The Switch that Actually Gets ADHD Brains Moving
- Dec 19, 2025
- 2 min read
The ADHD adult can stare at the same task for days, maybe weeks.
Frozen.
Even when it matters. Even when it’s urgent. Even when they care.
But then, suddenly at 11:47pm on a random Tuesday?
They knock out the entire project in one shot.
What just happened?
The ADHD Brain Doesn’t Move on Importance. It Moves on Immediacy.
It's not laziness or inconsistency. The ADHD brain doesn’t fire up until something feels real enough to grab it.
And “real enough” often means:
A fast-approaching deadline
A person waiting on a reply
A timer ticking
A sense of real, visible consequence
That’s when the system finally flips on.
The brain clicks in.
From the Outside? It Looks Like Chaos.
Weeks of nothing.
Then a short, frantic window moments before the deadline, everything suddenly works.
But the brain hasn’t changed.
Same brain. Different state.
It’s Not a Choice. It’s a Trigger.
People assume the ADHD adult didn’t care enough.
Or that procrastination was just a lack of discipline.
Wrong.
The ADHD brain often isn’t waiting for motivation...it’s waiting for a trigger.
Not a reminder. A switch.
Urgency Works... Until It Doesn’t
Sure, the last-minute scramble works… for a while.
But it comes with a cost:
Sleep gets sacrificed
Stress builds
Everything becomes a fire drill
Even the smallest task starts to feel like a full-body crisis.
So What Do You Do Instead?
Borrow urgency on purpose.
Here’s how the ADHD adult can hack their own system:
✅ Short deadlines that don’t actually matter
✅ Someone expecting a check-in
✅ Work near another human, even silently
These strategies give the ADHD brain a sense of immediacy without the crisis.
The ADHD brain is running a system that needs activation, not pressure.
Once that’s understood, the ADHD adult can stop fighting the system and start working with it.
All My Best,
Coach Brooke
