Hyperfocus: The ADHD Superpower (That Also Makes You Forget to Pee) 🏎️💨
If you ask a random person what ADHD is, they will probably say: “Oh, that’s the thing where you can’t pay attention to anything, right? Look, a squirrel!”
And if you have ADHD, you know that is a lie.
We don’t have a shortage of attention. We have an attention regulation problem.
It’s not that we can’t focus. It’s that our focus has two settings:
- Off: (I cannot read this single email to save my life).
- Hyperdrive: (I have been researching the history of 17th-century button manufacturing for six hours, I have not blinked, and I am essentially a god of knowledge).
This is Hyperfocus. And honestly? It’s our coolest trick.
What It Actually Feels Like
When neurotypical people focus, it’s like they are driving a sensible sedan. They can speed up, slow down, and turn corners safely.
When an ADHD brain hits hyperfocus, we are in a Ferrari with no brakes.
The rest of the world fades away. The background noise stops. The nagging anxiety quiets down.
Visually, it looks exactly like our “Power of Focus” art print: The chaotic, grey scribbles of the world disappear, and the one thing you are doing becomes vibrant, technicolor, and crystal clear.
Time ceases to exist. You sit down at 2:00 PM. You blink. It is now 8:30 PM. You are thirsty, your bladder is full, and your leg has fallen asleep. But hey—you just wrote a novel/coded a website/reorganized your entire pantry by expiration date.
The “Distraction to Drive” Pipeline
We get a lot of grief for being “easily distracted.” But distraction is just curiosity without a target.
When that curiosity locks onto something? It becomes Drive.
Some of the best artists, coders, writers, and scientists are neurodivergent because they have the ability to obsess over a problem until they crack it. While everyone else got bored and went home, the ADHD brain was still there, turning over every rock, looking for the pattern.
That isn’t a disorder. That is a competitive advantage.
The Dark Side (The “Whoops, I Forgot to Eat” Phase)
Of course, hyperfocus has a cost.
It consumes a massive amount of brain energy (glucose). When you finally snap out of it, you usually crash. Hard.
You might feel:
- Confused (“What year is it?”).
- Hangry (because you skipped lunch… and dinner).
- Exhausted.
This is why we have to be careful. Hyperfocus is a powerful beast, but you have to keep it on a leash.
- Set Alarms: Not just one. Five.
- Drink Water: Keep a bottle on your desk. If it’s not visible, it doesn’t exist.
- Pick Your Target: Try to aim the laser beam at your work, rather than at, say, “learning how to pick locks on YouTube” at 3 AM on a Tuesday. (We’ve all been there).
Celebrate the Zone
Society tells us we need to be balanced. We need to do a little bit of everything, every day, in moderation.
ADHD brains don’t do moderation. We do Intensity.
And you know what? That’s beautiful.
So the next time you fall down a rabbit hole and emerge hours later with a new skill or a finished masterpiece, don’t feel guilty about the “lost time.” You didn’t lose it. You invested it in being brilliant.
Visualise your superpower.
🌈 Get the “Power of Focus” Digital Art Print.
(Hang it in your workspace as a reminder: Your brain isn’t broken, it’s just fast).