Your ADHD medication is optimized, so what comes next? Psychiatric nurse practitioner Jonathan Murphy, PMHNP-BC, walks through how to build habits that actually last with ADHD: one at a time, stupid small, and never through pain.

Starting with a consistent wake time and building out from there, this episode covers how behavioral science explains habit formation, why the novelty phase is a trap, and how to plan for the moment the dopamine wears off.

This episode covers:
▸ What to do after medication is optimized
▸ B.F. Skinner, behaviorism, and why behavior can be engineered
▸ One habit at a time, and why consistency is king
▸ Teaching his daughter to read through C.S. Lewis, one page a day
▸ The first habit: the same wake time every day, and taking your medication
▸ Why wake time, not bedtime, sets your circadian rhythm
▸ ADHD and your sense of time
▸ Never lean into friction: why painful habits don't stick
▸ "Stupid small": so small that doing the thing is easier than the guilt of not doing it
▸ Morning movement: one pushup counts, and the cold shower option
▸ Delaying screens and reading a classic every day (Heart of Darkness, Don Quixote)
▸ The novelty trap: don't buy anything, and plan for when the dopamine wears off
▸ Switching stimulation sources, and why dopamine doesn't fire for the same thing forever
▸ Hyperfocus on impossibly long tasks, and the Dunning-Kruger effect
▸ Golf, music, rollerblading, skiing: micro-habits and five minutes a day
▸ When to stop practicing: the moment you feel frustration
▸ Turning the key: how a habit becomes second nature
▸ The flower pot shot, and the journey of a thousand miles

What issues are you having with habit formation?

Find Jonathan on X @ADHDAuthority, or drop a comment on any Focus Path video.

📕 The Process: An Adult's Guide to ADHD Medication: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H2Z6PM4T
📗 Cheat Codes: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FMJLQKBW

⚠️ Educational purposes only. Not medical advice, and no clinical relationship is established by listening. Never start, stop, or change a medication without your prescriber. If you are in crisis, call or text 988.

Jonathan Murphy, PMHNP-BC | Focus Path
Licensed in MA, NH, WA, OR | NPI 1821441965
Board Certified | ANCC 2017007119
CHADD Professional Member | ADDitude Professional Directory

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𝕏 @ADHDAuthority
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