The trick you describe is known in the ADHD community as "climbing the Wall of Awful"[1]. It's effective for people with ADHD because ADHD makes it difficult t

The trick you describe is known in the ADHD community as "climbing the Wall of Awful"[1]. It's effective for people with ADHD because ADHD makes it difficult to see that first step, preventing one from getting started[2]. Visualizing the steps helps build the ladder over the wall of awful that you need to climb to start Doing The Thing. Telling yourself that you're not going to Do The Thing now, you're just going to _______ (think about the steps, just do the first step, etc) is also a very effective ADHD srategy: you're fooling your brain into doing what you want to do by taking the pressure off. The whole task seems insurmountable, but finding that first thing that's relevant to the task and seems easy is the trick to getting started — and once you get started, there's a decent chance you'll go until it's done. These techniques are helpful for everyone, but they're doubly important for people with ADHD, and are frequently discussed in the community. And yes, it's absolutely work even if it doesn't feel that way. To the outside world, you might be sitting there being stuck. In reality, you're climbing that wall. [1] https://romankogan.net/adhd/#Wall%20of%20Awful https://romankogan.net/adhd/#Wall%20of%20Awful [2] https://romankogan.net/adhd/#Getting%20Started https://romankogan.net/adhd/#Getting%20Started