10 ADHD Hacks for Music Producers

[@AdamSliger]

makethatlouder.com/planner 00:00 Intro 00:45 Tip 1 - Headphones 02:31 Tip 2 - Drink Goblin 03:33 Tip 3 - Watching movies with the sound off 05:03 Tip 4 - Use limitations to your advantage 06:30 Tip 5 - Planner 07:15 Tip 6 - Backup Task 08:07 Tip 7 - Stop Multitasking 09:17 Tip 8 - Always Bargain Backwards 11:06 Tip 9 - Screen Delete 12:33 Tip 10 - Body Doubling

[@trollingisasport]

@@AdamSliger Haha Thanks. Makes it easier for those that want to occasionally come back for a reminder.

[@AdamSliger]

@@trollingisasport no prob!

[@goliathyeti1669]

As a mac miller fan for life i approve tip 3

[@AdamSliger]

Good eye

[@SillyLilDawg]

Don’t mind me, just watching this for like 5 secs to put it in my history and come back in like 2 months to fully watch it all.

[@AdamSliger]

Haha love it

[@Theovates]

I’m doing the same thing😂

[@AdamSliger]

@@Theovates y'all are killing my retention graphs hahaha

[@jasonnaylor8018]

@@AdamSligeroh man I never thought about this. I have a lot of creators to apologise to! Love the channel man, I’ll watch this all the way (headphones on)

[@solitudeparade]

I felt personally attacked by the video and now even more so by your comment 😂

[@WillyOD]

Ahh... interesting. Add to "Watch later"... ;D

[@AdamSliger]

😂

[@LionelRomeoBokeli]

Oof

[@mfsevin]

Music is such a good skill for me with my ADHD because of how responsive and interactable it feels. I press a button, sound happens, i press a different button WOAH sound changes. It becomes almost a really creative fidget toy 😂 Unlike drawing or sculpting where feedback is minimal and most of the reward comes after a very very long period of "trusting the process" I personally need that immediate feedback music has for art.

[@AdamSliger]

That’s awesome

[@PolymerJones]

Bouncing to wav is a HUGE way for me to mentally move forward especially when it frees up CPU and you don’t hesitate to try things knowing things are going to get slower

[@AdamSliger]

Facts!!

[@FetishForDestruction]

can always save a diff project file too just in case!

[@Kub-Kob]

was/is the same for me, until i started to discover you can still do WAY to many sidequests in the audio-only realm (reversing stuff, slice and dice and chomp chop, weird stretches that just dont work with vsts in real time etc.) but still one of the big steps for me too!

[@dylanberesford2980]

@@PolymerJones this is smart

[@SlightlyNasty]

The "disconnect from the internet" one has been huge for me - I just put together a retro-DAW area in my studio with a WinXP machine which is never connected to the internet (for obvious reasons), and it was shocking to realise how much more productive I am working over at that station than my main rig. And it's not just social media - even something as banal as having an email client open just puts a constant flow of non-music related information and time anxiety into your periphery.

[@Fuzz_Face]

Interesting! I’ve always respected the internet-free PC of a friend, it also adds to the creativity that comes from limitations. And that you use legacy software (Windows) makes that even better. It’s a kind of romantic idea. I remember having a Windows 98 and later XP PC in my room as a child. My discipline is pretty good, I don’t surf, check mails, etc. but what will grind my ADHD gears are push messages on Mac, for example software updates - especially ones that require a restart. Took me about half of the video to type this. 👍 Much love!

[@von...]

same except initially I stumbled into this trick because after I got a mega virus from a sketch 'custom' installers - I just kept my music environment on a macOS VM that is hosted entirely in windows. Download everything to windows w/ internet, then swap it over to my isolated & offline VM, then install it. Over time, I realized this deliberate process of separation & isolation made my time spent in my DAW so much more focused. Since then, I actually fully bought ableton suite (had to flex), and I still do it like this.

[@alex_ayers]

Half of these I didn't even realize I was already doing, the other half I didn't realize how much I needed. Thanks dude!!

[@AdamSliger]

No prob 🤘

[@autofigure00]

"and just to keep it engaging, heres your Minecraft parkour speed run alongside the video"

[@TRVladdy]

Producing with ADHD is actually amazing, IF you can hyperfocus. Music was the first thing I was able to hyperfocus on, and it led to me making a beat every day for two years, kick-starting my career.

[@theddrumdrummer6669]

So helpful. Can confirm body doubling works. I'll take months fine tuning by myself, but when my friend is working on it with me, we'll knock a whole tune out start to finish in one day.

[@ParanormalArson]

This is possibly the most ADHD video on this platform, with the most ADHD reason for its creation. You're a gentleman and a scholar, and my ADHD brain thanks you.

[@AdamSliger]

Appreciate ya

[@SatelliteSoundLab]

who else put on this video, started whistling a tune, got up and walked away to look for their coffee, got lost in thought deliberating over something that happened earlier, went out for a smoke, and then a minute later remembered this video was playing in the other room?

[@cherrystarscollide]

I work as a counselor at college education in sound design, this is very useful for a lot of my students. Thank you!

[@AdamSliger]

Glad it was helpful!

[@fukuoka_gumbo]

Your voice is hella calming

[@tverdyznaqs]

I saw this thumbnail like a week ago and I never ended up watching the video, but ever since then every time I poured myself any sort of beverage in my head I'm going like I Am Become The Drink Goblin, The Gobbler Of Drinks

[@AdamSliger]

That’s hilarious

[@chuckrainey8036]

Had to near-physically restrain myself to watch this start to finish, but I’m glad I did. As others said, I’ve been doing/thinking of doing some of these things and hadn’t put a name to it. Great stuff, thank you.

[@AdamSliger]

Glad you found it useful!!! Thanks for watching and I hope it genuinely helps!

[@leechh_4014]

Man, fantastic. So relatable with all of these things, like putting the focus in places that aren’t so distracting (mute tv etc) but just enough of a distraction to help between loading projects and tracks to export. Subscribed fo sho

[@AdamSliger]

Thank you!

[@sekanto1]

I dont know why but it's so refreshing to see a video with such few cuts

[@ennayanne]

because having ADHD doesn't mean we like to watch videos that have it too

[@AdamSliger]

thanks for noticing!

[@Fire-Toolz]

it's calming to my adhd. i love when people pause between phrases. it's like they are still saying something, but with a pause.

[@ennayanne]

@@Fire-Toolz yeah like how humans are supposed to talk

[@williambrandon9660]

way to utilize viewer feedback mate! been enjoying your content and layout since I found y our channel recently keep it up g

[@AdamSliger]

Appreciate it!

[@clarketut7840]

One cheap alternative to the second monitor that helped me was a digital photo frame. It's just a dia show of stuff you put on it and it's incredibly helpful with no effort. Great video and tips!

[@AdamSliger]

Ooo that’s awesome thank you

[@Bobby._._.]

finally, someone I can relate to who gives great advice. great video man!

[@taylorvolleberg]

These are all great tips man. I'm so appreciative of knowing there are others out there with ADHD in a position I'm working so hard to be in. I never realized how having mini distractions, like a candle or say the Lava lamp were things that I was subconsciously using to help keep focused on the task at hand, as well as the drinks close by. Thank you for the vindication lol

[@AdamSliger]

No prob!! You’re not alone 🤘

[@mxlhl]

I highly recommend setting timers and picking tasks. If I know I only have a certain amount of time to do a certain or a couple certain tasks, I find i frequently am able to not only focus better, but I also end up working way longer than my timer because I get locked in. Sometimes I don't start because I "don't feel like it". Then I'll say "Ok, you only have to work for 30 minutes". End up working for an hour or two. Works wonders for me

[@mattheap-producer]

The headphone thing totally works! I'v recently been super productive and it's because iv switched to using headphones for almost everything (even mixing)

[@g.o.9513]

hey what headphones do you like to wear?

[@mattheap-producer]

@@g.o.9513 AKG k702 with sonorworks and can opener

[@DaBlackMicTV]

I’ve got to be super honest with you. I’m still coming to terms with the fact that, I believe I have ADHD… as a creative, I always thought I had a superpower, but somehow just wasn’t functioning at my highest capability. This video spoke to me directly as a CREATIVE and I love it… Thanks you’ve earned yourself a new subscriber and hopefully a future, KZbin content collaborator, or at least colleague.

[@AdamSliger]

Appreciate ya!!

[@jasperlittlepaso5296]

These are very genuinely helpful!! Similar to the first tip, I like to have aspects of my environment that I set a very specific way when I'm going into a prod session. Setting my lights to a certain color, lighting a candle, positioning my keyboard differently, etc.

[@AdamSliger]

I love that

[@Virtual-Media]

This was helpful in so many ways beyond music production. A tip that helps me is to hit the F11 key (fullscreen shortcut in firefox) when watching tutorials like this to block all the clickbait.

[@g.o.9513]

is there a way to make a routine on MacOS that disables the internet at a certain time of the day?

[@Virtual-Media]

@@g.o.9513 i'm guessing there is, I know many routers have that option. Google your routers parental control settings..

[@cygnuscraft9544]

this is so specifically fitted to what I needed. im not even diagnosed with ADHD but the fact alot of this is helpful and relatable makes me wonder too much.

[@infinitesora]

I'm gonna try putting these into practice, thanks for the tips!

[@AliDeMorgoli-uo4qg]

Thank you soo much ! You have legitimized my drink goblinhood and I can now refer your video to my concerned friends and family.

[@g.o.9513]

@@AliDeMorgoli-uo4qg hey im struggling with this tip. please suggest drinks to buy, i'm desperate.

[@Rekoyl116]

Man’s trying to talk to me about adhd while he gets to the point as slowly as possible.

[@AdamSliger]

try 2x speed i guess haha sorry

[@hazmatforhumanity7318]

Awesome, i've been doing nearly everything on this list already which makes sense because i struggle with ADHD. Some things I do are I keep a blank notepad window open on my desktop all the time to take my notes and a stagger my windows so all the relevant windows I need are already open and easy to see. Having a notepad app is better for me because I hate having piles of paper and notebooks getting lost or disorganized and I can neatly store everything in a file on my desktop and re-arrange my notes. Mark songs that are mixed but not mastered in bold, mark mixed and mastered songs with underlining, put an asterisk next to anything that still needs work. Plus it makes it easier to compile tracklists and re-arrage them I always put the computer in airplane mode while working. The secondary task I like when waiting for songs to load is playing Scrabble on my phone. I always have like 8 games going at once and people take a while to play their next move, so I only have a few minutes of time before I have to stop and wait for them to play again which forces me to go back to my music session. I also have lots of multicolored lights and posters on the walls to look at. The best part is that I am watching this instead of doing my chores which badly need to get done. I'm off to clean the house now!!!

[@AdamSliger]

Hope your house is sparkling!!! Thanks for the tips!

[@benreiter7218]

Dude this is cool! I feel so seen and understood, and your content is greatly appreciated. Love the thought on productive procrastination. It’s easy to get into a self fulfilling shame loop when you have a task you know you need to do but can’t bring yourself to do it. Might as well improve the situation around you or learn something to help improve you. Thanks so much, much love!

[@AdamSliger]

Lfg 🤘🤘🤘

[@raiz0912]

O…M…G…I never knew someone době this content…THANKS A LOT!!Means a lot…Wish you the best!!!!

[@Kyle_Noonan]

The body double thing is so true, as long as they don't enable your worse impulses lol. I've definitely been working on mixes when the "have you seen the new ____ plug-in?" rabbit hole happens. Putting a name to it is super helpful. Great video!

[@AdamSliger]

Thanks!!!

[@BrianBondsGuitar]

Yes to the planner!!! I’ll be buying as soon as they’re available.

[@AdamSliger]

Very soon 🤘 appreciate ya

[@CarterBanks]

You had me at “let it play in the background while [I] clean my studio” lol

[@DaPumaPro]

Definitely a lot of tips I managed to slowly figure out in my own over the years. But a few new ones I could try out. The backup task has been huge for me, but then the backup tasks becomes the only tasks I actually get done. So still working on the process : P I’ve even tried overwhelming myself with distractions on other screens and it sometimes helps. Like having a visualizer on one screen, some show I’ve seen a thousand times on another. And maybe even be in a discord group call. I manage to get work done but only for short bursts as it can sometimes be very draining

[@AdamSliger]

Do it enough times and the main task becomes the backup task 😂

[@natearchuleta2003]

I've been adding to watch later since I saw it drop. But now it is time. Time to watch and absorb.

[@AdamSliger]

let's goooooo

[@VeritySammeri]

It’s still long, but improving. Can’t really fault this guy anyway he is such a genuine person.

[@DENDENmusik]

Thanks for giving me something to procrastinate going live with

[@ProdBy963Hz]

i have adhd and this video was engaging enough for me to stay. good work.

[@kumquat125]

This is a great video! I love how you go into using what was originally a roadblock, into a means for productivity or inspiration. Good job!

[@AdamSliger]

Glad it was helpful!

[@dewitt.powers]

We need one of these for somebody with these issues plus a full time job (so minus free time, energy, and ambition). I love to fantasize about utilizing some of these tips all day at work and have all these ideas and plans for when I get home... but then I get home and still have other responsibilities to tend to, so once I have time for anything I want to do, I lack the drive to do anything that takes much energy. By then it's usually time for bed anyway, and I get to go through the cycle again.

[@AdamSliger]

That's a great idea! I’ll talk about it in this week’s video

[@bolillo5013]

Thak you man, this is exactly what I needed advice for

[@enophjimenez1037]

you are a legend bro this is actually getting me trough a foggy drought

[@dasutzt1980]

Damn, you're good. I am, too, using similar hacks since childhood, not knowing until last year I have ADHD. There's still a lot here to discover. Thank you.

[@AlexReidStudios]

Tip 9 is something I did long ago, it's crazy how less anxiety I feel now. I did it because of life rather than production.

[@AdamSliger]

That’s great!!

[@TOM-x2t8i]

Thank you for this helpful advices !

[@AdamSliger]

Glad it was helpful!

[@ogVegetableSnipe]

Good shit. This is exactly what I was looking for. Need some more strict regimen in my process. Thank you for making this (and the templates) The best feeling is adapting to a habit or process after a couple of days and things become lightwork and stuff is just constantly being made. Thanks once again, looking forward to check out the rest of your content and your future works!

[@AdamSliger]

Appreciate it!!! Just dropped a new one yesterday hopefully you find it helpful!

[@notaspectator]

Proud of you making a planner and a physical one for printed version :))

[@PolymerJones]

Awesome tips. I get anxiety committing to a task like the idea that I might waste my time gives me anxiety. One of those type of days

[@AdamSliger]

Happens to all of us sometimes!

[@trollingisasport]

Bitwig is REALLY helpful for keeping organized. Not only is it really easy to keep track of and arrange stuff you can bounce in place without losing the original midi and having to have more than one track.

[@AdamSliger]

i gotta check that out

[@akira20ish]

@@trollingisasport I’m still on live 10 suite and I’m happy with just using that

[@StephenMcLeod]

I might subscribe just for that fantastic tache.

[@producedbycoywolf]

You had me at effectively procrastinate productively ..

[@TreyTush]

Dude…. This video is VERY helpful. You pretty much 100% called out all of the dumb shit I do (some of which I wasn’t even aware of fully until you said it) so thank you. Videos like this make me hopeful for KZbin content (cause most people are narcissist and doing it for the wrong reasons) thank you very much 👑

[@AdamSliger]

Appreciate ya

[@lilwombat]

My tip are set timers for a task it actives that last day reflex when u procrastinated long. Depending on what you're doing changing tempo and key often can keep it going. I used a varispeed device on ableton and logic has it built in.

[@AdamSliger]

love that

[@ItisJev]

These tips resonate loads! Thank you for sharing!

[@SidneyTalksTooMuch]

A lot of this is great advice for any kind of work from home situation. Excellent tips.

[@AdamSliger]

Thank you!

[@portchannel]

Thanks for the great insights!

[@WithGabbyAgainsttheSystem]

I love you, you're so calm

[@notaspectator]

Multi tasking and some of its wins, have screwed up my life well into my late 30s , I feel silly not stopping. glad I vape weed once in 5-7 days to reflect on how I feel, answer hard questions at hand to myself, observe what I avoid, observe my past reactions for the week , then share with a friend or partner or both but I ask them just to listen.

[@VeritySammeri]

Followed step 2, took a shot of neat vodka ever time I was struggling to focus on the music production. Woke up in a parking lot at 4 am with strange Staines on my clothes and $40 in my top pocket. I can say a big Thankyou because I was only going to charge $20 for the beat anyway. Success!

[@brimblashman]

This is making waaay too much sense

[@wesleybrehm9386]

Here are some costly things that have helped me. 1) A sit-stand desk with a little exercise bike. Added bonus: you lose weight and have more energy. 2) Scheduling breaks. I take a 5 to15 minute break every 45 minutes. 3) Setting my phone and computer to DND. I check to see if anything earth shattering happened during my 45 uninterrupted minutes of work and deal with it as needed. You’ll definitely get messages from clients, but it’s pretty unlikely it can’t wait until you turn off DND and check messages.

[@orangeeeeeee]

Not 100% sure if I have ADHD as I haven't been diagnosed yet but many of these things were relatable to me. I have really hard time focusing on things usually my thoughts feel like they are racing to find different things that I could be doing when doing a task, and then I subconsiously start multitasking, but not actually because I am awful at actually multitasking and get easily distracted. But I actually can hard focus on a task but if I do that I will usually start at like late evening maybe 8-9 pm or something and just work on the task til like 4 am. I guess I just feel most productive at that time, although I can sometimes also overfocus on a task and forget to take real breaks, and it happens pretty often. But I can also so easily lose my concentration on a task and get easily overwhelmed by the task, which kind of connects to the constant racing thoughts or screens thing. Also I already do the headphones thing and it helps, since I get so easily distracted by background noise. It's all quite infuriating... But yeah enough of my rambling, these are great tips, great video! Keep up the good work! :)

[@AdamSliger]

Glad you found it relatable either way! Thanks for taking the time to watch and write in

[@yianniadams2846]

Yoooo this is what’s up man! Great video - I’ve struggled with a lot of these things whilst producing/freelancing - great tips!!

[@AdamSliger]

Glad it was helpful!

[@ThePantangler]

Enjoying your channel. Thanks for sharing all your insights.

[@AdamSliger]

Thanks for watching!

[@thimovijfschaft3271]

My biggest distractions with music production are usually my laptop being too slow or me getting stuck on some thing. And instead of finishing, I just start a new project while I keep thinking about it

[@AdamSliger]

Happens to the best of us

[@brownmoney27]

Very helpful. Thank you

[@AdamSliger]

Glad it was helpful!!

[@pxrsec]

Interesting video, gonna leave the tab open on my browser so I can "actually" watch it later (I have 63 tabs rn)

[@COMANAVAGO]

Dude thank you

[@AdamSliger]

🤘

[@autumn2447]

Sped this up ngl

[@akira20ish]

Another tip is take breaks and stop trying to overdo things you’ll fuck up so much of a track if you have this mentality of being a perfectionist. Also limit yourself on plugins just have less makes things much easier. I love the max 4 live device cartographer it’s so much better than listening to a stupid metronome over and over again also don’t be impulsive and keep buying the newest version of something you’ll find that the more less you spend the better you’ll feel in the end.I’m still on Ableton Live 10 suite and I’m happy just using that version I don’t need more stuff that distracts me from making better music.

[@cashmoneycheru]

the algorithm really popped off w/ this one 😮‍💨👍

[@AdamSliger]

🤘🤘

[@user-bv3wf1ur1m]

S’kudah wuz here. Thanks for the tips man it’s a struggle for real.

[@seanms35]

✨ #4, #5, #6 and #10 ✨

[@Maplefoxx-vl2ew]

wait you make videos for adhd music producers, yes pls. you know i been googling stuff like "music theory of adhd people" and "orchestation for people with adhd" or "music lessons for adhd" and i can't find a single thing. i only found your channel just now by chance. i'm trying to learn to compose for games. I make game mods and place music and sounds in them using FMOD but i'm still so clutter brained when trying to produce actual songs. I make this comment before even watching your vids. i will for sure enjoy these thanks .

[@nicoschmitt9857]

got myself some DT 1990s last year, i feel like, since then the quality of my music 4x'ed xD best decision i ever made

[@AdamSliger]

Those are great

[@drrodopszin]

I'm pretty sure this is for me as I ran to comment after the first minute: for me two things help a lot: 1) Availability: the guitar is next to me on the stand, I just grab it. If it's inside a gigbag or another room, not gonna happen. Fight it with the girlfriend if needed. 2) Structure: having rehearsal with other people on a fixed day of the week. If you can choose otherwise, not gonna happen. 3) List of things to do with the song, not fawking around. 4) Well structured song templates: eliminating the barrier of entrance to start the real work. "It's right there, just do it!" 5) Save a video that goes through the mixing process, just to follow along: you make the decisions but the process is external. Oh and 6) Great sounding templates even if they are bit too much or they are "typical sounding". I always get rid of stuff way in the mixing process because I started piling stuff (more kick hits, an extra pad, sound effects) as it was missing energy. That's a lot of wasted effort that could have been eliminated by starting with a great "cookie cutter" sound.

[@AdamSliger]

All solid

[@drrodopszin]

@@AdamSliger I got "stand" autocorrected to "Satan's". Thanks for your comment! ❤️ Good luck with making great music!

[@mmpiwdanm]

im gonna watch it later ,interesting thank u mate

[@medicatedgaming7871]

great videos, thanks buddy

[@AdamSliger]

You betcha!

[@brunocruzsanchez2356]

This is a godsend

[@DaveKill3R27]

thank you so much! intuitively I discovered some of this tricks by myself, but actually having them + others organized in a video really makes me feel less anxious about the whole thing. also, thank you for the drinking tip! I currently apply it with having multiple vapes around and hitting them, and that’s not good is it? 😂 subbed ✌🏻

[@AdamSliger]

I think some water might be in the cards for you soon 😂 appreciate ya

[@Fire-Toolz]

thank you so incredibly much

[@AdamSliger]

No prob!

[@yasumu3960]

This helps me even though I donˋt have adhd. Thanks man

[@TravisSpomer]

This is probably the best advice I’ve ever seen anyone give about anything.

[@AdamSliger]

Wow thanks!

[@Sefus88]

Brilliant!

[@officialWWM]

That reminds me, I need to go finish that side table I’ve been working on 😂

[@AdamSliger]

Have fun!

[@officialWWM]

@@AdamSliger cheers 😂

[@WVLFRVN]

This video is exactly what i needed. I used to be so prolific. Now im lucky if i get a loop out before completely disassociating Ill let you know if it helps

[@AdamSliger]

You got this

[@g.o.9513]

bought a moleskine legal pad to take notes. no longer taking notes on mobile. i always saw ovo40 do physical notes, makes so much sense now. the cheap and small notebooks will suffice. just start with a 0.5mm fine pen and then go up in thickness if necessary, thanks for reading.

[@creaturethief]

goat

[@robertavila1863]

Yeah, I'm serious about being hands-on with music too. Also NeuroDivergent. I hear ADHD is a spectrum too now (like ASD).

[@DissonanceRiver]

I became the drink goblin, but for beer. Helped get some great music out, but productivity dropped by about 100%. I significantly cut back on drinking and will prob do the seltzer trick

[@AdamSliger]

The bubbles help create ideas I think!

[@EDawg_32]

Liking the hairstyle man!

[@AdamSliger]

Thank you!

[@spikethrowaway]

I didn't see the amp heads last video, and I just wanted to tell you we're tone homies now. Have a good day! EDIT: got to the part of the video where you say this isnt the studio you daily drive so i gotta revoke tone homie status but i did sub so theres that lol

[@AdamSliger]

Rock on lol

[@Ouvii]

2:30 I keep a water gallon by my desk because I've found this helps A LOT. Especially because a lot of excuses to not work on stuff end up being "but I'm a little hungry" and the water really helps with that.

[@Kirisaga]

you sound great in 2x speed man just letting u know

[@AdamSliger]

heck yeah glad you enjoyed it

[@catherinehiltz8634]

OMG where have you been all my career

[@AdamSliger]

Right here lol

[@bangrah88]

Having ADHD and make music, i can relate to this