Happy Momentum Monday (on a Sunday)!

PSA: September is the ADHD Super Bowl except nobody gave you the playbook and your team’s already down by 14 points.

The school year’s starting, work’s picking up, calendars are suddenly jam-packed, and your brain is doing that thing where it goes:

“We should start fresh! New routines! Big goals! Let’s reorganize our life, wake up early, meal prep, meditate, run a marathon, and start journaling again!”
– also your brain, 5 minutes later: “Haha lol no. Let’s scroll and panic and then take a guilt na.”

Sound familiar?

Executive Dysfunction Isn’t a Character Flaw—It’s a Brain Feature

ADHD means your brain doesn’t automatically switch gears into “go mode” just because the calendar flipped to September.
That stuck, frozen, overwhelmed feeling? That’s executive dysfunction doing its thing.

Let’s reframe it:

🚫 It’s not laziness.
🚫 It’s not lack of ambition.
🧠 It’s your brain saying, “I need a better system and way less pressure.”

Which brings us to the antidote…

The September Plan-ish Survival Kit

This season, we’re NOT chasing perfection. We’re chasing momentum.

Here’s how to build a life that can withstand the September storm:

1. 🧾 Refresh Your ADHD Toolkit

When in doubt, prep it out.

September is the perfect time to reboot the basics, but make them brain-friendly.

🍲 Ingredient Prep – Not full meal prep (unless that’s your jam). Just prep 2 proteins, 2 veggies, and 1 grain. Done.
🛒 Master Grocery List – No more starting from scratch every week. Keep a running list of staples so you don’t have to constantly reinvent the wheel.
🕒 Time Blocking Lite – Try “theme blocks” instead of rigid schedules. Think: AM admin-ish, PM movement-ish, Evening brain-dump-ish.

2. ⚠️ Catch the Dysfunction Before It Spirals

Executive dysfunction shows up quietly. But you can spot its warning signs:

“I’ll do it later.” (Spoiler: you won’t.)
Staring at a task and doing nothing (Do something, ANYTHING)
Suddenly cleaning your entire kitchen instead of answering one email (this is because cleaning your kitchen is safe and straight forward, where as the email is “uncertain.”)

✨The Move: Pick one micro-task.
(→ 3 minutes. That’s it. Set a timer. Do the tiniest first step. Do it messy. Still counts.)

3. 🧘 Make “Plan-ish” Your Mantra

Stop aiming for routines that require Olympic-level consistency.

You don’t need “perfect.” You need repeatable. Flexible. Functional. Sustainable.

Examples:

Morning-ish = wake up, move body, drink water
Work-ish = block tasks into categories, not hours
Evening-ish = prep keys/lunch/clothes, then log off

A “plan-ish” leaves room for ADHD chaos and gives your guardrails without losing momentum.

This Week’s Action Step:

Build your Plan-ish:

Pick 1 “AM-ish” anchor
Prep 1 ADHD toolkit item (grocery list, ingredients, next day outfit, etc.)
Choose a micro-task to tackle when you hit a wall (great place to build a list of “momentum tasks”)

Write them down. Put them in a phone note. Add a little ✨ish✨ to your calendar.

You don’t need to fix your brain this September. You just need to support it.
And when executive dysfunction rolls in like a fog, you’ll be ready with a flashlight, not a shame spiral.

You got this.

Talk soon,
Leah 🌶