Living Well with Adult ADHD: Practical Strategies for Improving Your Daily Life

by Laura E. Knouse, Russell A. Barkley

Imagine an ADHD toolkit filled with tried-and-true skills that empower you to be more focused and productive--and to "hack" daily life so your strengths can shine. That's exactly what expert therapist Laura E. Knouse and preeminent authority Russell A. Barkley offer in this friendly guide. In short, engaging chapters, you get a menu of science-based strategies and resources for getting organized, completing tasks from start to finish, managing time, regulating your emotions and impulses, and addressing common relationship problems faced by adults with ADHD. Drs. Knouse and Barkley share ideas you can use every day, complete with checklists, self-coaching tips, helpful links, and downloadable forms.

Genres: Adhd, Self Help, Psychology, Nonfiction, Health

226 pages, Paperback

Published October 1, 2025

Reviews

[GONZA · Rating 4 out of 5]

This text does not attempt to explain the neurobiological substrate nor does it dwell on a series of psychological explanations, but rather builds a set of tools that adults with ADHD at different levels of severity can use to improve their lifestyle and learn to manage their behavior in order to implement and increase the choices they have to make, whether they concern work or the use (or non-use) of certain substances. This book is part of a new trend that uses diagnoses to improve people's lives rather than stigmatizing them and highlighting their difficulties and shortcomings.

Questo testo non si mette a spiegare il substrato neurobiologico né si dilunga in una serie di spiegazioni psicologiche, ma costruisce una serie di strumenti che l'adulto con ADHD a diversi livelli di gravitá puó utilizzare per migliorare il suo stile di vita ed imparare a gestire il suo comportamento ai fini di implementare ed aumentare le scelte che si trova a dover fare, siano quelle di un lavoro o dell'uso (o meno) di alcune sostanze. Questo libro si inserisce in quella nuova corrente che utilizza le diagnosi ai fini di migliorare la vita della persona e non di stigmatizzarla ed evidenziarne le difficoltá e le eventuali mancanze.

I received from the publisher a digital advanced review copy in exchange for a honest review.

[Cameron Norman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book for everyone with ADHD and looking to manage their lives, habits and promote their wellbeing. It is a book that has something for everyone, yet it might not be the book that everyone with ADHD enjoys. I write these two, potentially contradictory points with the eye to content, preference and style. The parts of this book that I found helpful, were very useful. The format of the book is similar to the “choose your own adventure” books I read as a kid and I give the authors kudos for this attempt. I didn’t particularly like the many different features of the chapters that required different checklists, decision points and new directions. For some, I can see this being enormously useful.

The book covers nearly everything that someone living with and managing ADHD would be likely to encounter in everyday life (school, work, relationship decisions). What is a strength, is also a challenge. The authors, thankfully, acknowledge that there might be areas of the book that aren’t relevant to everyone. That means some skipping or skimming in areas, and diving deeper in others. As a reader, it means that this book will be read and referred to in a very different way than most other books. Again, this is a strength and also limit. It’s why I gave the book four starts out of five.

My bottom line is that I found it well-written, useful, supportive and creative. I am glad I bought this book. I also didn’t always enjoy it. But then, there’s a lot of things about ADHD that aren’t enjoyable either, so maybe it fits.

[Lisa Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 This is an extremely practical book of tools for people with ADHD. It was a little overwhelming the way I read it, from cover to cover - but that’s not necessarily how I’d read it if I had ADHD and was looking for tools. The first section is the toolbox itself; she lays out several different tools and goes into detail about how to actually implement it. The second section takes different issues or situations, such as “showing up on time” and then tells you which specific tools from section 1 would work the best for the various issues there are with showing up on time. For example there’s a difference between not showing up on time because you’re absorbed in something else (in which case timers & reminders come into play) and not showing up on time because you’re afraid of being early (in which case having a list of things to do while waiting might be good). It was really helpful for me, as a therapist without ADHD, to be aware of all these options. A client could pick just one skill at a time, the book is very versatile to use. A must for your therapy office.

[Mark Sutherland · Rating 4 out of 5]

A handbook of tools and strategies, all cross referenced and well explained. Not as detailed as Barkley's books (while he's listed as an author his main contribution is the foreword) but very accessible. I can see myself referring back to this as needed.