It's 6 PM. Someone asks what you want for dinner. You stare. It's not that you don't care. Your brain has been making executive-function-heavy decisions all day, and this low-stakes question feels like it weighs a thousand pounds.
Why decisions hit harder with ADHD
Every decision requires your prefrontal cortex to evaluate options, predict outcomes, and commit. That's pure executive function. For ADHD brains, the decision-fatigue threshold arrives much earlier in the day.
ADHD decision traps
Equal-weight syndrome. Your brain can't efficiently rank options. "What to eat" feels as heavy as "which project to prioritize" because the sorting mechanism is impaired.
Perfectionism paralysis. Years of impulsive decisions and consequences create over-analysis. Shame of past choices makes present ones feel higher-stakes.
Option overwhelm. More choices = worse outcomes. Eight options is three past your working memory capacity. You freeze.
Reducing decision load
Pre-decide. Meal plan. Outfit rotation. Default coffee order. Every decision made in advance is one fewer for your depleted brain.
Reduce to 2-3 options. Immediately narrow any choice. Your brain can compare three things. It cannot compare twelve.
"Good enough." Pick the first option meeting minimum criteria and move on. Energy saved > marginal improvement.
Batch decisions. Time-block a Sunday "decisions" session. Plan meals, pick outfits, review calendar. Front-load so the week runs on autopilot.
Delegate without guilt. "You pick" is valid. Saving decisions for the ones only you can make is energy conservation, not laziness.
Decision fatigue is about the finite pool of executive function. Every structural change that removes a decision — autopay, meal prep, a system that pre-sorts tasks — preserves that pool for what actually matters.