How to ADHD

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

De: Jessica McCabe

Narrado por: Jessica McCabe

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.

A highly accessible masterpiece

I have read and listened to many books on ADHD, this might be the best I’ve ever heard.
Jessica is a brilliant science communicator. Her ability to distill complex topics into highly accessible content is a gift.
Her chapter on working memory was one of the best presentations or the topic I’ve ever heard.
Her storytelling and humility will keep you engaged and wanting more.
The chapter on Intersectionality was so thoughtfully presented.
I love the chapter on relationships and making friends. I even re-listened to it with my 12-year-old AuDHD son. We had a really nice discussion about it.
I think no matter where you are in accepting ADHD, this book will help you even deeper than you thought you could go.
I am going to be listening to this again with my partner.
Thank you Jessica for everything!

I wish I had read this sooner

I just learned so many things about ADHD that I truly thought were just me. This was such an incredible book, and it was really well organized. I didn't have to skip back to hear what I missed nearly as often as I usually do. I'm a little sad it's over, but luckily I was already planning to listen to it again - and maybe this time, take some notes. <3

this helped me organize my understanding of me

Jessica's genius is obvious in the breadth and depth of her study on each topic. Her ability to present it well with a smile I can hear is infectious. The humility required to share difficult personal illustrative experiences is evidence of her enormously empathetic and sympathetic heart. Thank you Jessica from our whole family.

You’re not broken

Exploring the feels of ADHD and leveraging the skills to succeed in a world that seems not made for us.

It’s great that you explained so much so well. It’s a pity that I immediately forgot everything 😄

ADHD is a strange thing. But I will re-listen and make notes this time because I do remember thinking “wow that would’ve helped me so much” like every 10 minutes or so

Thank you for all your work. You did great and I can’t wait to implement the tools in my life