ADHD Symptom Spotlight: Lack of Focus

Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsADHD and Lack of FocusFunctioning With a Lack of FocusImpactTips to Stay Focused

Table of ContentsView All

View All

Table of Contents

ADHD and Lack of Focus

Functioning With a Lack of Focus

Impact

Tips to Stay Focused

Lack of focus is among the most common symptoms of ADHD (attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder). Someone with ADHD can struggle to stay on a boring task for more than a few minutes. Yet, this lack of focus doesn’t occur when the project or activity interests them; in fact, a person with ADHD can becomehyperfocusedon a more interesting task to the exclusion of everything else. Recent research points to physical brain differences as major causal factors for ADHD and its hallmark lack of focus.

How Dopamine Influences Your Mental Health

A large and growing body of research supports the hypothesis that structural differences in certain areas of theADHD brainare among the major contributing factors in ADHD. Specifically, the frontal cortex, basal ganglia, and parts of the cerebellum are typically smaller—and these three regions play important roles infocusand attention.

Low dopamine levelsand disruptions in dopamine transport may also play a part in ADHD, but research is inconclusive. Dopamine is part of the brain’s reward system; It’s a “feel good” brain chemical that affectsmotivation, drive, and focus.

Ifmotivation is already in short supplyand the brain regions that push a person through undesirable tasks are smaller than in someone without ADHD, boring tasks can be all but impossible for someone with ADHD.

Generally, the hardest kinds of tasks for a person with ADHD to focus on include:

ADHD can involveexecutive function disorder, meaning the person has a lack of control over what they focus on. The ADHD brain is always buzzing, always thinking about something. The problem is motivating it to focus on the things they must do now, not more interesting tasks.

This lack ofcontrolover focus manifests in three key ways:

Overstimulation in ADHD

What a Lack of Focus Looks Like

A lack of focus can affect day-to-day life in innumerable ways, such as:

A Personal Perspective

These problems can create conflict and problems in everyday life. For example, when I was younger, I often got in trouble with teachers because I regularly failed to turn in homework but always got As and Bs on tests and essays.

The problem, I felt, was that the homework was usually tedious and repetitive: Doing 30 versions of the same kind of math problem or identifying the same three parts of speech in 30 different sentences on a grammar worksheet. Essays, though, involved more creativity and freedom, which I enjoyed. Tests usually had enough variety in question types to interest me. Plus, the adrenaline rush of the time limit made tests much easier to stay focused on.

From the teacher’s perspective, though, I was a frustrating mystery: smart enough to do well on tests and essays but “inexplicably” stubborn in my refusal to do homework. In reality, I tried desperately to make myself sit down and do homework, I just wasn’t able to most of the time.

Dissociation in ADHD

How to Stay Focused When You Have ADHD

Few people work under perfect conditions forstaying focused, and it’s even worse for those with ADHD. However, a few key strategies can help.

Minimize External Distractions

External distractions aren’t the only source of distraction if you have ADHD. However, they can provide offramps for a hungry brain trying to escape a boring or difficult task. Getting rid of those triggers leaves the brain little choice but to focus on the task at hand. Here are a few ways to cut distraction in your environment:

How to Focus With ADHD

Write Thoughts Down

This can also work for distracting thoughts such as, “I wonder what kind of tree that is” or “I should memorize what all the kinds of trees are right now so I can instantly identify any tree I pass.” Instead, snap a picture of the tree and write a note to memorize every species of tree. Your brain might be more willing to let the impulse go when you reread your note later.

Whether you follow through later on your notes is up to you. Either way, writing it down now clears it off your mental desktop and can help coax your brain back to the task at hand.

Use Distraction Time Wisely

When you’re unable to focus, take a short break to do something that will quiet the noise in your mind. You mightset a timerand work on a creative or fun project or do that chore your brain is so fixated on.

If you’re physically restless go for a walk, dance, or do some jumping jacks.Exercise releases dopamine—which your ADHD brain desperately needs—and can help strengthen impulse control and improve executive functioning.

Make a Plan

If you can’t even start the task, make a plan for it. Break it down into shorter, less intimidating tasks. This will help you regain a sense of control over your time.

Learn Your Own Rhythms

Your brain will oscillate between hyperfocus and fog. Rather than forcing a foggy brain to sustain focus, try to be more aware of the shifts, including what times of day you’re more or less focused and what factors might be triggering each state.

Break up your to-do list into “hyperfocus tasks” (things that require sustained focus) and “fog tasks” (things you can still do while your mind more or less wanders off where it wants). As you switch between states, switch between tasks.

A Word From Verywell

The lack of focus that is so common in people with ADHD can make daily life challenging at both work and home. Recent research points to physical differences in the brain along with other possible factors such as low dopamine levels as the culprit. If your lack of focus is interfering with daily life, you might benefit from professional help.

How Is ADHD Treated for Children and Adults?

5 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Leisman, G., & Melillo, R. (2022). Front and center: Maturational dysregulation of frontal lobe functional neuroanatomic connections in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.Frontiers in Neuroanatomy,16, 936025. doi:10.3389/fnana.2022.936025Luo TZ, Maunsell JHR.Attention can be subdivided into neurobiological components corresponding to distinct behavioral effects.PNAS. 2019;116(52):26187-26194.Morsink S, Sonuga-Barke E, Mies G, et al.What motivates individuals with ADHD? A qualitative analysis from the adolescent’s point of view.European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. 2017;26(8):923-932.Maloy M, Peterson R.A Meta-Analysis of the Effectiveness of Music Interventions for Children and Adolescents With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.Psychomusicology: Music, Mind & Brain. 2014;24(4):328-339. doi:10.1037/pmu0000083Mehren A, Özyurt J, Lam AP, et al.Acute effects of aerobic exercise on executive function and attention in adult patients with ADHD.Front Psychiatry. 2019;10:132. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00132

5 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Leisman, G., & Melillo, R. (2022). Front and center: Maturational dysregulation of frontal lobe functional neuroanatomic connections in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.Frontiers in Neuroanatomy,16, 936025. doi:10.3389/fnana.2022.936025Luo TZ, Maunsell JHR.Attention can be subdivided into neurobiological components corresponding to distinct behavioral effects.PNAS. 2019;116(52):26187-26194.Morsink S, Sonuga-Barke E, Mies G, et al.What motivates individuals with ADHD? A qualitative analysis from the adolescent’s point of view.European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. 2017;26(8):923-932.Maloy M, Peterson R.A Meta-Analysis of the Effectiveness of Music Interventions for Children and Adolescents With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.Psychomusicology: Music, Mind & Brain. 2014;24(4):328-339. doi:10.1037/pmu0000083Mehren A, Özyurt J, Lam AP, et al.Acute effects of aerobic exercise on executive function and attention in adult patients with ADHD.Front Psychiatry. 2019;10:132. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00132

Leisman, G., & Melillo, R. (2022). Front and center: Maturational dysregulation of frontal lobe functional neuroanatomic connections in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.Frontiers in Neuroanatomy,16, 936025. doi:10.3389/fnana.2022.936025Luo TZ, Maunsell JHR.Attention can be subdivided into neurobiological components corresponding to distinct behavioral effects.PNAS. 2019;116(52):26187-26194.Morsink S, Sonuga-Barke E, Mies G, et al.What motivates individuals with ADHD? A qualitative analysis from the adolescent’s point of view.European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. 2017;26(8):923-932.Maloy M, Peterson R.A Meta-Analysis of the Effectiveness of Music Interventions for Children and Adolescents With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.Psychomusicology: Music, Mind & Brain. 2014;24(4):328-339. doi:10.1037/pmu0000083Mehren A, Özyurt J, Lam AP, et al.Acute effects of aerobic exercise on executive function and attention in adult patients with ADHD.Front Psychiatry. 2019;10:132. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00132

Luo TZ, Maunsell JHR.Attention can be subdivided into neurobiological components corresponding to distinct behavioral effects.PNAS. 2019;116(52):26187-26194.

Morsink S, Sonuga-Barke E, Mies G, et al.What motivates individuals with ADHD? A qualitative analysis from the adolescent’s point of view.European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. 2017;26(8):923-932.

Maloy M, Peterson R.A Meta-Analysis of the Effectiveness of Music Interventions for Children and Adolescents With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.Psychomusicology: Music, Mind & Brain. 2014;24(4):328-339. doi:10.1037/pmu0000083

Mehren A, Özyurt J, Lam AP, et al.Acute effects of aerobic exercise on executive function and attention in adult patients with ADHD.Front Psychiatry. 2019;10:132. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00132

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What a Lack of Focus Looks Like#

A Personal Perspective#

How to Stay Focused When You Have ADHD#

Minimize External Distractions#

Write Thoughts Down#

Use Distraction Time Wisely#

Make a Plan#

Learn Your Own Rhythms#

A Word From Verywell#