Use a Scavenger Hunt Strategy to Boost Focus, Create Fun, and Achieve Change for ADHD Brains

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For most of my clients, the behavior change advice they find on the internet feels like a giant “should.” Unfortunately, this becomes the vocabulary of their inner voice: You *should* be more organized. You *should* stick to a routine. You *should* finish that thing you started three weeks ago. But for ADHD brains, “should” doesn’t spark action—it sparks avoidance.

So what does work? Fun. Novelty. Curiosity. Dopamine!

Enter the Scavenger Hunt Strategy—a playful, brain-friendly way to make change feel like a game instead of a grind.

What Is the Scavenger Hunt Strategy?
It’s exactly what it sounds like. Instead of telling yourself, “I need to clean the kitchen,” you turn the task into a quest:
– Find 5 blue things that don’t belong.
– Rescue 3 rogue coffee mugs from the living room.
– Spot 10 items you haven’t used in a month and banish them.

You’re still doing the task—but now your brain is engaged, activated, and maybe even having a little fun.

Why It Works (Science Says So!)
People with ADHD often have lower levels of dopamine in parts of the brain that manage motivation and reward. That means routine tasks don’t give us the brain buzz they’re supposed to—and it’s easy to lose steam, even on things we care about.

But novelty, challenge, and curiosity? Those light up the ADHD brain.
Research into gamification (turning tasks

into games) has shown that it can:- Boost motivation and task engagement
– Improve initiation and follow-through
– Help activate reward pathways in the brain

So no, it’s not just being silly. It’s science-backed strategy.

How to Use It in Real Life
Here are a few ways to try the Scavenger Hunt Strategy right now:

Chore Quest
Ditch the boring to-do list. Try this:
– “Locate and remove 7 pieces of laundry from the floor.”
– “Find 5 things that don’t belong in this room and relocate them.”
Email Excavation

Clear your inbox like an explorer:
– “Hunt for 3 unopened emails from last week.”
– “Find 1 email you can delete, 1 to reply to, and 1 to forward.”

Healthier Habits Hunt
Trying to move more or eat better?
– “Find 1 new fruit to try today.”
– “Go on a walk and spot 5 different types of trees or flowers.”

Focus Game
When working on a dull task, make it interactive:
– “Highlight 3 interesting phrases in this article.”
– “Find 2 things you didn’t notice before.”

Keep it light. Keep it short. Keep it weird, if that helps.

How Coaching Can Supercharge This Strategy
An ADHD coach can help you:
– Personalize scavenger hunts for your goals
– Break overwhelming tasks into playful steps
– Track progress without pressure
– Stay curious and compassionate with yourself

Coaching isn’t about fixing you. It’s about finding what works for your brain—and cheering you on while you try it.

Final Thought: Weird Works
If traditional methods haven’t worked for you, that’s not a failure—it’s a clue. You need a different route, not more discipline. Turning change into a game can be the bridge between “I want to” and “I actually did it.” So grab your imaginary magnifying glass. Let your curiosity lead. The hunt is on.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it:
Pick one boring task today. Turn it into a scavenger hunt. Notice how it feels. Notice what shifts.

You might just find progress hidden in plain sight.

Want to Learn More? Check Out These Studies:
– Hamari, J., Koivisto, J., & Sarsa, H. (2014). *Does gamification work? – A literature review of
empirical studies on gamification.* In *2014 47th Hawaii International Conference on
System Sciences* (pp. 3025–3034). IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/HICSS.2014.377

– Cook, J. L., Sutherland, K. S., & Kerns, C. M. (2021). *Using gamification to improve
executive function and engagement in youth with ADHD: A review of the evidence.* *Journal
of Attention Disorders, 25*(8), 1064–1073. https://doi.org/10.1177/1087054720952980
– Volkow, N. D., Wang, G.-J., Kollins, S. H., Wigal, T. L., Newcorn, J. H., Telang, F., … Swanson, J.
M. (2009). *Evaluating dopamine reward pathway in ADHD: Clinical implications.* *JAMA,
302*(10), 1084–1091. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2009.1308

ADHD Tool Tip: Reduce Decision Making Part 2, Meals

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I’m beginning by reiterating that this series of blog posts in which I’m sharing my recommendations for ADHD tools is my answer to the many requests I get from coaching clients who want me to tell them what to use to solve a particular problem. I am generally reluctant to make recommendations as no one product or tool or strategy works for every person. Nonetheless, I understand the desire to have choices narrowed down and to know what someone else found useful.

This post addresses reducing decision-making in the moment to improve time management and productivity and to reduce analysis paralysis. Part 1 discussed managing the decision of what to wear. Part 2 in this post focuses on the decision of what to eat (sort of).

How often do you skip breakfast because it’s just too hard to prepare or takes too much time in the morning and you just don’t know what to make? How many times have you lamented that you should save money by taking your lunch but the task of making a lunch each morning feels like too much? How much food have you thrown away because you went to the grocery store with good intentions of eating breakfast or taking your lunch to work or preparing dinner but forgot what you bought when it came down to deciding what to make each day?

This is common among my clients with ADHD. And it’s frustrating for them. They have discovered that the key to success is, again, to reduce the number of food decisions they are required to make in the moment when they’re trying to get out the door in the morning or rushing to get a meal on the table in the evening.

How to do this? Answer: Food planning and food prepping.

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Planning meals ahead of time of course reduces decision-making in the moment and ensures you will eat healthy and eat what you buy. I like this meal planning pad because it has a magnetic back so you can keep it visible on the fridge. On the left side of the page, write in meals for each day of teh week. On the right side of the page, list your grocery items. There’s even space for writing notes at the bottom of the page.

Though you can tear off and dispose if the pages at the end of each week, I think it’s a better idea to keep the pages of menus that really worked for you, your family, and your budget. Eventually, you’ll have weekly rotations of meal plans and grocery lists that are go-tos for you.

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As for prepping meals, my ADHD clients take the worry out of mornings by preparing breakfast and/or lunch for each morning of the week and store it in their fridge in grab-and-go containers. These glass food storage containers are microwavable and have locking lids (so no spills).

 

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Some clients even label a container for each day of the week, further simplifying things and eliminating even the decision of which container to pull out of the refrigerator. The name labels pictured here are waterproof and come with a permanent marker.

If you want to experiment with any of the products I’ve listed in this post, you can click on the highlighted text or the picture to buy it from Amazon. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. I encourage you to only use ADHD tool recommendations that feel right for you and how you operate.

 

ADHD Tool Tip: Reduce Decision-Making Part 1, Clothing

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This post is a continuation of my series of recommended ADHD tools. I typically avoid making recommendations to my coaching clients, because one particular solution isn’t the key for everyone. Each person experiences the challenges of ADHD in his or her own unique way. That acknowledged, I understand that knowing what has worked for others can reduce the overwhelm of finding something that will work for you.

An aspect of daily life many of my clients find overwhelming is choosing what to wear each day. It can be the source of a great deal of stress. They describe themselves standing in their closet door staring at their clothes, or, even more commonly, standing in the laundry room over a basket of unfolded laundry, and losing so much time in the morning trying to pick out something to wear. They become paralyzed by the pressure to make a decision. Ugh.

We can really help our brains function better and improve our time management if we reduce decision-making pressure in the moment. In other words, mornings will be easier and we’ll move a little faster if we’ve made the “what to wear” decision in advance, in a period when time pressure was not an issue. What’s also helpful is setting ourselves up to not have to repeat the advance decision-making over and over again.

Two ways my clients have solved this:

  1. Creating a “uniform” for work.
  2. Creating standard “outfits” for each day.

A work “uniform” combines basic pieces and colors worn together each day of the week. Accessories can be added to spice up the uniform if/when it becomes boring.

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An example of a work uniform is paring black pants with a white blouse. My favorite go-tos are Lysse pants, like the black ponte pants pictured here (wearing Lysse pants is like secretly wearing comfy yoga pants), and a top that resists wrinkles, like this Grace Karin blouse. If you want a uniform that looks slightly different each day, get multiple blouses in the same color but different style or visa versa.

Maybe you prefer to plan and simplify what-to-wear using clothing you already have in your closet (or laundry basket). This means taking time to assess what you own to coordinate outfits that appeal to you and make you feel good when you’re wearing them. Then group them together in your closet for easy pull, dress, and go mornings.

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A few tools to put together planned outfits include space-saving hangers, hanger connector hooks, and tags. Use the

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hanger connector hooks to group items of clothing together, then use labeled tags on the clothes rod or the hanger groups to designate a day of the week, such as “Monday Week 1.” I like the tags shown here because I can write on them or use the tags included with them.

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If you’d like to try using products in this post, clicking on any of the highlighted words or the picture will take you to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate, I earn on qualifying purchases. The items in this post and the others in this series are shared as useful suggestions and meant to help generate ideas and/or provide a potential way to move forward. No one solution will work for every person. Experiment with what makes sense for you.

 

 

ADHD Tool Tip: Use Humor as Your Hammer

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ADHD brings on negative emotions of guilt, shame, and overwhelm. The cloak of these emotions can feel suffocating. These negative emotions cause stress and diminished perception of agency, control, and effectiveness.

It’s important to identify positive methods of coping that can help take a break, breath in brain stimulating oxygen, and get back on track. I notice that when a coaching client finds genuine humor in herself or her situation, it breaks down resistance and opens her up to change and growth. Humor doesn’t solve her problems, but it creates the space for identifying productive possibilities.

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A sassy tee is a fun way to wear your emotions on your sleeve and leaning into how your brain works. It says, “I know who I am and I see how whacky it looks to outsiders,” with a grin and a giggle.

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ADHD challenges our working memory and can make it hard for us to call to mind a source for laughter. Stickers on laptops, water bottles, even walls, can maintain the visibility of stimuli for positive emotions. Anything that brings a smile to your face triggers the release of stress relieving endorphins in the brain.

Getting the brain engaged in reading material that is quick and easy to digest while also entertaining will enable it to

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decompress so it can return to work with more energy and focus. Take a break, reas a book, and enjoy some nuggets of humor that make you laugh but also validate you and affirm that you’re not “the only one” experiencing the world the way you do.

Combine ADHD humor with a

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coloring book for adults for a double cup of stress relief. Coloring also promotes mindfulness and concentration, creativity, and relaxation in adults. What a great way to manage guilt, shame, and overwhelm!

Indulge in whatever makes you laugh and helps you accept yourself more. If any of the items pictured in this post do that for you, you can click on the bolded text or the picture to purchase it on Amazon. As an Amazon Affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Another little sticker to leave you with a smile, a grin, a laugh, a giggle, a guffaw:

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ADHD Tool Tip: Activate Your Brain with Peppermint

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When I taught primary school, secondary school, and college students, I treated them to peppermints before each test. I had read the research regarding the positive effects of peppermint on stress, focus, memory, and other brain functions. It also made test day a little more pleasant.

For people with ADHD, maintaining focus, managing distractions, and staying mentally alert can be daily challenges. Scientific studies have demonstrated peppermint’s positive impact on attention, memory, and mood. Peppermint contains menthol, a compound known to stimulate the central nervous system. Research suggests that peppermint can increase alertness and mental clarity, enhance working memory and cognitive function, and reduce mental fatigue and stress.

Peppermint and ADHD Symptoms

1. Improving Focus and Attention

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Many people with ADHD experience brain fog and difficulty sustaining attention. Peppermint’s stimulating properties may help by increasing oxygen to the brain and promoting wakefulness. chewing peppermint gum, drinking peppermint tea, or using peppermint essential oil may provide a natural way to regain focus during tasks that require concentration

2. Reducing Hyperactivity and Restlessness

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ADHD often comes with hyperactivity or an inability to sit still. While peppermint is known for increasing alertness, it also has calming effects. Aromatherapy studies suggest that peppermint can reduce stress and anxiety, which can be beneficial for individuals who experience restlessness or nervous energy.

 

3. Enhancing Memory and Mental Organization

People with ADHD frequently struggle with working memory, such as remembering tasks, instructions, or where they left their keys. Since peppermint has been shown to support memory retention, incorporating it into daily routines might help with mental organization and recall.

4. Managing Overwhelm and Sensory Overload

ADHD brains are often highly sensitive to sensory input, leading

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to feelings of overwhelm. Peppermint’s cooling and calming properties can provide a sensory reset, helping to refocus and reduce frustration. Simply inhaling peppermint oil or using a peppermint-infused lotion can provide a moment of relief.

 

Ways to Use Peppermint for ADHD

If you want to experiment with peppermint as a natural tool for focus and mental clarity, here are a few easy ways to incorporate it into your routine:

Chew peppermint gum during tasks that require sustained attention.

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Drink peppermint tea before studying or working.

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Use peppermint essential oil in a diffuser to create a stimulating workspace.

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Apply diluted peppermint oil to your wrists or temples for an on-the-go focus boost.

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Keep peppermint candies or lozenges handy for a quick mental refresher.

If you’d like to try using products in this post, clicking on any of the highlighted words or the picture will take you to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate, I earn on qualifying purchases.

 

ADHD Tool Tip: Release Excess Energy to Focus Better

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When the general public thinks about ADHD, they probably picture the behaviorally hyperactive male child who can’t sit still or respect the personal space of others. What is less often acknowledged is that adults with ADHD must also contend with excess energy, and hyperactivity can apply to behaviors, like nail biting, and to thoughts, like ideas flooding the brain. In all cases, the pent up excess energy inhibits the ability to focus and contributes to distractibility.

How can we effectively manage this excess energy as adults without annoying the people around us or feeling shame about ourselves? It’s important to find a way to appropriately dissipate the energy. Fidget toys designed for adults can help.

As stated previously, this is an entry in a series of articles I’m publishing to share my recommendations of ADHD tools. Not every tool I share will work for every person. You are a unique individual in a unique situation with your own unique experience of the world. Nonetheless, it can help to have the choices of various tools narrowed down for you, and I encourage experimentation.

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The Fube Fidget Cube pictured here has multiple sensory stimulating sides. If the brain gets bored with one type of motion, you can choose another side to manipulate. It easily fits discreetly in a pocket or hand. It’s also quiet, so it can be used during a meeting that requires your concentration or in a public space to relieve anxiety.

 

This Ono Roller is also a quiet ADHD fidget toy to release excess energy and improve concentration whether

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alone or in a group. It fits in a pocket or one hand so it can be used discreetly. It comes in a junior size for smaller hands and a full size. One of the things I really love about is that you can order the roller material (plastic, aluminum, silicone) that is most satisfying to your sensory needs.

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This Magnet Rings fidget toy is so satisfying and provides multiple ways to quietly manipulate them with one hand. Like the other fidget toys listed above, they fit into a pocket and can be used discreetly. There are options for ordering sets of more than three so you can change things up when your brain gets bored.

If you want to try any of these ADHD fidget toys for adults, click on the picture or the highlighted words to view them on Amazon. Full transparency, as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Only purchase my recommended ADHD products if you believe they fit your needs.

 

ADHD Tool Tip: Keep a Running To-Do List

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The ADHD tool I’m sharing in this post is a very simple, basic item: a 3″x5″ pocket journal with a pen. As I’ve stated previously, tools that work for one person do not work for everyone. Choose the tools that best support your unique brain and your unique executive function challenges.

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Something that works for me and my brain is a running to-do list. I keep it in a small journal that tucks neatly into my pocket or my purse or, if I’m traveling, my backpack. (I like this one because it comes with a pen, which is very convenient and reduces the chance that my thought might escape while I hunt down something to write with.) At the beginning of the year, I turn to a new page, write the year on it, and continue my list.

As various things I want to remember enter my thoughts, whether something major or something trivial, I add each to my running to-do list. Sometimes, I’m very diligent about keeping my journal with me to write in, and, other times, I lose track of it altogether. When I find it again, I keep going with my list. This running to-do list in my pocket journal ensures that the fleeting thought I had about that very important thing that I keep forgetting will be recorded and available when I’m ready to act on it.

Sometimes I use the list to inform my plans for a day or a week. Sometimes, I go through it and cross off things I’ve completed without even realizing I did. Sometimes, I review the list from the current year and past years to see how much I’ve accomplished.

Not everything I put on the list gets completed. There are things that I’ve written in it that became less important or even irrelevant as time passed and situations changed. That’s okay. In a way it tells a story of my life and its phases and what was important in a particular period of time. The point of the list is to support working memory, decrease anxiety, and evidence successes along the way.

Yes, you can accomplish the same thing using the notes app on your phone or a Google doc on your computer, but don’t underestimate the powerful brain-body connection that occurs when handwriting something. The simple act of handwriting something you want to remember increases the likelihood that you will, even if you lose what you wrote it on, far greater than if you type it into a digital format.

If you’d like to try using a pocket journal to record a running to-do list, clicking on any of the highlighted words or the picture will take you to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate, I earn on qualifying purchases. I like this journal because of the size and convenience of it. If there’s another journal that gets you excited about keeping a running to-do list, get it.

ADHD Tool Tip: Use a Meeting Notebook

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So many of my coaching clients work in roles and industries that require them to attend frequent meetings inside and outside of their departments and teams. Several have shared with me that having a dedicated meeting notebook with prompts has enabled them to walk away from meetings sure that they recorded the key information they need to effectively follow through with action items.

As stated throughout this ADHD tools series, products I’m sharing are only recommendations based on the experience of my clients and myself. There is no one tool that works for everyone. That said, there are so many ADHD tools and products to choose from, I recognize that it does help to have the choices narrowed down.

This Lemare Meeting Notebook for Work Organization is my recommendation for keeping up with work meetings, because working memory challenges and overwhelm posed by ADHD can interfere with recalling key points and assigned tasks after the meeting wraps. The spiral binding lets the pages lie flat and the two-page spread provides lots of room for pre-thinking about an upcoming meeting, writing notes during the meeting, and doodling (for those who doodle to concentrate).

I like that this notebook has prompts for

the meeting objective, the key discussion points, the action items with due dates, and the date and time of the next meeting. There’s a separate page for writing down other details. Pages for creating an index are located at the front of the notebook for easy meeting look-up. And, yes, there are apps for this, but don’t underestimate the power of handwriting information to support working memory and promote recall.

If you’d like to experiment with this meeting notebook, click on the highlighted text or on either of the images to purchase it from Amazon. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualified purchases.

ADHD Tool Tip: Use a Weekly Planner to Assign Priorities to Each Day

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As I continue in this series on my recommendations of ADHD tools, please remember that these recommendations are based on my personal success with various tools and those of my clients. This series of posts is in response to the frequent question of what do I think is the best tool to use to solve a particular ADHD challenge.

I am generally resistant to giving my opinion on that and instead encourage inquirers to do their own research. Yet, I understand that research sometimes returns an overwhelming amount of information that either causes analysis paralysis or a hyperfocused deep dive in search of the most perfect tool, neither of which results in actually acquiring a tool to assist with moving forward. So, this series of posts is designed to narrow the choices and give some useful information.

 

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I have found that a weekly planner, such as the one pictured here, goes a long way in helping me get my head wrapped around a busy week or around a multistep project.

 

This planner has tear-off sheets that I can post on my fridge, my cork board, or tuck into my purse and take on-the-go. Sized like a standard sheet of notebook paper (half size available, too), it doesn’t easily disappear on my desk. Plus, the simple design ensures that what I’ve written isn’t lost in a  flashy background.

The undated pages allow me the flexibility

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to use it when I need it and set it aside on weeks that I don’t. The structured layout aids me in organizing my thoughts and creating a plan for execution. I particularly love the brain-dump column on the left side of the page

. Once I get the brain dump complete (or at least started and added to as I go), I can assign tasks in a meaningful stepwise order to the days of my week.

And while, yes, all of these things can be accomplished digitally, don’t underestimated the power of handwriting information to support the brain’s working memory. Ample research supports this. Thus, even if you use a planner like this to map out your week then misplace it, you’re still more likely to remember and accomplish key tasks than if you don’t use it.

To read more specifics about this weekly planner or to purchase it from Amazon to experiment with, click on the highlighted words or any of the pictures. Full transparency, as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Only purchase this planner if you believe it may meet your needs.

ADHD Tool Tip: Use a Simple Daily Planner

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This post is the second in my series on helpful ADHD tools. As I previously said, I’m sharing tools that I like and that I and/or my coaching clients have had success with. There are lots of different planners on the market, and no single version is the right one for everyone. Nonethelesw, it can be useful to have the options narrowed down for you.

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This is the daily planner I use. I like that it provides structure with flexibility, while helping me get my thoughts down and organized. I don’t use it everyday, so the blank date the top of the page is perfect for me. I can return to using it even if I have left it for a period of time.

The left side of the page provides space for a daily brain dump. The right side of the page provides prompts and space for pulling out and organizing the most important brain dump items. It comes in a variety of background colors, but I like the ones shown here because they are neutral so that what I write on the page is more visible than the page itself.