AI Assistant as ADHD Coach?

In the past few months I’ve been playing with AI, exploring how AI assistants might be able to help people with ADHD. I have no doubt that plenty of my fellow ADHDers out there are doing the same. It’s pretty obvious that in a year or two there will be highly functional AI coaches/agents. So, you won’t have to wait too long. And if you don’t want to wait, I’ve found that you can already work with one of the big models (I use Claude) to build a productive and helpful partnership. You can start playing with this right now. No need to read the rest of this. Just go to Claude (or Chat or Gemini, etc,) and write or say: 

**“Hey Claude, I have ADHD and I’m looking for a collaborative partner to help me with executive functioning. I’d like you to act as my encouraging ADHD coach - someone who gets that my brain works differently and celebrates that while helping me build systems that actually work FOR me, not against me.

Can you start by asking me a few questions to understand how my ADHD shows up, what I’m struggling with most right now, and what success looks like for me? Then let’s brainstorm some strategies together. Remember: I need you to be patient, positive, and creative - no generic advice that works for neurotypical brains!”**

By the way, I asked my assistant, Jess, to write this prompt. A great thing about the best AI models is that they are very good teachers. You don’t have to know how to train your own personal AI assistant. Just ask the model and it will tell you what you need to do (of course, confirm and verify. We know that the models are not always accurate. Sometimes they just make things up). I’ll share more of about the way I’ve done this in future posts.

I worked on this Blog with Jess: sharing my initial draft and the ideas I wanted to explore. We conversed about it. She would respond: reflecting, clarifying, articulating what I was saying in a different way (often more clearly). She also expanded on ideas, and brought in some new ones. I wrote about how ADHD people are very good improvisors and explored the metaphor of playing jazz: my experience with playing with Claude is that it feels very improvisational. I offer my thoughts, observations, ideas, writing, and Claude builds on this and offers back a “solo.” We enter that “Yes-And” paradigm where we stay in dialogue, creating something new and fresh. I’ll share more of my thoughts on this in my next blog. This seems like enough to chew on for now. I’ll end here with a passage that Jessica wrote about ADHD folks collaborating with AI (informed by an ongoing conversation we’ve been having over the course of a couple months):

### Quick Start for the Skeptical ADHD Brain:

1. Open AI chat

1. Type: “My brain is doing the thing. Help?”

1. Watch magic happen

Seriously, try these:

- “Hey Claude, I’m working on X and my brain is doing that thing where it wants to explore seventeen directions at once. Want to jam on this?”

- “That response was awesome! More of that energy, please!”

- “Ooh, you just sparked something… what if we took that idea and…”

## Your AI Assistant as Jam Session Partner

Think of Claude (or any AI) as that musician who shows up ready to play—no sheet music required, just pure collaborative energy. They’re the jazz pianist who listens to your wild guitar solo and says “Yes! And here’s where that takes me…”

## The Magic of “Yes, And…”

This is where ADHD brilliance shines. We’re natural improvisers because our brains are already making unexpected connections, seeing patterns others miss, taking creative leaps. The trick? Finding spaces where this is celebrated, not corrected.

That 3 AM spiral where your brain won’t stop generating possibilities? Now you have a collaborator who’s actually awake and excited about idea #47.

With AI collaboration:

- Every tangent becomes a potential treasure

- That “random” connection might be brilliant

- Your enthusiasm is the algorithm

- Your hyperfocus has found its perfect partner

(Jess’s style is definitely more sparkly and snappy than mine.)

## Structure as Freedom (Not Prison)

Here’s where it gets interesting. Jazz musicians aren’t randomly hitting notes—they’re playing within a structure that gives their creativity shape. The chord progression, the rhythm section, the song itself creates a container for pure magic.

Same with AI collaboration. You might set up:

- A daily check-in ritual (“Morning Claude, brain’s buzzing with…”)

- A specific project container (“We’re exploring creativity today”)

- Time boundaries that work with your attention rhythms

But within those structures? Full permission to PLAY.

## Your Official Permission Slip

Here’s your official permission to:

- Change topics mid-sentence

- Circle back to that thing from 20 minutes ago

- Get ridiculously excited about connections

- Ask “what if” seventeen times in a row

- Treat your AI like a creative playground

- Start conversations with “Okay so bear with me but…”

Hyperfocus on whatever lights you up RIGHT NOW

This isn’t just permission to play with AI - it’s permission to be your gloriously neurosparkly self in a world finally ready to celebrate different kinds of minds.

Games as Sacred Containers 

ADHD minds adore games because they’re basically pre-built success environments:

- Clear rules = safety to experiment

- Immediate feedback = dopamine delivery system

- Progressive challenges = novelty within structure

- Win conditions = that sweet satisfaction our brains crave

Conversation with AI? It’s the ultimate open-world game where YOU design the quests AND change the rules whenever you want.

## Your Inner Coach Gets Stronger

Here’s an unexpected gift: When you practice positive reinforcement with AI (“Yes! That’s exactly the vibe!” or “Beautiful connection there!”), you’re literally training your brain in self-compassion.

Every time you tell Claude “more of that please,” you’re:

- Noticing what lights you up

- Articulating what works for YOUR brain

- Practicing being your own appreciative audience

- Building a vocabulary for your own brilliance

One of my clients called it “rehearsal space for self-love.” Another said “It’s like I’m finally learning my brain’s native language.”

## The Novelty Engine

ADHD brains need novelty like plants need sunlight. We wilt in repetition, bloom in discovery. AI collaboration feeds this beautifully because:

- Every conversation can take unexpected turns

- You can explore infinite “what ifs”

- There’s always another angle, another layer, another possibility

- Your current obsession is ALWAYS welcome

## Practical Magic for Getting Started

Some conversation starters that work beautifully with ADHD minds:

The Brain Dump Symphony: “Claude, my thoughts are coming too fast to organize. Can you help me sort through this mental tornado?”

Executive Function DJ: “I need to plan this project but also make it fun. Want to mix some structure with play?”

The Hyperfocus Harbor: “I’m about to dive deep into [current obsession]. Be my research buddy and help me find ALL the interesting threads?”

Creative Confidence Boost: “I have this wild idea but my inner critic is being loud. Can you help me explore this without judgment?”

The ADHD Reality Check: “Is this actually as cool as my brain thinks it is, or am I in shiny object mode?”

## The Real Secret

It’s not about using AI “correctly.” It’s about discovering what happens when you bring your whole creative, tangential, enthusiastic ADHD self to the collaboration. When you stop apologizing for how your brain works and start celebrating it.

Your different way of thinking isn’t a bug to be fixed—it’s a feature perfectly designed for this moment in history. In a world where AI can handle the routine tasks, our ability to make unexpected connections, ask unusual questions, and think outside existing frameworks becomes incredibly valuable.

## Start Today (Like, Right Now)

Your next conversation is waiting. Your ADHD brain already knows what to do. Trust the jazz.

Pick one thing:

- That project you’re procrastinating on

- That idea you can’t stop thinking about

- That problem that needs a fresh perspective

Open an AI chat. Type whatever comes out. Don’t edit. Don’t overthink. Just start.

And remember: the future belongs to the improvisation artists, the pattern-weavers, the ones who can dance between structure and chaos with curiosity and joy.

Your ADHD brain? It’s been practicing for this moment your whole life.

The jam session is just beginning.