Decision Paralysis: How ADHD Turns Simple Choices into Existential Crises
Why even the smallest choices can feel like life-or-death for an ADHD brain, and learn simple hacks to break free.
You're standing in the grocery store aisle, staring at 32 different pasta sauces. Marinara, vodka, Alfredo, basil pesto - why are there so many? The brain’s screaming: just pick one. But you're frozen, stuck mid-thought like someone hit pause. Five minutes pass. Then ten. Suddenly pasta feels like astrophysics, and cereal is starting to look like a perfectly valid dinner option.
Unfortunately, decision paralysis is one of the ADHD brain’s favorite ways to sabotage your plans. Simple choices become huge obstacles, and even minor daily decisions can feel overwhelmingly complicated.
You might’ve tried decision-making apps, elaborate flowcharts, even flipping coins. But somehow, your brain still stalls. Time slips away, stress creeps in, and you’re left wondering why something so small feels so hard. Is it laziness? Being too indecisive? Needing to “just try harder”? Nah. It’s just ADHD decision paralysis - like your brain hits a traffic jam the second too many choices show up at once.
Also, this week’s worksheet is a little different. We made it two pages instead of the usual one. Free subscribers get access to the first half - just a small thank you for all the support lately. Paid subscribers can grab the full version, including the bonus breakdown sheet that makes bigger decisions easier to tackle. You’ll find the access link toward the end of this newsletter. Not a paid subscriber yet? Consider subscribing today.
Why decision paralysis hits hard
Every day, ADHDers face a hundred tiny decisions that most people breeze through: what to eat, what to wear, what to start first. But instead of moving through them smoothly, your brain hits pause. Not because you don't care, but because it cares too much. Every choice feels like a test you might fail, or a task you don't feel equipped to handle.
And when every option feels equally loud, or equally wrong, it becomes safer to stall. To not choose at all. To default to the familiar, or distract yourself and delay again.
This isn’t just frustrating. It’s draining. You know you’re capable of deciding, but your brain won’t cooperate. And that’s what makes decision paralysis not just annoying, but deeply demoralizing. It erodes confidence. It chips away at momentum. And it reinforces the exhausting cycle ADHDers know all too well:
Understanding why this happens, and giving it a name, is the first step towards changing it. When you can see it for what it is, (an overwhelmed brain, not a broken one), you can start finding ways to navigate through the fog, one decision at a time.