Why is it so hard to put my phone down when I have ADHD?

A phone hands out small rewards instantly, and an ADHD brain has a harder time passing up a small reward now for a bigger one later. Every scroll is that choice, made again.

As an ICF-trained ADHD coach, I see standard phone advice fail hardest for people with ADHD. It asks for steady self-control at exactly the moment self-control is hardest to find. What works better is making the decision earlier and making it physical. The phone goes in a drawer before you open the laptop. You decide that once, in the morning, and the drawer does the rest. I go deeper on this in why ADHD brains chase stimulation.

The research supports the first part. A review of 21 studies found that people with ADHD discount delayed rewards more steeply than others (Jackson and MacKillop, 2016).

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