What is ADHD Hyperfocus? And How to Survive It
Ahhhh the ADHD hyperfocus.
What is it?
What does it look like?
And what are the pros (and less-than-ideal pitfalls) of falling headfirst down that particular rabbit hole?
This week, I'm going to share a little personal story to answer: What is ADHD hyperfocus?
Have you ever just casually dipped into something you've been meaning to do for ages, then, fuelled by inexplicable motivation, it's all you can focus on?
Three days later, you come up for air, sleep-deprived and slightly dishevelled, needing a shower.
Yeah, that's what I call 'the peak of my twirly'.
In ADHD speak, this is otherwise known as Hyperfocus.
You never know when it will hit, but you know it will.
And when it does?
You just have to ride it wherever it takes you… IYKYK?
The Twirly Strikes Again
That's exactly where I was last Monday.
I'd been meaning to rejig my email funnels for a while. The mood struck me, so I started.
Cue lack of sleep, wonky eating times, and a largely abandoned Matthias.
I couldn't put it down.
And it was just the beginning because you know if you start to tweak one thing, you find eleventy billion other things that are connected to it and that you just "have to fix them right now or the world will surely implode"
Hyperfocus hit me like the caffeine-fueled, dopamine-fest it is and sent me spiralling into an unstoppable full-blown 'twirly'.
Plus, I'm in my pre-ovulatory phase, which means that bad boy was estrogen-fueled and launched me into a productivity spiral I never saw coming.
Last week alone, I…
✔️ Finished a 1000-piece jigsaw in 4 hours
✔️ Attempted to build a chatbot (why but why?)
✔️ Delivered a virtual half-day workshop and lost my voice.
✔️ Had an incredible business idea that I brainstormed for two hours, and now makes me want to lie down.
✔️ Rejigged 6 email funnels, built a new automation to serve them all and updated all the lead magnets they were attached to AND their respective landing pages. Only to wake up the next morning at 7 am and continue for day 2 without brushing my hair or teeth.
✔️ Oh, AND I quit ChatGPT forever and migrated all my data over to Claude because I definitely don't want to be funding or contributing to any of the Orange Potato's evil plans.
🔗 Quit ChatGPT: right now! Your subscription is bankrolling authoritarianism
🔗 Import Your ChatGPT Data to Claude for Free
I did it all! But now, my brain feels like a puddle.
So, I imma need to lie down… for EVER
Because the cost was real.
What's Actually Happening in Your Brain
For ADHD peeps, hyperfocus is a precious window where you can get EVERYTHING done (regardless of what inspires it).
Because the rest of the time is mostly spent in forgetful brain fog, where capturing coherent thought feels like catching butterflies in a headwind.
So once you're locked into a twirly, stopping is impossible, and it feels like ripping your arms off to step away.
Your brain will keep going (without letting you sleep) until you get back in the driver's seat and finish.
The only thing you can do is ride it out.
And make sure to cancel all your plans for the next week because this so-called 'superpower' is going to leave you high and dry as quickly as it began.
This is what ADHD can look like...
One minute, you're an articulate, focused blur of energy, the next you're sitting in your pyjamas, staring at a blank screen, trying to remember words.
It's taken me a long time to understand that this is what my brain does... and that I can make accommodations for myself.
I used to ride the twirly, then just push through, eyes propped open with matchsticks, only to end up in an epic meltdown later when I was overtired and overstimulated.
Add the 'tism into the mix, and it's a special blend of tired and wired.
My AuDHD (the combined neurotype of Autism & ADHD) creates the urge to be spontaneous and impulsive, mixed with crippling dysregulation from the inconsistency in my routine and the last-minute changes I make to it.
Then throw a few hormones into the pot, and it's like a technicoloured dreamcoat mess (did anyone else see Jason in Joseph and the Amazing Technicoloured Dreamcoat live? Or just me?).
It's a lot
Five Ways to Make Space for Both the Magic and the Meltdown
So, if you're looking to support yourself in the hyperfocs twirly, or neurodivergent employees or peeps in your life, here are five ways to make space for both the magic and the meltdown...
➡️ 1. Do a cycle check-in
Where are you in your cycle? What capacity do you actually have? If it's your period week or your lowest energy time, can you clear anything else from your diary? If it lands when you've got the most energy, brilliant... just don't overdo it.
➡️ 2. Nourish yourself
If stepping away feels like ripping your arms off (true story), can you have something nourishing, easy or pre-prepared that you can shove in a bowl and return to what you're doing? Something that keeps you going without the resistance, fuelling you along the way.
My fave is hummus with chopped mini toms, cucumber and avocado. It takes precisely 2 minutes to prepare. Yoghurt, a banana and a handful of walnuts is also a good option.
➡️ 3. Set boundaries early
Make a deal with yourself early on, e.g. when you hit X point, you're gonna put it down and go to bed. It needs to feel like a satisfactory close so you can actually sleep and pick it up tomorrow.
➡️ 4. Build in recovery time
A little buffer time between projects or meetings can help prevent the inevitable crash after a deep hyperfocus sprint.
Have a Crash Plan, aka a go-to self-kindness strategy for regulation after the storm.
Sometimes that could be a quick reset... a walk, a change of scenery, or even just lying in a dark room with your headphones on.
Other times, you might need something more... like blocking out an afternoon or planning a low-demand day after going big.
➡️ 5. Flexible working
The 9-5 model isn't friendly to ND brains. Where possible, giving people the autonomy to lean into their hyperfocus when it happens (and rest when they need it) can make everything feel a lot more sustainable.
Gentle, non-disruptive check-ins, like an agreed-upon Slack message or a calendar reminder, can help keep things on track without pulling someone out mid-flow, which is almost impossible to do without being hugely dysregulating.
The Twirly is Valid
I spent a long time thinking there was something wrong with me for not being able to just... pace myself.
Turns out, with a little understanding of how our brains work, we can give ourselves a bit more grace when it does its thing.
The twirly is valid. The crash is valid. And so is every brain that doesn't fit the mould.
It's OK to work in ways that make sense for you, even if it looks different to the norm. And with a little intentional planning, you can even end up as less of a wreck at the end of it.
Happy twirling