From experience, most ADHD folks, when they hear the word “structure,” imagine some sort of enforcement mechanism that will hold them accountable for keeping their promises to themselves and others.
Unfortunately, ADHD often comes with PDA (Pathological Demand Avoidance)—even the slightest hint of imposition is met with resistance, and that sort of structure becomes a hindrance rather than a help.
Luckily, the real value of structure is less about enforcing behavior and more about making it easier.
Think about it: if you have a morning run on your calendar so nothing else gets scheduled at the same time, feel rested when your alarm wakes you up, and have your running clothes and a full water bottle waiting for you next to your bed, how much more likely are you to actually go for a run than if none of that were true?
That’s the sort of structure we’re looking to create for ourselves.
According to BJ Fogg, a psychology professor at Stanford, you can use these 5 levers to make behavior easier:
- time
- money
- physical effort
- mental effort
- routine
Time: Making a behavior take less time or fit better into your schedule. For example, laying out your clothes the night before saves precious morning minutes and makes it more likely you'll dress appropriately rather than grabbing whatever is closest when running late.
Money: Using financial resources to reduce friction. For example, if meal planning is a challenge, subscribing to a meal kit delivery service might be worth the extra cost if it means you'll actually cook healthy meals instead of ordering takeout every night.
Physical effort: Reducing the physical steps or energy required. For example, keeping cleaning supplies in each bathroom rather than hauling them from a central closet makes it more likely you'll wipe down surfaces regularly since you've eliminated the physical barrier of gathering supplies.
Mental effort: Reducing the number of decisions or amount of thinking required. For example, using a password manager eliminates the mental burden of remembering multiple passwords or going through password recovery processes, making it easier to maintain secure accounts.
Routine: Creating predictable patterns that become automatic over time. For example, always putting your keys in the same spot when you come home becomes an unconscious habit that prevents losing them, rather than having to actively think about where to put them each time.
These levers can be adjusted to make your desired behaviors easier and more automatic. The goal is to reduce friction rather than rely on willpower or external enforcement.
Ready to make structure work for your ADHD brain? I help executives and founders with ADHD focus on what moves the needle without burnout and overwhelm. Click the button below to start the conversation:
