Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental condition that makes focus and sustained attention particularly challenging for those impacted by it. For ADHD individuals, maintaining concentration—especially for tasks that are long, tedious, or not intrinsically rewarding—can feel nearly impossible. But why is it so difficult for ADHDers to stay focused? To answer that, we need to look at how ADHD impacts brain functioning, cognitive processes, and behavior.
Differences in Brain Structure and Function
At its core, ADHD is tied to differences in brain structure and function, particularly in areas that control attention, impulse regulation, and executive function.
- Underdeveloped frontal lobe: The frontal lobe plays a crucial role in executive functioning, which encompasses the ability to think, plan and organize daily tasks. However, for ADHD individuals, this area of the brain is often underdeveloped, making these skills less intuitive and more challenging to master.
- Dopamine focused: Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that plays a key role in motivation, attention, and reward processing. ADHD people tend to have lower levels of dopamine or a less efficient dopamine system. However, dopamine is easily regulated through adrenaline. This means ADHD individuals are often chasing the adrenaline in order to ‘self-medicate.’ It is a never-ending cycle.
- Overdeveloped amygdala: The amygdala is responsible for all things emotions and for ADHDers it is actually overly large! This means ADHD individuals are actually more prone to larger responses because of the size of the amygdala.
Difficulty with Task Prioritization and Time Management
For ADHD individuals, prioritizing tasks can feel overwhelming, especially when those tasks are abstract, long-term, or not directly engaging.
- Time Blindness: ADHD can lead to a phenomenon known as “time blindness,” where individuals struggle to perceive how much time is passing or how much time is left for a particular task. This lack of time awareness makes it hard to manage long tasks, leading to procrastination, distractions, and an inability to stay on task for extended periods.
- Difficulty Prioritizing: When faced with multiple tasks, ADHD people may have trouble organizing them in terms of importance. In fact, many ADHDers share they feel completely overwhelmed with the decision-making process that relates to prioritizing.
Difficulty with Motivation and Reward
ADHD individuals often experience difficulties with motivation, especially when the task at hand feels boring, uninteresting, or too challenging.
- Lack of Intrinsic Motivation: Tasks that aren’t immediately rewarding or engaging are harder to focus on for ADHD individuals. If there’s no immediate sense of accomplishment or pleasure, their brain struggles to stay motivated. This is linked to the dopamine adrenaline cycle mentioned above.
- Seeking Novelty: ADHD individuals tend to gravitate toward novelty and excitement. This means they may abandon tasks that feel mundane or repetitive in favor of something new or stimulating. This makes it quite hard to get into routines or to even focus on what needs to be accomplished.
Executive Functioning Challenges
Executive functions are a set of mental skills that help us plan, focus, remember instructions, and juggle multiple tasks. These skills are often impaired in ADHD individuals, making it harder to focus and stay on track.
- Working Memory Deficits: Working memory is the ability to hold and manipulate information in your mind for short periods of time. ADHDers may struggle to keep track of details needed to complete a task, causing them to lose focus or forget steps.
- Difficulty Switching Between Tasks: ADHD individuals often have difficulty shifting from one task to another, especially when both tasks require attention. This inability to “switch gears” can cause them to become stuck on a task and unable to start or finish others.
- Poor Impulse Control: Impulsivity is another aspect of ADHD that affects attention. When someone acts impulsively, they may focus on something distracting or irrelevant rather than staying on task. This can derail their attention and make completing tasks much more difficult.
There are so many reasons why maintaining focus can be challenging for ADHD individuals. However, it is important to understand that with the right support, many of these challenges can be overcome. Collaborating with an ADHD coach is an excellent strategy to combat distractibility and to enhance the necessary executive function skills to concentrate on and achieve your goals.