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Why Most Productivity Advice Fails the Distractible (And What to Do Instead)
Ever sit down to work, determined to be productive… only to find yourself deep in a Wikipedia rabbit hole about ancient civilizations?
Same.
Most productivity advice assumes you can just decide to focus. That if you follow the right system — SMART goals, Pomodoro timers, color-coded planners — you’ll magically become a productivity machine.
But if you’re distractible, neurodivergent, or just wired differently, you already know: That advice doesn’t stick.
Why? Because it wasn’t built for brains like ours.
Why Traditional Productivity Systems Fail
Most mainstream productivity hacks rely on:
❌ Rigid structures (e.g., Pomodoro timers that feel like handcuffs)
❌ Delayed rewards (e.g., “stick to this routine for six months and you’ll see results”)
❌ All-or-nothing rules (e.g., “if you miss a day, you’ve failed”)
For the easily distracted, these systems feel restrictive, uninspiring, and impossible to sustain.
What we need instead is fluidity, urgency, and instant momentum.