The ADHD Skills Lab Why ADHD Brains Struggle With Projects
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Mar 25, 2026 They unpack why multi-step projects feel harder than single tasks for ADHD brains. Research on working memory, inhibition, and planning gets explained through classic tower planning tasks. They explore how unstructured complexity and sequencing demands create cognitive friction. Practical ideas highlight using external systems and breaking projects into sequenced daily steps.
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Temporal Myopia Explains Project Avoidance
- Barkley reframes ADHD as a self-regulation deficit with temporal myopia: behaviour is governed by the immediate present.
- This makes forming and holding long-range plans internally unreliable for many with ADHD.
Tower Tasks Reveal Forward Planning Failure
- Tower tasks (e.g., Tower of London/Hanoi) require holding a full plan before executing and reveal planning deficits in ADHD.
- Children with ADHD made more errors and completed tower tasks faster, showing impulsive, under-planned approaches.
Working Memory And Inhibition Most Consistent Impairments
- Recent reviews find working memory and inhibition are the most consistent impairments in ADHD, while set shifting varies.
- Kofler (2024) recommends better task-valid tests and considering comorbidity with ASD.