When ADHD Makes You Slow Down (Whether You Planned To or Not)

So here’s what happened: I was headed to Breckenridge for my birthday.

I packed, I prepped, I even told myself I’d use the quiet to get ahead on some podcast work. But then—in classic ADHD fashion—I forgot my laptop. Just a lonely Mic and an aux chord with nowhere to go.

No podcast intro, no blog editing, no "just ten minutes of admin."

Just... space. Forced space. Birthday space. And honestly? It rattled me a little.

What This Is Really About: When you’ve finally got momentum, slowing down feels risky. Like if you stop moving—even for a minute—you’ll never start again. Especially if you’ve worked so hard to even get moving in the first place. That’s real. That’s ADHD. And that’s also why rest gets skipped until we’re crispy and fried and wondering why everything suddenly feels impossible.

We don’t need more pressure. We need more pauses.

This shows up in the organizing journey too. We've ALL been there.

You get into a decluttering groove, and it feels like you have to ride the wave until everything is done or you’ll lose it.

But the best decisions about what stays and what goes—the most grounded, sustainable shifts—come when we’re regulated. When we’re not frantically trying to catch up with our own brain.

The Shift: Slowing down isn’t a failure. It’s a function. It’s how we restore, recalibrate, and get honest about what’s sustainable.

But that doesn’t make it easy.

Especially with a brain that thrives in motion, thrives on the next thing, thrives on keeping the plates spinning because stopping feels like dropping them.

Sometimes, life will stop you for you. Like forgetting your laptop in the woods and suddenly realizing... oh. I needed this.

If slowing down feels itchy or impossible, try micro-pauses.

A full deep breath. Five minutes outside. One slow stretch before opening your phone. You don’t have to like it yet. You just have to notice what it feels like to not be doing.

And if something gets accidentally dropped this week? That counts too. You’re not behind. You’re not failing. You’re just human. Possibly a little overstimulated. Definitely still worthy of rest.

Progress Not Perfection: This post isn’t polished. There’s no big announcement or action step. It’s a moment, in real-time, to say: slowing down is hard. And sometimes necessary. And sometimes out of your control.

And that’s okay.

If this week forced you to slow down too, come share how it went (or didn’t) in Circle. We’ve got space for messy moments, quiet pauses, and "accidental breaks" that turn out to be exactly what you needed.

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Megs is the creator of the Organizing an ADHD Brain Podcast, where she helps women with ADHD and other neurodivergent folks declutter their homes and routines without shame. Her work is rooted in lived experience, gentle honesty, and the belief that small steps count. She’s here for the real-life version of organizing—the one that makes room for joy, rest, and a little bit of chaos.