TOUR + ADHD = DOWNWARD SPIRAL IF YOU’RE NOT CAREFUL

Nobody talks about how hard it is to survive a tour when your brain’s running 200 tabs and none of them are loading. ADHD on the road is a silent killer. Not because you’ll die — but because you’ll ruin yourself slowly, feeling like a fraud while keeping everyone else afloat.

You wake up already behind. Missed breakfast. Didn’t pack your gear. Forgot to reply to the text from last night. Still haven’t counted yesterday’s merch. The venue’s loading in. And your brain? It wants to scroll memes for 2 hours or disappear in a corner. Then the guilt kicks in. The spiral begins.

People around you don’t notice at first. You’re “just tired,” right? But then they start picking up your slack. You start messing up stupid shit. Forget the card reader. Leave merch in the van. Didn’t restock sizes. Now they notice. Now it’s your fault.

ADHD on tour doesn’t look like forgetting your keys. It looks like you being the weakest link on a team that can’t afford weak links.

So what do we do? Here’s what I force myself to do on tour — not because I’m motivated, but because I’ll burn the whole thing down otherwise.

THE “YOU’RE GONNA FUCK THIS UP IF YOU DON’T” SURVIVAL STRUCTURE

1. MAKE A DAY SHEET JUST FOR YOURSELF

The official one isn’t enough. You need your own script:

• Wake-up time before lobby call

• Remind yourself to eat something (chips at 2AM is not a meal)

• Build-in dopamine: drawing, swing a kettlebell, whatever calms your head

• Slot one thing you must finish (restock, cashout, tape signs). One. Not ten.

2. WRITE. SHIT. DOWN.

If you don’t, it’s gone. Don’t trust your memory — it’s a clown with a lighter.

Voice notes. Notebooks. Stickers on your flight case.

Make it visual, stupid, and impossible to ignore.

3. HAVE A FAIL-SAFE CREW BUDDY

One person. Not to manage you. Just to check once a day.

“Did you count in?” “You good?” — That’s enough to interrupt the spiral.

If you don’t have one, you’ll rot alone in silence until it’s too late.

4. DON’T HIDE THE STRUGGLE

The more you pretend you’ve got it together, the more you drown.

Say it straight: “My brain’s not cooperating today. I’ll need a minute.”

That buys you time, earns you respect, and keeps you off the gossip radar.

5. EXPECT NOTHING FROM OTHERS

Don’t wait for understanding. Don’t expect accommodations.

Tour is war. Act accordingly. Build your own system. Survive first. Thrive later.

ADHD doesn’t go away because you’re in motion. It gets worse because you are. No sleep, no food, constant movement, new chaos every night — it’s the perfect storm.

So stop relying on motivation. You won’t get it.

Rely on structure. Rely on self-tricks. Rely on systems that don’t give you a choice. Nobody’s coming to save you, and the crew can’t carry dead weight forever — even if you’re not lazy, just lost.