Why Having a Plan Isn't Always Enough When You Have ADHD

I recently came across a Batman statue and couldn't resist recreating the classic superhero pose.

Batman: "We need a plan"

Me: "Absolutely. I've got 17 of them"

Batman: "Excellent. Which one are we starting?"

Me: *Panics in ADHD*

It gets a laugh because there's more truth in it than many people realise.

One of the biggest misconceptions about ADHD is that people simply don't plan ahead, when in reality, many of the people I work with are excellent at coming up with ideas, researching options, and making detailed plans. Sometimes they have several plans for the same problem; the difficulty often comes when it's time to choose one and get started.

When your brain is juggling lots of possibilities, every option can feel equally important. You might wonder whether you're starting in the right place, whether there's a better way to do it, or whether you've forgotten something. Before long, you've spent so much time thinking about the plan that you've made very little progress.

It's frustrating because from the outside it can look like procrastination or a lack of motivation, but really it is due to an executive functioning difficulty that makes it harder to prioritise, organise and begin.

The good news is that this is something that can improve. ADHD coaching isn't about creating even more plans, it is about finding practical ways to make it easier to choose one, get started and keep moving forward.

So yes, Batman probably had the right idea.

Just don't ask me to pick which of my 17 plans we're using!