Getting ADHD Wise - Jim Livingstone - ADHD Optimist

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Getting ADHD Wise

How to Turn Your Information Collection Into Actual Life Changes

You've built your system. You're capturing information. You've maybe even migrated a few key pieces. But here's the question that separates information hoarders from wisdom builders: Are you actually getting wiser?

Because here's the uncomfortable truth: most people with ADHD are drowning in information but starving for implementation. We read articles about productivity and don't implement them. We save strategies about focus and never try them. We collect wisdom like dragon's treasure and wonder why our lives don't change.

The problem isn't the information. It's what we do with it.

Your retrieval system is just the foundation. The real magic happens when you transform that accessible information into tested knowledge, proven strategies, and lived wisdom. This is how you move from "I read something about that once" to "I know this works because I've done it."

Here's the four-part cycle that turns your Archive from a digital library into a personal wisdom engine.

1. Research: Finding What Might Work

This is where most ADHD brains excel. We're naturally curious. We love discovering new strategies, diving into rabbit holes, and connecting unexpected dots. The research phase feels exciting because it's full of possibilities.

But here's the shift: research with intention, not just fascination.

When you're searching for information about a problem you're facing, you're not collecting for collection's sake. You're hunting for solutions you might actually test. This changes everything about how you capture information.

Instead of saving 47 articles about productivity "just in case," you're looking for three specific strategies to try this week. Your keywords become more action-oriented: not just "PRODUCTIVITY TIPS" but "PRODUCTIVITY MORNING ROUTINE TEST." You're flagging things as candidates for experimentation, not just interesting reads.

The research phase should answer one question: What's worth trying?

Pull 2-3 strategies from your Archive or from new sources. Not 20. Not "everything that looks good." Just 2-3 specific, actionable things. Write them in your Inbox with clear implementation language: "TRY: 10-minute morning walk before meds" not just "exercise helps ADHD."

This is research with a purpose: finding your next experiments.

2. Implement: Actually Doing The Thing

This is where most systems die. You've captured brilliant strategies. You know what might help. But somehow, you never actually try them. They sit in your Archive like unused gym equipment, making you feel guilty every time you see them.

Implementation is the bridge between knowing and wisdom.

Here's the ADHD-friendly approach: treat everything as a small experiment, not a life commitment. You're not promising to do this morning walk forever. You're testing it for one week. Seven days. That's it.

Pick ONE strategy from your research phase. Just one. Put it in your calendar for the next 7 days. Make it stupidly easy to try—if "10-minute morning walk" feels too hard, try "5-minute walk around the block." The goal is to actually do it, not to do it perfectly.

And here's the critical part: capture what happens.

At the end of each day (or after the week), add a quick note to that strategy in your Archive:

• Did you actually do it?

• What happened?

• How did you feel?

• What made it easier or harder?

This isn't about judgment. It's about data collection. You're scientist-ing your own life.

The implementation phase answers: Does this actually work for me?

Not for the person who wrote the article. Not for your friend who swears by it. For you, with your specific brain, in your actual life.

3. Review: Mining For Patterns

Most people skip this step entirely. They try something for a week, forget about it, and move on to the next shiny strategy. This is why nothing sticks.

The review phase is where information becomes wisdom.

Set a recurring reminder (monthly is good, weekly if you're ambitious) to look at what you've tested. Pull up the strategies you've implemented. Read your notes about what happened.

You're looking for three types of patterns:

Winners: Strategies that genuinely helped. Things that made your life measurably better. These get a special keyword:”WINNERS”, "PROVEN" or "WORKS" or whatever jumps out at you. When you search your Archive later, you want these to be instantly identifiable.

Losers: Strategies that didn't work, made things worse, or you couldn't stick with. Don't delete them. Mark them "TESTED-NO" or "DOESNT-WORK-FOR-ME." This is valuable wisdom too. Knowing what doesn't work saves you from trying it again in six months when you've forgotten.

Maybes: Things that showed promise but need tweaking, or weren't tested fairly (you were sick that week, life was chaos, etc.). Mark these "RETEST" and note what might need to change.

The review phase answers: What am I learning about myself?

Over time, you'll notice meta-patterns. Maybe you discover that strategies requiring evening discipline never work for you, but morning routines stick. Maybe you realize that anything involving apps fails, but physical environment changes succeed.

This is self-knowledge. This is wisdom.

4. Improve 1-10%: The Compound Effect

Here's where ADHD brains get tripped up by our own ambition. We want transformation. We want to revolutionise our entire lives right now. So we try to implement everything at once, burn out in three days, and give up.

Forget transformation. Aim for 1-10% better.

Take your "Winners" from the review phase and ask: how can I make this 1-10% better?

That morning walk helped? Maybe 1% better is doing it 5 days instead of 4, or extending the time by 2 minutes. Maybe 10% better is inviting a friend once a week for accountability. You're not trying to level up to marathon training. You're trying to make something that works work slightly better.

Or you're looking at your "Losers" and asking: is there a 1-10% version that might work? That elaborate evening shutdown routine failed, but what if you just did the first step—laying out tomorrow's clothes? That might be the 1% version that actually sticks.

The improve phase is also where you might research again—but this time, you're searching with specific questions: "How do other people maintain morning walk habits in winter?" or "ADHD accountability strategies that work." Your research is targeted by real experience.

The improve phase answers: How do I make what works even better?

This is where compound growth happens. A strategy that helps 5% this month and 7% next month and 10% the month after—that's life-changing over a year, even though each step feels modest.

The Cycle That Builds Wisdom

Here's what makes this powerful: it's a cycle, not a checklist.

You research → implement → review → improve → research again with better questions. Each time through the cycle, you get wiser. Not just more informed. Actually wiser.

Your Archive stops being a graveyard of good intentions and becomes a living laboratory. Every strategy is tagged with real-world data. You know what works because you've tested it. You know what doesn't because you've tried it. You have personalized wisdom that no book or article can give you.

And here's the beautiful part for ADHD brains: this system thrives on iteration, not perfection.

Forgot to implement something for three weeks? Fine. Pick it up again. Your notes are still there. Half-assed a test and got inconclusive results? Fine. Retest when you're ready. Skipped your monthly review for two months? Fine. Do it now and keep going.

The system doesn't break when you're inconsistent. It just pauses. It waits for you. And every time you engage with it—even imperfectly—you get a little wiser.

Your Next Step

Look at your Archive right now. Pick ONE strategy you've saved that you've been meaning to try. Just one.

Add "TEST WEEK OF [date]" to the top. Put it in your calendar for the next 7 days. Make it embarrassingly easy to do.

Then, at the end of the week, add three sentences to that note about what happened.

That's it. You've just entered the wisdom cycle.

Because the goal isn't to collect more information. The goal isn't even to implement everything you know.

The goal is to get 1-10% wiser about what actually works for your specific ADHD brain.

That's how you stop drowning in information and start building a life that actually works.

One small experiment at a time.

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“Found this a super helpful insight into ADHD diagnosis and living with ADHD.

As a late-diagnosed adult, it’s very validating to see more literature

surrounding this subject appearing” - Zoe P

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