Tricking My Brain Into Focus: Creativity, ADHD, and the Art of Tiny Wins
I woke up today with absolutely no energy.
And 47 ideas.
By 10 a.m., it was up to 89.
This is the peculiar torment of the ADHD mind. Your brain throws a party full of brilliant ideas, but your body forgot to send out the spoons. Meanwhile, the inner critic (who sounds suspiciously like a guilt‑ridden mash‑up of your Catholic-convert father, your Sephardic–Ashkenazi Jewish mother, and your single‑mother‑superwoman complex — all yelling at you for sitting down) is loudly demanding: why haven’t you achieved anything yet?
By "anything," I mean: not reorganised your desk, rewritten your business plan, or launched an associated Pinterest campaign.
Welcome to the Productivity Trap — served with full garnish of intergenerational guilt.
The Productivity Trap (with Extra Cultural & Superwoman Guilt)
I see it in therapy all the time: tying self-worth to what we do. How useful we are. It’s a story many of us internalise early — especially neurodivergent folks and chronic illness warriors. Add that Ashkenazi thriftiness, Sephardic perfection, Catholic redemption work ethic, and single‑mum martyr narrative? It’s like a guilt circus on your shoulders.
So what happens when your brain is bursting with ideas…and the part of you that knows how to start is drained, disabled, or gone on holiday?
The ADHD Paralysis That Doesn’t Look Like Laziness
Here’s the paradox: I am never short of ideas.
I am always short of access to them.
I can feel a hundred projects pinging around my head like lottery balls. I want to do them. But the part of me that knows how to start, prioritise, or focus? That bit’s on strike.
What people don’t see is that this isn’t laziness. It’s overwhelm in disguise. It’s the emotional weight of unmet potential, swirling in a sea of open tabs and existential dread. And when you add chronic illness or burnout on top? It’s like trying to run a marathon in a fog, with a peanut gallery shouting “Just push through!”
Tiny Wins: How I Trick My Brain Into Focus
Here’s what I’ve learned: I can’t force my brain to behave.
But I can bribe it.
One way I do that is through tiny creative prompts — low-effort, high-reward ideas that give me just enough dopamine to cut through the fog. This is exactly why I made my Creative Ideas Card Deck: a no-pressure tool for ADHD minds, spoonie brains, and anyone stuck in the “I want to start something but I can’t even choose a font” headspace.
These cards aren’t about making perfect art. They’re about movement. Gentle forward motion. A sense of doing something — and feeling good about it. It’s the kind of “productivity” that nourishes, not punishes.
And yes, even drawing a weird lopsided plant counts.
How AI (and a Bit of Magic) Helps Me Focus Too
I’ll admit it: sometimes I outsource my brain.
Whether it’s using an AI assistant (hi!) or voice-noting half-finished thoughts into my phone, I’ve learned that externalising my chaos is a form of kindness. It’s not cheating. It’s adaptive strategy.
Creativity gives form to the flood. It lets the noise in my head turn into something that can be shaped, coloured, explored. And that — for a perfectionist, neurodivergent, recovering people-pleaser — is a kind of miracle.
You’re Not Lazy. You’re Overflowing.
If you’re reading this while also:
Forgetting what you just read
Feeling like you should be doing more
Battling an inbox, a migraine, and three unfinished cups of tea
…you’re not alone.
You’re not broken. You’re just carrying too much brilliance without the infrastructure to hold it.
Give yourself a tiny win today. A card. A sketch. A 5-minute prompt that doesn’t require a clean desk or a functioning frontal lobe.
💡 Try the Creative Ideas Deck
This card deck was designed by a psychotherapist (me), with ADHD brains and spoonie bodies in mind. It’s colourful, dopamine-boosting, shame-free, and delightfully weird in the best way.
If you need a nudge, a spark, or a creative cheat-code to outwit your brain fog — this might be it.
