47 tasks, 3 of them today — ADHD triage in 60 seconds
Notion shows you 47 open items. Your ADHD brain just sees overflow. The triage builds you three tasks in 60 seconds that match your energy and your time window today.
For the next few minutes
Overflow is not a willpower problem. ADHD brains lose their priority filter exactly when the list gets longer — somewhere around seven to ten items, prioritizing tips into paralysis.
The answer is not a better app. The answer is triage: which three items out of 47 are energy-realistic and actually doable today? Everything else doesn't exist today.
Three questions decide the triage: What is non-negotiable (a real deadline today)? What matches your current energy level? What needs less than 30 minutes of focus? Those are your three.
Important: the other 44 don't disappear. They wait. Triage is not deleting — it's conscious freezing. Your mind can stop trying to keep track of all of them at the same time.
Step by step
1. Count the open items
How many are there? Knowing the exact number is more calming than guessing.
2. Filter step 1: Real deadline today
What actually happens today if you don't do it? Not "it would be nice" — a real consequence.
3. Filter step 2: Energy-realistic
12%, 40%, or 75% energy right now — and which tasks fit that level?
4. Filter step 3: Under 30 minutes of focus
What can you get done in one slot? That becomes task number 3.
Common questions
Why three and not five?
Three is a deliberate limitation of the tool here, not a biological ceiling. The list stays short enough to choose an order; if three still feels like too much, take just one item.
What if all 47 really are urgent?
Then that's a resources problem, not a triage problem. In that case, the next step is a conversation with the people around you or your employer about redistribution — not a longer to-do list.
How do I stop the list from having 47 items again tomorrow?
The ADHD Daily Life Pack builds the intake triage in as a daily anchor. You do the triage once in the morning, not as an ongoing stress loop. New tasks don't enter the triage until the next morning.