Mind and focus
You know what to do and still cannot make yourself start.
“I know exactly what I need to do. It has been on my mind for three weeks. I still cannot make myself pick up the phone and do it.”
19 guides · 128 minutes of reading
These guides are for the tasks you understand perfectly well and still cannot begin. They give you small first moves, ways to sort a pile that has grown, scripts for calls and messages, and routes back after you have dropped a system. The three start here guides are the place to begin. Read one, do the first step, and stop there if you need to.
Start here
Starting when you are stuck
Start here for a first step small enough to do in the next ten minutes.
ADHD task paralysis: what to do in the next ten minutesYou know what needs doing and cannot begin. A ten minute way out that shrinks the first step until it needs no decision and no motivation.9 min read
First physical step: 20 examples for stuck admin tasksA first step is something you could see happen. Thirty examples, from a call to a form to a document, and how to check your own.7 min read
Executive dysfunction vs procrastination: the differenceThey can look identical from outside, and they can overlap. How to tell which one you're in today, and what lowers the cost of starting.6 min read
Why you keep thinking about a task and not doing itYou haven't forgotten it, so writing it down again changes nothing. The gap is between knowing and starting, and two questions that help close it.5 min read
Why to-do lists do not work when starting is the problemA long list makes you choose every time you look, and its rows never say where to start. A nine-row example cut to one first step, and how to do it yours.6 min read
Sorting a pile that has grown
How to choose a first thing when everything is late or has been put off for months.
Paperwork pile you are avoiding: where to startUnopened mail gets scarier every week. A ten minute way to shrink the pile by opening and sorting it into four stacks, without deciding anything yet.6 min read
Everything is overdue: how to pick the first thingWhen the calls, forms and bills are all past their date, don't rank them. Sort by who is waiting, pick one first step, and stop for tonight.6 min read
How to deal with something you have put off for monthsWhen the delay feels bigger than the task, open it, find the one practical question, and name the gap in one sentence. Lines to use, and what not to say.7 min read
Why you keep missing bill due dates (and a better system)Missing a due date is often never reaching the moment. Put the date on the item, line bills up with payday, and know what to do on the day you notice.7 min read
Calls and messages you dread
Opening lines and plain scripts for the hard phone call and the email that will not send.
How to make a phone call you keep avoidingA call is several jobs at once, which is why it stalls. Prepare five things on paper, write the first sentence out, and know when you can stop.11 min read
What to say on admin calls: opening lines and scriptsOpening lines for billing problems, chasing, canceling, complaints and asking for help, plus four things to get before you hang up on any call.6 min read
How to say no, or give bad news, on the phoneSome calls are hard because of what you have to say. Decide what you won't agree to, put the news in your first two sentences, and ask for a minute.7 min read
The email you keep not sending: first lines and follow-upsAn email that doesn't say what it wants gets answered slowly. Decide three things, write the first line, and know how to chase when no one replies.7 min read
Coming back after a lapse
How to return to a routine or a project without starting from zero.
A weekly reset that survives a bad weekMost weekly resets assume a normal week. A ten minute floor version for the weeks that fall apart, and why a skipped week needs no catching up.7 min read
Why you stop using planners, and how to come backMost planners assume a normal week. Why they fall apart, how to salvage one page instead of buying another, and what to look for in the next tool.6 min read
How to restart a project you gave up onComing back costs more than starting did, mostly the rebuilding of where you got to. What to write down, and how to resume without re-reading everything.5 min read
Admin in a hard season
For adult diagnoses, brain fog and planning when later never seems to arrive.
Diagnosed with ADHD as an adult: the admin that followsA diagnosis brings paperwork: follow-ups, pharmacy details, insurance and work questions. What to put on one page and what to ask before you leave.7 min read
Life admin with brain fog: long covid, illness, griefWhen holding a plan in your head has become unreliable, build for the bad day. A handoff note, task sizes, and call lines that don't depend on knowing why.6 min read
ADHD time blindness: how to plan when later never comesLater today is not a time. Plan with one exact time, work backward to a leave time, and use an alarm, so you don't need to feel time pass.7 min read