I find that it is not other people disturbing me it’s me disturbing myself. Whether i find something slightly hard or my brain can’t compute something or I am struggling with writing things like a workout program (I am a PT) I start to change my focus onto something else and it can take a while to get back to what I need to do.

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This would be nice if I didn't have to contend with all the notifications going off on my phone, emails and teams. I'd turn it all off but I'd have to figure how to do that for everything then I'd have to set reminders and notes of putting it all back on again which is just sounding exhausting, never mind doing it.
Working in an open plan office is also a massive distraction. I can put on my headphones and most of my colleagues will recognise that's my focus time but it doesn't stop the digital distractions, as above.

Very hard to achieve. I have lost jobs with this condition. Employers need to be given more information and this needs to be made more aware.
My former employer stated "Adults don't have ADHD, they grow out of it when the 'Grow Up'"

When I do things I’m very fixated on it and I get angry if I’m interrupted. Also if I’m emailing or texting I don’t like to be disturbed it’s very important I concentrate on what I’m doing or I make mistakes I can’t multi task. Others find this annoying but I can’t help this I need to be fully focused on it but only if it’s something important to me.

Focused time is really useful at work, I put do not disturb on, make sure it’s blocked out on my calendar and then use noise cancelling headphones and a free brown noise pomodoro video with 4 x 25 minute focus sessions with 5 minute breaks. It’s not always possible to stay focused due to others in the office but I have found my focus is improved having time set aside for planned tasks

Really good if you know exactly what you are doing and working SMART.

I use this strategy with some success, but as with anything for me, the critical factor is the preparation. If I've set myself a 2hr period of focused work, it's imperative I've done ALL prep work well in advance. In-task, the moment I encounter a barrier to making progress (finding a reference document, equipment, chasing a decision etc.) I find myself escaping the task at hand. It's pretty effective for me, but does require discipline and a thorough blocking of all notifications - I automate as much as I can, from smart-lighting, music, phone (Apple added support in iOS for multiple profiles which is a great feature for ADHDrs), Teams, email. I plan NOTHING for at least an hour after a focus period and use this either to triage any notifications/emails and/or entertain any side-quests that may have generated whilst in focus.

On paper plausible. In reality it's not that simple especially if your running a business from home.

I think this could work for some. In my experience, other people have struggled to respect this boundary.

Difficult to achieve

This on its own isn't enough for me. I also need something like pomodoros and/or flow music, a clear plan of how to use the time so I can't dither over deciding what to do at the start of the two hours, and choosing the time of day carefully, like maybe after a good break of outside time to come to it fresh. With all of those caveats in place it can work but if I'm unclear, fatigued, etc it will just turn into a block of time when I can procrastinate (no meetings, no emails -- free to faff about)!

I was accused of ignoring people because I was so focused. This complaint went to the highest level and instead of being seen as engrossed in my work, I was accused of being unsociable. I resigned one job because of this and I gave in my notice because of this at my recent job.

I end up procrastinating and fussing with my calendar trying to perfect my time blocking and day plan. I also find it hard to decide when I will be ready to focus in advance and which tasks to prioritise. Also can't be too strict with the do not disturb in my role.

Really good if you know exactly what you are doing and working SMART.

I use this strategy with some success, but as with anything for me, the critical factor is the preparation. If I've set myself a 2hr period of focused work, it's imperative I've done ALL prep work well in advance. In-task, the moment I encounter a barrier to making progress (finding a reference document, equipment, chasing a decision etc.) I find myself escaping the task at hand. It's pretty effective for me, but does require discipline and a thorough blocking of all notifications - I automate as much as I can, from smart-lighting, music, phone (Apple added support in iOS for multiple profiles which is a great feature for ADHDrs), Teams, email. I plan NOTHING for at least an hour after a focus period and use this either to triage any notifications/emails and/or entertain any side-quests that may have generated whilst in focus.

On paper plausible. In reality it's not that simple especially if your running a business from home.

I think this could work for some. In my experience, other people have struggled to respect this boundary.

Difficult to achieve

This on its own isn't enough for me. I also need something like pomodoros and/or flow music, a clear plan of how to use the time so I can't dither over deciding what to do at the start of the two hours, and choosing the time of day carefully, like maybe after a good break of outside time to come to it fresh. With all of those caveats in place it can work but if I'm unclear, fatigued, etc it will just turn into a block of time when I can procrastinate (no meetings, no emails -- free to faff about)!

I was accused of ignoring people because I was so focused. This complaint went to the highest level and instead of being seen as engrossed in my work, I was accused of being unsociable. I resigned one job because of this and I gave in my notice because of this at my recent job.

I end up procrastinating and fussing with my calendar trying to perfect my time blocking and day plan. I also find it hard to decide when I will be ready to focus in advance and which tasks to prioritise. Also can't be too strict with the do not disturb in my role.

I agree that setting time to achieve boring work (for me admin of any kind) is important, and I also disagree that blocking contact from others would help. Having extra things happening on the side of the main task is what helps me to do that task. In being distracted I can quietly finish the main task without the pain of solely focussing on it. I think of it like a storm, if I look into the eye of it, I’m disabled, if I whirl around in it I can take part

I have a focus element added to my working day from 7 am to 11 am,which blocks notifications or calls .Invaluable to me ,even if I only focus on one thing ( as long as its important ,relevant and needs to be done ! ) it's one thing done.N9t perfect all the time but 80% worth it.

I use this strategy, but often find myself focusing on something more interesting than the task I’m supposed to be doing. I sometimes miss meetings because I’m engrossed in a piece of work I don’t actually need to do at all

Makes a massive difference. Essential to achieving and feeling a sense of achievement. Doing things as one block feels so much more satisfying than doing them in a fragmented whirl amongst many other things.

This is a good idea

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Sometimes works but not always right away... sometimes i'm a good hour into my focus time before i actually start doing the thing i was meant to be doing. Might try an hour to increase urgency of getting down to it

It sometimes works however, because I've set the time aside to do a specific task I will do something else instead.

Test of 5 stars

Test comment Danny

Test - this should be a four star rating.