Hacking ADHD: How To Find and Design Incentive Structures That Motivate You

Published on: November 29th, 2019

In today’s article, you’re going to learn how to optimize your life around the activities that excite you, trigger the release of dopamine, and keep you motivated with ADHD.

The idea that people with ADHD can’t focus is a massive misconception

If you stop a random person in a shopping mall and ask them what they think having ADHD means, they’ll probably tell you having ADHD means you can’t focus. 

But if this were the case, and people with ADHD couldn’t focus, how have numerous people with ADHD won Olympic gold medals, built aerospace companies, starred in major Hollywood films, become music superstars, and accomplished just about everything else under the sun?

The idea that people with ADHD can’t focus is a massive misconception.

People with ADHD just don’t want to focus on the things that society demands we focus on.

People with ADHD are obsessed with creating big rewards and incentive structures that work with our dopamine-deprived brain styles.

In fact, once someone with ADHD is able to design a system of rewards and incentives that work synergistically with our brains, we’re able to hyperfocus on that unique system, because it’s a dopamine-inducing system that pushes our ADHD brains into a positive feedback loop.

Having ADHD means you need to become fully aware of the dopamine-inducing rewards that you create for your life.

As you know, dopamine fuels your ADHD brain. 

Dopamine is what drives you to do anything and everything in life.

Your brain produces dopamine whenever it anticipates a reward on the horizon.

The rewards that permeate your life dictate the incentives that keep you motivated every day. 

Rewards drive incentives.

Most importantly, your incentives determine whether you’re able to consistently hyperfocus on something meaningful or not. 

Being able to consistently hyperfocus on something meaningful determines your odds of achieving long-term success with ADHD.

When you have ADHD, you must flood your life with enormous rewards that incentivize long-term growth, happiness and success

Know that your brain produces dopamine whenever it anticipates a reward.

So you learn to take control of the rewards that permeate your life.

Your “custom rewards” keep you highly incentivized and motivated even with ADHD.

You then hyperfocus on rewarding actions that drive lasting success in life.

This is a very broad overview of how hyperfocusing works with ADHD.

But here’s a very easy way for you to think about all of this…

When was the last time you forgot about time passing?

If you notice time passing, you’re probably either bored or tired, which means your ADHD brain isn’t producing dopamine, and you will hate whatever it is that you’re doing.

When you don’t notice time passing, you’re hyperfocusing on a meaningful task because your ADHD brain is incentivized to accomplish the task by means of dopamine, rewards and incentives.

As someone with ADHD, you’ll need to become intimately familiar with:

• Dopamine
• Rewards
• Incentives
• ​Hyperfocus

These 4 factors play an enormous role in determining your future.

When you have ADHD, you have to become incredibly familiar with these 4 factors, and take control of these factors to the best of your ability.

Article Action Steps:

• Spend some time “connecting the dots” between dopamine > rewards > incentives > hyperfocus ~ how do these 4 factors influence your future outcomes in life?
  
• ​Write down 3 activities that you’re unable to focus on (activities that do not trigger the release of dopamine in your ADHD brain)

• Write down 3 activities you love to do (activities that do trigger the release of dopamine in your ADHD brain)

• Brainstorm a few constructive ways that you can make your life revolve around the activities that excite you and trigger the release of dopamine in your ADHD brain