They're more-or-less stating that any "tools" would need to be set to such an extreme level of annoyance to have impact in the average case that they would undermine flow/"deep work".
He isn't saying this is literally the situation. He's referencing the fact that this is what its like having an ADHD brain. Your BRAIN is the one constantly interrupting you, all the time, bringing you focus away from what it SHOULD be focusing on and onto other random things, making doing consistent DEEP and thoughtful work really hard.
The "workplace that isn't suited for the type of work" you refer to is just saying that my brain isn't suited to the type of work. Which like, yeah... I agree. Thats why I take medication.
it's not a question of drugs or tools. you use the drugs to make the tools work. before I was medicated I couldn't make the tools work. I would write things in calendars then never look at the calendar, write down todo lists then forget about the list, etc. now that doesn't happen so much (still does a little bit).
somewhere in my HN comment history there's a thread where I get into a confused discussion about todo lists, I'm talking with this guy and there's mutual incomprehension about how todo lists work. the other guy was saying, obviously every adult uses a todo list to get things done, and I was like, what are you talking about. to me a todo list always meant: a graveyard for unfinished ideas, where you write things down that you're never going to do, and feel disappointed about when you find it again under a pile of clutter months later. it never occurred to me that normal people could literally just write down a bunch of tasks for the day or week and then do them one by one. turns out there was something wrong with me, and medication can fix it.