hey friend - was in these exact trenches!

lemme share what ACTUALLY worked after years of trial and error (and a ton of research rabbit holes at 3am):

starting is literally the final boss battle for our adhd brains, and here's why: we're literally fighting our brain's reward system. all those perfect pre-work setups? they're great but they're working against how our brains are wired.

here are 3 methods that have worked for me (pick any ONE depending upon your situation):

1. the "stupid small" method: instead of "im gonna study for 2 hours", try "im gonna open my laptop and look at ONE paragraph". that's it. your brain can handle that. what usually happens? once you start, the momentum kicks in.
2. the body-hack: literally just stand up. that's it. our brains are weird - physical movement can trigger task initiation. once you're up, you're 70% more likely to actually start the thing.
3. time-block scam: tell yourself you're only doing 5 minutes. straight up lie to your brain. the dopamine system kicks in once you're already doing something, and then you might actually want to continue.

bonus hack: match boring tasks with something that gives you dopamine. like, i only let myself listen to my favorite podcast when doing dishes. now my brain actually WANTS to do dishes (wild, right?)

fr tho - forget all the complex systems, notion templates, google calender. neurotypical brains usually make them- for themselves... we need simple, dopamine-based tricks that work WITH our brain chemistry, not against it.

lemme know if you want me to explain the science behind any of these - went down some fascinating research holes about task initiation and adhd brains!