Navigating the Liminal Space of Task Switching with ADHD

As August leans into September, the air shifts in small, honest ways — slightly earlier sunsets, very-slightly-cooler mornings (except for this recent heat wave in Vancouver!), a calendar that quietly begins to fill. These liminal, in-between spaces can feel uneasy for ADHD brains. We’re moving from one season to another, yes — but also from one possible role to the next version of ourselves we’re still getting to know, from the freedom of summer to the looming hum of what’s ahead. Around this time of the year, new projects and inspirations might show up, back-to-school lists crowd the fridge, and the buzz of something new sits beside the quiet pressure of the year’s end coming into view. Even if we’re not in school, many of us might feel this seasonal script in our bodies — as if years of school calendars have conditioned our brains to expect that something is about to happen soon. For ADHD brains, that blend of excitement and invisible expectations can be energizing and unsettling at the same time.

All of this has me thinking about transitions and task switching — those daily and seasonal pivots many of us with ADHD find tricky to navigate. In this post, we’ll gently unpack what task switching is, why it can land heavier for ADHD brains, then move into a few evidence-backed experiments you’re welcome to adapt so that each move from one thing to the next is a little gentler on your brain. Think kind, flexible adaptations, small switches, not overhauls.

What is Task Switching or Task Transitioning?

Task switching (or task transitioning) is exactly what it sounds like — our brain lets go of one activity and “loads” a new set of rules, tools, and cues for the next. Even when the shift feels instant, most brains show tiny performance dips right after a switch. Cognitive scientists call these switch costs — a brief slowdown while the brain reconfigures goals and rules in working memory. When we spend a stretch of time doing mixed, multi-tasking work (such as bouncing between Slack, a report, and an email), performance across that whole mixed block is slower and more effortful than doing one task in a “pure” block — this is what researchers call a mixing cost (Kiesel et al., 2010; Schmitz & Voss, 2012).

These costs show up for almost everyone — not just ADHDers. What often feels different with ADHD is the size and felt experience of those costs. Switching leans on three executive functions that can be especially finicky under load for ADHDers: stopping the current task (inhibition), loading the new task (working memory/updating), and moving between them without tangling (cognitive flexibility) (Dajani & Uddin, 2015; Arabacı & Parris, 2020). Add fatigue, notifications, emotional flooding and a dozen open tabs, and it can feel like working on a slightly glitchy laptop screen with surprise tabs popping up mid-sentence. Of course it’s hard to start the new task — or stop the current one — when the whole system is juggling that much.

A quick note here before we proceed: task initiation, task stopping (inhibiting), task paralysis, cognitive flexibility, emotional flooding/regulation, and task time perception are closely related executive processes amongst other topics that deserve their own space — we’ll certainly unpack these in later entries. For today, we’ll stay focused on task switches/task transitions.

Navigating the Challenges of Task Switches and Transitions for ADHDers

Let’s name why these tiny pivots can feel heavy, and let’s attempt to do it in a way that honours ADHD brains.

• Adults with ADHD often demonstrate a specific friction when the rule of a task changes (called attentional set-shifting). It’s not an effort or willpower problem — it’s a brief, very real bottleneck where working memory is already full and has to retune on the fly. That’s the jam we can feel at the switch (Luna-Rodríguez et al., 2018; Arabacı & Parris, 2020).

• Emotional dysregulation or flooding is common in adult ADHD and meaningfully related to day-to-day functioning. A flood of sudden and very valid emotions can temporarily crowd the same executive resources we rely on for task switching — so when we’re flooded with an emotion, the “next task” signal can’t get through until the nervous system settles. This is physiology, not willpower.

• Energy and time-on-task fatigue matters a lot. As the day wears on, sustained effort increases the “switch costs” (remember those tiny performance dips after task switches), so task transitions later in the day can feel even harder. That’s a normal time-on-task effect — and it’s often more pronounced for ADHD (Tucha et al., 2017).

• Time can feel blurry. Research specific to adult ADHD show consistent differences across time perception tasks — such as estimating time, in determining how much time has passed, and in tracking time intervals. When five minutes quietly becomes forty-five, the cue to switch either arrives late or not at all (Weissenberger et al., 2021; Mette, 2023).

What this can all look like in real life:

• You’re deep in an email at 2:05pm… and it’s somehow 2:57pm already. The switch to prep for your next meeting didn’t kick in, so now we are sprinting with the 30 seconds we have left.

• The workflow at work has already changed, but your hands keep doing last quarter’s steps (old rule/new rule collision).

• You duck out to the bathroom and come back to a blank mind. Without re-entry “breadcrumbs”, re-entry costs are high and the thread is gone.

None of this is laziness. These are predictable, research-described patterns of how our brains allocate control, memory, and attention — especially in a world that asks us to juggle fifty-five tabs (on the screen and in our heads). We’re not broken; we’re managing a steeper gear change at real-world speed.

ADHD Specific Task Switch Cues You can Trial and Adapt

So far, we covered the why. Now, for the fun part — below are a few research based experimental options that you can adapt and make your own. These are invitations, not prescriptions (because I completely understand that every ADHD brain is unique and requires their own way of doing things). Try one or two, combine them, be creative with it, make it your own!

1. Pre-load the next task before you stop the current task:

   Before you wrap up a task, open the file or link for the next task and type/write out the very first step action at the top where you can see it when you return (make it very clear and literal). This lowers interference from the previous task and reduces the re-entry dip later on.

   
   

2. Leave quick “park-and-resume” breadcrumbs

   Similar to the first one, take 1 minute to write a quick re-entry note (post-it or at the top of a doc) of what you intend to do next. For example: Next → 1) add figure caption, 2) check cell E14, 3) export PDF. Stick it on/near the already set up file/link of the task so it’s ready to go. This supports prospective memory, reduces working-memory load, and speeds up re-entry.

   
   

3. Add small buffers between tasks:

   Work in a realistic block of time for you (i.e. 40-50 min, or however long you planned for/works for you), then take 5–10 minutes (add a timer here for a challenge) to wrap up by setting the stage for what's next (creating re-entry cue). Buffers and short pauses can protect attention and performance between task switches.

   
   

4. 1 minute switch micro-routine (or mini self-check-in):

   This one works best if today’s goals/intentions are already sketched out. If you are feeling lost in your task, wrapping up a task, or nearing a task shift:

   Pause → Check today’s goal/intention/tasks → Trial one next action step and realign

   Similar to the pause-and-re-engage pattern supported by metacognitive programs (i.e. Goal Management Training), a quick intentional check-in can make a large impact on being able to achieve the goals/intentions we set out for the day.

   
   

5. Zone your spaces:

   Separate “deep work” files/documents from “admin” and “social media/resting” (i.e. different browser profiles, actual separate trays, or screen extenders for laptops). Clear visual boundaries, and fewer visual cues from the last task mean less cognitive pull-back, and smoother entry to the next task.

   
   

6. Add a 90-second body reset at each switch:

   Stand, stretch, sip water, take 3 slow breaths.

   Brief, physical state shifts help the nervous system change modes so attention can follow — especially when tired/later in the day.

   
   

7. Build your own “Dopamenu”:

   Create a “menu” of quick, medium, and longer resets that reliably give you a lift — your pre-decided “fuel options.” Keep it where you can see it (sticky note, laminated card, phone widget, Notion dashboard) to cut decision fatigue and cue you toward a brief recharge before switching tasks. Use it as buffer between tasks. A timer can add a challenge/gamify it — only if it feels supportive (skip it if it adds stress). Update your menu as you discover what actually energizes you.

   
   

   For example: (ADDitude Magazine also has a downloadable sample here)

⚡️1-3 min	🌿5-10 min	☀️10–20 min
Stand + stretch	Stretching	Walk outside
10 Jumping jacks	Quick walk/workout	Power nap
Cold water splash	Quick doodle	Read a book
Sing your favourite song	Replenish/rehydrate	Play with the dog
Deep breaths	Meditation with an app	Journaling

8. Cue the next task with habit pairing/stacking:

   Link the start of a new task/action to something you already do so the end of one task becomes the cue for the next. Keep it consecutive (one task at a time, instead of multitasking) to avoid mixed-task costs.

   
   

   Examples:

   • After brushing teeth → take morning meds (keep meds and a sticky note where you brush your teeth).

   • After washing up in the morning → get changed (have change of clothes ready to go in view near the towel so that you are cued to get changed).

   
   

   Stacking a task after an already in place habit reduces cognitive load and switch costs. Repetition makes the sequence more automatic, reducing effort at the switch point and easing initiation.

   
   

9. Optional mindful overlay for low-load moments:

   Layer a gentle mindfulness cue (3 deep breaths, naming through the 5 senses, body scanning, stretching) onto low-load activities — mindful eating, folding laundry, walking the dog, waiting for water to boil — to give your system a calmer “bridge” into the next task.

A Gentle Landing + A Task Switching Guide

Task switching isn’t a test of your character or identity, it’s a real, multi-layer, complex systems shift in our brain. With ADHD, that shift is steeper — especially when rules change mid-stream, when time gets fuzzy, or when reminders don’t spark action. You deserve tools that meet that reality with kindness. Uniquely aligned to your brain, compassionate designs — bridge cues, breadcrumbs, buffers, micro-routines, paired cues, mindfulness overlays — can turn a scramble into a sequence.

Please feel free to use the downloadable ⬇️ Task Switching Guide ⬇️ below to experiment and co-design what feels most helpful and natural to how you work!

Notion Task Switching Guide

References

Arabacı, M., & Parris, B. A. (2020). Inattention and task switching performance: the role of predictability, working memory load and goal neglect. Psychological Research, 84, 2090-2110.

Dajani, D. R., & Uddin, L. Q. (2015). Demystifying cognitive flexibility: implications for clinical and developmental neuroscience. Trends in Neurosciences, 38(9), 571–578.

Kiesel, A., et al. (2010). Control of task switching: A review of processes, models, and methods. Psychological Bulletin, 136(5), 849–874.

Luna-Rodríguez, A., et al. (2018). Selective impairment of attentional set shifting in adults with ADHD. Behavioral and Brain Functions, 14(1), 18.

Mette, C. (2023). Time perception in adult ADHD: Findings from a decade-a review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(4), 3098.

Schmitz, F., & Voss, A. (2012). Decomposing task-switching costs with the diffusion model. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 38(1), 222-250.

Tucha, L., et al. (2017). Sustained attention in adult ADHD: time-on-task effects of various measures of attention. Journal of Neural Transmission, 124, 39-53.

Weissenberger, S., et al. (2021). Time perception is a focal symptom of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity in adults. Medical Science Monitor.