Filled with actionable strategies proven to improve focus, increase productivity, and promote well-being, Brain Hacks will help you transform the way you work, live, and feel by tapping into the power of your executive functioning skills.
Modern life requires a lot of our brains. We need to stay organized, manage our time wisely, and make important decisions. These essential skills - known as executive functioning - affect every aspect of our lives, from how we function at work and home to how we manage stress.
Written by clinical psychologist and author of The Gift of ADHD book series, Dr. Lara Honos-Webb, Brain Hacks offers powerful guidance and strategies that will improve your executive functioning and help you work smarter, feel better, and achieve more of your goals.
With chapter-by-chapter concentration on the main areas of executive functioning - focus and attention, planning and organization, cognitive flexibility, emotional regulation, and impulse control - Brain Hacks: Life-Changing Strategies to Improve Executive Functioning offers:
An overview of executive functioning and self-assessments to identify which executive functioning areas pose your greatest challenges. Explorations of the five core skills of executive functioning, including summaries, techniques, and brain hacks to make them stronger. Real-world strategies and exercises to strengthen your executive functioning skills and apply them to everyday challenges. Using the proven, life-changing strategies in Brain Hacks, anyone can significantly enhance their executive functioning skills. Even those who have struggled with executive functioning in the past can transform from being controlled by their brain to being in control of it.
Lara Honos-Webb, Ph.D., is the author most recently of The Gift of ADHD Activity Book: 101 Ways to Turn Your Child's Problems into Strengths. She is a licensed clinical psychologist, author of four books, and is considered one of the world's leading authorities on attention deficit disorder (ADD) and depression. "
Don't read this book if you have ADHD. I read the first chapter with intent and then skimmed the rest after it told me to have a power nap to clear my mind. Only found four things useful:
- Slowly ease yourself out of your comfort zone by switching up the appearance of your daily structure. Go to a coffee shop you aren't familiar with and try to do the same thing. Or go to a familiar restaurant and order something you haven't tried before off the menu.
- Appreciate your "time wasters" and what they give back to you. Make a list and use it to increase appreciation.
- Practice delaying gratification by waiting 60 seconds to 10 minutes before buying something (especially if it's an impulse buy). You can still get it, but just practice by waiting a few seconds before pushing the button. [If I notice it's an impulse buy, I'll try it, because I want to practice.]
- Create a "Do Not Do" List as well as a "To-Do" List.
The book is not intended for neurodivergent people and I would've realized this if I read the epilogue before starting the book, but she put her "If none of these things work for you, or you still struggle with impulsivity, maybe talk to your doctor" in the last three paragraphs. Bonkers. :)
This book was clearly a book written as a guide to neurodivergent people written by a neurotypical person. It is not helpful or a brain hack to tell a person with ADHD to make an inventory of their stuff, all of their stuff that they might ever use in an upcoming project or task, and to maintain that inventory indefinitely. She talks about needing to plan how to organize but then the entire section is just questions meant to prompt you to come up with the solutions on your own.
And when she does make organization suggestions they're ones that are bad for people with ADHD because it completely disregards the difficulties that we have with object permanence. She also talks about organizing in a way that disregards the most useful hacks that I've ever found like keeping things wherever it is convenient for you to use them regardless of whether that is where they should traditionally go.
Like I keep my makeup remover face wipes next to my bed because that's the only way that I actually remove my makeup before I go to bed. At one point she uses the question my dresser drawers are straightened and tidy inside true or false as a part of exercise questions that you are answering to help you determine where you need to improve your organization. But one of the most helpful ADHD hacks that I have ever found to help me stay on top of doing my laundry and actually putting it away was to stop folding anything that goes in my drawers. Separate by category and toss it in a drawer and it doesn't matter if it's not folded it's in a drawer and at least it's put away and at least it's easier to dig through than the big pile of clean laundry.
But those sorts of thinking outside the box strategies are nowhere in this book and actually things that she advocates that you work to change. Neurotypical people should not be writing books to advise neurodivergent people on how to overcome the obstacles they face. They just shouldn't. Why anyone would think that that makes sense is beyond me
This is an informative guide focusing on the five core skills of executive function. Author Lara Honos-Webb provides effective tools to help us understand our styles and develop the necessary skills to achieve our personal goals. The questionnaires are helpful and practical. This book is short, easy to read and packed with useful information.
Not a bad book, but more for those who are looking for a way to re-wire how they think and act, rather than a How-To book to squeeze more productivity out of an already functioning system.
A well-intentioned book by a psychiatrist that a psychiatrist might use to help some neural divergent folks, but overall from the perspective of the reader, someone who wants to use these things probably it’s all things you’ve already heard online maybe the most useful thing is the structure for improvement… but at the same time the structure feels more like something a psychiatrist would assign to their patient and be frustrated when the patient doesn’t follow through.
2. ORGANIZE & PLAN: - Exposure therapy activities: pick 5 things you’ve avoided and get started in a small dose. - Triage: identify what is a priority. When it’s due and what is at stake. - Data dump page of all things that are unfinished and need to get done that week. Pick 3 things a day. - Create a command center where everything is managed that comes in and out. - Inventory your items so you know what you have.
3. COGNITIVE FLEXIBILITY: - Rejection Collection: helps reduce fear of failure, and gain the power to experiment and discover. Take risks. Expose self to failure. - Seek out low-level rejection opportunities. - schedule time for chaos to free self from structure (3 hours a week) - schedule 2 hours of fun a week - schedule 3 hours of dream seeking. - Un-stick routine to change it up. - order something new at the coffee shop. - appreciate time wasters. - change gears by doing new things in a new environment. - “what’s the next best decision? “ Sets up to explore possibilities you never thought of.
4. EMOTIONAL REGULATION:
5. IMPULSE CONTROL: - track one bad habit for a week. - Rate the craving. - Stop. Think. Observe. Plan.
This book will make you look at the way you set goals, the way you focus (or your lack thereof), and how you organize (your stuff and your life). It’s a must for busy professionals, whether you work for someone else or for yourself.
I found every word in it useful and was impressed with the way the book is laid out - It's easy to read and easy to follow, and it's full of great tips and exercises that help you start changing your work-life immediately!
I received this book free from the publisher, and this is an honest and unbiased review.
I found some of the tips in this book pretty obvious, such as "make sure you use a calender", "keep a to-do list". I don't know if it's because I'm already an organised person but I'd say this book is better suited to people who feel they've hit a wall with productivity, someone who hasn't had a full time job (or is coming out furlough because of a global lockdown...?)
I did enjoy the sections on personal growth, creating a personal manifesto and how to schedule chaos into your life. It's a good read but I wouldn't call them "life-changing".
Brain Hacks seeks to help with executive functioning, a particular problem for those with ADHD. It offers an test of the various roles that our prefrontal cortexes perform to help indicate what areas you're best and worst at, and it's a really helpful tool.
From there, Honos-Webb takes each area (Attention and Focus, planning and organization, cognitive flexibility, emotional resilience, and impulse control) and offers tips and tricks on how to strengthen each of those areas.
None of it is bad, but my biggest issue is that it's rarely explained scientifically why our brains do what they do. Instead, there's usually just an assertion on how to fix the issue. For me, I wanted to go "under the hood", because of I understand it better, perhaps I can come up with my own "hacks" that will work for me.
She's very practical and I think this book speaks to something not a lot of others are. I think she clearly understands the material and is very practical. However, I think she's most practical for a particular type of person (if you're a journaler, you're gonna love her). But if you're not that person, these tips are more starting points. Helpful, but makes it less practical.
I am an artist and an author who’s first, middle and last name is often Procastination. I do ok most days staying on task but have far too many days where I just can’t seem to get going and/or stay focused. Some days I am hyper focused on my work and find I have spent nearly 8 hours working with not even a break to eat, while others I struggle to stay focused and am easily distracted. When I was presented this book for review by the publisher I jumped at the chance. It is packed with so many useful tips I keep it in my bag that I carry my iPad and other work related items in. I find I look back through it at least 3 times a week.
If you are like me do yourself a favor and get a copy of this book.
I voluntarily reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book provided by the publisher.
This was CLEARLY written by a neurotypical person.
I picked this up to help my anxious ADHD teenage son, & while there are some good suggestions, I was more often than not thinking "ADHDers could never" or "she CLEARLY doesn't struggle with the subject matter she's writing about!"
Examples? Surely! "We've all heard of counting to ten, better yet, take ten minutes!" This was in the Impulsivity chapter! As was the example of soothing a toddler creaming he wants ice cream while dinner is cooking with "after dinner." The author claims the child will accept this answer (HA!) & may forget when his belly is full (hahahahaha).
so yeah, so.e good suggestions... for people with good E.F that want to be better, not for people who struggle with it.
Barely a handful of actually-helpful tips (break big tasks down into chunks, eat the frog) and a lot of over-ambitious dreamy journal prompts that don't amount to much of anything if you are actually struggling with executive functioning. Basically CBT theory without application. You are much better off looking for something actually written by and for someone with ADHD or on the spectrum if you are looking for practical ways to work with your brain and get shit done.
This being the first book I’ve ever read about ADHD, I expected to learn a lot but I really didn’t. I struggled to finish the book (I did push through) because although it wasn’t entirely bad, it wasn’t good. It felt like the book was written by a neurotypical who had no personal experience.
Loved this book! Accessible and the exercises are handy, I read it through once, but now I’m going to go through each section bit by bit and do the exercises, so I dont know yet how helpful the exercises will be, but I’m sure they’ll push me forward on my goals!
Executive functioning is so important and there are many people who struggle with these skills. This is a great book to explain these issues and give helpful tips and hacks to improve functioning.
Overall, a good place to start...if you've never read another self help book in your life. It's useful as a rapid introduction to other books and strategies to study in greater depth.
Many of the hacks are useful, but I wish the self-assessment was more rigorous. Some of the content wasn't very applicable to people who don't have traditional office jobs...meaning, people who have different predispositions to executive functioning and have discovered they don't thrive in a typical office job. I'd expect the initial self-assessment to be more scientific and less reliant on your particular life situation or hobbies. If only three of the questions in a particular function apply to you, answering all three "yes" is very different from answering three questions with "yes" where all ten apply. How can you compare those two functions?
Speaking of life situations... There are a few places in here that could have benefitted from a sensitivity reader. Not a lot, just enough to occasionally jostle a neurodivergent person (who struggles with executive functioning) from trusting the author.
As for the content, this book straddles a weird line somewhere between "not simple enough to pick up and go in an emergency brain malfunction situation" (what I would think of as a "hack") and "not in-depth enough to help you analyze and restructure your life to really change your habits." It lightly touches on principles that are explained much better in systems like Konmari, Atomic Habits, GTD, Pomodoro, and various meditation and physical health texts.
I don't blame it for being brief. It's supposed to be short and easy to consume, and it is. It just lacks the punch and sharp insight that brevity requires. If you have 2,000 words to explain your point, you can take it easy and get conversational. If you only have 200 words, every word should be packed with value. The writing style feels better suited to long-form explanations, so it comes off as vague and difficult to apply in this "quick reference" format. I'm being harsh/picky here, to be fair. The real reason this stuck out to me was that the book accomplished this "high value, short sentence" magic here and there. I wish it was like that throughout!
So I find myself unable to say if this book accomplished what it sets out to do. I don't personally have a real life situation where I would reference this book over another. It's good, but not life-changing.
Brain Hacks is exactly what it claims to be—a practical guide packed with actionable strategies to enhance executive functioning and take charge of your life.
The book breaks down essential skills like focus, time management, emotional regulation, and problem-solving, offering clear, no-nonsense advice on: ✔️ Managing distractions and stress ✔️ Strengthening impulse control ✔️ Improving organization and planning ✔️ Developing flexible thinking for better problem-solving
What makes this book stand out is its direct, strategy-driven approach. Every chapter focuses on a specific challenge, providing real-world solutions to help you work smarter, feel better, and break free from cycles of procrastination and stress.
If you’re looking for an easy-to-apply guide to boost productivity and mental clarity, Brain Hacks is worth a read.
I bought this book for my 21 year old daughter who has ADHD and struggles with executive functioning. My first thought was - I'm not going to be able to get her to read this book! (or any) But I started reading it - and although I didn't think I had EF struggles - the EF struggles are broken down into 5 areas- and I do indeed struggle with one or two. Good news is I was able to get her to read the book for 20 minutes a day! We both really like it! Perfect book for hunkering down during quarantine! Very positive, easy to read, and highly motivating!!
I strongly recommend this book for anyone looking to take ownership of their day and make daily living less overwhelming. Usually “self-help” books increase my anxiety and overwhelm me - they leave me feeling like I should add 10 things to my already never-ending to-do list. This one was different. This one was actionable from day 1. It contains practical tips that challenge your perspective and can be easily put into practice. I’ll continue referencing this as I go and testing out new hacks!
I recently discovered the term Executive Function disorder. My 30 year old nephew has just been diagnosed with ADHD. I can’t spell but apparently I’m not dyslexic! I am terrible at time keeping & other issues that distress me. Completing the assessment pin-points my issues and this book might help me achieve my long put-off goals. I think you need to read it a few times and put the advice into practice. So I’m off to read it again, slowly & apply the advice which seems clear & practical.
Short and sweet, practical guide to improve our brain's executive functions such as focus, organization and planning, cognitive flexibility, etc. Lots of good advice, although the "emotional regulation" part was not so good. I liked the clear advice style which makes the book a real "how to" guide that can really help, apart from a few weak parts. Recommended if you have trouble with self-control, focus and other "executive" functions of the brain.
"If you're having trouble with executive functioning, just try harder." She might be an okay coach for someone who is just overwhelmed with too many life demands. People with ADHD already know all of this stuff, and their struggles are not because of a lack of trying. Coaches who choose to ignore this simple fact shouldn't advertise themselves as ADHD coaches.
“In this book, Dr. Lara Honos-Webb breaks down executive function into 5 main groups and gives you a roadmap to understanding your “style” or what your strengths and areas of growth are. My clients are able to pull actionable strategies based on their specific strengths and challenges!”