Many of my clients have tried every app, planner and colour-coded notebook. Each one works for about a week. Then the list grows, nothing gets crossed off, and it becomes one more thing to avoid.

The problem is rarely the list. An item like “sort out taxes” hides a dozen decisions, and an ADHD brain often stalls at the first unclear step. Starting is the hard part, not doing.

Try writing the very first physical action instead: “find last year’s tax letter in the blue folder”. Keep a list for today with no more than three items, and park everything else somewhere you don’t have to look at it.

Put reminders where your attention already is: on the door, in your calendar with an alarm, or with another person. Body doubling, simply working alongside someone, helps more people than you’d expect.

And plan for the restart. Missing a day is part of the system, not proof that it failed. The only question is how easy it is to pick up again.