{"id":110837,"date":"2023-08-17T18:03:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-17T22:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=110837"},"modified":"2025-09-15T11:07:25","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T15:07:25","slug":"adhd-challenges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adhd-challenges\/","title":{"rendered":"4 Common ADHD Challenges in Everyday Life"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Is it hard for you to keep your attention on something? Do you often show up late to things?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In <em>ADHD 2.0<\/em>, Edward Hallowell and John Ratey describe what it\u2019s like to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-live-with-adhd\/\">live with ADHD<\/a>, highlighting a few of the most typical challenges that people with this condition face in everyday life. They explain that the inability to shift between two kinds of brain activity lies behind many of these challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Keep reading to understand some common ADHD challenges and what&#8217;s going on in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adhd-and-the-brain\/\">ADHD brain<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p><em>Editor\u2019s note: This article is part of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/hub\/society-culture\/psychology\/adhd-guide\/\">Shortform&#8217;s guide on ADHD<\/a>.\u00a0If you like what you read here, there\u2019s plenty more to check out in the guide!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-challenge-1-inattentiveness\">Challenge #1: Inattentiveness<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>People with ADHD are inattentive.<\/strong> They often have trouble <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/stay-on-task\/\">staying on task<\/a>. They get bored easily, yet they find boredom unbearable, so their chronically understimulated minds wander in search of something interesting to think about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Shortform note: Anecdotally, people with ADHD experience boredom similarly to how they <a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthyplace.com\/blogs\/livingwithadultadhd\/2019\/6\/when-you-have-adhd-boredom-is-painful\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">experience physical pain<\/a>. In other words, if you have ADHD challenges, boredom can seem like physical torture to you. This may explain why you\u2019d instinctively try to avoid being bored.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This mental restlessness often manifests as physical restlessness, especially in men\u2014they bounce their legs, drum their fingers, and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Shortform note: ADHD <a href=\"https:\/\/chadd.org\/for-adults\/symptoms-of-adhd-in-women-and-girls\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">often presents differently in women<\/a> than it does in men, which leads to the condition going undiagnosed for many women. For example, women with ADHD experience restlessness and hyperactivity just like men do\u2014however, they\u2019re more likely to cope with that feeling by talking excessively instead of physically fidgeting. How ADHD presents in gender-nonconforming, transgender, and nonbinary people is understudied, but some experts theorize that the gender someone is assigned at birth and socialized as early in life <a href=\"https:\/\/psychcentral.com\/health\/gender-adhd-what-i-wish-people-knew#gender-nonconformity-and-adhd:~:text=How%20ADHD%20might%20impact%20gender%20nonconforming%20folks\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">influences how their ADHD presents<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Challenge #2: Impulsiveness<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>People with ADHD are impulsive.<\/strong> They tend to make hasty decisions without thinking them through first. They also struggle with delayed gratification\u2014in other words, resisting an immediate temptation for a better reward later. For example, someone with ADHD might miss an event they wanted to go to because they stayed up all night playing video games; the promise of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/have-more-fun\/\">having fun<\/a> the next day carried less weight than the immediate pleasure of gaming.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Shortform note: Some experts emphasize that impulsivity is truly action without thought. In fact, if you have ADHD, you <a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthline.com\/health\/adhd\/adhd-impulsivity#2:~:text=I%20would%20get%20asked%20why%20I%20was%20doing%20any%20of%20it%20and%20I%20never%20had%20a%20clear%20answer%20%E2%80%94%20even%20to%20myself.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">might not even know why<\/a> you engaged in a certain impulsive behavior. If you were the person in the above example, you might not be able to rationally explain\u2014even to yourself\u2014why you chose to stay up late instead of getting a good night\u2019s sleep for the event the next day. It\u2019s likely you\u2019d only know that you wanted the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hamptontutors.com\/blog-feed\/2017\/11\/19\/instant-gratification-and-the-adhd-brain-how-to-navigate-a-culture-of-immediacy-tpg4z-2bjrj#:~:text=individuals%20with%20ADHD%20tended%20to%20face%20more%20challenges%20delaying%20gratification%20than%20their%20non%2DADHD%20peers.%20This%20ADHD%20sample%2C%20in%20fact%2C%20derived%20significant%20pleasure%20from%20short%2Dterm%20rewards%2C%20and%20subsequently%20funneled%20more%20energy%20into%20obtaining%20short%2Dterm%20rather%20than%20long%2Dterm%20benefits.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">instant gratification<\/a> of playing video games, so that\u2019s what you did.)&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Challenge #3: Difficulty With Time Management<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>People with ADHD struggle with time management.<\/strong> The authors say that many people with ADHD experience time only in terms of \u201cin the present\u201d and \u201cnot in the present.\u201d For example, if they have an important meeting coming up in an hour, that means the meeting is \u201cnot in the present\u201d\u2014therefore, they won\u2019t think about it. As a result, they might fail to get ready or may show up late. Similarly, when tackling a long-term project (in other words, one that\u2019s due \u201cnot in the present\u201d), people with ADHD will often put it off until the last possible minute.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Shortform note: This \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.verywellmind.com\/causes-and-symptoms-of-time-blindness-in-adhd-5216523#:~:text=moving%20through%20it.-,How%20Time%20Blindness%20Shows%20Up,-Time%20blindness%20happens\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">time blindness<\/a>\u201d is a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/common-symptoms-of-adhd\/\">common symptom of ADHD<\/a>, and it affects more than just meeting deadlines or getting places on time. People with ADHD commonly misjudge how long tasks will take, which makes it difficult for them to create realistic schedules. Further, if they tend <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/to-procrastinate\/\">to procrastinate<\/a> on big projects, that may be due to a distorted sense of time in the long term\u2014they might think something that happened years ago was only a few months ago, or vice versa, and they probably don\u2019t have a good sense of how long it\u2019ll be until upcoming events either. In other words, if you have ADHD, you might put off projects because the due date (\u201cnot in the present&#8221;) feels like it\u2019s an eternity away.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Challenge #4: Forgetfulness<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>People with ADHD are forgetful.<\/strong> Specifically, they struggle with <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/improve-working-memory-moonwalking-with-einstein\/\">working memory<\/a><\/em>\u2014short-term memory associated with making decisions and accomplishing tasks. Their minds are so busy and racing so quickly that they sometimes forget what happened just moments ago. For example, someone who goes into the kitchen intending to do the dishes might get distracted by junk food, have a snack, and then leave without doing the dishes.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Shortform note: Everyone forgets things sometimes, which can cause people to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/pulse\/when-does-forgetfulness-go-beyond-everyone-forgets-stuff-walker#:~:text=I%20initially%20dismissed%20this%20part%20of%20the%20diagnostic%20criteria%20for%20the%20following%20reasons...\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">question whether forgetfulness is really a symptom<\/a> of a psychological condition like ADHD. However, if you have ADHD, you\u2019ve likely had times when your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theminiadhdcoach.com\/adhd-symptoms\/forgetfulness-adhd#:~:text=THE%C2%A0FREE%C2%A0TEST-,ADHD%20Forgetfulness%20that%20We%20Experience,-There%20are%20lots\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">forgetfulness caused serious problems<\/a>. For example, you might miss appointments, forget to return important phone calls or emails, or forget to pay bills (sometimes resulting in hefty late fees). In short, the difference between regular forgetfulness and forgetfulness as a symptom of a disorder is whether it has a significant, negative impact on your life.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-tpn-and-dmn\">TPN and DMN<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Halloway and Ratey further explain that a lot of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adhd-challenges-2\/\">challenges of ADHD<\/a> come from an inability to shift between two types of brain activity: activity in the <em>task-positive network <\/em>(TPN) and in the <em>default-mode network <\/em>(DMN).&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Activity in the TPN happens when someone\u2019s absorbed in a task.<\/strong> They concentrate on that single thing to get it done. This state is often called <em>flow <\/em>or \u201cbeing in the zone.\u201d In contrast, <strong>activity in the DMN puts the person into a thoughtful, imaginative state.<\/strong> It enables them to think about past experiences, plan for the future, and come up with new ideas.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In neurotypical people, these two types of brain activity work one at a time. They switch as needed so the person can come up with ideas and then carry them out or retreat into a daydream for a few minutes to take a quick rest.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Shortform note: This explanation implies you can only get things done while your TPN is active. However, some other psychology experts say that habitual tasks are often done <a href=\"https:\/\/www.psychologytoday.com\/us\/basics\/default-mode-network\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">while the default-mode network (DMN) is active<\/a>. This is commonly called \u201cautopilot\u201d\u2014it\u2019s why you can do routine things like brushing your teeth without thinking about it and often without any clear memories of having done so.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, in people with ADHD, the DMN and TPN are often active <em>at the same time<\/em>. This means that, <strong>even when the person\u2019s trying to focus on a task, their imagination is running wild.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td><strong>ADHD\u2019s \u201cInterest-based\u201d Nervous System<\/strong><br><br>ADHD researcher William Dodson has another explanation for how a person with ADHD\u2019s brain works. They don\u2019t have trouble switching between modes of thinking\u2014rather, they don\u2019t switch modes <a href=\"https:\/\/www.additudemag.com\/secrets-of-the-adhd-brain\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">when neurotypical people would.<\/a> In other words, people with ADHD don\u2019t have \u201cworse\u201d or less effective brains\u2014they just operate by different rules.<br><br>Dodson says that people with ADHD have what he terms an<strong> <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.additudemag.com\/secrets-of-the-adhd-brain\/#:~:text=People%20with%20ADHD%20primarily%20get%20in%20the%20zone%20by%20being%20interested%20in%2C%20or%20intrigued%20by%2C%20what%20they%20are%20doing.%20I%20call%20it%20an%20interest%2Dbased%20nervous%20system.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">interest-based nervous system<\/a>. This means they respond to things that intrigue them or stimulate them, and they\u2019re then able to get \u201cin the zone\u201d (TPN). For people with ADHD, a task\u2019s importance is much less significant than how interesting it is, which leads to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.additudemag.com\/how-to-prioritize-tasks-adhd-adults\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">serious problems with prioritizing<\/a>. Dodson adds that <em>urgent <\/em>tasks tend to trigger people with ADHD\u2019s nervous systems as well, which is why they suddenly become extremely productive after putting tasks off until the last minute.<br><br>In contrast, neurotypical people have what Dodson calls an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.additudemag.com\/secrets-of-the-adhd-brain\/#:~:text=Neurotypical%20people%20use%20three%20different%20factors%20to%20decide%20what%20to%20do%2C%20how%20to%20get%20started%20on%20it%2C%20and%20to%20stick%20with%20it%20until%20it%20is%20completed%3A\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">importance-based nervous system<\/a>. This means that they respond to things they consider important, and they switch to using their TPN to accomplish important tasks like working, cleaning, and running errands. Interest and urgency are still helpful motivators, but they\u2019re not necessary like they are for someone with ADHD.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Is it hard for you to keep your attention on something? Do you often show up late to things? In ADHD 2.0, Edward Hallowell and John Ratey describe what it\u2019s like to live with ADHD, highlighting a few of the most typical challenges that people with this condition face in everyday life. They explain that the inability to shift between two kinds of brain activity lies behind many of these challenges. Keep reading to understand some common ADHD challenges and what&#8217;s going on in the ADHD brain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":86304,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,160],"tags":[1130],"class_list":["post-110837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-psychology","category-science","tag-adhd-2-0","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>4 Common ADHD Challenges in Everyday Life - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Edward Hallowell and John Ratey describe typical challenges that people with ADHD face and explain what&#039;s behind some of them. Take a look.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adhd-challenges\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"4 Common ADHD Challenges in Everyday Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Edward Hallowell and John Ratey describe typical challenges that people with ADHD face and explain what&#039;s behind some of them. Take a look.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adhd-challenges\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-08-17T22:03:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-09-15T15:07:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/man-looking-at-watch-time-waiting-late.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Elizabeth Whitworth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Elizabeth Whitworth\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adhd-challenges\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adhd-challenges\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Elizabeth Whitworth\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d2928cf6c11a69ced1491d6a5b74fb13\"},\"headline\":\"4 Common ADHD Challenges in Everyday Life\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-08-17T22:03:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-15T15:07:25+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adhd-challenges\/\"},\"wordCount\":1350,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adhd-challenges\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/man-looking-at-watch-time-waiting-late.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"ADHD 2.0\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Psychology\",\"Science\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adhd-challenges\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adhd-challenges\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adhd-challenges\/\",\"name\":\"4 Common ADHD Challenges in Everyday Life - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adhd-challenges\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adhd-challenges\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/man-looking-at-watch-time-waiting-late.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-08-17T22:03:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-15T15:07:25+00:00\",\"description\":\"Edward Hallowell and John Ratey describe typical challenges that people with ADHD face and explain what's behind some of them. Take a look.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adhd-challenges\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adhd-challenges\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adhd-challenges\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/man-looking-at-watch-time-waiting-late.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/man-looking-at-watch-time-waiting-late.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adhd-challenges\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"4 Common ADHD Challenges in Everyday Life\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"description\":\"The World&#039;s Best Book Summaries\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":74,\"caption\":\"Shortform Books\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d2928cf6c11a69ced1491d6a5b74fb13\",\"name\":\"Elizabeth Whitworth\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1fff9d65a52ac4340660218e7b63ee5e365cf08e7aa7adff79a0142cd4b96f84?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1fff9d65a52ac4340660218e7b63ee5e365cf08e7aa7adff79a0142cd4b96f84?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Elizabeth Whitworth\"},\"description\":\"Elizabeth has a lifelong love of books. She devours nonfiction, especially in the areas of history, theology, and philosophy. A switch to audiobooks has kindled her enjoyment of well-narrated fiction, particularly Victorian and early 20th-century works. She appreciates idea-driven books\u2014and a classic murder mystery now and then. Elizabeth has a Substack and is writing a book about what the Bible says about death and hell.\",\"sameAs\":[\"rina@shortform.com\"],\"award\":[\"Contributions to joint task force efforts (FBI)\",\"Contributions to Special Operations Division (DOJ & DEA)\",\"Efforts to fight the war on drugs (NSA)\",\"Contributions to Operation Storm Front (US Customs Service)\"],\"knowsAbout\":[\"History\",\"Theology\",\"Government\"],\"jobTitle\":\"Senior SEO Writer\",\"worksFor\":\"Shortform\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/elizabeth\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"4 Common ADHD Challenges in Everyday Life - Shortform Books","description":"Edward Hallowell and John Ratey describe typical challenges that people with ADHD face and explain what's behind some of them. Take a look.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adhd-challenges\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"4 Common ADHD Challenges in Everyday Life","og_description":"Edward Hallowell and John Ratey describe typical challenges that people with ADHD face and explain what's behind some of them. Take a look.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adhd-challenges\/","og_site_name":"Shortform Books","article_published_time":"2023-08-17T22:03:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-09-15T15:07:25+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/man-looking-at-watch-time-waiting-late.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Elizabeth Whitworth","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Elizabeth Whitworth","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adhd-challenges\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adhd-challenges\/"},"author":{"name":"Elizabeth Whitworth","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d2928cf6c11a69ced1491d6a5b74fb13"},"headline":"4 Common ADHD Challenges in Everyday Life","datePublished":"2023-08-17T22:03:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-09-15T15:07:25+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adhd-challenges\/"},"wordCount":1350,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adhd-challenges\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/man-looking-at-watch-time-waiting-late.jpg","keywords":["ADHD 2.0"],"articleSection":["Psychology","Science"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adhd-challenges\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adhd-challenges\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adhd-challenges\/","name":"4 Common ADHD Challenges in Everyday Life - Shortform Books","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adhd-challenges\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adhd-challenges\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/man-looking-at-watch-time-waiting-late.jpg","datePublished":"2023-08-17T22:03:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-09-15T15:07:25+00:00","description":"Edward Hallowell and John Ratey describe typical challenges that people with ADHD face and explain what's behind some of them. Take a look.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adhd-challenges\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adhd-challenges\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adhd-challenges\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/man-looking-at-watch-time-waiting-late.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/man-looking-at-watch-time-waiting-late.jpg","width":1200,"height":630},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/adhd-challenges\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"4 Common ADHD Challenges in Everyday Life"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","name":"Shortform Books","description":"The World&#039;s Best Book Summaries","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Shortform Books","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","width":500,"height":74,"caption":"Shortform Books"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d2928cf6c11a69ced1491d6a5b74fb13","name":"Elizabeth Whitworth","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1fff9d65a52ac4340660218e7b63ee5e365cf08e7aa7adff79a0142cd4b96f84?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1fff9d65a52ac4340660218e7b63ee5e365cf08e7aa7adff79a0142cd4b96f84?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Elizabeth Whitworth"},"description":"Elizabeth has a lifelong love of books. She devours nonfiction, especially in the areas of history, theology, and philosophy. A switch to audiobooks has kindled her enjoyment of well-narrated fiction, particularly Victorian and early 20th-century works. She appreciates idea-driven books\u2014and a classic murder mystery now and then. Elizabeth has a Substack and is writing a book about what the Bible says about death and hell.","sameAs":["rina@shortform.com"],"award":["Contributions to joint task force efforts (FBI)","Contributions to Special Operations Division (DOJ & DEA)","Efforts to fight the war on drugs (NSA)","Contributions to Operation Storm Front (US Customs Service)"],"knowsAbout":["History","Theology","Government"],"jobTitle":"Senior SEO Writer","worksFor":"Shortform","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/elizabeth\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/man-looking-at-watch-time-waiting-late.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110837","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110837"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110837\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":145967,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110837\/revisions\/145967"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86304"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}