If you’re like me, with ADHD, there are 57 things you “should do, right now.”
But somehow, you’re paralyzed with overwhelm, so you do nothing.
This week I found the most accurate description of ADHD decision paralysis I have ever seen. It involves one of these:
The brain is colorful. There are so many ideas, lots of potential.
The problem is, when we try to execute, it’s like trying to press all of the buttons on one of these 6+ color pens at the same time.
The harder you press, the less likely anything will get done.
Luckily, the solution is incredibly simple, and can be found in this pen.
Read on for a 3-step method that will completely shatter that overwhelm cycle. And if you scroll to the end, the whole process will take less than 63 seconds. With some help from AI.
The Choice Overload Problem
Whether you have ADHD or not, the research is clear.
A psychological study conducted in 2000 found that when people were offered 24 types of jam to sample, only 3% bought jam. But when offered just 6 kinds, 50% made a purchase.
Essentially,
More options → More paralysis → Less action
For ADHD brains, this effect is amplified. Between coming up with too many options, and executive dysfunction making it harder to choose, no wonder we’re so often stuck.
It's like trying to listen to 10 different conversations at once. You're much better off listening to just one, regardless of whether it’s the "best" conversation or not.
The solution? Limit your choices to eliminate the overwhelm.
3 Steps to Disarm Your Brain
Society tells you to try harder and do more.
In reality, the only effective way to work with an ADHD brain is to disengage and do less.
Way, way less.
Let’s go back to our multicolored pen analogy.
Step 1: Open the pen. Take the whole thing apart.
In other words, brain dump everything.
Write a bullet point list of every task you think you need to get done right now.
Often, we cycle because we think that if we don’t do the task immediately, we’ll lose the thought. (Thanks low working memory.) It also FEELS like there are million tasks.
If you write everything down, however, you can’t lose the thought. You can always come back to it later. There are only two outcomes:
If it's under 10 things, that’s not too bad after all.
If it's over 10, well no wonder you're stressed. Give yourself a break.
Step 2: Pick ONE color.
Choose one task to do right now.
You don’t even have to look at the list. If you could get one thing done today and never have to worry about it again, what would it be?
Remember: picking the “wrong” task, is always better than not picking at all.
Step 3: Make starting the task as easy as pressing a button.
Break it down. Turn that one task into the easiest first step you can think of:
Open Google Chrome
Drink a glass of water
Read the first paragraph of that annoying document, just to see what it's about.
You don’t need to finish everything to reduce overwhelm. You just need 100% clarity on what to do next.
The AI-Powered Shortcut
If you're not a paper-and-pen person, try this AI prompt. This will cut the three steps from above down to one. My first attempt took exactly 63 seconds.
Copy and paste this:
I have ADHD and am cycling on the following tasks for my [insert job/project title]. You are my personal ADHD-certified coach. Help me prioritize, listing the most important task first, and identifying the next 3 tasks I should do after that. Your goal is to help me maximize efficiency while reducing overwhelm.
Ask me any clarifying questions if you need more context to help me prioritize.
Give me a short justification of why my most important task is the most important, limited to a few sentences maximum.
Then, break that first task into the first 3 stupidly manageable steps for my ADHD brain.
Here are my tasks:
[Brain dump your tasks here, in the format “task + emotional context”]
[Example Task 1 + emotional context:]
I need to submit tax documents and I'm stressed because it's due in 4 days
[Example Task 2 + emotional context:]
I need to start a coding session but there's so much pressure to finish that I can't bring myself to start
Then do that one prioritized task. Remember, there's no perfect task. Doing anything is more progress than doing nothing.
This Week: For You
Break your decision paralysis cycle:
Brain dump. List all 57 things you “have to” do.
Pick one. Choose the single most important task.
Start stupid simple. Define the most basic first step.
Do it. Take the step.
I found the AI prompt really helpful. If you try it out too, reply back to this email and let me know how it went!
Hi, I’m Kat! Welcome to my newsletter—your weekly dose of strategies to work with your extra-interesting brain, not against it.
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Thanks for reading and chat again soon!
— Kat