The ADHD Productivity Manual

De: Ari Tuckman

Narrado por: Ari Tuckman

It took 40,000 client hours to write a book that offers real strategies for how people with ADHD can get more done. Most adults with ADHD wish they were more productive. And consistent. And on time. Most of the advice on living with ADHD involves some aspect of productivity. However, because people are complicated and life is varied, too often that advice falls flat.

The ADHD Productivity Manual goes both deeper and wider and covers thirty-six areas that influence productivity for people with ADHD. Each of these chapters is short, action-oriented, and grounded in twenty-five years of clinical experience. And, because doing is better than listening, each chapter ends with thought-provoking questions to help you immediately apply new strategies. The thirty-six chapters are broken into seven sections:

• Why Does ADHD Make Productivity Harder? — Knowledge is power, but so is acceptance.

• Set a Better Foundation — Life is hard enough, so make some things easier.

• What Are You Working Towards? — Hint: a meaningful life that you can feel good in.

• Set Up a Good Work Environment — So your brain doesn’t have to work as hard.

• Sharpen Your Tools — How to not hate schedules, to do lists, and reminders.

• Productivity is a Mental Game — Flex those motivation muscles even when you don’t want to.

• The Social Side of Productivity — Play well with others, but also know when it isn’t your problem to solve.

This book will be devoured by adults with ADHD and anyone who treats, coaches, organizes, teaches, or loves them. The ADHD Productivity Manual brings together the wisdom of twenty-five years of psychology practice, seven-hundred-fifty presentations and podcast interviews, and ten years as a co-chair of one of the biggest ADHD conferences in the world.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2025 Ari Tuckman (P)2025 Ari Tuckman

Brute force obvious suggestions

I was deeply disappointed in this title, especially as the author had editing help from Jessica McCabe. The author seems to come from a behaviorist position that attempts to force solutions rather than one that asks how ADHD brains function and then thinking of solutions that align and work with those brains. It also leans heavily into discipline (though he largely avoids naming it as such) as a remedy.

Overall, the author is interested in telling the ADHD reader what to do (without getting specific) instead of helping them discover what will help. A whole chapter is devoted to ADHD medication -- and mostly to justifying it as key without delving into any of the ways in which someone might actually work to make it so.

For example, he mentions that there are common side effects yet only in passing without naming them or giving the ways in which those who successfully take the medication accommodate or mitigate them.

Unfortunately, the author also has a nasal voice that hits hard on certain sounds which made listening to his narration unpleasant.

I wanted to love this book but too much of it is in the same category as when someone tells an ADHDer to just put things away after using them without understanding why that's hard for them or maybe more importantly what shifts would make it easier for them to do so (e.g. a clearly defined space for the item, making the storage spot highly visible and in the area where the item is commonly dropped anyway, minimizing the steps it takes to put it back, etc.).

Jessica McCabe's book, "How to ADHD," which gets into the ADHD mind and works with ADHDers' thinking to craft effective solutions is what I would suggest over this book. There was little positivity here. If I could, I would return this one.