John Ratey

both instances the organizational demands of daily life skyrocket and the person shows the symptoms of ADHD that he or she had been able to compensate for in the past. It is then that ADHD can and should be diagnosed.

others—even less charitably—think ADHD is a fancy term for laziness and that people who “have it” need some good old-fashioned discipline! In fact, “laziness” is a word about as far from accurate as it could be

If you know who you are, it becomes easier to like who you are.

This is why the word “deficit” in the name of our condition is such a misnomer. In fact, we do not suffer from a deficit of attention. Just the opposite. We’ve got an overabundance of attention, more attention than we can cope with; our constant challenge is to control it.

The second that we experience boredom—which you might think of as a lack of stimulation—we reflexively, instantaneously, automatically and without conscious thought seek stimulation

tendency to procrastinate combined with a knack for getting a week’s worth of work done in two hours

Unexplained underachievement. The person is simply not doing as well as innate talent and brainpower warrant.

all of which usually lead the teacher, supervisor, or spouse to conclude that the person in question needs more discipline, needs to try harder, needs to learn to pay attention. No kidding! But such is the ignorance that still surrounds ADHD that people continue to cite lack of effort as the cause of the disorganization and poor attention. The biological fact is that, in the absence of stimulation, they can’t. Not won’t. Can’t.

The point is: Focus on anything external to yourself. Activating the TPN will shut down the DMN. It’s difficult to do because the DMN is seductive and the negative messages it is feeding you are captivating and convincing, borne out of your past experiences, but you must not allow yourself to be drawn in, you must quickly do something active, to engage the TPN.