--- title: "I'm Writing a Book: Built Differently" date: 2026-06-18T10:35:00+01:00 author: John Henry Donovan canonical_url: "https://johnhenry.ie/blog/2026/06/im-writing-a-book-built-differently" section: Blog --- Categories Categories [](https://johnhenry.ie/blog/category/web-development) ### Share this link via Or copy link Copy 18th June, 2026 # I’m Writing a Book: Built Differently For the last year or so, I’ve been working on something that’s been rattling around in my head for a long time. I’m writing a book. It’s called **Built Differently: A Practical Manifesto for ADHD Developers & Designers**. If you’ve ever started ten projects and finished two, spent a weekend building something nobody asked for, refactored the same piece of code three times instead of launching it, or felt completely exhausted despite knowing you’re capable of more, this book is probably for you. ## Why I’m Writing It A few years ago, I was diagnosed with ADHD. Like a lot of people, the diagnosis explained a huge amount about how I worked, but it didn’t magically solve anything. I could still hyperfocus on the wrong thing for twelve hours. I could still get stuck at the 80% mark on projects. I could still build elaborate systems that worked perfectly for three days before collapsing. The more I looked around, the more I realised that many developers, designers, freelancers, and creative people were dealing with the same patterns. Not because they weren’t smart. Not because they weren’t trying hard enough. But because most productivity advice assumes a brain that works very differently. This book is my attempt to bridge that gap. Not with life hacks, productivity tricks, or promises of becoming a perfectly organised human. Instead, it’s about building systems that work with the way we actually operate. ## What’s In The Book? The book is split into several parts. It starts by exploring familiar patterns: - The GitHub Graveyard - Refactoring Instead of Finishing - The Hyperfocus Cycle - Burnout Isn’t Laziness - The 80% Wall From there it moves into practical systems I’ve developed over years of trial and error, including: - The 3 Active Builds Rule - The Idea Vault - Hyperfocus Preparation Rituals - Dopamine Sprinting - Energy Budgeting - Finish Ugly There are also sections on working with managers, surviving Slack, handling client work, avoiding overcommitment, and building a sustainable career without constantly burning yourself into the ground. The goal isn’t perfection. The goal is sustainability. ## Self-Publishing with Lulu I’ve decided to self-publish the book through Lulu. I’ve spent enough years in tech to know that I’d rather ship something useful than spend years chasing traditional publishing. Lulu gives me complete control over the process, from formatting and design through to print-on-demand distribution. As a web developer, that naturally led me down another rabbit hole. ## A Craft Commerce Plugin for Lulu While working through the publishing process, I realised there wasn’t a great way to integrate Lulu directly into a Craft Commerce workflow. So I’m building that too. The plugin will allow Craft Commerce stores to connect directly with Lulu’s print-on-demand services, making it possible to sell books through your own website while Lulu handles printing and fulfilment. It solves a problem I have myself, and if you’re a Craft CMS developer, publisher, author, or creator, it may solve one for you as well. I’ll be sharing more details as development progresses. ## Follow Along The manuscript is well underway, but there’s still plenty of work to do. Over the coming months I’ll be sharing: - excerpts from the book - lessons learned while writing it - behind-the-scenes updates - publishing progress - Craft Commerce + Lulu plugin development updates - launch information If that sounds interesting, I’d love to have you along for the journey. **Join the newsletter below and I’ll send occasional updates as the book and plugin move closer to release.** No spam. No growth-hacking nonsense. Just progress reports, ideas, and things I’m learning along the way. Thanks for reading. Now I should probably stop writing about the book and get back to actually finishing it. I'm writing a book This book isn't finished. Neither are most of your projects! Get notified when it is. [Get Notified (opens in new tab)](https://builtdifferently.dev) More like this [![Image showing the PARA method framework. 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