How can our neurodiversity affect focus?

We hear a lot about ‘hyperfocus’ and ‘distractions’ and ‘too many racing thoughts’. So, how can neurodivergent people improve our ‘focus’?

Have you ever been told you need to focus more….or that you’re too focused on one thing?  Maybe you find it hard to get started on a task, or it’s uncomfortable to stop doing something you’re really enjoying.

Karys, a psychotherapist and workplace wellbeing trainer with autism, introduces us to some ways of harnessing and supporting our attention.

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What does attention mean for our wellbeing and why does it link to focus?

Attention is one of our emotional needs.  It’s a form of emotional nutrition that helps us to feel connected to others.  It’s also a resource – we use it as a tool to help us meet other emotional needs.  We can use our attention in so many ways – focusing it on people, learning, doing tasks or thinking about things that have happened or might happen!

When we feel in control of our attention, we can gain a sense of achievement from completing a task and get a sense that we are managing the busyness that everyday modern life brings.

People who are autistic or have ADHD might find their attention resource shows up differently for them.  I am autistic and I often find my attention can get locked on a task, detail or topic.  I can spend hours engaged in a special interest, or researching something for work and not realise how much time has passed.  I have friend with ADHD who finds that their attention can be a tricky tool to use – it can become fragmented or wander in directions they hadn’t intended it to, and they can feel paralysed, unable to get started on what can appear to others to be simple things, like making a cup of tea.

So, what can we do to help ourselves and how can others be supportive of us?

How can we after our nervous systems to gain focus? 

7/11 breathing is a great tool for keeping our fight and flight response in check.  Neurodivergent people are often managing a lot of sensory input or navigating social expectations that aren’t clear to them (or that can be unwelcoming), and this can affect our ability to feel calm and more able to focus our attention.  I used to hate it when people advised me to do breathing, because I thought it seemed like too simple a solution when everything felt so difficult!  Once I realised it switched off my fight and flight response and helped my body to feel more comfortable and my brain feel much calmer, I became a huge fan!  Daily 7/11 breathing for 2 minutes, before I start a task and whenever I am going into a busy environment means I am in more control of where I place my attention.

People with ADHD might find 7/11 breathing accompanied by brief bursts of movement, or a task involving their hands such as knitting or tapping useful for a reset – for example when they find themselves unable to begin a task, or they suddenly become frozen mid-way through. 

Tools like muscle tension relaxation, or engaging in gentle, mindful movement such as tai-chi, yoga or qui gong can also be useful for those of us who want to feel calmer but don’t find being still comfortable.  Additionally, some people find the focused movement of martial arts helpful in learning tools to feel calmer, while developing the use of their attention resource.

How can you reduce the load to focus on what matters? 

There are so many daily tasks that neurotypical people do without thinking, or using much energy. This is because their memory and pattern matching resources (sometimes called executive function) work differently to neurodivergent people.  Reducing the amount of demands we place on our working memory can help and there are a variety of ways we can do this.

Maybe visual prompts work well for you – could someone help you to create visual prompts for daily tasks that you could pin up in places you use regularly?  Having the prompt means you don’t have to think about how to begin or how many steps there are – you can take it one step at a time.  I love routines and timetable all of my daily tasks on a whiteboard. I find this means I don’t have to actively think about doing the task, my pattern matching resource kicks in and it’s easier to start.  Other people like to use Apps or diaries to plan the daily tasks into, sometimes mixing up the times of day when they do them to add variety and stimulation.

Labelling cupboards and drawers or placing key equipment within easy view are all useful prompts that help to cut down the load on someone’s working memory and make it easier to put attention on the right things at the right time for that person.  The bonus is it’s a great way to keep things organised and feel in control!

How can timers and alarms be useful for focused sessions?

These tools can help with starting and stopping tasks!  If you know you’re likely to get locked into a task, perhaps use alarms to signal when you need to start coming away from a task and as a reminder to stop for lunch or bathroom breaks.  If stopping a task straight away is uncomfortable, using the timers as a countdown to begin gradually bringing yourself out of the focused state (sometimes called hyperfocus) can make it less difficult and enable you to gradually bring your attention to other things or people.

The Pomodoro Technique can help by breaking tasks down into 25 minute sessions followed by a short break.

How can you ‘rest’ your attention?

All of us need access to privacy – time alone each day when we can problem solve, reflect on how things are going for us or just take a breather from the stimulation of the day.  This gives us time to rest our attention as we can run out of it, and privacy allows us to replenish our attention stores.

Some of us will need to rest our attention more frequently than others – for example focusing our attention for 25 minutes on something, followed by a 5 minute break.  This can stop our attention from becoming worn out.

Others of us might not notice our attention has run out until we come out of focused attention and suddenly realise we’re exhausted.  This is why it can help to use timers and reminders to nudge us to rest our attention. 

Whether you rest your attention by going for a walk, listening to calming music, lying in silence, indulging a sensory pleasure or taking some time to do 7/11 breathing, you will be able to return your focus to tasks and people more easily afterwards.

Be patient with yourself and practice

Learning the tools and techniques that help you best can take time.  It can also take a neurodivergent brain longer to build new patterns, so we need to be patient with ourselves and understand that we will have good days and less good days – but every day gives us useful information about how we function best and that can help us build a life using attention in the best way for us.

Allowing ourselves to ask for help is also useful – human beings are designed to be part of groups, so asking others we trust to help us explore ways to focus our attention in healthy ways can be another way we can support ourselves. 

How can others help you to maintain focus?

If you’re an employer, take the opportunity to explore how your employees’ attention resource works best for them.  Everyone is more productive and creative when they are facilitated to focus their attention in the best way for them. 

Helping employees meet their physical and emotional needs helps everyone, neurotypical or neurodivergent, so you might want to explore some of the resources and training on offer by Suffolk Mind’s Mental Health Toolkit to see how you can provide an inclusive and productive working environment. 

Modelling positive attitudes towards neurodiversity and reasonable adaptations will help people meet their need for security and control and will reward you will a committed and innovative workforce.  Perhaps by doing this, you will find out how to better meet your own physical and emotional needs and develop your own resources along the way.

What do friends and family need to know about neurodivergence?

It can be tough to see those around us struggle with everyday life and being neurodivergent can be very challenging.  It’s important that you look after your own physical and emotional needs as best as possible, so you feel able to provide any support necessary. 

Accepting and recognising the different ways neurodivergent relatives might need to use or manage their attention can be helpful.  Can you help them create their timetables, or visual reminders?  Perhaps you might be able to help set up spaces where they can access privacy or calm their nervous system by engaging in special interests?  Maybe you’d like to get involved with your loved one’s special interest – it’s a great way to exchange healthy attention and build emotional connection! 

Knowing that it’s OK for each of us to use and exchange attention in the ways that meet our emotional needs best and in the ways that allow our brains to function at their best can also help friends and family release themselves from the pressure of thinking they need to fix things for their loved one – it’s more than supportive enough to accept someone as they are and enjoy exploring the ways each of you can meet your needs together.