Click Gazette

Look, the thing everyone calls your biggest problem might actually be useful.

When something grabs you, hours disappear. You forget to eat. Conversations go by and you don't hear them. That's hyperfocus. It's not a bug—it's how your brain responds to engagement instead of schedules.

The Real Problem

The tricky part isn't attention. It's direction. You can't summon the same intensity for spreadsheets that you get for projects you care about. Nobody can, honestly, but ADHD brains especially can't fake it.

What Tends to Help

Challenge helps. Urgency helps. Competition too, for some people. But sometimes it's just luck. I've stopped trying to force it.

When it shows up, protect it—close Slack, put your phone somewhere else. When it doesn't, shift to low-stakes stuff like emails. Don't fight it.

I keep a list on my phone of stuff I need to do, and half the time I forget the list exists. That's ADHD memory for you.

It's not regular forgetting. It's more like—okay, you know when you're standing in front of the fridge, door open, cold air hitting you, and you have absolutely no idea why you walked over? That. Constantly.

What's Actually Happening

Working memory is weird. It's not just about holding information, it's about what your brain decides is worth prioritizing. I don't fully understand it honestly, but basically your brain drops stuff that isn't interesting, even if it's important.

The attention thing is connected. I can spend four hours deep in a Wikipedia hole about medieval siege weapons—not exaggerating, this happened last month—but I can't do 20 minutes of expense reports. The pattern is consistent. Frustrating as hell, but consistent.

What Actually Helps

Anyway. Lists help. I know that sounds obvious. But they hold stuff outside your head so you're not trying to juggle it.

That's it. Just notice when you forget things this week. Don't fix it yet, just notice.

I almost named this book the wrong thing.

(and it would have put off an ADHDer like me)

"ADHD Assets" wasn't my first choice.

The working title was all about symptoms.

Like every other ADHD book.

I wanted something that sounded more... credible.

But this didn't feel right either ⬇️

→ Most resources talk about what's wrong.
→ Symptoms. Deficits.
→ Things to fix.

Assets aren't the opposite of symptoms.

They're a different lens entirely.

It's not pretending ADHD is easy.
More like naming what's working.
Just... differently.

I'm not saying the reframe is "you're fine".
But surely "this is how your nervous system works" is more helpful
(+ actually correct).

I rewrote the title a million times.

To get that distinction right.

The language we use shapes how we see ourselves.

"Assets" matters because it's truth, strength and grace.

Nobody warned me publishing means waiting... .. .

(which is torture with ADHD time blindness)

Book manuscript done? Great.

Now wait an undefined amount of time.

Time blindness isn't easy as it is.

But it makes waiting absurd.

The book launches next week.

And I cannot compute what that means.

In my head the book's been "done" already.

This spot between "done" and "out there" doesn't make sense.

Publishing timelines were designed by people who experience time linearly.

The rest of us refresh our email every 20 minutes to see if it's live yet.

Spoiler: It's never live yet 🤫

We finished writing our ADHD book last night.

The 1st thing that came to mind was 'DELETE'.

Relief lasted about 4 minutes.
Then terror set in.

You'd think finishing would feel good.

Instead I lay awake all night.
Running through every word.
Wondering if I got it wrong.

(more like fully convinced I got it wrong)

If it isn't the ADHD "I hit a milestone" cycle...

Done → Doubt → Should I have even started?

Because people can judge it.
Because now it's real.
And "who am I to..."

I'm a late-identified ADHDer and I've realised →
I've actually felt this with every project.

Small things like work presentations.
Programme launches.
Emails even.

And I want to celebrate the milestone.
Reward me with some puffy stickers.
And give mysef some grace.

Right now I'm in the terror bit.

If finishing creative work as an ADHDer means relief and terror arrive at the same time...

Does terror always have to win the first round?

Do we get to celebrate a win?

Do we ever get it?

AITA for using AI to assist with ADHD micro-coaching?

'But it's not sustainable'.
'But it makes things up'.
'But it's the same chats'.

→ And if I tell you that AI is only here to assist?

→ That we've made sure it only follows our human designed coaching flows?

→ While also makes possible to jump between 16.5M combos so that ADHDers never get bored?

Would you honestly tell me that we are better off without accessible coaching on demand?

This is about getting diagnosed for ADHD in the UK.

Imagine paying for Netflix every month →

And then paying when you watch a show →

And then getting monthly bills because one of the actors isn't signed with Netflix so you have to pay them directly.

It wouldn't be right, right?

Only ADHDers: 90% wrong BUT

100% convinced every single time 🤫

Research shows ADHDers maintain genuine confidence in their time estimates despite consistent inaccuracy and past evidence to the contrary.

Thanks science, that's validating lol

Honestly do you get the thought process:

Yesterday it took 2 hours?
→ Irrelevant.

Last week it was 90 minutes?
→ That was different.

Every time for the past year?
→ OK but THIS time I know what to do.

And then you seem careless.

Like you're ignoring the pattern.

When you in fact BELIEVE 15 minutes.

Until you're 45 minutes in 🤭

Essentially it's a life of eternal optimism.
Where the time data never sticks.

ADHDers, grieve your career if you have to.

(no, I'm not telling you to leave your role)

I left business change management in September.

Why did I wait until burnout caught up with me again?

You know the pattern.

The second burnout in 2 years.

The mounting overwhelm.

The masking that stops working.

But I didn't expect the grief before I left.

It took a while for me to accept.
It wasn't "I'm bailing on this career."
It was "This career requires me to fail myself."

You don't have to leave your role of course.
But how do you actually grieve a career you're still in?
Well, name what you're mourning before burnout names it for you.

YOU choose which version of your career identity you're ready to let go of.

If you've been the person who "handles everything," you grieve that superhuman mask.

If you've been the one who never says no, you mourn the people-pleaser who got you here.

Career grief is essentially a choice.

Which version of yourself do you release before burnout makes that choice for you?

The grief you acknowledge now protects the choices you still have.

The relationship isn't working.

(and ADHD gets all the blame)

I know ADHDers who blame themselves for struggle.

Because they have ADHD.

Must be their fault, right?

Wrong.

Here's the pre-breakup audit that changes the angle:

➡️ The ADHD Check:

• Do other relationships work fine?
• Are you thriving elsewhere in life?
• Did these "flaws" exist before them?

➡️ The Compatibility Check:

• Do they accept your coping strategies?
• Are your needs "too much" for them?
• Do they research ADHD themselves?

➡️ The Accountability Check:

• Where's their growth edge?
• What patterns existed before you?
• Which issues would exist without ADHD?

➡️ The Energy Check:

• Who initiates repair after conflicts?
• Who does the emotional labor?
• Who's always adjusting?

ADHD explains differences.
Not every failed connection.

*ADHDers saving this to wave in someone's face later 🤭