Do you feel like you are needing a little reset of your habits + routines but don’t quite know where to start? These 6 small micro habits could be quietly ruining your productivity! As an ADHD girly who has spent years figuring out what actually works (and what REALLY doesn’t), I’ve lived through all six of these.

As always, these aren’t things I’m sharing from a place of having it all together, I’ve been there, I’ve done the work, and I’ve had to build systems to make this brain of mine have some type of order. Let’s get into it.

6 Micro Habits Ruining Your Productivity (Without You Even Realizing It)

1. Not Having a Plan and Just Hoping It Will All Work Out

If you’re a Type B, “it’ll all work out” girlie like me, this one might hit a little close to home. I love a good vision board, I love dreaming big, and yet am not naturally someone who maps out every detail. Most of the time I just trust that it is going to work out (and tbh lots of times in my personal life it does)

HOWEVER—when it comes to productivity and trying to accomplish tasks, waking up each day without any intention or plan can overall really drain you. It leads to more mental exhaustion, more stress & that gnawing feeling at the end of the week of what did I actually accomplish?

When I started taking even a *little* time to plan out my days and weeks, I felt so much better.

If you want a tool that makes the planning process feel less overwhelming and more enjoyable, I use this Daily Planning Notepad — it’s designed for ADHD brains and WFH girlies and it genuinely makes sitting down to plan feel like less of a chore.

If you want more of a deep dive into how to plan, I have a full post on that here.

2. Leaning Into Your Mental Health Struggles Instead of Working Through Them

This one is nuanced, so hear me out. I have ADHD and anxiety, and I’ve had seasons of depression. There have been times I’ve genuinely needed to step back, and there are times when medication and professional support are helpful.

But there’s also a pattern I fell into where I was using my diagnosis as a reason to stop looking for solutions. I have ADHD, so it’s just always going to be hard. And while yes, some things will always take more effort for me, there is also so much within my control. Neuroplasticity is real (!!!!) Lifestyle changes matter. Systems help. The moment I stopped seeing my mental health as a condition that had ruined my life and started treating it as something I could actively support and learn about— that’s when things started to *actually* improve.

3. Scrolling Before Bed or First Thing in the Morning

Screen time this, screen time that. To be honest, I care less about how HIGH your screen time is, and rather WHEN IT IS. I truly think that scrolling 2 seconds after we wake up or 2 hours before we go to bed is destroying us.

There are a million sleep supplements and “sleepy girl mocktails” out there, but I honestly think so many of our cultures sleep issues could be solved with putting the dang phone down.

MY EXPERIENCE: The most anxious seasons of my life have been when the first thing I did was open my phone to a screen telling me everything wrong with the world and everyone else’s highlight reel.

You don’t have to be perfect at this. But if you’re struggling with anxiety or feeling behind from the moment you wake up — try not touching your phone until after breakfast!

Just try it. It will change your whole day.

IF YOU WANT TO BREAK YOUR PHONE ADDICTION THIS YEAR, READ THIS.

4. Leaving for Somewhere at the Time You’re Supposed to Be There (An ADHD Special)

If you get this, you get it. If you don’t, you might think I’m absolutely unhinged….

This was me between the ages of 19 and 21 in peak form. Doctor’s appointment at 4pm? My brain registered 4pm and nothing else. So I’d watch 1pm pass, 2pm, 3pm — still fine, still so much time — and then suddenly it’s 3:59 and I’m realizing I should already be there. Time blindness is a very real part of ADHD, and rather than just feeling guilty about always being late, I had to actually build systems around it.

I now have to schedule reminders to leave, not just to show up. I’ve also had to retrain my brain to realistically think through how long transitions actually take. If you’re chronically late and you have ADHD, this isn’t a character flaw, but it is something you can work on with the right tools

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5. Operating Off a 100-Item To-Do List

A brain dump is a great starting point. An unfiltered, never-ending to-do list as your daily working document? That’s a recipe for paralysis — and one of the biggest micro habits ruining productivity that nobody talks about.

When we sit down to work and see a massive list of everything we need to do ever, we either freeze completely or start bouncing between 10 tasks and never actually finishing anything. I used to end days with 20 minutes of progress on five different projects and feel like I’d accomplished nothing — because I kind of hadn’t.

The switch that genuinely changed my life: picking three top priority tasks per day. That’s it. Plan with intention, break things down, and stop trying to do everything at once. The daily planning notepad I use is actually designed specifically for this — it has a built-in top 3 priorities section, a schedule planner, additional to-dos, and even a self-care and reflection section. It’s my Daily Planning Notepad and it is so cute — speckled paper, pink accents, very aesthetic. Honestly it makes me want to actually sit down and plan, which as a Type B girlie, is saying something. I also have a full post on how I structure my to-do list if you want the full breakdown.

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6. Consuming Content That’s Making You Anxious Without Realizing It

This one is sneaky because it doesn’t feel like a bad habit at first. During one of the busiest seasons of my life: juggling a new business, school, and work — I was filling every spare moment with productivity podcasts, self-help YouTube videos, and personal development books.

I stopped reading fiction for almost two years because it didn’t feel “productive enough”. My brain was running at full speed even when I was trying to sleep. I was consuming so much advice that I couldn’t actually implement any of it, which created this low-grade anxiety I didn’t even fully register.

If you love productivity and wellness content (hi, same), I’m not telling you to quit. But if you’re consuming so much that you can’t actually apply any of it — or you feel more anxious than inspired — it might be time for a reset. Give yourself permission to read a novel. Watch a TV show just for fun. The only podcast I regularly listen to right now for actual mental rest is What We Said, and it’s been such a good brain break.

Switching things up and creating space for genuine rest isn’t lazy. It’s necessary.

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REMINDERS:

None of these micro habits ruining your productivity make you a bad person or mean you’re failing. They’re just small, sneaky things that — when we become aware of them — we can actually do something about!!!

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