You’re a talented writer with a brilliant idea for a project, but when you sit down to work on it, you feel a complete sense of paralysis. Your mind goes blank. You’re completely overwhelmed and anxious because you don’t know where to start. It feels like you’re trying to write in the dark.
For so long, you’ve tried to just “get it done.” But that has resulted in the constant feeling you’re behind. You still haven’t finished, after all. And as a consequence, you feel like you’re a failure.
But what if the problem wasn’t you, but the (lack of a) plan itself?
Today, I want to show you how to finally overcome that writing overwhelm with ADHD by giving you a plan that works with your brain, not against it. By the end of this post, you’ll know how to stop feeling frozen and start writing with confidence.
Your path to clarity
You’re not alone. I’ve talked to hundreds of ADHDers just like you, and I’ve learned that most gurus will tell you that you need a plan, but not how to actually do it. They just assume everyone is a born planner—which simply isn’t the case! My own planning skills were certainly hard-won, and it’s only in the past 10 years that I’ve truly learned how to do it in a way that serves the ADHD brain.
So, I’m not going to tell you that you need to break down your project. Instead, I’m going to teach you how to actually do it, so you can stop feeling frozen and finally make your projects more manageable and less overwhelming.
Get it all out: The first step to freedom
The first step to taking back control from writing overwhelm is to take all the thoughts, ideas, and anxieties swirling in your head and get them out. Right now, you’re not just trying to write; you’re also trying to remember everything you want to include, which leads to impulse overload and decision fatigue before you’ve even written a single word.
So, let’s stop relying on your memory. A simple brain dump is the first step in project planning that will give you instant clarity. By getting all your ideas onto the page, you’re not just making a list—you’re freeing up your mind to focus on one thing at a time and preparing it for success.
The best way I have found to do a brain dump, is to create a mind map. And I’ve created a tool that can help you do just that! Click the button below to grab your free guidebook.Â
Break it down
Now that you have all your ideas on the page, it’s time to start structuring your text. Every text is composed of different parts. As you were probably taught in school: each text starts with an introduction and ends with a conclusion, with the “body” in the middle. This body can be further broken down – into chapters, sections, acts and scenes, depending on the kind of text that you’re writing. And that is the easiest way to start breaking down your project.
You already know a lot of what you want to say. Now, create a broken-down outline (using a mind map, sticky notes, or a bullet point list, for example) and start putting all your ideas in the right bucket. Which piece goes where in your text? When you know that, you can zoom in even more and continue to reduce the overwhelm.Â
From overwhelm to action
We’ve already unloaded one of the tasks that’s distracting you from what you’re writing and contributing to your overwhelm, but let’s take that a step further! First, let’s separate out the different phases of every writing project:
- pre-writing research
- writing (first draft)
- editing
- submissionÂ
It can really take a lot of pressure off your working memory if you can just write down the ideas (in the writing phase) without having to worry about making it sound good (editing).Â
And based on this, we can come up with a formula that helps you create concrete milestones.Â
Here’s my formula for breaking down your writing project:Â
Milestone = Phase (research/writing/editing/submission) + wordcount + section
For example: write the last 500 words of Chapter 4.
Small milestones like these are a lot more achievable than a big goal such as “finish my project.” As a consequence, it will be a lot easier to get started, keep going, stay motivated, and finish your project.Â
Your plan is a tool, not a prison!
With all this talk about milestones and goals, it’s probably starting to feel like a plan again, isn’t it? You might even be feeling that old familiar stress and worry, ready to give up. After all, you’ve created plans before and you’ve communicated deadlines—and in the past, they’ve always led to frustration.
But you have never failed your plans. The plans have failed you.
Your plan is not set in stone; it’s a flexible tool that allows you to offload some of that decision fatigue and analysis paralysis, so you can focus on the next small step with confidence. If that is not what your plan allows you to do, it’s not serving its purpose!
The beautiful thing is that the plan doesn’t care if you fall behind or change it. It has no feelings. So, if you don’t reach your milestone by the day you intended to, you don’t have to beat yourself up or throw out your plan altogether. Instead, you can simply make a tweak to make the plan more feasible.
If you want to set more realistic deadlines, make sure to watch this video on the Passionate Writer Coaching YouTube channel.Â
Give yourself a chance to succeed
The plans you’ve tried to create in the past have only made you feel like a failure. And when you don’t plan, you end up frozen in a state of overwhelm. But all is not lost yet! You are absolutely capable of making a plan that works for you, but only if you start working with your ADHD brain.Â
With a new planning system, you’ll be able to confidently write and even communicate your goals to others! You’re no longer setting yourself up for failure, but can show up every day knowing exactly what to work on and how it will help you achieve your success. That feeling of clarity and relief is what you deserve!
In this blog post, I’ve taken you through the basic concepts for creating a writing project plan. But I don’t want to leave you hanging!Â
That’s why I’ve created a free PDF, that takes all these ideas and gives you a single, practical tool you can start using today.
Scroll down to grab your free guidebook now!Â
Talk to you soon!
– Susanne
From overwhelm to action: your free guidebook
Learn how to stop feeling paralyzed and start creating a plan that works with your ADHD brain, not against it. You’ll finally have a chance to succeed.
Fill out this form and I’ll send it to you!
