your Adhd profiler
"help me decide" guide
Click on the box of the skill you are trying to assess to get guiding questions for your self-rating.
Identifying priorities and sticking to them. And breaking down big tasks into subtasks and timelines. Score below 5 if this is you: ✅I struggle to plan out big projects. ✅I prefer to "go with the flow" than to decide in advance when to do what. ✅I tend to over-commit - saying "yes" to something without first checking where I could fit it in. ✅I have difficulty prioritizing tasks when there is a lot to do. ✅I know what is most important but I have difficulty acting on my priorities.
prioritizing & planning
Starting
Getting started when you intend to, or in an efficient or timely manner, as opposed to procrastinating. ✅ I often procrastinate until the last minute. ✅I put things off if they are not interesting to me (housework, admin, mundane tasks). ✅I put things off if I'm overwhelmed and don't know where to start. ✅I put off important long term goals that have no immediate deadlines. ✅It's easier to start a task if I am answerable to someone else (accountability.)
Managing time
The ability to have an accurate awareness of time. Score below 5 if this is you: ✅I often run late for meetings or appointments. ✅I often underestimate how long a task will take. ✅I often run out of time to do things. ✅ At the end of the day, I am often left disappointed with how far I got in what I set out to do.
Managing Attention
The ability to stay focused in the face of distractions, boredom or fatigue. Score below 5 if this is you: ✅I am easily distracted by things going on around me. ✅I get started on something, but then follow a chain of distractions until I end up somewhere else completely. ✅I often leave tasks or projects unfinished. ✅I have difficulty stopping when I am (hyper)focusing on something I find interesting.
Managing Emotions
The ability to regulate the intensity of your emotions. Score below 5 if this is you: ✅I am easily frustrated or angered (have a short fuse) or I am easily upset by negative feedback. ✅I have difficulty deferring personal feelings (like anger, frustration, or disappointment) until after a task has been completed. ✅I struggle to adapt to unexpected events or to adjust to changes in plans. ✅It takes a long time to calm down and get back to work after being upset. ✅I tend to ruminate (get locked into a negative emotion for a long time).
Managing Reactions
The ability to "look before you leap"—to" pause in order to consider possible consequences before acting, as opposed to impulsively reacting. Score below 5 if this is you: ✅I interrupt people in conversations. ✅I've been told I "have no filter." ✅ I jump to conclusions and don't think before I speak. ✅I overspend or overindulge in ways that I later regret. ✅I often "go with my gut" and take action without having all the facts.
Managing Energy
The ability to balance productivity with recharging. ✅I often feel burned out and stressed. ✅ I have a low tolerance for stress or pressure. ✅ I do not enjoy working in a highly demanding, fast-paced environment. ✅I overextend myself, which leads to me being totally unproductive for a while after that. ✅I get stuck wasting my time on things that don't give me more energy (social media, Netflix, YouTube etc.)
organization
The ability to create and maintain organized systems for physical space, digital info or task management. Score below 5 if this is you: ✅I struggle to keep my physical space tidy. ✅I lose or misplace belongings. ✅I save information or write to-dos down, but forget where I saved them. ✅My email inbox and digital files are a hot mess! ✅I can create a system but struggle to maintain it.
goal-focused persistence
The ability to "stick with it" until completion. Score below 5 if this is you: ✅I struggle to consistently do things that will bring me closer to my long-term goals. ✅I do things in fits and starts as opposed to working consistently over time. ✅I give up easily when I hit an obstacle. ✅I tend to choose immediate pleasures over working towards long-term goals.
self awareness
The ability to zoom out to monitor, reflect on and gain understanding of your thought processes. Score below 5 if this is you: ✅I struggle to step back from a situation to make an objective decision. ✅I've been told I don't learn from my mistakes. ✅ I feel stuck in that when find myself in a familiar situation, I struggle to adapt my reactions so as to achieve different results. ✅I seldom evaluate my performance and devise methods for self-improvement. ✅ I get stuck in thinking patterns that don't move me forward.
For curious readers:
The jdhd model of
executive function
Disclaimer:
This is not an official diagnostic tool. Take the profiler to see if or how you exhibit executive function challenges. Then share the results with your doctor to seek a diagnosis. (My model of executive functioning is based on a questionaire that appears in The Smart But Scattered Guide to Success.)
The "pies" that make up the ADHD Wheel are my model of the executive functions, based on a questionaire that appears in The Smart But Scattered Guide to Success. You will see they are divided into 4 stages (represented by 4 different colors):
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PREPARING - What you have to do before you get started on a task/ project.
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STARTING - Initiating - taking the first step. You can see by the color mix that this skill takes us from preparing to managing.
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MANAGING - Things you have to monitor and regulate while working on a task / project.
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CLOSING - Following through to completion, persistence over time.