Written by Fiona Alexander and Debbie Hirte

This article explores the benefits of working with an ADHD coach in Perth.

“Just get moving” has never worked for an ADHD brain, and it never will — because transitions aren’t really a willpower problem. They’re a genuine load on the brain. Switching tasks means letting go of the dopamine reward of whatever you’re doing now, holding the steps of what’s next in working memory, and finding enough motivation to start — all at once, in a system that’s already running each of those jobs at reduced capacity. 

None of the strategies below switch off that underlying wiring. That’s not the goal. The goal is to lighten the load each transition places on an already-stretched system, so the whole process becomes more manageable — and a lot less draining, for everyone involved. 

Two Ideas Worth Carrying Into Everything Below 

• Concrete beats vague. “Put your shoes on” gives the brain something to execute. “Get ready” doesn’t. 

• The problem isn’t willpower. It’s reward, working memory, and executive function. Strategies work when they support those systems, not when they demand more effort from them. 

With that in mind, here’s the toolkit. 

The Toolkit: Strategies That Work With Your Brain 

Source: Adapted from Neurolaunch, ADHD and Transitions. 

A quick note on timers specifically, since they trip people up: saying “five more minutes” out loud rarely wins against a brain still riding the reward of what it’s doing right now. The words are heard, but they don’t carry enough weight to interrupt that pull. A visible countdown gives the brain something concrete to track instead — which is what makes the disengagement gradual rather than sudden. 

What Tends to Backfire 

Just as important as knowing what helps is knowing what doesn’t — because some well-meaning approaches quietly make things harder: 

• Vague deadlines. “Soon” or “in a bit” gives the brain nothing concrete to act on, so it doesn’t act at all. 

• Punishing lateness without addressing the cause. This adds shame on top of an executive function gap that punishment can’t fix. 

• Treating it as a motivation problem. A neurological struggle mistaken for a character flaw damages trust and self-esteem — often without solving the actual problem. 

Zero-warning transitions. Switching activities with no lead time spikes stress and increases the risk of a meltdown or shutdown. 

Coping with Sudden Changes in Plans 

Unexpected changes are particularly hard because they remove the preparation window transitions normally rely on. The brain hasn’t had time to disengage gradually, so the switch happens all at once — and that abruptness can trigger a stress response well out of proportion to the actual change. 

A few things help in the moment: 

• Give the new plan, not just the fact that the old one changed. 

• Offer a concrete next step, rather than open-ended options. 

• Build in a short pause — even thirty seconds — before expecting action. 

Over time, having a few personal “if-then” plans ready for common disruptions takes a lot of the load off. For instance, deciding ahead of time that a rained-out plan always means a specific plan B, no discussion required. This removes the need to build a new plan from scratch under stress — exactly the kind of task ADHD executive function finds hardest. 

Bigger Life Transitions 

Daily transitions are demanding enough. Bigger ones — a new job, a house move, a new relationship stage, a pregnancy — multiply the same executive function demands across weeks or months instead of minutes. 

The same principles simply apply at scale: 

• Break the overwhelming process into small, concrete steps. 

• Build in far more buffer time than feels necessary. 

• Lean on external systems — lists, reminders, support people — rather than memory alone. 

It’s worth remembering that a major life change doesn’t call for one big adjustment. It calls for dozens of small daily routines to be rebuilt from scratch, all at once — which is genuinely exhausting, even under ideal conditions, and even more so with an ADHD brain. 

Waiting and Being Caught Off Guard 

Two related situations deserve a specific mention, because they don’t always look like “transitions” but run on the same neurology. 

Being caught off guard: a sudden question or an unplanned social demand can trigger the same freeze response as a scheduled transition — sometimes worse, because there’s no preparation window at all. 

Waiting: when a transition is delayed rather than sudden, staying regulated during the gap can be its own challenge. A concrete task to fill the waiting period, a visible countdown, and clear communication about what happens next all help here, using the same tools as transitions themselves. 

Little by Little 

None of these strategies require an ADHD brain to work differently. They work with the brain that’s already there — reducing friction, adding structure, and replacing vague expectations with concrete ones. 

Some weeks it’ll click easily. Some weeks it won’t, and that’s genuinely okay. Progress here looks like fewer battles over time, not a perfect system overnight. 

If you’d like support building routines and strategies that actually fit your — or your child’s — unique brain wiring, we’d love to help. Get in touch with REACH ADHD Coaching to start the conversation. 

Further Reading and References 

This article was informed by concepts explored in more depth by Neurolaunch, and draws on the peer-reviewed research summarised there. 

Neurolaunch — ADHD and Transitions 

Barkley, R. A., & Murphy, K. R. (2010). Impairment in occupational functioning and adult ADHD: The predictive utility of executive function (EF) ratings versus EF tests. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 25(3), 157–173. 

Diamond, A. (2013). Executive functions. Annual Review of Psychology, 64, 135–168. 

Sonuga-Barke, E. J. S. (2003). The dual pathway model of AD/HD: An elaboration of neuro-developmental characteristics. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 27(7), 593–604.