My winter survival toolkit for an AuDHD brain includes sunlight, fewer tasks, and a surprising 15-minute ritual.

It is still dark outside when my alarm goes off at 6am.

On a weekend, I might snooze or turn off that alarm entirely, but since it’s a weekday, I’ve set myself up with someplace to be (virtually).

As I’ve discussed in previous pieces, I am a lot like a plant (in that I need sunlight to thrive and be happy and healthy). So in winter, when daylight hours become more scarce, I have to get creative with the ways in which I make sure I’m getting my daily dose of sun.

When I’ve shared my plant-like nature with my readers in the past, I’ve been flooded with many helpful suggestions, from special lamps to vitamin supplements (none of which quite work for me, but I still appreciate them, because I’m sure some could help others reading with similar experiences).

Throughout my life, I’ve done many of the things people have suggested, including taking prescription-strength vitamins, but what’s worked best for me has been a much simpler option… making sure I prioritize getting some natural, pure sunlight each day, especially in the colder season.

As an author and business consultant, I have no employer or paid time off, so I can’t take a winter break the way others do (not if we want to survive), but I still take my own version of a break in winter.

I take slightly shorter workdays and take more time for myself.

In winter, I make a point of stepping away from the computer earlier in the day so I can go outside after work before the darkness of night creeps in.

There are two main ways I do this.

First, I get up and start my work days earlier.

Even though I’m not naturally a morning person, I’ve learned that if I start my day before the sun even comes up, and do all the small, tedious tasks (the ones that burn my ADHD brain like hot coals) before I run out of steam, it sets me up for success.

Something else about me is that my flavor of AuDHD means a lot of the tasks that feel big to me are short but tedious (that other people might find easy). Many of these tasks, once done, take less than 15 min to complete (most of which revolve around organization and communication).

When I look at my task list, and I’ve managed to check off 3-4 short, but tedious energy draining tasks before 9am (and am left with only my preferred task or two early in the day), I feel like I can do anything (especially when I can visually see a list of the tasks I’ve knocked out so far).

Then I take a break right as the sun hits a high enough point in the sky, play with the dogs, and exercise or take a walk (outside if possible), before jumping back into my main task for the day.

Creating a New Routine

Though I’ve managed to wake up earlier in past winters, this season I struggled to shift my start times up (despite knowing that doing so would be very good for me)… until I tried one of Focused Space’s morning wakeup calls.

When Nodira from Focused Space reached out to me to share her co-working community and tools with me, though I knew I had close friends and readers who could use a community space like this, I honestly didn’t think it would be “for me”… but I was wrong.

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What is Focused Space?

Focused Space is an ADHD friendly, Neurodiversity affirming, goal‑setting, and online co‑working / body‑doubling platform designed to help people prioritize, stay motivated, and bust through procrastination.

Focused Space was created because working alone can be hard.

• Members include creatives, entrepreneurs, artists, freelancers, and many other Neurodivergent folks (especially those who are ADHD & AuDHD) working from home or on personal projects and goals.
• One standout thing about Focused Space is the emphasis on human connection, compassion, and playfulness — even while working. It’s hard to find apps that lean into humans over AI these days…
• There are 100+ live, introvert‑friendly (cameras are encouraged, but always optional) facilitated sessions every week (with hosts who are genuinely wonderful — warm, engaging, they actually care), plus a 24/7 room that’s always open.
• The experience is thoughtfully designed and grounded in neuroscience.

The platform combines structure, play, accountability, and real human connection so members can get things done with a supportive community cheering each other on.

… and I love it!

I would describe my personal AuDHD profile as being “Autism-dominant,” and I didn’t think Focused Space was for me because body doubling doesn’t appeal to me.

For me, that means I typically thrive working on my own and find other people distracting, but Focused Space offers a lot more than just body doubling.

Camera on or off – either way is okay!

I also hated the idea of working with my camera on, but though they say they “encourage people to turn their cameras on,” I turn mine off after I say “hi” and don’t have it on when I’m working, and that has never been an issue (as many people turn their cameras off in the sessions).

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I was hooked the moment I tried my first 15-minute morning wakeup call.

There are scheduled hosted sessions for those who like to plan everything in advance, but Focused Space also keeps a running list of open sessions, which you don’t have to sign up for in advance and can drop into at any time.

My personal favorites are the morning wakeup calls, which are quick and short facilitated sessions that have become a great start to my day.

In 15 minutes, there is a very brief stretching and meditation practice, and a few minutes to plan and structure the day ahead.

The hosted spaces are very affirming and warm. Often, they give ADHD-friendly planning tips and guidance on setting and reaching goals.

Though during the day (U.S. times) there are always sessions one can drop in and out of at will, since the morning wake-up calls are only 15 minutes long, and I have a preferred host and time slot I enjoy dropping into (M-F, you can normally find me in the 7am CST wake-up call), these wake-up calls give me structure.

It turns out, now that I have something happening at 7am every weekday morning, it is suddenly much easier to get my butt out of bed in the mornings at 6am, so I don’t miss my 7am morning call (that I’ve grown to look forward to).

Now, I’m getting up earlier and tackling the tasks I struggle with most first thing in the morning, so I have plenty of time during my first break, and after work to get that sun-time I so desperately need.

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Un-hosted Quiet Owl Session

The other place you can find me working on weekdays is in Focused Space’s un-hosted Quiet Owl Session.

When I come back to my computer after my morning break, I normally hop into the un-hosted 24/7 room affectionately known as the “Quiet Owl Session.”

There’s no host in this session, and mics are all turned off, so there are no voices interrupting my train of thought, just a dashboard, some funky focus music, and a silent text-based chat that community members can engage with one another on, and a few other great tools that I have found to be helpful.

People can turn their cameras on during this session, but I keep mine off most of the time, unless I’m turning it on to wave at someone.

The Quiet Owl session is one of my favorite Focused Space features.

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ADHD friendly goal planning.

Even if a person doesn’t care for the sessions, Focused Space also offers ADHD-friendly goal-planning tools that help me prioritize and create realistic, and, most importantly, doable, daily plans.

Braindump Space

Focused Space also has a handy Brain-dump space to help us park ideas and tasks that aren’t time-sensitive.

Jumping into Focused Space for the first time was a bit like jumping into something that mirrors very closely my own way of working (and many accommodations I’ve had in place for years to keep myself functioning in a society that doesn’t allow my AuDHD mind to run wild).

Before Focused Space, I had been emailing or texting myself for years to get all the “someday ideas” out of my head, because having a dedicated space for ALL of my notes helps me feel less stressed about “all the things I can’t remember”.

If I dump things out of my brain (to a dedicated place, and it’s the same space every time), I don’t have to worry about it, because whatever it is, I know where I put it (because it’s where I put all my random ideas and “eventually, if I can get to it” items). I just need to make sure I only have ONE dedicated dumping space or list like this (so I don’t get bogged down with multiple lists).

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No more than 5 set tasks in a day.

The second thing I’m doing to make sure I can keep prioritizing “outside time” is limiting the number of tasks I commit to each day.

I can get bogged down if I commit to too many things in a day (or a week), so I need to be mindful not to overcommit.

As an AuDHDer, I often want to do “all the things” (even if not all of them can be done within the time or energy I have available). This is another thing Focus Space has helped me with (since it won’t let me set more than 5 goals per day).

I also fit the Autistic stereotype of loving a good list, and I enjoy the thrill and sense of accomplishment I get from checking an item off.

Focused Space has quickly become the hub of my work as a writer and an author, helping me set and achieve realistic goals each day.

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Essential to My Work as an Author

Currently, my main daily tasks mostly revolve around writing, as I’m working towards an upcoming book deadline with a friend and colleague in the UK.

A few weeks ago, right before I joined the Focused Space community, I’d just found out that the deadline for the book I’m currently collaborating on (that I was already sweating a little) was going to be moving up by more than a month, and I was determined but panicking inside.

Now, 20 days after joining the Focused Space community and shifting myself into more healthy work habits, I’ve already made significant progress on the book I’m working on (and am no longer worried about the deadline at all).

So, if you’re an ADHDer or an AuDHDer working from home, or who’s looking for some support with goal setting or who loves body doubling, you might also love the Focused Space community as much as I do.

I get requests (that I mostly ignore) to do brand partnerships all the time, because I don’t want to partner with products unless I actually find them useful and high-quality. I also want to work with brands whose owners and processes align with my personal standards and ethics.

That’s why I’m excited to announce that the Neurodivergent Rebel Blog is officially partnering with Focused Space, and our community members can now get access to Focused Space at a special rate of 20% off forever when you use the code “NEURODIVERGENTREBEL” at checkout via the button below or at get.focused.space/neurodivergentrebel:

Now when you Get Focused Space via the link above you’re getting discounted access to a great tool as while supporting the work I do here at the NeuroDivergent Rebel Blog.

Also, if you ever join a 7am CST wakeup call, or pop into an un-hosted Quiet Owl session on a week day, you might bump into me.

Not sure if Focused Space is for you?

• You can start with a free 14-day trial.
• And because this is an ADHD-friendly app, Focused Space will send you an email reminder 7 days before you are billed, so you can cancel after the first week if it’s not a good fit for you.

Hope to see you over there!

This post was also emailed to my Substack and Patreon supporters.