The holiday season is supposed to feel joyful … but for ADHD adults, it often feels like someone cranked the overwhelm dial to expert mode. In this episode, we’re breaking down why December hits ADHD brains so hard, the hidden traps that make everything feel more stressful, and the simple shifts that help you protect your time, energy, and sanity.

We’ll cover:

1. Why holiday overload hits faster and stronger when you have ADHD
2. The sneaky ADHD “overwhelm triggers” to look out for
3. Why saying yes feels easier in the moment but harder in the long run
4. How people-pleasing, time blindness, perfectionism, and emotional load collide this month
5. A few simple, ADHD-friendly ways to reduce stress (without needing to become a new person)

You know the drill: you plan the family vacation like a spreadsheet-wielding wizard, but you still haven’t scheduled that doctor’s appointment. You can hyperfocus on a creative project for hours, but your laundry is now a sentient being. You never miss game night—but you forgot your kid’s permission slip again.

Cue the judgment:

• “If you really wanted to do it, you would.”
• “If it really mattered to you, you’d remember.”

And yeah… that sounds reasonable. But it’s also not the whole story.

In this episode, we’re digging into one of the most damaging struggles with ADHD — the idea that your inconsistent follow-through means you don’t care enough, or you’re not trying hard enough.

Here’s what we’re unpacking:

• What situational variability really means (and why your brain can’t “just do it” on command)
• The deeper story behind the interest-based nervous system—and why interest alone isn’t enough
• How dopamine, emotion, and working memory mess with motivation
• The shame spiral this myth creates, and why it’s so hard to escape it
• How to reframe the problem, repair relationships, and start building consistency with ADHD-friendly tools and support

✨ Whether you're the ADHDer struggling to show up consistently — or the person on the other side of the hurt — this episode will help you understand what’s actually going on, and what you can do about it.

💬 Listener Reflection Prompt:

Where have you confused inconsistency with not caring? What kind of support — or conversation — could help bridge that gap?

🎧 If this hit home for you, share it with someone who needs to hear it: a partner, a parent, a friend, a coworker. Understanding is the first step to healing the disconnect.

Resources

• https://www.additudemag.com/adhd-motivation-problems-getting-started-on-tough-projects/?srsltid=AfmBOorYiX5S2OCrzCVSMd986hO5cLep0S6bJeQ9uu2cVlvfeLT5bJ0c
• https://chadd.org/adhd-news/adhd-news-adults/how-to-deal-with-situational-variability/

Ever grab your phone “just for a second” in the morning … and suddenly it’s 45 minutes later, your coffee’s cold, and you feel like the day already slipped away? ADHD brains are especially vulnerable to doomscrolling, and it often sucks the life out of our day when we start doing it before we even get out of bed.

In this episode of ADHD Adult(ish), I break down:

• Why mornings make us extra prone to scrolling spirals.
• Why doomscrolling is basically the junk food of dopamine.
• Simple swaps to break the morning doomscroll cycle.
• Quick tricks to break free in the moment if you realize you’ve already been sucked in.

Whether you want to cut the scroll entirely or just stop it from hijacking your whole morning, this episode has you covered.

• Come say hi on Instagram → @adhdadultish
• Want help making life less chaotic? → levelupadhd.com