Faster Than Normal: Turbocharge Your Focus, Productivity, and Success with the Secrets of the ADHD Brain

by Peter Shankman

Wunderlist is brilliant for keeping track of everything that comes into my head—ideas, to-do items, you name it. I type it in, and it shows up everywhere, including on my desktop, thanks to a website where everything syncs up automatically.

For those of us with ADHD, play is a powerful tool in our arsenal. More and more studies are showing that the challenges of ADHD can be greatly reduced by allowing children to play.

SQUIRREL!: When you’re ADHD, data is the only thing that will save you in the end. It doesn’t matter how you’re living your life. If you’re not tracking what you’re doing and giving yourself a baseline on how to do it, if you’re not able to see if you’re improving or declining, and if you’re not able to look back over time to give yourself a way to see where you want to get, you simply won’t move forward. As Seth Godin said during his interview on FTN, “Forward motion is thrilling. Find a way to get forward motion.”

SQUIRREL!: Turn off your notifications for ALL of your apps. EVERY SINGLE ONE. (Except Breaking News, if you want . . .) Turn off the beeps, buzzes, and flashes. Instead, look at them on YOUR schedule. Don’t be a slave to the beep. Studies show that our brains emit dopamine when we get a text or a tweet. Of course they do, and of course we want that. Understand that we’re more susceptible to that dopamine hit than other people are, and we have to be very careful with what we allow to give it to us. In this case, it’s not beneficial. Turn off the alerts and check social on your schedule. Stick to this for a few weeks and you’ll stop craving

When TripIt combines with my assistant and Google Calendar, it does so many amazing things: It guarantees that everyone who needs to know where I’m supposed to be (including me) in fact knows.

“Every animal is great in their own way, and every animal has their special gifts. But if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, you’ll be very disappointed.” —Albert Einstein

SQUIRREL!: If you find something to do for a living that you love, it won’t bore you. Those with ADHD excel at things that don’t bore us much more than the things that don’t excite us.

SQUIRREL PRO TIP: For large lecture courses, be that person who sits in front. It makes everyone else disappear, and makes you accountable for paying attention because the professor can actually see you.

Life Hack #1: For doing things you don’t want to do, listen to an album or song you like on repeat. It keeps me in work mode. The anxiety of a deadline and pressure of time is almost as good as caffeine or Adderall

Life Hack #2: Always keep a notebook with you. My mind moves really quickly through thoughts and ideas. If I don’t write it down, it’s gone. For most days I also use this notebook to write out my schedule by the hour or block. Making a list and checking off an item is itself rewarding. Committing to a written schedule eliminates the choice of what to prioritize or do next in the middle of the day.

Life Hack #3: Simplify and eliminate choices.

Rule Two: Idea Generation and Hyperfocus—If It Doesn’t Challenge You, It Won’t Change You Life Hacks: Manage Yourself and Manage Up; Lean on Mentors and Mentees

Rule Three: The “Aha” Moment for an Imposter Life Hack: Take Ownership of Your Narrative and Repeat It Often

I’d much rather be a beautiful disaster any day of the week than an average, boring, plain, and regular part of the masses.

Are normal, everyday problems compounded by the fact that our brains are going 120 miles an hour, thirty-seven hours a day? Of course they are. And can that cause us a ton more drama than slower people? Absolutely. But . . . when we figure out the solutions to those problems that work for us, we’re then presented with this massive straight stretch of highway with no curves, bumps, or potholes in sight, and we can let the true power of our faster than normal brains come out and shine. Once we learn how to find that straight stretch of highway, we can outsmart, outthink, and outmaneuver the masses every second of the day.

SQUIRREL!: Embrace your differences. Know that what makes you different is what makes you great. Embrace it, wrap yourself in it like armor. Use it to your advantage every step of your way. OWN IT. Once you do that, you’ll realize that your biggest weakness has been your greatest gift all along, and you’ll be able to truly utilize all of your wonderful speed. Once you do this, no one will be able to use your differences against you ever again.

SQUIRREL!: Did you happen to notice that everything we’ve talked about in this book would also work perfectly for those without ADHD, who are just looking to run their lives a little bit better? Now’s the perfect time to start putting together a list of those people who could benefit from reading this book, who may not have brains as fast as ours. Maybe they need a push to get themselves organized, or perhaps they need some help trying to figure out how to work with, love, or simply live with someone with ADHD. Perhaps they just want three hours back from each of their days. Whatever the reason, I’d be willing to bet that there are countless people who don’t have the gifts we have who could get some benefit out of peeking into our world. Why not share with them?

peter@shankman.com—I