ADHD Task Overwhelm: Choose One Clear Target

Bandai Choi
Clinical Psychologist | Board-approved supervisor
Breathe-n-Smile Psychology, Essendon North, Footscray and telehealth across Australia

Why choosing can become the sticking point

You open your list and see a report, emails, groceries and a form. Each carries a different deadline and consequence. You may move between them or wait for one to feel obviously right. Sometimes there is no single target for your attention to organise around.

Executive functions help us hold goals in mind, organise actions, monitor progress and adjust our behaviour.¹ ADHD can make planning, working memory and the management of competing information more effortful, although each person and situation is different.² A vague instruction such as “sort out tax” also hides several possible outcomes. Do you need to find one receipt, email the accountant or finish the return?

A useful target is small enough to guide the present work period and concrete enough that you can recognise its finish. It does not need to solve the whole project.

Where Target it fits in the STARTS framework

Getting something done is not one skill. The STARTS task-flow map separates six places where a task can become stuck:

• Spot it: notice the task, capture it and bring it back into view.
• Target it: decide what you are trying to complete now.
• Act: begin the first physical action.
• Remain: stay connected to the task or return after distraction.
• Transition: pause, switch or enter the next task.
• Sign off: complete the final check, handover or record of completion.

This article focuses on Target it. If the task had disappeared from view, start with Spot it. If the target is clear but starting feels difficult, the bottleneck may be Act. You can explore all six stages later with the optional STARTS self-check, but you do not need to complete it to use either tool below.

Tool 1: put tasks into Now / Next / Later

This is a small holding system, not a new master list. Its job is to protect one active target while keeping other tasks visible enough that your mind does not have to rehearse them.

1. Choose one Now. Write one outcome you can work towards in the current block.
2. Name the finish. Describe the evidence that will tell you this target is complete for now.
3. Park one or two Next items. These are available after Now, not competing with it.
4. Move everything else to Later. Later is a trusted list, calendar or project note that you will review again.

For example, “work on report” becomes: “Now: draft the three recommendation headings. Done for now: all three headings are on the page, even if the wording is rough.” The email and invoice remain in Next. They have not been forgotten; they have stopped competing for the same moment.

Tool 2: use the Priority Gate when tasks compete

Sometimes one Now item is not obvious. The Priority Gate offers four questions so you can compare a short list without repeatedly reopening the whole day.

1. Limit the candidates. Bring three to five genuine options to the gate.
2. Check time. Is there a real deadline or a useful time window today?
3. Check consequence and dependency. What becomes harder if this waits, and is someone or something else waiting on it?
4. Check value. Which option matters most when urgency is similar?
5. Choose one Now. Put the runner-up in Next and move the rest out of sight.

If the chosen task still feels too large, keep its importance and reduce its size. “Finish application” might become “complete the contact-details section”. For a fuller discussion of competing priorities, see ADHD and prioritising tasks when everything feels urgent.