Have you ever looked around at a room full of half-finished projects and felt a wave of shame? The abandoned canvas, the half-written novel, the guitar gathering dust, the coding course you were obsessed with for exactly three weeks. For a creative person with ADHD, this scene is painfully familiar. Society tells us to pick a path, to specialize, to become a master of one trade. But what if your brain is a fireworks display of interests, each one as bright and captivating as the last?
For years, the answer has been to try and force our wonderfully divergent brains into a linear box. But what if the box is the problem, not the brain?
Enter ‘Refuse to Choose!’ by Barbara Sher, a book that feels less like a self-help guide and more like a permission slip to be your authentic self. For the creative with ADHD, this book isn’t just helpful; it’s a revelation.
You can find ‘Refuse to Choose!’ on Amazon.co.uk in Paperback (around £14), Kindle, and as an Audio CD, making it accessible no matter how your brain prefers to take in information.
Have you ever looked around at a room full of half-finished projects and felt a wave of shame? The abandoned canvas, the half-written novel, the guitar gathering dust, the coding course you were obsessed with for exactly three weeks. For a creative person with ADHD, this scene is painfully familiar. Society tells us to pick a path, to specialize, to become a master of one trade. But what if your brain is a fireworks display of interests, each one as bright and captivating as the last?
For years, the answer has been to try and force our wonderfully divergent brains into a linear box. But what if the box is the problem, not the brain?
Enter ‘Refuse to Choose!’ by Barbara Sher, a book that feels less like a self-help guide and more like a permission slip to be your authentic self. For the creative with ADHD, this book isn’t just helpful; it’s a revelation.
Are You a “Scanner”?
Sher’s central concept is the “Scanner”—a person with a unique mind that is genetically wired to be intensely curious about a multitude of subjects. A Scanner doesn’t want to dig one deep well; they want to scan the horizon and sip from every stream. They are the polymaths, the renaissance souls, the people who light up when they learn something new.
Sound familiar? This description aligns almost perfectly with the novelty-seeking, interest-driven nature of the ADHD brain. Where the world sees a “quitter” or someone who “lacks focus,” Sher sees a Scanner in their natural state. This reframing is the book’s first and most powerful gift. It takes the shame-laden narrative of “I can’t stick with anything” and transforms it into the empowering truth of “I am designed to explore everything.”
From Shame to Superpower
The most profound impact of ‘Refuse to Choose!’ on a creative with ADHD is the immediate dismantling of shame. Sher argues that a Scanner’s tendency to move on from a project isn’t failure. It’s success. You got what you came for: the thrill of the challenge, the joy of learning, the satisfaction of a new skill acquired. Once the initial, dopamine-rich learning phase is over, your brain is ready for its next adventure.
This book validates the experience of having a brain that thrives on variety. It reassures you that you are not broken, lazy, or undisciplined. You are a Scanner, and your way of engaging with the world is not just valid, it’s a creative superpower.
Practical Tools for a Divergent Brain
This isn’t just a book of theory. Barbara Sher provides a toolbox of practical, flexible, and ADHD-friendly strategies to help you manage your many passions without feeling overwhelmed. These aren’t rigid systems; they are adaptable frameworks:
- The Scanner Daybook: A simple notebook to capture every fleeting idea, interest, and whim without any pressure to act on them. It’s a safe place for your thoughts, preventing the anxiety of “I’ll forget this brilliant idea!”
- The “Schoolhouse” Model: A career and life model where you create a “curriculum” for yourself, allowing you to dedicate blocks of time (months or even years) to one major interest before moving on to the next, guilt-free.
- The “Sybil” Model: For Scanners who need to do everything at once, this model helps you structure your days or weeks to make time for all your current passions, like a juggler keeping multiple plates spinning.
These tools are designed to bring a sense of order to the creative chaos, allowing you to make real progress on your projects in a way that honours your brain’s natural rhythm.
The Verdict: Essential Reading
If ‘The Artist’s Way’ (see our review) is a structured course for unblocking a single creative channel, ‘Refuse to Choose!’ is a liberating manifesto for the creative who has a thousand channels and wants to surf them all. It gives you the language to understand your mind and the tools to build a life that doesn’t just accommodate your many interests but celebrates them. For any creative with ADHD who has ever felt like too much, this book will feel like coming home.
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