A specific question, answered specifically.

ADHD decision paralysis — the actual cause and the fix

The standard explanation is "ADHD adults have low dopamine, so making decisions feels expensive." That's directionally true and clinically supported (Mowinckel meta-analysis 2015, PMID 25755110), but the actionable version is more specific: every open decision lives in working memory until it's resolved, and ADHD working memory is loaded faster than the average brain's.

By the time you have 6+ open decisions floating ("should I email X back" / "what's for dinner" / "is the laundry dry yet"), the next decision lands on a saturated system, and you freeze. The buffer-side mechanic is in ADHD working memory limits.

What actually works

Reduce open decisions, not increase decision-making capacity. Two protocols:

1. Default-set on recurring decisions. Same lunch every weekday. Same coffee shop. Same gym time. The decisions you skip on day 6 are the ones this protects. The Decision Fatigue Index tool finds your highest-cost decision area and gives you the one default to set first.

2. Triage queue: 90-second rule. Every open decision gets one of three labels: "answer in 90 seconds and close it," "schedule a 5-minute slot tomorrow," or "decide that I'm not deciding right now (and write that down)."

What doesn't work

"Just make a decision." This is what people who don't have ADHD say. They have spare working memory. The depleted-late-day version of the same trap is in what is decision fatigue and how to design around it.

Pros-and-cons lists. They double the size of the open-decision representation. The list itself becomes a new decision: "is my list complete?"

The Deskrune version

The ADHD EF Kit has a "default-set" page that walks you through pre-deciding the seven most-recurrent decisions in your life. After 30 days of defaults, you'll have measurably more cognitive room for the actual decisions that need it.

Optional physical companion: a pack of 200 index cards ($5-8). Each open decision gets a card. The pile gets visibly smaller as you triage. Visible progress is half the trick for ADHD brains.