ADHD Executive Function at Work: A Things Setup

Executive function needs somewhere to land

A request mentioned at 10:30 a.m. can vanish by 2 p.m. when the day contains messages, meetings, and work that needs uninterrupted attention. With ADHD, holding requests in mind, estimating time, switching tasks, and deciding what matters first can carry a steep mental cost. That friction is real.

A 2024 study of 100 full-time young adults with ADHD found that self-reported time-management difficulties consistently predicted several work outcomes, while hyperactivity and impulsivity also played a role. The study cannot show that time management alone causes those outcomes, yet it makes the cost of unsupported executive function hard to dismiss. Workplaces often reward people for remembering invisible commitments before anyone has to ask again.

A task app cannot diagnose or treat ADHD, and it cannot make an unreasonable workload reasonable. It can give remembering and restarting a visible home. Things works well for this because it offers a few distinct places for work without requiring every thought to arrive fully sorted.

The setup should still function on a Wednesday when energy is low, interruptions are constant, and three meetings have already moved the plan around.

Build a small work structure in Things

Create one Work Area, then add Projects only for outcomes that require more than one action. “Prepare Q2 client renewal” belongs in a Project, while “Reply to Maya about the contract” can remain a single to-do. This keeps the system readable when the workday gets crowded.

Keep tags sparse and practical. Deep focus can mean work for a quiet 45-minute block, while Quick admin fits the gap between meetings. Use Waiting for follow-ups that are currently with someone else, then skip elaborate priority taxonomies unless maintaining them is somehow enjoyable.

My view is firm. A task system that demands constant sorting is too expensive for most ADHD workdays.

Capture before organizing

Use the Things Inbox as a landing zone for requests and stray meeting notes, including the distracting thought that appears while another task is open. Capture it, then return to the work in front of you. The item does not need to be polished.

Make capture available in the two places work actually happens most often, such as a keyboard shortcut on a computer and the Things mobile app after a hallway conversation. “Analytics thing Jordan mentioned” is enough for an Inbox item. Its first job is to stop the thought from repeatedly tapping you on the shoulder.

Process the Inbox once per day or at the next planning block rather than whenever a new item appears. Dependable retrieval matters more than forcing the Inbox to zero. A captured task is already doing useful work.

Turn vague work into visible next actions

“Work on presentation” may be clear to a manager, yet it hides several decisions for the person who has to start it. ADHD executive function often stalls at this exact point. The task looks simple from a distance.

Use a verb and name the object, then add the first meaningful step where needed. That reduces the thinking required at launch. Compare these four rewrites:

• Open the presentation and outline the three decision slides
• Match March invoices to purchase orders
• Send Elena two proposed times for the client review
• Pull last year's report and list the sections that changed

Keep the action small enough to begin while making it substantial enough to create progress. “Think about annual report” usually gives avoidance a very polite disguise. A specific first move gives the task a handle.

For larger work, put the outcome in the Project title and keep the next action at the top under a heading such as Next up. When that action is complete, choose the following visible action before closing Things. This takes a minute and makes returning after an interruption far less costly.

Treat Today as a real commitment

In Things, dates work best when they mean something concrete. A start date means a task is available to consider, while a deadline signals an actual consequence for missing it. When every preference becomes a deadline, the system starts shouting.

The Today list should be a commitment list rather than a catalog of everything an ideal day might hold. Pick a small number of tasks, then check them against the calendar because meetings and recovery time are part of capacity. A fantasy schedule creates pressure without creating time.

Things can show calendar events beside tasks, which makes a day with four calls look meaningfully different from a day with one 90-minute focus block. Use that information before filling Today. Plan for the calendar you have.

A simple set of definitions helps keep the lists useful.

• Deadline is for externally fixed commitments, such as a report due Friday or a promised client response.
• Start date is for work that cannot or should not begin before a certain time.
• Today is for tasks you genuinely intend to begin or finish today.
• Anytime is for active work that is available but unselected.
• Someday is for ideas and possible projects that should stay out of current decisions.

When a meeting runs long and the afternoon disappears, move unfinished work back to Anytime or assign a new start date. Treat rescheduling as useful data. The list should reflect reality rather than quietly collect guilt.

Run a reset that survives busy weeks

A planning system earns trust by being easy to restart after two missed days. That is the standard worth optimizing for. No heroic catch-up session required.

Try this four-step reset near the end of the workday or before starting the next one.

1. Capture loose notes, email actions, and meeting follow-ups in the Inbox.
2. Check tomorrow's calendar for fixed constraints.
3. Choose one main task plus a limited amount of supporting work for Today.
4. Remove anything from Today that no longer fits, without debating it.

If the day explodes, capture what is still circling in your head and remove tasks that clearly will not happen. That takes less than five minutes. It also prevents a bad Tuesday from turning into a broken system for the rest of the week.

Once a week, scan active Projects and identify the next action, record anything waiting on another person, close work that no longer matters, and check whether a project has a real deadline. Most work systems stay alive with this level of review. A weekend cleanup marathon is rarely the answer.

A workplace example

Priya, a project coordinator, opens Things after back-to-back morning calls and sees “Finish launch plan” still sitting in Today. An unexpected stakeholder meeting now occupies the afternoon, so the original plan no longer fits. Leaving the broad task there would only make the list less believable.

Priya opens the Launch Project and adds “List open decisions for stakeholder meeting” under Next up. The task takes 15 minutes and improves the meeting that is actually happening. Afterward, Priya marks two follow-ups as Waiting, captures a new request in the Inbox, and moves “Draft launch timeline” to tomorrow for a quieter block.

The launch plan remains unfinished. Yet the system now reflects the day Priya had instead of the day that disappeared before lunch.

Pair the system with workplace support

A personal workflow is one support, not a requirement to solve every work problem alone. Flexible work practices, clear expectations, quieter environments, written follow-ups, and reasonable adjustments can all change the fit between a person and a job.

A 2024 systematic review of 79 studies found workplace challenges and strengths for people with ADHD, with attention to person-environment fit, accommodations, and support. Support is a practical work design choice. It is not a shortcut.

A diagnosis does not need to be disclosed to use a clearer personal system, and any conversation with a manager will depend on the role, workplace, location, and comfort level. When a change is needed, describe the work condition and the practical adjustment that would help. “Written priorities after weekly planning meetings” gives people something concrete to act on.

If manually sorting a task list remains the sticking point, OwnTime can import existing Things tasks and offer context-aware recommendations that reduce backlog digging. For the practical trade-off between daily curation in Things and flexible recommendations, see this comparison of Things and OwnTime.

Set up one Work Area and use the Inbox for every loose request over the next workday. Then choose a Today list that fits the calendar instead of trying to fit the calendar around an imaginary list.