Overcoming Distractions-Thriving with ADHD, ADD
Overcoming Distractions-Thriving with ADHD, ADD

How to Avoid The ADHD Tax in Your Business-Work With Less Stress and More Fulfillment

September 11, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

Dave Breenwood opens this episode of Overcoming Distractions with a pointed question: What recurring problem in your business or career could become easier if you stopped relying on effort and started relying on a system? He draws on Mark Cuban's line from Shark Tank—"if you don't have repeatable systems, you don't have a business"—to frame the problem, but the real target is something more specific to the ADHD brain: the habit of compensating.

Breenwood, an entrepreneur with ADHD and author of Overcoming Distractions, argues that many business owners and professionals with ADHD have become excellent at compensating in ways that ultimately exhaust them. They remember things at the last minute, rescue projects that are slipping, work 12- to 14-hour days, keep information in their heads, and jump in to do tasks themselves because explaining to someone else feels slower. "I'm not sure the problem," he says. "I think the problem may be that too much of your business or your career depends on your ability to continually compensate." A system, he insists, doesn't have to be complicated. It can be a checklist, a recurring calendar reminder, a template, a standard process, delegating, automating, or simply deciding you will no longer do something.

The ADHD Tax in Business

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What you'll learn

  • 1 (01:02) **Introduction: The Compensating Trap** - Dave introduces the episode by asking listeners what recurring problem could be solved by a system instead of effort, referencing Mark Cuban's line about repeatable systems.
  • 2 (06:10) **Defining the ADHD Tax in Business** - Dave explains the "ADHD tax" as the extra time, energy, money, and mental bandwidth consumed because something lacks structure.
  • 3 (08:23) **Stop Solving the Same Problem Repeatedly** - Dave argues that recurring problems signal a need for a process, not more effort.
  • 4 (11:03) **The Rescue Trap: You Are Not a System** - Dave identifies the common pattern of repeatedly rescuing problems and asks what you are rescuing that should have a process.
  • 5 (12:40) **Automate, Delegate, or Eliminate** - Dave suggests identifying one recurring task you could automate, delegate, or get rid of entirely.
  • 6 (14:22) **Reduce Your Mental Load** - Dave shifts from productivity tactics to the deeper benefit of systems: not having to think about something anymore.
  • 7 (16:22) **Stop Making Your Memory Your Operating System** - Dave cites Dr. Russell Barkley on externalizing information and warns against trusting your brain as your filing cabinet or calendar.

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Guests on this episode

Dave Breenwood

Show Notes

What if the recurring problems in your career or business aren't a sign that you need to work harder, but a sign that you need a better system?

For busy professionals, business owners, and entrepreneurs with ADHD, constantly remembering, rescuing, reorganizing, and starting over can create an "ADHD tax" in time, energy, money, and mental bandwidth.

**Do you want to work with Dave one-on-one? Go to www.overcomingdistractions.com and book an introductory Zoom chat. Or go directly to Dave's calendar; https://calendly.com/davidgreenwood1/15min

In this episode, Dave explores questions to help you:

  • Identify where you're paying the ADHD tax in your business.
  • Turn recurring problems into simple systems
  • Reduce mental load by externalizing information
  • Automate, delegate, or eliminate unnecessary work
  • Stop relying so heavily on memory
  • Find opportunities for a 1% improvement

The goal isn't a perfect system. It's creating a little more ease, control, and space for what matters.

Overcoming Distractions-Thriving with ADHD, ADD

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