How I deal with focus as a developer with ADHD — what actually helped me
Hey everyone,
I've been a software developer for a while now, and honestly, some days are brutal. You know that thing where you sit down to code, and two hours later you've reorganized your desktop,
read three Wikipedia articles about something completely unrelated, and opened 47 browser tabs — but haven't written a single line? That's been my life. Getting diagnosed with ADHD
explained a lot, but it didn't magically fix anything. The hardest part for me has always been the transition into deep work. I can actually hyperfocus really well once I'm "in" — but
getting there feels like pushing a boulder uphill every single time.
A few things that genuinely helped me: removing choice from the equation — the fewer decisions before starting, the better, so I lay everything out the night before. Short focus blocks
where I tell myself "just 15 minutes" to lower the barrier, and then I usually keep going once I'm in. Background sounds and body doubling, even virtually, make a huge difference. And honestly just being real about my energy cycles instead of fighting them — I schedule deep work for when my brain actually cooperates.
At some point I got frustrated enough that I started building a little app around this workflow because nothing out there really clicked with how my brain works. It does guided
preparation, focus sessions, background sounds — basically just wraps up what keeps me functional into one place. I use it every day now and it genuinely helps me get into the zone.
If anyone wants to check it out, it's called Lunair — you can try it for free. But yeah, mostly just curious what works for you guys. Always looking for new strategies.