7 Counterintuitive Productivity Hacks That Made Me More Productive After Failing Miserably With ADHD

Most productivity advice isn’t productive.

The problem is, people, try to give guidance “on getting things done,” which “implicitly promises that it’ll help you get everything important done — but that’s impossible, and struggling to get there will only make you busier,” writes Oliver Burkeman.

I’ve tried all the tricks and programs to hone in on maximizing my output every second of every day.

It always started with a tremendous amount of ambition, but when my legs started to shake, and my eyes began to twitch with urges of ADHD, everything fell apart.

Most productivity advice makes you productive in the wrong areas or areas that don’t even matter.

Here’s what I learned:

I realized I’d never be able to do everything I wanted or get everything done.

I have to make tough choices.

Oliver makes the case by writing, “When you’re faced with too many demands, it’s easy to assume that the only answer must be to make better use of time, by becoming more efficient, driving yourself harder, or working for longer…instead of asking whether the demands themselves…