Hands Busy, Head Quiet: Finding Focus in the Forest with ADHD

An illustrative story — names and details are fictional, written to reflect experiences commonly shared with us by people with ADHD. Want to tell your own story? Email info@outsidersclub.co.uk.

Five tabs open, all the time

Priya, 27, describes her ADHD brain as "a browser with fifty tabs open and music playing from one of them, and I can't find which."

At school she was the "chatty, clever girl who never finished anything". As an adult she bounced between jobs, started hobbies with huge enthusiasm and dropped them within weeks, and lay awake at night with racing thoughts.

Bushcraft by accident

A friend booked her onto a bushcraft day as a birthday present. Priya nearly didn't go.

"Then someone handed me a knife and a lump of hazel and said, 'Make a tent peg.' And I was gone. Two hours vanished. I'd never focused like that on anything I didn't choose."

Lighting a fire with a flint and steel, building a shelter, carving — all of it gave her what she now calls "hands-busy, head-quiet" time.

Why it works for her

• Movement burns off restlessness. "I can't sit still in a meeting, but nobody minds if I fidget in a forest."
• Instant feedback. The fire lights or it doesn't. "My brain needs to see results quickly. Nature gives you that."
• Novelty without screens. Every season brings something new — different plants, weather, light — which keeps her interested without the drain of doom-scrolling.
• Better sleep. A day outside leaves her physically tired in a way that helps her switch off at night.

Shame, unlearned

The biggest change, she says, isn't about focus at all.

"I spent years being told I was lazy or too much. Out there, being curious and energetic and jumping between things makes me good at it. I'm the one who spots the mushrooms and the animal tracks. I stopped apologising for how my brain works."

Her advice

"Do something with your hands. Don't just go for a walk and expect to feel calm — give your brain a job. Whittle, forage, take photos, learn the birds. Then see how you feel."

The outdoors can support wellbeing, but it isn't a replacement for medical or professional support. If you're struggling, please speak to your GP or a qualified professional.