It certainly isn’t news to anyone (I would imagine!) that ADHD comes with being more easily distracted than our neurotypical counterparts. These distractions can be internal (emotions, thoughts) or external (objects, people, environment). So, how do we effectively navigate and decrease this distractibility?!

This is an important question, because being distracted can cost us time, energy, money, health…you name it. If it is important, let’s just assume it can be potentially impacted by being in ADHD distraction la-la land.

Imagine you’re in your car in the morning. Think about that phone of yours beeping with notifications from your besties, an email from work, or simply being peered at in between traffic lights as you try to find the perfect song for your commute. Next thing you know, you are in a fender bender and have become a member of the ADHD-8-times-more-likely-to-get-into-car-accidents club (this is a real statistic!).

So, what can we do? Step 1 is to identify high risk times/situations/tasks/places/people that pose increased risk of becoming distracted. In this example, driving and cell phones are two of those higher risk variables. With that knowledge, we can plan ahead. ‘I’m about to drive to work, and I know I might get distracted by my phone, which is dangerous. What can I do about it?’

I’m glad you asked! Let’s break it down:

Perhaps you can make a playlist prior to your commute so that you have songs already picked out for your solo jam session. Maybe you can turn your notifications off during that time, or even put your phone in the glove box (a great way to use ‘out of sight, out of mind’ to our advantage-a phenomenon that us ADHDers are already prone to). These are ways to plan for and block some of the distractions and associated behaviors.

Another common distraction doom variable is clutter. We are sensitive to environments. If there is a lot going on in a space, we are going to get overstimulated and/or distracted in most situations. Imagine on this car ride you go through a toll booth, and suddenly you are sifting through last weeks lunch trash and worksheets from your meeting yesterday to find change. You’re pretty distracted now, wouldn’t you say?

There are countless examples we could break down to illustrate how prevalent distractibility is when living with ADHD. The overall takeaway is that planning for times with increased risk of distraction- and heightened negative outcomes of becoming so!-and decreasing the likelihood of becoming distracted by being mindful of what is in your environment make a world of difference.

I’m just glad that billboards aren’t allowed here in my home state of Maine …talk about a huge driving distraction!!