The Myth of Being “Caught Up”

You ever have those days where you swear you’re catching up, like “Oh, look at me, functioning,” and then you realize you’re either about to start the whole thing over again or you were nowhere near as done as you thought you were?

That’s the myth of catching up.

Especially for us neurodivergent folks, thanks to a little gremlin I call AD4K Paralysis. I don’t like her much. She’s rude, unreliable, and shows up exactly when I can’t afford her drama.

Then comes the shame spiral. Even if you did a lot that day, it still doesn’t feel like enough because you can see the mountain you still have to climb. It’s exhausting and, frankly, annoying as hell.

Sometimes, I can outmaneuver her by breaking my day into smaller chunks. A little structure for the chaos. Us neurospicy types often need that scaffolding.

But with ADHD Paralysis, or in my case AD4K Paralysis, it’s hit or miss. Some days the chunks work. Other days, they just sit there on the list, mocking me in bullet-point form.

Still, here’s the truth:

I’m not done, boo. Not by a long shot. And that’s okay.

© Dereck Pritchard, 2025. All Rights Reserved.