Real work moments from the inside.
Essays on the patterns underneath stuck work — the pressure no one assigned you, the trap of trying to fix yourself first, and what’s actually happening when the productivity systems stop working. For software engineers and tech leaders with ADHD.
How the writing is organized.
The essays cluster into three patterns that keep showing up in coaching conversations. Each thread is a different angle on the same underlying experience — the gap between what a productivity system can do and what’s actually going on underneath.
The pressure underneath the work.
What’s actually driving the stuckness — the invisible expectations, the deadline-as-fuel pattern, the silent assumption that you’re supposed to do this alone.
Read the thread → Thread 2Why more discipline isn’t the answer.
The fix-yourself trap, accountability as a workaround, and what changes when you stop treating ADHD as a moral failing.
Read the thread → Thread 3Underneath procrastination.
The inside view of stuck work — what distraction actually is, where the “is it me?” spiral starts, and why the easy part feels like the hardest part.
Read the thread →Latest essays.
Most recent first. Each links to a short framing on this site, with the full essay on Substack.
- The pressure no one assigned you
- When Fixing Yourself Becomes the Blocker — Your side project is not a referendum on who you are.
- It looks like distraction… — But who’s really doing the distracting?
- When ‘I’m not doing enough’ isn’t the problem — From the inside, it’s always your fault.
- Have you noticed this about stuck work? — The problem isn’t your “system.”
- ADHD and Self-Acceptance — Miles Davis, B.B. King, and ADHD.
- You’re not the only one stuck — It’s not always a “you” problem.
- How staying silent backfires — For ADHD, that order is exactly backward.
- You Think You Need Accountability — “Accountability” is often the wrong fix.
- When ADHD turns “I’m stuck” into “I suck” — The spiral from confusion to shame.
- “I only work when it’s on fire” — sound familiar? — Pressure isn’t the fuel. It’s the filter.
- This isn’t a productivity newsletter — A short note before the first issue.