Eli Singer co-founded Entrinsic, one of North America's first social media agencies. He led campaigns for Google, Coca-Cola, Ford, and MoMA. He published thought leadership in Harvard Business Review. He was literally architecting the digital world that so many of us now struggle to step away from.

And then, as an adult, he discovered he had ADHD.

What once seemed like a challenge—the relentless drive, the constant stimulation-seeking, the difficulty with executive function—turned into an opportunity. Eli learned to harness his neurodivergence, and now, as an ICF-trained coach with certifications from CADDRA and CAMH, he mentors neurodivergent professionals navigating high-pressure environments.

At Offline.now, Eli helps people understand their relationship with technology—not through shame and judgment, but through practical tools and strategies that actually work.

This conversation was eye-opening. Whether you're managing ADHD, chronic health conditions, or leadership burnout—or you're just exhausted from being always-on—this is for you.

When Connection Became Extraction

In the early days, Eli's agency was building communities and blog strategies, bringing together people with like-minded interests, helping them learn from one another.

"We were really acting as translators," he explained, "helping companies transition from a broadcast world where you put something on TV and no one could ever talk back."

It was exciting. They were inventing something beautiful.

But then something shifted.

"As the web started to evolve, it changed from community building to attention harvesting," Eli said. "Everything could be monitored and tracked. When the major social networks started to really collect that information at scale—people's interests, friend networks, psychological profiles through quizzes—it was pretty clear that what was being assembled could be used in a way that was a little dark."

By 2014, when they exited the agency, the work had lost its meaning. They'd gone from building community strategies to just selling products online.

"I remember being on Foursquare seeing other people checking into all these brands, and I'm like, oh wow, they've got tons of business and I don't, and it made me feel terrible," Eli recalled. "That's when I decided: I'm going to do my own thing, beat to my own drum, and stay away from the FOMO. It just didn't feel healthy."

The Discovery That Changed Everything

After the agency, Eli moved into coaching. And that's when he received his ADHD diagnosis as an adult.

"Learning about how my brain operated was very helpful," he said.

And something else became clear: He kept hearing the same themes from therapists, coaches, social workers, and practitioners like me.

"You see it in people's physical bodies," Eli said. "Marriage counsellors see it in relationships. Parent coaches see it in frustration. People with anxiety, OCD, depression—it's magnified. Nutritionists see it in body image issues. There's LinkedIn FOMO, online dating rejection, online gambling, online shopping."

The relationship with devices was showing up everywhere—but there wasn't a vocabulary for people to talk about it without shame.

That's when Offline.now was born—to create a way for people to address their digital overwhelm without guilt, shame, or judgment, so they can achieve their own goals on their own terms.

The Problem with "Just Put Your Phone Away"

I wanted to understand: What's the difference between how digital overwhelm affects neurodivergent brains versus neurotypical ones?

"If you've met one person with ADHD, you've met one person with ADHD," Eli cautioned. "People can have challenges with mood, with ruminating, with time management, being reliable to the people around you."

But here's what Eli emphasized: "It's really important for people to take the time to get to know how their own brain works. What works for them."

The ADHD brain needs to be engaged. It requires stimulation. It's heavily attracted to curious, engaging tasks.

"So figuring out how to become more curious about the things you want to be doing, so you can get yourself into that hyper-focused state," Eli explained. "And really forgiving yourself and being gentle with yourself in the moments where it's just not working."

This resonated deeply with me. I see this with my clients who have autoimmune conditions like MS—there are days where my body just won't cooperate, and instead of berating myself, I've learned to reframe those three days on the couch as an opportunity to rest and reflect.

"It's about understanding where the pressure is coming from," Eli agreed. "The expectations others put on you, and the expectations you put on yourself."

The Strategy That Changes Everything: Tiny Experiments

Eli shared an example that completely shifted how I think about change:

"Let's say you love to draw, but you haven't in a long time. You've always wanted to learn, but you're embarrassed. And you're always on your phone on your couch."

His advice? Buy some pencils and put a drawing book on the coffee table.

"Sit on your phone as much as you want. But maybe take one minute to draw one thing. Just a sketch. Then put the book back down and go back on your phone."

Do it again the next day. And the next.

"You might find, after 3 or 4 times, those drawing bouts instead of being 1 minute long, they're 4 or 5 minutes. Maybe 20 minutes. After a month or two, maybe you've got a book with 30 drawings in it, and you're like, hey, I've really improved. I've now got a skill."

You've created an intervention around a habit without having to think too much about it.

His book, Offline Now, includes 100 ideas to try instead of scrolling—simple things like sitting by a window for 5 minutes, humming through your favourite album from memory, washing dishes mindfully, or creating a do-nothing corner in your home.

"The goal wasn't to give people a list of things to do," Eli said. "It was to get their creative juices flowing and give them permission to come up with whatever they wanted that made sense for them."

The Matrix: It's Not About Willpower—It's About Confidence

This is where the conversation got really good.

I asked Eli about resilience for neurodivergent brains in a world designed to exploit exactly how those brains work—the dopamine hits, the constant stimulation, the difficulty with executive function.

"For so many of my listeners," I said, "whether they're managing chronic illness or leading teams while burnt out, the always-on digital world is making us sick. Why does the traditional advice of 'just put your phone away' or 'use more willpower' fundamentally miss the point?"

Eli picked up on the willpower piece immediately.

"When it's just 'apply more willpower, apply more willpower,' it's like a brute force approach. Just work harder, work harder, work harder. It doesn't take the individual into account. Or work with your strengths."

Enter: The Offline Now Matrix.

At the core of Eli's book is a framework with two questions around motivation and confidence that identify four types of where you are whe...