Hacking Your ADHD

Welcome back to the Hacking Your ADHD rewind queue, team. In this highly requested rebroadcast, host William Curb sits down with illustrator, podcaster, and creative powerhouse Andy J. Pizza (host of Creative Pep Talk) to unpack the exhausting realities of masking and what it truly looks like to live "right side out." Using a hilariously relatable mishap involving a graphic T-shirt at a family memorial service, Andy illustrates how neurodivergent individuals slowly clip away their own tags and forget who they are just to blend into a neurotypical world. The two dive deep into the heavy emotional toll of constantly performing rather than just being, exploring that liberating "pro-being pride" that only happens when you step out of a performance and into a space that actively celebrates individuality.
Beyond the philosophy of self-acceptance, this conversation serves up an essential masterclass in ADHD-friendly productivity, hacking the rigid definitions of habits, and managing creative burnout. Andy and William challenge the traditional advice of doing things consistently, revealing that the real secret to sustaining momentum for an ADHD brain is doing the same task differently to feed our constant craving for novelty. From bundling tedious chores like mowing the lawn with juiced-up playlists, to embracing the natural "incubation" period of the creative process, this episode delivers a vital reminder: stop trying to hate yourself into changing, and start building dynamic systems that allow your unique brain to thrive.
If you'd life to follow along on the show notes page you can find that at HackingYourADHD.com/221
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This Episode's Top Tips
Masking isn't inherently a bad thing, but it certainly is when we're doing it all the time and unconsciously. We want to be intentional about when and why we mask, and aim for authenticity when possible.
It's okay to embrace opposing truths. We need structure and flexibility, goals and play. We don't have to fall into all-or-nothing thinking, and this can help us balance some of these ADHD "contradictions".
Celebrate difference, don't just tolerate it. Safe spaces are good, but celebration spaces—where your uniqueness is actively valued—are better. Look for relationships or communities where people enjoy your way of being, not just what you can do

Welcome to Hacking Your ADHD. I'm your host, William Curb, and I have ADHD. On this podcast, I dig into the tools, tactics, and best practices to help you work with your ADHD brain. Today, I'm joined by Skye Waterson for our Research Recap series. In this series, we take a look at a single research paper and dive into what the paper says, how it was conducted, and try to find any practical takeaways.
In this episode, we're going to be discussing a paper called "ADHD as a Circadian Rhythm Disorder: Evidence and Implications for Chronotherapy." Now, this is a perspective paper looking at the available research on circadian rhythm dysfunction in ADHD and what works for correcting some of that dysfunction.
So as we get into it, I think a great place for us to start is to talk about what a perspective paper is, because it's a little different than what we usually take on.
If you'd life to follow along on the show notes page you can find that at https://HackingYourADHD.com/300
https://tinyurl.com/56rvt9fr - Unconventional Organisation Affiliate link
https://tinyurl.com/y835cnrk - YouTube
https://www.patreon.com/HackingYourADHD - Patreon

Hey Team!
As many of you know, I have a passion for writing, and so I'm excited that today we are diving deep into that world and why it often feels like an uphill battle when you have an ADHD brain. I'm talking with Susanne Schotanus, an expert ADHD coach who holds the unique distinction of being the world's first dedicated ADHD writing coach, as well as the founder of the annual Basecamp to Brilliance writing summit. Susanne brings a wealth of clinical and practical insight from her years spent coaching everyone from burnt-out university professors to memoirists struggling to organize decades of research.
In our conversation today, we discuss why standard linear approaches to writing clash so intensely with our multi-dimensional thinking styles. Susanne explains the mechanics of the "messy middle" in long-term projects, how our constant craving for novelty can derail a draft after just two weeks, and why we might want to reconsider our view of consistency. We also explore practical ways to gamify your workflow and create structural frameworks that adapt to your brain rather than forcing your brain to adapt to them.
And while this episode's core focus is on writing, I think there is a lot to get out of this when considering any kind of long-term pursuit.
Susanne's Website - https://passionatewritercoaching.com/
Free Guide - https://passionatewritercoaching.com/hackingyouradhd/ 
If you'd life to follow along on the show notes page you can find that at HackingYourADHD.com/299
YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/y835cnrk
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/HackingYourADHD
This Episode's Top Tips
Waiting until you magically feel motivated to start a task is a losing game because our brains require action to generate momentum. To trick your brain into gear, lower the barrier to entry by making the first step absurdly small. Writing a single sentence or fixing a minor typo requires almost zero initial effort, but that tiny completion can give your brain the dopamine boost it needs to transition into work mode.
Your note-taking and organizational systems are here to serve you, not the other way around. Using a brand new productivity tool for two glorious weeks and then completely losing interest isn't a personal failure; it's just the natural lifespan of a novelty-driven dopamine source. With this in mind, keep your architectures simple, make sure your data is easily exportable, and make it easy if you need to switch tools in the future.
ADHD brains run on an system driven by interest, novelty, challenge, urgency, and passion. Most of us default to novelty (which leaves us with a mountain of half-finished projects) or panic-induced urgency (which runs us straight into burnout). To break the cycle and handle long-form projects, start intentionally leaning into the underutilized levers of challenge, gamification, and genuine playfulness.

Hey Team!
When I moved into my neighborhood, most of the houses weren't built.  So I got to see over the course of a few years, a lot of the work that went into putting those houses up, all the day-to-day progress that always kept happening, and how every step seemed to set them up for the next step. Now, nobody expects a brick wall to just materialize out of midair on pure willpower or a house to get completely built with no effort. yet when it comes to managing our daily routines, that's exactly what we try to do. We expect our internal motivation to keep us on track despite our own track record, and then we get frustrated when they fall flat.
In this episode, we're taking a look at why our attempts to build traditional habits often doesn't work with ADHD, and why it isn't a moral failure or a lack of trying. We're going to explore the critical mechanics of external scaffolding versus internal habits, digging into how we can stop burning through our limited supply of daily executive function and start building physical infrastructure that does the heavy lifting for us
If you'd life to follow along on the show notes page you can find that at HackingYourADHD.com/298
YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/y835cnrk
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/HackingYourADHD
This Episode's Top Tips
Traditional habits rely on an internal dopamine reward to lock them onto autopilot. Because ADHD reward chemistry is wildly inconsistent, that "autopilot" switch rarely flips. Instead, we want to work on designing our environment through systems to help make our intentions inevitable.
Passive reminders are entirely too easy for an ADHD brain to ignore. Instead, use design psychology to create physical roadblocks that force conscious awareness. Putting your clean laundry basket directly on the couch cushion where you want to sit forces your brain to actively negotiate with the task before you can proceed.
Human brains naturally drift toward the path of least resistance. Take advantage of this by manipulating that friction. Lower the friction for positive intentions by creating one-step solutions, like a dedicated key basket by the front door, or crank up the friction for distractions by doing things putting your phone completely out of reach so you can't just pick it up without thinking about it.
Your physical environment is never neutral; it is actively directing your behavior right now, whether you designed it or not, which means relying on willpower is a losing game. Treat environmental design as a handoff between two versions of you: let your "Good Brain Day" self build a physical world that protects and supports your "Bad Brain Day" self.

Hey Team!
Today I'm sitting down with Ron Capalbo, known to many as @adhd_ron on the socials. I've gotten to know Ron at a number of ADHD conferences and had a great time at Neurodiversion talking with him about Dungeon Crawler Carl and figured it was time to have him on the pod.
Ron is an AACC-certified coach through the ADD Coach Academy who specializes in strengths-based development and helping adults navigate the messy "shame cycle" that so often accompanies an ADHD diagnosis. He's spent years building a community focused on honoring unique brain chemistry rather than fighting a losing battle against it.
In today's episode, we explore the "why" behind our perfectionism and how the fear of complacency often keeps us from being proud of our progress. Ron breaks down how to identify your brain's unique operating system, the value of the elevator pitch for self-confidence, and why hitting a seven when you started at a two is actually a massive win, even if your brain is trying to convince you it's a failure.
If you'd life to follow along on the show notes page you can find that at HackingYourADHD.com/297
YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/y835cnrk
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/HackingYourADHD
This Episode's Top Tips
Try out the 2-versus-9 scale for Expectation Management. We often fail to start because we set the entry-level bar at a 9 (like, cooking 7 nights a week), which can often feel impossible. If instead we intentionally lower our aim to something that's more like a 2, we bypass the brain's "frozen" state and create a low-friction path to initiation.
All right, this is a long one, but it's worth it. Many of us with ADHD actively avoid giving ourselves credit because we've been conditioned to fear that if we're satisfied, it will lead to complacency. Mechanically, however, withholding credit creates a narrative vacuum in our operating system - our brain assumes it just didn't happen. It looks at everything left to do, decides we're failing, and triggers a total system freeze, what Ron calls a "cement wall". The fix here isn't forcing toxic positive affirmations your brain knows are fake. It just takes factual data entry. Take a second to acknowledge that you moved from a level one to a level two. You're not throwing yourself a parade; you're just hitting "Save" so your brain has the baseline level to keep moving forward without crashing.
Setbacks are inevitable, but the duration of the setback is determined by your level of self-shame. Implementing a grace period or a mental hug isn't about being soft; it's a strategic tool to reduce the time spent in a frozen state and get back to baseline faster.