It’s Sunday evening. Laundry is piled up, emails are unanswered, and your tax return is glaring at you from your desk. Instead of tackling these, you suddenly feel an overwhelming urge to learn how to bake sourdough bread. Sounds familiar? Read on!
For individuals living with ADHD, this isn’t laziness or lack of discipline—it’s our brains at work. ADHD brains are driven by interest, novelty, urgency, and the 4 C’s: challenge, collaboration, connection, and competition. While neurotypicals can prioritise tasks based on importance (and actually get them done), we often find ourselves stuck in the frustrating gap between intention and action.
The good news? By understanding how your ADHD brain works—and building systems that embrace its unique wiring—you can unlock your potential. It’s about having the right ignition and fuel to get started and keep going. Enter the SPICY Framework, a neuroscience-backed approach that provides the space for you to uncover your own NeuroSpicy strategies, ignite your motivation, align with your strengths, and stay supported and on track.
Ferrari Brains, Bicycle Brakes
ADHD brains are like Ferraris—fast, powerful, and capable of incredible things. But our “brakes” (executive functions) can feel like those on a rusty bike, making it hard to slow down, stay on track, or even get started.
Traditional approaches to productivity (think: “just prioritise and block time”) don’t work for people with ADHD. That’s because motivation for us isn’t about willpower or discipline; it’s about having the right ignition. While neurotypicals often rely on importance, ADHD brains need tasks to feel interesting, challenging, novel, urgent, or connected. Without these sparks, even things we care deeply about can feel impossible to begin.
The Double Whammy: ADHD and Hormones
Both men and women living with ADHD can struggle when there are hormonal shifts. For women living with ADHD, hormonal shifts can add an extra layer of complexity. Hormones like oestrogen and progesterone influence neurotransmitters, including dopamine—the very chemical ADHD brains rely on for focus and motivation.
This is why perimenopause can feel like a double whammy: as hormone levels fluctuate, ADHD symptoms like forgetfulness, overwhelm, and difficulty concentrating often intensify. Men experience hormonal shifts too, particularly with testosterone as they age, which can also impact focus and energy.
Some common ADHD symptoms to keep in mind include:
- Difficulty starting or completing tasks
- Hyperfocus on activities that are interesting or stimulating
- Forgetfulness and poor working memory
- Emotional dysregulation (intense mood swings)
- Chronic procrastination or avoidance
Recognising these challenges is key to working with your body instead of against it. Adjusting routines to match your natural rhythms and designing systems that align with your unique ADHD wiring can make a huge difference.
Why the Interest-Based Nervous System Works Differently
For individuals with ADHD, motivation comes down to these key drivers:
- Play: Humour and creativity keep us engaged.
- Interest: Tasks must feel captivating to grab our attention.
- Novelty: A new and exciting spin on a task keeps it engaging.
- Urgency: Adrenaline from deadlines spurs us into action.
- Challenge, Collaboration, Connection, and Competition (The 4 C’s): We thrive on working with others or setting friendly challenges.
Without these elements, we’re often stuck spinning our wheels.
Moving from Intention to Action: The SPICY Framework
Here’s where the SPICY Framework shines. It’s built to help ADHD brains harness their strengths, align motivation, and create systems that actually work.
S – Start with Self:
Understand your unique brand of ADHD. Self-awareness allows you to uncover your rhythms, strengths, and challenges.
- Tip: Identify when you’re naturally most focused, and build your day around those times.
P – Power Up Your Plan:
Equip yourself with strategies that simplify life and amplify your strengths. The tools you’ve tried before—the ones that may have felt like a 75% solution—might just need a tweak, a resparkle, or repositioning to work for you.
- Tip: Gamify boring tasks, use timers, and celebrate small wins.
I – Ignite Intentional Living:
Align your actions with purpose. When tasks feel meaningful, they become easier to tackle.
- Tip: Break down big goals into bite-sized steps with clear micro-deadlines.
C – Connect & Conquer:
Collaboration, connection, and accountability are key. ADHD brains thrive on support and external motivation.
- Tip: Join a body-doubling session or team up with an accountability buddy.
Y – Your Best NeuroSpicy Life:
Design a life that blends structure with creativity, play, and curiosity.
- Tip: Add moments of humour or fun into your daily routines.
The SPICY Framework is a powerful way to work with your ADHD brain, not against it. By tapping into your interest-based nervous system and leaning on tools that align with your strengths, you can finally move from intention to action—and stay on track.
