My Head Is Full, but I Can’t Start: Access to Work Support for ADHD and Executive Function

How ADHD Coaching can help you, and how to get it funded through Access to Work

Recently, in a coaching session, a pattern came up that I see often with ADHD professionals. Someone has time set aside to work. They care deeply about their work. They are capable, thoughtful, and responsible. But their head is spinning.

They’ve just come out of a busy period. There are ideas from meetings, people they need to respond to, projects in progress, things they meant to do last week, and things coming down the line. Holding this all in mind can be tricky. And the question becomes:

What actually matters right now?

When everything feels equally important, it becomes hard to prioritise. When a task feels vague or complex, it becomes hard to start. So people end up hopping between tasks, double checking things repeatedly, or carrying the work around in their head all day without actually getting traction. From the outside, this can look like disorganisation. From the inside, it often feels like pressure.

Very often this is connected to executive functioning, which includes skills like planning, sequencing, prioritising, working memory, and task initiation (Diamond, 2013). When these systems are under strain, there can be a gap between knowing what needs to be done and being able to start it.

Add in another piece, ADHD brains tend to have differences in dopamine reward pathways, which influence motivation and task engagement (Volkow et al., 2011). That means tasks that are ambiguous, slow to complete, or low in immediate reward can feel disproportionately difficult to begin.

So what helps?

In ADHD coaching, we often slow things down and reduce friction.

Instead of a vague task like “sort finances”, we might turn it into a concrete experiment:

Spend 50 minutes updating one section of the cash book and notice when your attention drifts.

Because the person's brain needs clear entry points, not more discipline.

Concrete, solid steps are key.

Coaching helps people:

• reduce task ambiguity

• prioritise realistically

• create systems that support attention

• work with their energy instead of against it

And importantly, it helps reduce the shame many people carry after years of feeling they “should” be able to do things more easily.

If you’re working in the UK, coaching support may also be funded through Access to Work, a government scheme that can cover ADHD workplace and self-employment coaching if your difficulties affect your job or business.

Learn more about Access to Work Coaching with Me

If the experience above resonated, you’re not alone, and it’s not a personal failing. Often, it’s simply a signal that your brain needs better support.

If this resonated, I share deeper reflections on this post, ADHD energy and gentle systems in my newsletter, "energy before effort".

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