You've tried the 5 AM miracle morning. None of it stuck. The problem isn't your discipline. The problem is that every popular morning routine was designed for a brain that wakes up with executive function online. Yours doesn't.
Why mornings are particularly hard
Executive function is at its lowest when you wake up. For neurotypical brains, it comes online in 15-20 minutes. For ADHD brains, significantly longer — especially without medication. Add decision fatigue (what to wear, what to eat) and you've exhausted your budget before the day starts.
Principles for ADHD mornings
Reduce decisions to zero. Clothes out the night before. Same breakfast. Keys in the same spot. Every eliminated decision is executive function saved.
Make the sequence visible. A checklist on the mirror. A routine tracker on your phone. Your working memory can't hold "shower, meds, breakfast, keys" reliably. An external list can.
Anchor to objects, not time. "After I pour coffee, I take meds." Time-based cues fail. Object-based cues work because the cue is physical and present.
Make it short. 20 minutes of essentials beats 90 minutes of fantasy. Minimum viable morning first.
Buffer. If you leave at 8:00, the routine ends at 7:45. Insurance against time blindness.
When it falls apart
Some mornings it won't happen. That's ADHD. Shame about missing the routine is more damaging than missing it. The measure isn't perfection — it's how easy it is to come back.