The four daily habits worth protecting

Sleep, food, movement and medication if prescribed. Everything else builds on these.

The short version: try one today

• Set a wind-down alarm, not only a wake-up one.
• Keep easy protein where you can see it.
• Walk ten minutes in daylight.

Keep forgetting the new routine? Priori has reminders and streaks to keep it in front of you. (We make it. It's free to download.)

Before the planner, the colour-coded calendar and the new productivity system, there are four unglamorous basics: sleep, food, movement and, if you've been prescribed it, medication. These are the ADHD daily habits worth protecting first, because everything else you try sits on top of them.

When they slip, focus and mood usually slip too, and it's easy to blame your character for what was really a missed lunch.

Sleep: set an alarm for winding down

Most of us only set an alarm for the morning. The more useful one goes off at night.

ADHD and bedtime have a difficult relationship. Evenings are often when your brain finally feels quiet and free, so you stay up to enjoy it. Time blindness turns 'one more episode' into 1am. Then tomorrow starts in debt.

Set a wind-down alarm for about an hour before you want to be asleep. Give it a label that tells you what to do, like 'plug phone in across the room'. It marks the start of the transition, so you aren't relying on noticing the time yourself.

You'll ignore it some nights. Leave it set anyway. Catching it three nights out of seven is still three better nights.

Food: easy protein in plain sight

Forgetting to eat is very common with ADHD. You get absorbed, hunger signals don't register, and at 4pm you're shaky, snappy and unable to read a paragraph. Then you call yourself lazy.

The fix is to remove the cooking and remove the remembering. Keep protein that needs no preparation where your eyes will land on it.

• Front of the fridge at eye level: yoghurt, cheese, boiled eggs, hummus.
• On your desk or in your bag: nuts, a cereal bar, peanut butter and crackers.
• In the freezer for emergencies: something you can microwave in four minutes.

The vegetable drawer is where food goes to be forgotten, so keep the easy stuff out of it. If you live with flatmates, claim one visible shelf and label it. Protein is the suggestion because it tends to keep you full for longer, and a snack at eye level beats a perfect meal you never make.

Movement: ten minutes in daylight

Skip the gym plan for now. A ten-minute walk outside is enough to count.

Movement is widely linked with better mood and attention, and daylight early in the day helps your body clock, which supports the sleep habit above. Walk to the further bus stop. Take a phone call round the block. Go and buy a coffee you could have made at home.

Before a 9am lecture or a morning of emails, those ten minutes can work as a warm-up for your brain. If the morning has gone, go at lunch. A late walk still counts.

Medication, if prescribed, and keeping your ADHD daily habits steady

If a clinician has prescribed you medication, taking it as directed belongs on this list, and the practical challenge is usually remembering. Tie it to something fixed in your morning and keep it somewhere you'll see it. Questions about timing, dose or side effects are for your prescriber, and so is the decision about whether medication is right for you at all.

You won't hit all four basics every day. The useful skill is noticing which one has gone missing. When a day falls apart, run the checklist before you judge yourself: did I sleep, have I eaten, have I moved, have I taken what I'm prescribed? There's more on this in concentration runs on sleep, food and movement.

Once these feel fairly steady, you can hang other things off them. A few fixed points make the rest of the day easier to shape, which is the idea behind three anchors that hold up the whole day.

Quick questions

What daily habits help with ADHD?

The basics many people find most helpful are regular sleep, eating enough during the day, some movement and taking any prescribed medication as directed. They don't treat ADHD on their own, but running short on them tends to make focus and mood harder. Start with whichever one is slipping most.

Why do I forget to eat with ADHD?

When you're absorbed in something, hunger cues can go unnoticed, and stopping to prepare food takes planning and a switch of attention. Keeping ready-to-eat food in sight makes it easier. If appetite changes are worrying you, speak to a clinician.