Why To-Do Lists Don’t Work for ADHD Brains
And what actually does.
The Pile of Lists You Never Finish
Let’s talk about the pile of to-do lists you’ve written… and re-written… and re-written again.
Maybe they’re scattered across five apps, two notebooks, and your fridge.
Maybe you even built a beautiful Notion dashboard that looks like a productivity coach’s dream… but still ended up watching four hours of random YouTube last night, forgetting to send that one email.
You mean well. But every time you make these lists and plans, something goes wrong.
I know this one too well. I’ve spent days designing “perfect” to-do systems, only to abandon them by Wednesday and spiral into shame about why I can’t just follow through.
But as I’m sure you’ve heard by now, that’s not laziness. It’s executive dysfunction, baby. 💫
What Executive Dysfunction Actually Is
Think of executive function as your brain’s control centre. It’s what helps you:
Start tasks
Switch between them
Prioritise what matters
Stay organised
Now imagine that control centre is run by a chaotic but well-meaning crew that keeps dropping the instructions, hitting the wrong buttons, or forgetting the mission halfway through. It’s a funny way to describe staring at your email like it’s radioactive dont you think?
That’s ADHD in a nutshell.
It’s not that you don’t know what to do. You do. You wrote it down! (Probably five times 😂)
But somewhere between seeing the task and doing the task, the signal short-circuits. You freeze. You fidget. You pick a lower-stakes task “just to warm up.” Suddenly it’s 4pm and you’re deep-cleaning your spice rack instead of paying that bill.
Why To-Do Lists Feel Good (But fail you anyway)
You finally spill your brain onto a to-do list. “Finally” you scream. That burst of clarity you’ve been waiting for has arrived.
But most lists are too long (Instant overwhelm) or too vague (no sense of importance, no sense of time). Your list might feel good and safe, but that feeling is temporary.
Your brain thinks “ah progress”, But dopamine drops when it’s time to act. Friction suddenly feels much heavier. It’s a real cruel trick your brain plays. Where you ultimately end up ignoring your list.
And when you’re list gets ignored… cue the shame spiral.
“I have a list, why can’t I just DO it?”
“Maybe if I just rewrite it again…”
Suddenly you’re stuck in a productivity groundhog day where making the list is the only thing you finish. Your list being the only thing that was supposed to save you, ends up feeling like sandpaper in your brain when you try to start one thing. Instead of a map. your list becomes another wall you slam into.
Discipline Won’t Save You—But Systems Will
Discipline is great. You can crush 5 am mornings. Push through slumps. But, every day? Every week? It burns out fast. Unless you’re David Goggin’s (CAN’T HURT ME), that slump is going to beat at you every day. Will it get easier? Sure. Simply put, Removing the slump and placing a ramp will always be far more reliable. I think discipline is not the Holy grail we make it out to be.
Discipline is not the problem. Structure is.
ADHD brains need systems that:
Remove decision fatigue
Reduce the friction of starting
Show you one thing at a time, not 27
Without this, discipline is useless. And so is motivation. Because both die after a week.
Realising this is what finally changed everything for me.
What Actually Helped Me Break the Cycle
1. One Capture Space
Trying to hold everything in your head guarantees overload. I brain-dump tasks immediately - then prioritise later.
2. Task-Type Blocks
Mixing deep work, admin, and calls in the same hour? Chaos. I now batch them: deep work in the morning, admin and meetings in the afternoon.
3. One Single Dashboard
I built one single space that holds everything - even my shopping lists. When I forget what I’m doing or get overwhelmed, I have a place to land every single time.
4. Plan Out Your Day Every morning.
Make planning the first thing you do every day. So that by the time your brain is warmed up, you know exactly what to do.
You don’t need more discipline. You don’t need more motivation.
You need scaffolding. A system that WORKS even on your worst days and makes action frictionless.
The list isn’t the problem. The bridge between knowing and doing is.
The truth is, ADHD doesn’t vanish with a system. But systems give you something solid to land on when your brain is all over the place.
And that’s really the point. It’s not about perfection.
For me, the turning point was the moment I stopped “trying harder” and started building things that made it easier to actually live.
Less energy wasted on fighting myself. More energy left for what matters.
Until next time,
Josh