AFM-10 · TOOL-SWITCHING TAX
You've Spent Three Weeks Researching AI Tools, But Haven't Shipped Anything
DESKRUNE
For when you come back.
Here's what it looks like.
The pattern: three weeks researching whether Claude or ChatGPT or Gemini is best for your workflow. Twelve YouTube videos. Six free trials. Zero shipped output. You convinced yourself this was 'doing the work.' It was not.
The cost isn't the time.
Tool selection scales with options. Options now exceed any individual's capacity to evaluate. For ADHD, novelty bias makes 'try the new one' always feel productive. The result: paralysis dressed up as diligence. The kit costs free; the indecision costs months.
Three ways you'll know you're in it.
Hook by hook. If you recognize even one of these in the last week, this is the failure mode that's costing you.
- 01I feel a sense of excitement and motivation when using the tool
- 02I'm able to focus for extended periods without feeling overwhelmed
- 03I'm able to achieve my goals without feeling like I'm fighting the tool
The protocol that breaks the loop.
The Circuit Breaker protocol involves setting clear goals and criteria for what you want to achieve with the tool, testing the tool for a set period, and evaluating its effectiveness based on your goals and criteria. By following this protocol, you can avoid the Tool-Switching Tax and find a tool that works for you.
You're not the only one in the room.
Every AFM hits four people. The ADHD adult living it. The partner watching it. The coach explaining it. The boss pricing it. Every kit speaks to all four — because the reader is sometimes one of the people watching.
You've spent hours researching AI tools, but haven't shipped anything
Your partner is struggling to find the right AI tool for their needs
Your clients are getting stuck in the Tool-Switching Tax cycle
Your team is struggling to find the right AI tool for their workflow
Often shows up with these.
AFMs cluster. If this one hits, the next two probably also do.
Kits that solve this directly.
Log a moment when this hit you.
Most ADHD-AI loops feel random until you can see them next to each other. Log a moment in the form below — intensity, time, AI tool, brief context. After three or more entries, you'll see your own pattern in the recap. Stays in your browser. Nothing is sent to us.
When did Tool-Switching Tax last happen?
You don't have to be precise. The point is to capture enough that the pattern becomes visible. Future-you reading this in three weeks will have something concrete to work with.
Deskrune. For when you come back.