Your New ADHD-Friendly Starting Point

How AI can act as a calm, practical partner for executive function

It has been a while since I last wrote here. Part of that break came from something many of us know too well. The harder a task feels, the heavier it becomes, until even getting started feels impossible. For me, this shows up as a kind of mental freeze.

There is something I want to do, something I know I should do, yet the first step feels out of reach. If you live with ADHD, this might sound familiar.

Writer’s block is a pain

People often say to try a new planner or make a better list. The problem is that traditional to-do lists expect you to already have the executive function skills that ADHD tends to scramble. They rely on built-in organization, steady motivation, and the ability to break things down on your own. When those skills drop, the whole system collapses.

This is where AI tools have surprised me. They are not magic, but they do something very specific that my brain struggles to do on demand. Behind the curtain, these tools use ideas from hierarchical task planning and adaptive scheduling. The short version is that they can take a big, overwhelming goal and map the structure of it in seconds. Then they look for the smallest, easiest step that gets you moving.

Tools like Gemini, Claude, ChatGPT and certain planning apps use large language models to do this in a simple and friendly way. You can give them a goal like “Clean my notes” or “Create action items based on this” and they break it down for you. They might return something tiny and doable like “Send Person A an email with today’s agenda.” It may look small at first, but that is the point. They shrink the mental load of the first step, which is often the real barrier.

From a non-technical view, this shift is more powerful than it seems. These tools are not just digital lists. They act like a quiet co-pilot that removes the friction that comes with ADHD task paralysis. Their job is not to solve your entire problem. Their job is to help your brain begin. And once you begin, everything else becomes a little lighter.

I have found that this is more than a productivity trick. It feels like someone handing you a foothold when the climb looks too steep. That first tiny win is what often unlocks the rest of the work. It is a psychological shift supported by a technical system that understands how to break things down faster than we can in the moment.

This topic feels important because people with ADHD are often left out of mainstream productivity advice. We are told to try harder, organize better, or stay motivated. None of that helps when the actual struggle is the starting line. AI co-pilots give us something different. They offer a practical way to lower the barrier so we can finally take action on the things we care about.

If this resonates with you, I hope it helps you feel a little less stuck. And if you try one of these tools, pay attention to how your brain reacts when the first step is already done for you. Sometimes that tiny shift is the thing that changes everything.

Until next time!