Soooo “it all kinda depends.” I believe a part of it is how ADHD manifests in the person and the coping mechanisms they’ve found that works along with whether or not there are pre-existing habits/emotional baggage that may impact its effectiveness.

There are actually, there are a few decent brands of nonstimulant ADHD drugs, with one brand being more popular among my ADHD diagnosed friends cause it works and doesn’t give them liver problems. I’m also not a doctor/talk to a doctor about these options.

I’m personally very bad at focusing during conversations in person and in general, even on tv/movies and rely on captions to focus. If I can, I like to jot down notes where I’m fully transcribing lectures/meetings or I doodle on the side and it helps me focus on a person talking.

If I can’t, it’s a full body experience that uses all of my energy and willpower when I try to actively engage and remember key details in a conversation. This gets significantly harder at parties since there’s tons of crosstalk that tempt my attention from alllllll directions which does burn me out faaaast.

I know some people say use lists, and I think it depends on the context. I just talk at my watch to add things to a grocery list on my phone and it helps keep me organized when I go. I do the same for vacation packing so that I add to a list as things spontaneously occur to me over the course of days/weeks.

On the other hand, an ADHD friend of mine is super allergic to lists and legit will not use one and is dying to leave a store from minutes of entering/forgets what he needs to buy constantly, so sometimes there can be more to a attention deficit problem than just “are ya bad at focusing on this task?”

In the end, whether it’s working with a therapist, or yourself, trying to have a better understanding of where your struggles are (and successes!!!) will be the best first step at identifying what coping mechanisms work for you.

Honestly? Exercise. Heavy mental stimulation like video games and puzzles also “worked” for me.