A small tool
Feeling stuck right now?
You do not have to finish the whole thing. Find where you are stuck, and we will look for one first step.
Sometimes the hard part is not finishing. It is starting.
What kind of stuck are you in?
Pick the closest match. You do not need to think for long.
Why is starting so hard?
Starting something asks the brain to do several things at once: decide what comes first, hold the goal in mind, ignore other distractions, and shift attention onto a new task. For people with ADHD or executive-function difficulties, those steps can take more effort. So, compared with telling yourself to “try harder,” making the task smaller, reducing distractions, and using an external reminder is usually more practical.
Sources
The small steps below turn common principles into something easier to start: break the task down, change the environment, give things a fixed place, use an external reminder, and work for only a short stretch at a time. They are not quotations from any guideline, and a situation here does not mean someone has ADHD.
- Ministry of Health and Welfare (Taiwan): ADHD health information
- National Taiwan University Hospital: Recognizing, treating, and referring adult ADHD
- NICE Guideline NG87: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: diagnosis and management
- CADDRA: Canadian ADHD Practice Guidelines
- CHADD: Executive Function / ADHD resources
- CHADD: Organizing the Home and Office Space