When the Season Changes, My ADHD Brain Notices

Every year, fall arrives as if it is simply a change in scenery. The temperature drops, the days get shorter, the light changes, and suddenly there are pumpkins everywhere. People start talking about sweaters, football, and the holidays. But my ADHD brain notices the change in ways that have very little to do with pumpkin spice.

Recently, I noticed that I was tired. Not just I stayed up too late last night tired. I felt slower. My energy seemed different. Getting started required a little more effort. And because I have ADHD, instead of simply noticing that I was tired and moving on with my life, I did what I sometimes do: I went down a rabbit hole.

Why am I so tired? Am I sleeping enough? Is it my schedule? Am I doing too much? Do I need to change something? Is there something else going on?

One question led to another, because that is sometimes what my brain does. Then, while I was busy investigating myself, I noticed something else.

My clients seemed tired too.

Session after session, I was hearing versions of the same thing. People were having difficulty getting started. Students were adjusting to heavier academic demands. Adults were trying to regain momentum after summer. People who had been moving along relatively well a few weeks earlier were suddenly describing tasks as harder, heavier, or requiring more effort.

That made me curious.

Maybe we weren't all suddenly becoming less motivated. Maybe the environment had changed.

Executive Function Doesn't Happen in a Vacuum

One of the things I talk about often in my coaching practice is friction. We tend to assume that when something becomes harder, the problem must be us. I need to try harder. I need to be more disciplined. I was doing so well. What happened?

But executive functioning doesn't happen in a vacuum. Our ability to initiate tasks, sustain attention, manage time, regulate emotions, transition between activities, and follow through is affected by what is happening around us and inside us.

Fall changes both.

The amount of daylight changes. Temperatures shift. School schedules return. Work rhythms change. Family responsibilities may increase. The holidays begin appearing on the horizon. Even our opportunities for movement, social connection, and time outside can change.

For an ADHD brain already managing executive-function demands, seemingly small changes can add friction. That doesn't mean everyone with ADHD will struggle during the fall. It means that if you notice a change in yourself, it's worth paying attention to instead of immediately deciding something is wrong with you.

Rabbit Holes Are Information

Rabbit holes are one of the ways I recognize my own ADHD. Something catches my attention, and suddenly I need to know more. One question leads to another question, which leads to an article, which leads to another idea, which somehow leads me somewhere completely different from where I started.

Sometimes that curiosity is one of my greatest strengths. Sometimes it is also information.

When I realized I had been trying to figure out why I was suddenly so tired, I eventually had to stop searching for the perfect explanation and notice what was already in front of me.

My energy had changed.

I didn't need to argue with that information. I needed to respond to it.

That distinction matters because September has a lot of opinions about who we're supposed to become. More organized. More productive. More disciplined. More consistent. September can feel a little like January with better foliage.

But crossing into a new season doesn't require becoming a new person.

What Is This Season Actually Asking of You?

Before you create another routine, buy another planner, or decide you need to completely get your life together, ask yourself a different question: What is this season actually asking of me?

Has your energy changed? Has your attention changed? Have your responsibilities changed? Has your schedule changed? Has your environment changed?

If those things have changed, your supports may need to change too.

Instead of beginning with What's wrong with me?, I encourage my clients to look for friction. Where has life become harder than it was a few weeks ago? Maybe getting out of bed is harder now that the mornings are darker. Maybe your after-work energy has changed. Maybe your child's school schedule has changed the rhythm of the entire household. Maybe the routine you created during summer no longer fits your fall responsibilities. Maybe you're trying to maintain the same level of output with a different amount of energy.

You don't have to immediately fix any of it. First, notice it.

Difficulty is data, not identity.

What Would Make This 10% Easier?

Once you identify the friction, resist the urge to redesign your entire life. ADHD brains can be particularly good at turning one problem into an elaborate new system. New planner. New app. New color-coded schedule. New morning routine. New person beginning Monday morning.

Instead, ask yourself: What would make this 10% easier?

Maybe you need more transition time between work and home. Maybe tomorrow's first task needs to be decided before today ends. Maybe the task needs to become smaller. Maybe you need to move something from your head onto paper. Maybe you need another person present while you start. Maybe something needs to come off the list altogether.

Ten percent doesn't sound dramatic. That's the point.

When we're already experiencing more friction, creating an elaborate new system can become another thing our executive functions have to manage.

Get the Information Out of Your Head

I've also learned that when my brain is carrying too much, everything can begin to feel equally important. Appointments. Emails. Ideas. Things I need to buy. Something somebody said yesterday. A task I forgot three days ago. Something I absolutely must remember next Thursday.

When all of that information has the same address — my head — my working memory is doing unnecessary labor.

So write it down. Use the calendar. Set the reminder. Put the object where you can see it. Make time visible. Get the information out of your head and give it somewhere else to live.

Externalizing isn't cheating. It's an executive-function strategy. Your brain does not receive bonus points for remembering everything by itself.

Shrink the Entry Point

The same principle applies to getting started. When energy changes, initiation can change too. A task that was relatively easy to begin in August may feel heavier in October. Instead of arguing with yourself about why it shouldn't be difficult, shrink the entry point.

• ✦Don't clean the kitchen. Put away five things.
• ✦Don't work on the entire presentation. Open the document and write the title.
• ✦Don't answer every email. Choose one.

Starting smaller isn't lowering the bar. Sometimes it's how we reduce enough friction to create movement.

Give Your Brain a Landing Strip

I also pay attention to transitions during this time of year. Fall itself is a transition, but our days are filled with smaller transitions too: bed to morning, home to work, class to class, work to home, focused activity to rest, one task to another.

ADHD brains don't always shift gears simply because the clock says it's time. Sometimes we need a landing strip. A few minutes to move our bodies, get some water, change rooms, put away what belongs to the activity we just finished, or write down where we stopped so returning will be easier.

A few intentional minutes between activities may save much more time than forcing yourself through a transition your brain hasn't completed yet.

You're Not Behind. You're in a Different Season.

When our capacity changes, we often start comparing ourselves to another version of ourselves.

I used to be able to do this. I was doing better last month. Why can't I keep up?

But keep up with whom?

Sometimes we're trying to catch up to a version of the week, the season, or ourselves that doesn't actually exist anymore. We're measuring today's capacity against yesterday's circumstances and then judging ourselves when the numbers don't match.

You don't have to get back to where you think you should have been before you're allowed to move forward.

Ask yourself: Where am I now?

Then ask: What's the next useful move from here?

Fall doesn't require a complete reinvention. Your routine will get interrupted. Your energy will fluctuate. Some strategies will work beautifully for three weeks and suddenly stop working. You may start something and stop.

That doesn't mean you failed.

That's what I had to do when I noticed my own fatigue. Instead of asking myself to push harder, I had to become curious about what had changed.

Maybe that's an invitation for you too.

As the light shifts, the temperature changes, and fall settles in, pay attention to what your brain and body are telling you. You don't necessarily need a better planner. You don't necessarily need more discipline. You may simply need to adjust the way you're supporting yourself in the season you're actually living in.

Start. Return. Continue.
And remember: Difficulty is data, not identity.