Hyperfocus Burnout

I’m not 100% sure if this is a thing, but I’m no therapist, and this is just my personal experience.

Last time, I talked about the cycle of a new hobby and the inevitable dopamine crash.

It’s not only a dopamine crash, though; it’s a hyperfocus burnout.

Lots of people think it’s impossible to focus when you have ADHD, and while this is somewhat true, this statement lacks nuance.

Yes, we have trouble staying on task and are distracted by almost everything. Imagine a hungry kid who enters a candy store. OOOOH, AAAAH, all those colors and scents attacking you at once. You want it all! Have you seen those sour cherries? Oh, wait. They have dolphin candies, my favourite!!

You get the gist.

But then, on the other side, people with ADHD can experience hyperfocus. This might seem like this magical productivity spell, but it has some serious consequences, too.

Hyperfocus is like being in flow on steroids. It feels amazing!

Especially when, most of the time, you lack focus. This can feel like you’re making up for lost time.

You’re working on something you love, you go all in, forget to eat, bathroom breaks, what’s that?, and you’re completely oblivious to what’s going on around you.

And the amount of work you get done—my god, who knew you could be this productive? Beast mode activated!

It’s only Monday, but you’ve already tackled a week’s worth of work. Holy fuck, this feels good!

How could this hyperfocus ever be bad, right?

Wellllll…

We’re humans, and our brains need rest, food, and sleep. But when you’re hyperfocusing for days or weeks, all these things fall by the wayside.

Inevitable, you’ll crash and burn.

Your motivation dies, your focus is gone with the wind, and you feel like shit.

I think this has been happening to me for a while now, but I haven’t noticed it. Somehow, it clicked in my brain, and now I’m seeing the cycles over the last years.

January is my leading month up to hyperfocus. Then, in February, I go HARD for about 3 months to eventually crash and burn by the beginning of May. Last year was the same. It took me two whole months to get back into my groove, though, which really sucked.

As I’m just discovering these side effects of my hyperfocus, I don’t have a solution for avoiding this burnout yet.

In time, I hope to put more boundaries in place so as not to overdo it and to get more rest. Because the inevitable outcome is that most of my projects get abandoned this way, and I’m sick of it.