If the US is any indicator, those stats could echo for creative businesses in Australia and the UK. For brains that are wired differently or just feeling the pressure of hustle culture, those day to day tasks add up and can feel overwhelming. Back-to-back WIPs, constant pings from Teams or Slack, answering the latest email (instead of the most pressing one). The same research found 70% of neurodivergent creatives struggle with time management, and around three in four of all creatives feel held back by rigid agency ways of working.  

To get the lay of the land at my own agency, I ran a quick poll at WiredCo. Of the 18 Wiredos who answered, 72% were either diagnosed neurodivergent, or indicated they were at least not neurotypical. That’s a big chunk of the team who might look at the world a little differently.  Luckily for us – we've been encouraged to lean into the tools that help us thrive. 

I've been using Claude and AI apps a lot lately, and I've started to think of it less as a writing tool and more as a way to take friction out of my day. As a self-confessed, (self-diagnosed,) less-than-neurotypical person, here's some ways I’ve been using AI to remove some of the friction my mind feels in the day to day and become more in tune with how I’m wired. 

Read less, listen more 

The best thing I've done this month? Turned a brief into a podcast. A new brief landed last week, and instead of reading it three times at my desk, I asked Claude to turn it into a 15-minute podcast with two hosts, each with their own personality, plus thought starters and questions at the end. It made the MP3 and I listened on a walk, getting some sunshine while I processed the latest brand challenge. Next, I hooked up Granola, an AI notetaker that transcribes what's said and turns it into tidy notes, and I talked through my own thoughts as I listened. I came back already across the brief, with my follow-ups captured and more prepared for a meeting than if I’d sat staring at the screen trying to absorb 150 new pieces of information. 

Let AI take the notes (and the grunt work) 

Granola has become my meeting sidekick too, (helpfully, it listens from your desktop, not as another meeting attendee.) Connect it to Claude afterwards to pull out the actions, who owns them and when they're due. This way I get to actually be present in the conversation instead of half-listening while jotting down notes I might not understand when I come back to them. A heads up - some businesses don't allow AI recording, so always check first and tell the room it's on. 

Then there's the repetitive stuff. Anyone in earned media and creator marketing knows the pain of sending hundreds of creator and media invites. Give Claude the list and a past invite you liked, and it drafts a personalised version for every contact. You check them and hit send. Hours back, and no wrong name in the wrong email. 

If Claude isn't your thing, ChatGPT has a great dictate feature. Hit record while you're out on a walk and let the stream of consciousness flow. All those whirring thoughts get downloaded, and it helps you make some sense of them. You get back to your desk with something that resembles a plan, and can get cracking on a task that otherwise might have taken hours.  

Beat the post-holiday inbox 

With summer nearly here, plenty of us are about to come back from well-deserved breaks to an inbox bursting with unread emails. Before you wade in, ask Claude: what did I miss? What needs actioning from me? Give me the headlines. You'll have a summary ready before your first team catch-up, and the clutter can be filed away later, guilt-free(ish). 

Keep the human touch.  

Here comes the standard AI warning before you go full auto-pilot in your role, common sense and the human touch still matter. Check what AI tells you against what your gut says, and don't give it free rein over the important stuff. Use it to make the important tasks easier. McKinsey reckons today's AI could automate work that takes up 60 to 70% of our time. Let it take that, so you can spend your energy on the part that actually matters and moves the needle; original thinking. 

None of this is a silver bullet for suddenly making the 9-5 utilised at 100% but try one or two and see what shifts. Less time on the mundane means more room for the thinking only you can do, and our industry is better when every kind of mind gets that room. 

Try one this week. Then tell me how you went. 

Sources 

Understood.org, 4As and Havas: New research finds the creative industry is failing neurodivergent talent (2025) 

McKinsey Global Institute: The economic potential of generative AI (2023)