Everyone loves a plan, when the plan goes to plan. But how often does that happen?
A meeting takes longer to prep than you expected. A cancelled bus throws off your whole morning. An extra shift at work wipes out your plans to go to the gym. Planning with ADHD or another neurodivergent condition means getting back on track takes more effort. This article explains why, and gives you four ways to recover when your day goes sideways.
Why is planning harder with ADHD?
Two things make plans fragile.
Time blindness
Time blindness is difficulty sensing how much time has passed or how long a task will take. Most people underestimate. In one study, students expected to finish their thesis in 34 days on average. The real average was 56 days (Buehler et al., 1994). So estimates are often wrong, sometimes by a lot.
Executive function differences
When a plan breaks, you have to work out what to do instead, right now, with no warning. That takes planning, prioritising and switching focus. Those are the skills that were already under pressure before the disruption.
Why does a broken plan feel like a personal failure?
When a plan falls apart, the moment feels overwhelming. Many people blame themselves. The failure usually belongs to the plan. A plan that assumes every task runs on time will break the first time something changes. That's a design problem, not a character flaw.
Why don't most planners work for neurodivergent people?
Most planners have nothing built in for the moment a plan breaks. The plan sits there. The missed step, the knock-on delay and the next three tasks pile up until you notice and fix everything by hand. Fixing a broken plan is a big job. You need to get started, find the energy and make decisions, on top of dealing with whatever went wrong. If starting is already hard for you, read our guide to task paralysis.
A plan that only works when everything goes right isn't much of a plan. That's why Booost starts from a different assumption. The plan will break. What matters is what happens next.
How to get back on track when your plan falls apart
Use these four steps when your day goes wrong. Each one cuts the effort needed to recover.
When you feel overwhelmed, focus on one task
After a disruption, reopening your whole to-do list means scanning and sorting everything again. Ask one question instead: what's the most important thing right now? Do that, then ask again.
In Booost, the home screen always shows the one task that matters most right now, so you skip the scanning and sorting.
When new things keep arriving, get them out of your head
New things arrive at the worst moment. A message, a new deadline, something else to remember, while you're still dealing with the first problem. Write each new thing down as soon as you notice, then go back to what you were doing. Sort the details later.
In Booost, you tap, type and save in seconds, then add detail later.
When everything needs re-ordering, ask what breaks
Under pressure, "How important does this feel?" is a hard question. Your sense of urgency doesn't always match reality. Ask a clearer question: what breaks if this doesn't happen today?
Booost sorts tasks into Must, Will and Might;
Must: something breaks if this doesn't happen today.
Will: you plan to do this today, but nothing breaks if the task moves.
Might: do this if you have time.
Read why prioritisation is harder than you think.
When you go back to a task, start at the next step
Going back to a task after a bad day usually means re-reading, re-remembering and working out where you'd got to. Break tasks into checklists, so you can see exactly where you stopped.
In Booost, if a task has a checklist, the first unchecked step is waiting for you. You pick up where you left off instead of starting from scratch.
Tips to make your plans easier to recover
Add buffer time. If you think a task takes an hour, plan 90 minutes.
Leave one gap in each day with nothing booked. Use the gap to catch up.
Plan fewer tasks than you think you can do.
Check in with yourself at lunchtime and move anything that won't happen today.
Track your energy as well as your time (read our guide to energy accounting for more information)
A plan built to break
The real test of any plan is what happens when the plan stops working. Choose tools and habits that help you recover when your day goes wrong.
Get back on track faster with Booost
Booost shows your next most important task, captures new things in seconds and helps you re-prioritise when your day changes. Start your free trial today.