'Get an ADHD assessment' bumped down your to-do list?

Rebecca Loan
7 days ago
3 min read

What looks like one task can actually contain an off-putting number of smaller tasks and decisions.

This week I was thinking about the amount of conversations I have with people who really want to explore whether they might have ADHD but keep putting it off.

What struck me was that the ADHD assessment itself wasn't the problem. They hadn't even got that far in their head. They were stuck at the very first instruction: book a GP appointment.

That sounds like one task, but it isn't. Do I have to phone? What time do they take calls? What do I say to the receptionist? Can I do it through an app instead? If I haven't used the app before, how do I register? What information will I need?

Suddenly one fairly ordinary item on a to-do list contains a whole series of smaller tasks, decisions and potential places to get stuck. In fact, this one task can amount to 10 microtasks if you include hunting around for your NI number.

And, of course, all of this has to fit into everyday life. You remember you need to sort it while you're at work. You don't want to make the call from your desk. You think you'll do it at lunchtime, but something comes up. You try the app later and discover you need to set up an account first. You don't have the information you need to hand, so you leave it for another day.

“Get an ADHD assessment” remains on the to-do list.

What if we made all those hidden steps visible?

It made me think about Kanban, a way of managing processes that originated in Japanese manufacturing and a skill I learnt whilst working on patient experience improvement projects at Farleigh Hospice.

One of the things I like about it is very simple: make the work visible. Instead of seeing one large task, you break it down enough that you can see how the work moves through the process and, importantly, where it stops moving.

When I looked at the ADHD assessment process in this way, there were potential stopping points everywhere. Contact the GP. Work out what to say. Prepare some examples. Understand Right to Choose. Look at providers. Decide which route to take. Find the referral information. Go back to the GP. Complete the forms. Then, once the referral has gone, has it actually been received? Has it been accepted? Are you actually on the waiting list?

What looks from the outside like one task - “get an ADHD assessment” - is an off-putting number of smaller tasks and decisions. Many of them require exactly the things someone exploring ADHD may already find difficult: initiation, organisation, working memory, decision-making, keeping track of information and returning to a task when something unexpected happens.

So I made the steps smaller - much smaller!

That insight changed how I updated my free guide to getting an ADHD assessment in England. It now has much smaller microsteps, making it clearer where to start, what to say, what to do next and what to do if you get stuck.

You don't need to work your way through the whole process at once. Sometimes the useful question isn't “Why haven't I done this yet?” but “Where exactly did I get stuck?”

Once you can see that, the next step can become much smaller.

Sometimes what looks like one task is actually ten. Finding the step where you got stuck can make it much easier to start again.

What to Remember

✓ “Get an ADHD assessment” isn't one task. There are lots of smaller tasks and decisions hidden inside it.

✓ Even “book a GP appointment” can contain multiple microsteps.

✓ Making those steps visible can help you see exactly where you have become stuck.

✓ You don't need to work through the whole process at once.

✓ One microstep at a time is still moving forward.

Free ADHD Assessment Guides

Untangling the ADHD Assessment Process in England is available to download free from Untangle ADHD, along with assessment guides for other countries, including Singapore. Get yours here