Process Over Results: Hacking Your Consistency

Hacking Your ADHD

William Curb

Mental Health, Health & Fitness

4.7 • 779 Ratings

🗓️ 1 May 2026

⏱️ 14 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Hey Team!

I've been thinking a lot about the idea that thinking about planning isn't the same thing as planning. When we're just thinking about planning, sure, we're imagining the steps, the obstacles, the finished results, but we often get stuck in the execution gap, where we think we know exactly what we need to do, but can't actually find a way of getting ourselves to do it.

We often view planning as this rigid, formal structure, a grand design that has to be perfect or it's not worth doing. But really, planning is just a gift for our future selves. It's about making decisions now so that the "future us," who is more than likely tired and overwhelmed, doesn't have to.

So today, we're going to look at the mechanics of how we build those plans. We'll talk about the hierarchy of goals, strategies, and tactics, and how we can stop letting the "shoulds" dictate how we spend our limited cognitive energy.

If you'd life to follow along on the show notes page you can find that at HackingYourADHD.com/284

YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/y835cnrk

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/HackingYourADHD

This Episode's Top Tips

1. That the "feel-good" sensation of visualizing a plan can actually be a trap. When we think about a successful outcome, our brain releases dopamine as if the task is already done, which in turn kills the motivation needed for the actual execution.
2. Instead of seeing a plan as a set of rules that box you in, try viewing it as a way to protect your long-term desires from your short-term impulses. We want to think of planning as a form of self-advocacy rather than as a punishment.
3. If a goal feels like an obligation rather than a genuine interest, it will likely fail. Digging into the "Why" behind a goal can help you find a hook that activates your interest, providing the "stick-to-it-iveness" required to see it through.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Hacking Your ADHD. I'm your host, William Kerb, and I have ADHD.
0:09.0	On this podcast, I dig into the tools, tactics, and best practices to help you work with your ADHD brain.
0:15.0	Hey team, I've been thinking a lot about the idea that thinking about planning isn't the same thing as planning. When we're just thinking about planning, sure, we're imagining the steps, the obstacles, the finished results,
0:25.6	but we often get stuck in the execution gap, where we think we know exactly what we need to do,
0:30.6	but we can't actually find a way of getting ourselves to do it.
0:33.6	We often view planning as this rigid, formal structure, grand design that has to be perfect
0:39.4	or it's not worth doing. But really, planning is just a gift for our future selves. It's about
0:44.8	making decisions now so that future us, who is more likely than not tired and overwhelmed, doesn't have
0:50.2	to. So today we're going to be looking at the mechanics of how we build those plans.
0:55.1	We'll talk about the hierarchy of goals, strategies, and tactics, and how we can stop letting
0:59.2	the shoulds dictate how we spend our limited cognitive energy. If you'd like to follow along
1:05.0	on the show notes page, you can find that at hacking your ADHD.com slash 2-9-1.
1:11.2	All right, keep on listening to find out how we can give our future selves a break
1:15.0	by doing some of the lifting today.
1:17.4	Let's start with a little bit about why just thinking about planning isn't the same
1:20.5	thing as planning.
1:21.6	For one, thinking about a successful plan still releases dopamine, as if we actually did
1:26.0	that planning.
1:27.2	This tricks our brain into feeling
1:28.5	like the work is already done, which in turn decreases our actual motivation to do the hard,
1:33.0	boring work of creating a real plan. But when we're just thinking about planning, we're also
1:37.8	just relying entirely on our working memory, because the plan isn't out there on paper or a screen.
	...

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