Hacking Your ADHD – "Crushing Your ADD with Alan P. Brown"

Host: William Curb
Guest: Alan P. Brown (ADD Crusher, Crusher TV)
Date: January 19, 2026
[Podcast Transcript reference provided]

Episode Overview

In this insightful episode, William Curb sits down with productivity coach Alan P. Brown – creator of ADD Crusher and host of Crusher TV – to discuss practical, actionable strategies for thriving with ADHD. With candor and humor, Alan reflects on his journey from undiagnosed "mess" to successful executive, sharing concrete tactics for overcoming procrastination, building systems, and embracing your unique ADHD brain. The conversation delves into why long to-do lists backfire, the necessity of mindset shifts, and how celebrating small steps can help you move forward – all in a tone that’s real, encouraging, and free of shame.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Alan’s ADHD Journey & Rationale for ADD Crusher

• Late Diagnosis, Personal Struggles
  • Diagnosed at 37 after years as an ad executive in New York and struggling through addiction (03:48)
  • Emphasized the initial relief and clarity his diagnosis provided:

    "When I finally got the diagnosis, I was excited... I was like, wow, this explains so much. I was a drug addict for five plus years … I was self medicating." (Alan, 03:55)

  • Shares frustration with existing resources: thick, text-heavy books not accessible for many ADHD brains (06:00)
  • Inspiration to create ADD Crusher: digestible, engaging video/audio tools for ADHDers

    "I just started to put together this, like, arsenal of what I call sort of brain hacks and other solutions..." (Alan, 05:56)

Overlap of ADHD & Dyslexia; Struggles with Traditional Learning

• Both host and guest discuss the frequent overlap (06:40), how dense reading is tough regardless of dyslexia, and the need for accessible tools.

Foundational ADHD Strategies

• Power of Protein — Brain Fuel
  • Alan learned poor breakfast (carbs, sugar) sabotaged his focus, and protein made a significant difference (08:33)
• Protecting Your "Strong Time"
  • Identifying your most focused hours (for most, mornings) and treating them as sacred for deep work

    "I just labeled that my strong time... Not set appointments, not set meetings in there. To this day, it's blocked off my [calendar] 7am to 11am across my whole week." (Alan, 09:44)

• Embracing Brain Scaffolding
  • Early breakthrough: using lists and folders, even if messy, to get tasks out of his head

    "I just fully embraced all the, what I call brain scaffolding... so that I wasn't holding it all up here." (Alan, 10:27)

Redesigning the To-Do List: Focus on the "Biggies"

• Less is More: The 3-Biggies Rule (12:23)

  • Research shows the more items on your daily list, the less likely you are to make progress
  • If you exceed 7 items, odds of progressing on any drop dramatically—0% if over 10 items (12:39)
  • Alan now plans for 1-2 "biggies" each day (13:30)

    “Don’t worry that you’re only listing two... If you bang the two out, go back to the well. But if you list five, you're just frustrating yourself.” (Alan, 13:39)

• Danger of Long Lists & Optimizing for Wrong Outcomes

  • Long to-dos encourage knocking out low-impact tasks, leaving tough priorities unaddressed (14:32)

    "At the end of the day having accomplished, let's say finished six little things. But your two biggies are still sitting up there ... carried over to tomorrow and tomorrow." (Alan, 14:32)

Mindset Shifts: Moving Away from Shame, “Catching Up,” & Perfection

• Switch the Language & Perspective (16:06)

  • From “catching up” to “what can I move forward today?”
  • Celebrate steps, not just finished products

    "If you can make progress on two of the things you’ve been avoiding...that feels a lot better than banging out all the little stuff..." (Alan, 16:21)

• Embrace Your Pace

  • Accept that some tasks take longer; don’t waste energy on frustration or comparison (34:54)

    "This is how I work. I take longer to do certain things ... and my grumbling about it isn't going to change it. What I can do is stop burning energy on that lamenting..." (Alan, 35:06)

Micro-Steps & Self-Talk: Defeating Procrastination

• Break Tasks Into Tiny Steps & Talk Yourself Forward (18:14)
  • Focus on the smallest possible action to get started (“open the laptop,” “read first paragraph”)

    “Can you open the laptop, Alan? ... Can you just go to that part of the document where that writing needs to happen ... Alan, just read the first paragraph...” (Alan, 18:41)

  • Out-loud self-talk helps transition from inertia to momentum

Understanding and Addressing Resistance

• Recognizing Discomfort as Part of the Process (20:45)
  • Alan introduces the concept of the “outlaw brain” that seeks rest and avoids discomfort

    “If you can just become aware of that discomfort ... let me go see if when I drag my leg off the couch or open my laptop, see if anybody punches me in the face. And nine times out of 10, you will not get punched in the face, believe it or not.” (Alan, 21:41)

• Procrastination as Mood Regulation
  • Putting off tasks relieves temporary negative mood—brain prioritizes comfort in the short-term; it's not laziness but biology (22:40)

Temporal Discounting & The “Future Self”

• Handing Off To Future Self (25:31)
  • Delaying tasks is giving them to your “stranger” future self; increases resentment later (“Why did I do this to myself?”)

    “When we do that ... it's as though we are handing it off to a stranger.” (Alan, 25:58)

• Combatting This with Visualization
  • Actively picturing how annoyed future-you will be increases odds you’ll take action now (27:51)

Celebrating Wins & Reinforcement

• Noticing and thanking your “past self” for good planning, e.g., having everything ready for a doctor’s appointment (28:13)
  • Celebrating positive outcomes reinforces future good habits (BJ Fogg reference, 28:39)

Pre-Empting Trouble: “What Will Go Wrong?” Mindset

• Anticipate Disruption
  • Proactively ask, “What will go wrong here?” (wwgw) to build realistic buffers for tasks and appointments (30:12)

    "Because you know what will go wrong … unless I take some preventative action." (Alan, 30:12)

• Combatting Time Optimism
  • Most underestimate how long things (like leaving the house) will take; plan for realistic, not “optimal,” outcomes (32:40)

    "How often does that optimal state happen? … never." (William, 31:58)

De-Pathologizing: Acceptance Over “Fixing”

• “We don't have to finish everything we start.” Embracing how your brain works and working with it, not against it (34:54)
• Alan encourages everyone to stop labeling themselves as “lazy”—even Oprah procrastinates (39:06)

Alan’s Closing Hack: “Ask What’s Hard”

“When there's something you’re not doing ... ask, what is hard about it? … The moment you ask what's hard, you're going to start to get some answers. And once you have some of the answers, the barrier … starts to actually fade a little bit.” (Alan, 39:36)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On recognizing ADHD in yourself:
  "I didn't feel stigmatized. I was like, wow, this explains so much." (Alan, 03:55)

• On the futility of mental to-do lists:
  "When it's running around up in our heads, we can't really analyze it ... it's all a bunch of stuff darting around. But if we can get it onto a piece of paper..." (Alan, 11:37)

• On actual productivity vs. busywork:
  "We want to knock things off … but if I'm trying to knock things off, I'm not going to go and try and knock off the big one. I'm going to ... pick up the low hanging fruit." (Alan, 14:32)

• On shame and pace:
  "Shame doesn't make you work faster." (William, 42:34, summary)

• On mindset:
  "Just go, this is how I work. I need more time. So I'm up at 7 and ... not beating myself up." (Alan, 35:06)

• On self-support:
  "[Celebrating past planning] reinforces the neural network that helps you do it again." (Alan, citing BJ Fogg, 28:39)

Timestamps: Important Segments

• 02:03 – Episode Welcome & Alan’s Bio
• 03:48 – Alan’s ADHD diagnosis story
• 06:40 – Dyslexia and ADHD overlap
• 08:33 – Foundational habits: protein, strong time, “brain scaffolding”
• 12:23 – The “3 Biggies” to-do list rule
• 14:32 – Dangers of long to-do lists, optimizing for “cross-offs”
• 16:00 – Mindset shift: from “catching up” to making progress
• 18:14 – Micro-steps & self-talk: breaking procrastination inertia
• 20:45 – The “outlaw brain” and accepting discomfort
• 22:40 – Procrastination as mood regulation, not laziness
• 25:31 – Temporal discounting and the “future self”
• 28:39 – Celebrating small wins (BJ Fogg)
• 30:12 – “What will go wrong?” and anticipating hangups
• 32:40 – Planning for reality, not the “optimal” scenario
• 34:54 – Embracing your pace, de-shaming slowness
• 39:06 – Alan’s closing thoughts: drop “lazy” & ask “What’s hard?”

Key Takeaways & Actionable Advice

1. Keep your daily to-do list to 1–3 “biggies”; more will sabotage focus.
2. Protect your strong mental hours—do deep work then, and block distractions.
3. Use lists and scaffolding; don’t try to carry tasks in your head.
4. When stalled, break action into micro-steps (“Can I just open the laptop?”) and use out-loud self-talk.
5. Celebrate every small step and thank your “past self” for good planning.
6. Practice acceptance: embrace how your brain works, especially where you move slower.
7. Plan for things to go wrong—add time buffers and plan for reality, not perfection.
8. When you procrastinate, drop the label “lazy”—ask yourself, “What’s hard about this?” and address it.

Connect with Alan P. Brown

• ADDCrusher.com — Tools, videos, practical freebies (e.g., eBook: "5 Things You're Doing Every Day That Make Your ADHD Worse"); Alan welcomes personal emails from listeners.

This conversation is an energizing, shame-busting guide for anyone who wants to hack their ADHD by working with their brain, not against it. Filled with compassion, realism, and tactical advice, this episode will leave you equipped and encouraged to crush your ADD, one microstep at a time.