How to ADHD

An Insider's Guide to Working with Your Brain (Not Against It)

By: Jessica McCabe

Narrated by: Jessica McCabe

Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In this honest, friendly, and shame-free guide, the creator of the award-winning YouTube channel How to ADHD shares the hard-won insights and practical strategies that have helped her survive, even thrive, in a world not built for her brain.

“The world of ADHD has been waiting for this book with bated breath for many years. If there’s a fairy godmother of our lot, it’s Jessica McCabe.”—Edward Hallowell, MD, coauthor of Driven to Distraction and ADHD 2.0

Forget “try harder.” When your brain works differently, you need to try different.

Diagnosed with ADHD at age twelve, Jessica struggled with a brain that she didn’t understand. She lost things constantly, couldn’t finish projects, and felt like she was putting more effort in than everyone around her while falling further and further behind. At thirty-two years old—broke, divorced, and living with her mom—Jessica decided to look more deeply into her ADHD challenges. She reached out to experts, devoured articles, and shared her discoveries on YouTube.

In How to ADHD, Jessica reveals the tools that have changed her life while offering an unflinching look at the realities of living with ADHD. The key to navigating a world not built for the neurodivergent brain, she discovered, isn’t to fix or fight against its natural tendencies but to understand and work with them. She explains how ADHD affects everyday life, covering executive function impairments, rejection sensitivity, difficulties with attention regulation, and more. You’ll also find ADHD-specific strategies for adapting your environment, routines, and systems, including:

• Boost the signal and decrease the noise. Facilitate focus by putting your goals where you can see them and fighting distractions with distractions.
• Have less stuff to manage. Learn why you have trouble planning and prioritizing, and why doing more starts with doing less.
• Build your “time wisdom.” Work backward when you plan, and track how long it actually takes you to do something.
• Learn about your emotions. Understand how naming your emotions and letting yourself experience them can make them easier to regulate.

With quotes from Jessica’s online community, chapter summaries, and reading shortcuts designed for the neurodivergent reader, How to ADHD will help you recognize your strengths and challenges, tackle “bad brain days,” and be kinder to yourself in the process.

©2024 Jessica McCabe (P)2024 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“The world of ADHD has been waiting for this book with bated breath for many years. If there’s a fairy godmother of our lot, it’s Jessica McCabe. She has a foolproof way of instilling hope, an uncanny intuition, and a preternatural understanding of the condition so misleadingly called ADHD. She turns pain into the wisdom and hard-earned joy you’ll find in this bountiful gift to us all.” —Edward Hallowell, MD, coauthor of Driven to Distraction and ADHD 2.0

“Jessica McCabe writes with honesty, intelligence and warmth about living and growing with ADHD. McCabe has created something that is more than a guide. This book is like the friend/coach/therapist you’ve always wanted to help you understand how to work with your unique brain, improve daily functioning skills, and love yourself in the process. I learned a lot from reading this book and will definitely be recommending it to colleagues and clients!” —Sharon Saline, PsyD, author of What Your ADHD Child Wishes You Knew and The ADHD Solution Deck

“How to ADHD is a must-read book. From the ADHD-friendly layout to practical tips that help readers feel comfortable in their own skin, Jessica McCabe delivers what they need to take their next leap in life. She is vulnerable, encouraging, and inspirational. But, most of all, she gets what it's like to live with a neurodivergent brain.” —Caroline Maguire, bestselling author of Why Will No One Play with Me?

Exactly what I was looking for.

Jessica McCabe is quite the interesting person. I found her YouTube channel, and subtly developed a bit of a habit ;).
She is wonderful and when I hear, "Hey Brains", it's like a mental snap.
It's wonderful and this audio book is a great listen, especially since I very much enjoy her voice!

Thank you

Thank you Jessica for sharing your journey online and in this beautifully written book! Your story has led me to a better understanding of my own brain, my spouse's brain and heart, and our kids' brains and hearts.

love Jessica!

no dislikes. all likes, she shares her story! im always loved hearing her voice! I watch her videos on YouTube too. she's entertaining and transparent and validating! great job!

So good!

As a recently diagnosed adult with ADHD, I learned so much in this book. I will definitely be relistening and will prob purchase the hard copy as well for future reference. Thanks Jessica for gathering so much info into one place in a very easy and helpful listen. Would definitely recommend to anyone with ADHD or the loved one of an ADHDer.

very relatable and funny

I've been following Jessica on YouTube for a while and this book was a great window into her life. I will be listening to it again to catch things I missed (I listened to it while nursing my 1 year old to sleep) . This book is jam packed with information! and lots of great anecdotes from her community. I'm so happy she wrote this ❤️ it has helped me begin to understand myself and give myself some grace

At least SOMEONE gets me

Every single chapter had me completely engaged. Why? Because this is me. Remember the Me Too movement? Well, this book is a "me too" story of my life. It inspired me to find a way to help all of us neurodivergents learn how to operate our brains. This validates all my fears, shame, insecurities, lonerism, divorces, being fired, and especially my longing to just be with my horses, because they challenge me to be all the good things I can be that I can't be with neurotypicals. I'm thinking of ways to bring the horses to the ADHD community to facilitate the healing I've felt from them.

Compelling and Accessible

Jessica isn't a typical narrator. however, she's perfect for this subject matter, and I'm glad she narrated her own book. Her personality shines through, as she talks to you on a personal level, as if you are a friend. It makes the subject matter compelling and accessible. The book is organized well, and I love the toolbox sections of each chapter which contain helpful strategies shared by others for various circumstances. Highly recommended. I've already listened to it at least three times.

Absolutely awesome.

Incredibly home-hitting, empirically and practically useful yet at the same time so, so sincere, open, vulnerable and heartfelt. I book I devoured and will keep coming back to both for the tools and for when my soul needs the medicine of feeling seen and worthy.

Great information and a fun listen.

I enjoyed the information and her quirky personality. I would recommend this book to all my ADHD friends .

Great practical advice, too much politics/ADA, intersectionality!

The book has great practical advice, too much politics/ADA, intersectionality. The author is more of a coach or advocate than an expert.