Understanding your unique focus patterns is essential for professional success with ADHD. Rather than fighting against your natural attention style, effective strategies work with your brain’s wiring to create conditions where focus comes more naturally.
Is Your Attention Playing Hide and Seek? ADHD and the Focus Challenge
Have you ever been halfway through an important task when your mind suddenly wanders off without permission? Do you sometimes find yourself focusing so intensely on one thing that hours pass unnoticed? What if these seemingly contradictory experiences are two sides of the same executive function coin?
Executive Functions: A Quick Reminder
As we explored in our previous blog on activation, executive functions serve as your brain’s management system. These cognitive processes help coordinate thoughts, emotions, and actions to accomplish your goals. For those with ADHD, these functions develop and operate differently, creating both unique challenges and remarkable strengths.
What is Focus?
Focus is the second core executive function in Dr. Thomas Brown’s model of ADHD. It involves three critical abilities: focusing attention on a task, sustaining that focus over time, and shifting attention when appropriate.
Many describe their ADHD focus challenges like a radio with poor reception: “Sometimes I get the signal clearly, but then it fades in and out, and I miss chunks of information without realising it’s happening.” This isn’t simply a matter of trying harder; it reflects genuine neurological differences in how attention is regulated.
The Three Dimensions of Focus Challenges
For those with ADHD, focus typically manifests in three distinct ways:
The Focus Paradox
Perhaps the most frustrating aspect of ADHD focus challenges is their inconsistency. The same person who cannot concentrate on a 30 minute work meeting might spend five hours in complete absorption researching a new interest.
This inconsistency isn’t a character flaw or lack of discipline. Rather, it reveals something fundamental about how the ADHD brain allocates attention:
While neurotypical brains typically direct focus based on importance and urgency, ADHD brains allocate focus based primarily on interest, novelty, and stimulation.
Recognising Focus Challenges in Professional Settings
You might be experiencing focus challenges if you:
Transforming Focus Challenges into Professional Strengths
When properly understood and managed, the unique focus patterns of ADHD can become remarkable professional assets:
Questions to Consider
Moving Forward
Understanding your unique focus patterns is essential for professional success with ADHD. Rather than fighting against your natural attention style, effective strategies work with your brain’s wiring to create conditions where focus comes more naturally.
In our next blog, we’ll explore the executive function of Effort, examining how ADHD affects energy regulation, processing speed, and sustained effort over time.
Remember: The goal isn’t to focus like everyone else. The goal is to understand your unique focus patterns and create environments where your attention works optimally for you.
Chris Mitchell is an ADHD-informed coach and former corporate strategist who helps both neurotypical and neurodiverse business leaders transform their unique mind into their competitive advantage. If you’re curious about how executive function challenges might be impacting your professional life, let’s connect for a conversation about your unique brain wiring and how to leverage it for success.
+ 2 more
Be un-like minded. ADHD-informed coaching for business leaders who think differently