We live in two worlds now — the digital and the physical. And, honestly, it’s time to stop denying it. Our brains are expected to handle a completely different set of challenges than those our parents or grandparents ever faced. So it’s no wonder that conditions like ADHD seem to be everywhere these days. But what if this “disorder” isn’t just a problem to fix, but also a unique advantage in this fast-paced, constantly shifting reality?

Hello. I have ADHD. It’s a diagnosis.

Sure, but over time, I’ve come to see it as a kind of superpower. I sometimes surprise even myself with the sheer volume of tasks I can juggle across different areas of my life.

It’s like I have a mental kanban board in my head, constantly shuffling priorities, switching tasks, jumping between projects. If you’ve ever watched someone weave a massive, intricate tapestry, you get the idea — threads going in every direction, but somehow, it forms a coherent whole.

Of course, the trick is catching those threads before they unravel into chaos.

But here’s the thing — living in two worlds isn’t just a metaphor. It’s a daily reality. I realized that my mind isn’t just trying to manage the physical tasks around me, but also the endless stream of digital inputs. Even when my phone isn’t in my hand, it’s in my peripheral vision, a constant portal to all my digital tasks, messages, and responsibilities.

And this constant low-level connection? It’s an ADHD nightmare.

It’s like trying to focus on a deep conversation while someone whispers your name in the background. Constantly. It overloads the system, makes deep focus nearly impossible, and leaves you feeling drained without really achieving anything. You know that feeling when you open 27 browser tabs to “get organised” and end up watching dog videos on YouTube for two hours instead? Exactly that.

Then, a few weeks ago, I stumbled upon a simple but powerful trick. It felt like discovering a secret door in my own brain.

Ready? Here it is: I just turn my phone face down.

Sounds too simple, right? But it works.

When the screen is out of sight, something shifts. My attention isn’t constantly flicking back to check for notifications. My mental kanban board settles down. It’s as if the digital world loses its grip on me, and my mind starts to fully inhabit the physical space around me again.

It’s a small gesture, but it creates a huge mental difference. It pulls my attention back into the present moment, into the physical world where I’m more than just a collection of pings and alerts.

Plus, it has the added bonus of making me feel like one of those mysterious, deep thinkers in a spy movie — the kind who never gets distracted by a vibrating pocket. Very cool. Very dramatic.

ADHD, for me, isn’t just a challenge. It’s a way of being that, with a little structure, can become a superpower. I’ve stopped trying to fight it, and instead started asking:

What if this is just a different kind of intelligence?

What if my ability to jump between tasks, to hold multiple ideas in my mind at once, to weave together seemingly unrelated threads, is actually a gift in a world that demands constant adaptation?

It’s not about suppressing this part of myself, but learning to dance with it. To find the balance between my digital life and my physical one. To stop thinking of my brain as broken and start seeing it as uniquely wired for this crazy, fast-paced world.

And, frankly, it’s a lot more fun when I think of it that way. Like being the slightly eccentric, brilliant professor in my own life story — one who occasionally walks into a room and forgets why, but is always, always working on something fascinating.

So, if you’re also someone who feels like their mind is constantly spinning, constantly moving, constantly weaving — maybe it’s not a flaw. Maybe it’s just a different way of being human in the 21st century.

And if that thought feels like a small breath of relief, a tiny “ahu” moment — welcome. You’re not alone.

Turn the phone over. Take a breath. And let’s keep weaving.

Yours, Ksenia Trefilova

For more tricks how to adapt to life with ADHD, ask me here.