomscrolling with intentional joy.
List quick “starters,” longer “mains,” background “sides” for boring tasks, and limited “desserts” to guide healthier stimulation when you feel stuck or under-stimulated.
Create real urgency with constraints like leaving your laptop charger at home.
A shrinking battery becomes a concrete deadline that boosts adrenaline and hyperfocus—especially useful when working outside the house with minimal accountability.
Turn small chores into a sprint by timing them to one favorite song.
A 3–4 minute “race” reduces the initiation barrier, adds fun, and often carries you past the procrastination hump into finishing the task.
WORDS WORTH SAVING
5 quotesYou should only ever have three things on your to-do list, no more than three.
— Alex Partridge
People with ADHD don’t need to get up earlier… You need to wake up slower.
— Alex Partridge
Today’s favor is tomorrow’s job.
— Alex Partridge
People sniff out a people pleaser… in the same way [as] manure.
— Alex Partridge
We become a product of the people and the environment that we put ourselves in.
— Alex Partridge
QUESTIONS ANSWERED IN THIS EPISODE
5 questionsFor “pinch your thoughts,” how long should someone focus on the object, and how often, before noticing a real attention benefit?
The hosts present 12 low-cost ADHD “hacks” aimed at reducing procrastination, overwhelm, and time-blindness through simple constraints and micro-starts.
On “start with no,” what scripts do you recommend for work situations where a flat no could damage relationships or career progression?
Several tools focus on dopamine management—building healthy stimulation intentionally (dopamine menu, slower mornings) instead of defaulting to doomscrolling and avoidance.
Can you share a completed example dopamine menu and how you decide what counts as a “side” versus a “dessert”?
Boundary-setting is framed as a core productivity skill, with “start with no” positioned as the most impactful habit for preventing overcommitment and burnout.
What’s the best way to implement the laptop-charger deadline if you’re using a device with inconsistent battery life or you need power for accessibility tools?
The episode emphasizes breaking tasks down (one dish, three-item to-do list) and using short deadlines (song timer, laptop battery) to trigger action and focus.
For the three-item to-do list, how do you handle truly time-sensitive tasks that exceed three—what’s the triage method?
Emotional regulation and environment are addressed through RSD coping cues (bracelet/positives list) and auditing your social circle to protect self-belief.
Chapter Breakdown
Why these “unhinged” ADHD hacks exist (and why they’re practical)
Alex frames the episode as a curated set of strategies he developed consciously and subconsciously before his diagnosis while building large media brands. The promise: simple, free, try-today experiments that help bypass procrastination, disorganization, and low motivation.
Hack #12: “Pinch your thoughts” (micro-training your attention)
They describe a focus exercise: hold an object in front of you and intensely notice its details. The goal is to squeeze out competing distractions and strengthen attention like a “mental bicep curl.”
Hack #11: Start with “No” (protecting time, energy, and commitments)
Alex argues ADHD people often default to “yes” due to stimulation-seeking and fear of letting others down, leading to double-booking and shame spirals. The solution is making “no” the default, with the option to upgrade to “yes” later.
Hack #10: The dopamine menu (healthier choices than doomscrolling)
They introduce a “dopamine menu” as a visible list of activities that reliably produce joy and motivation. It’s organized like a restaurant menu—starters, mains, sides, desserts—to help choose healthy stimulation intentionally rather than defaulting to low-value dopamine.
Hack #9: Leave your laptop charger at home (manufacture a deadline)
For tasks like writing, Alex uses a café setting plus limited battery life to create urgency. The artificial deadline boosts adrenaline and focus, constraining time so work gets done before power runs out.
Hack #8: The task-finisher song (beat the clock with a favorite track)
They recommend pairing small dreaded chores with one song and racing to finish before it ends. The music plus timer-like constraint gamifies starting and helps push through the initial procrastination hump.
Hack #7: “To-do list” vs. backlog (three-item rule to prevent overwhelm)
They separate the idea of a dumping ground (backlog) from a true action list (to-do). The to-do list must contain no more than three items to keep it visually manageable and reduce paralysis.
Hack #6: Slower mornings, not earlier mornings (dopamine runway)
Alex critiques the “wake up at 5am” productivity narrative as especially unhelpful for ADHD brains that start dopamine-depleted. Instead, he advocates slow, small, sequential tasks that gently stack dopamine and momentum.
Sponsor break: Tiimo planning app (ND-designed scheduling support)
A short ad spot promotes Tiimo as a neurodivergent-friendly planning app with flexible routines and an AI planning assistant. The pitch emphasizes reduced lateness, easier organization, and a discount via a web-only code.
Hack #5: “Just one dish” (the smallest possible start)
To beat task dread, Alex recommends reducing the commitment to a single micro-action—like taking one plate out of the dishwasher—without requiring completion. Starting often triggers all-or-nothing momentum, making the rest feel easier.
Hack #4: Scary hour (contain the dread, don’t marathon it)
They propose dedicating one hour a day to boring, anxiety-inducing admin tasks. When the hour ends, you stop—unfinished work rolls over—reducing avoidance by making scary tasks bounded and predictable.
Hack #3: RSD bracelet (portable reminders of your strengths)
Addressing rejection sensitivity dysphoria (RSD), Alex suggests carrying a physical reminder of your positive qualities for moments you feel triggered and catastrophize social cues. A bracelet with symbolic charms can discreetly cue self-worth and reduce emotional spirals.
Hack #2: Blink for one minute (a sleep-onset nervous system trick)
The most “bizarre” hack is rapid blinking for one minute to help initiate sleep. They cite emerging research/claims that tiring the eye muscles signals readiness for sleep and can help restless ADHD sleepers shift into sleep mode.
Hack #1: Check your tribe (environment shapes self-belief and outcomes)
The final “hack” is broader life advice: periodically audit who you spend time with to ensure they build you up rather than drain you. Because self-belief predicts outcomes, your inner circle’s messaging can either reinforce growth or keep you stuck masking and doubting yourself.
EVERY SPOKEN WORD
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