Focused Bursts for ADHD Momentum
Marnie Wills is an AI strategist, a former international athlete, and a late-diagnosed ADHDer. With a full life and a fast-moving brain, feeling stagnant simply isn’t an option.
Her go-to framework? 90 day sprints. Rather than setting rigid, long-term marathon-like goals, Marnie works in shorter, seasonal windows of intention. This approach allows her to focus on meaningful short-term outcomes — with just enough structure to build momentum, and none of the pressure that comes from thinking “I’ll be doing this forever.”
“I have a really short attention span — so I always say I work in 90-day blocks. I can just commit to that. I’ve got this next three months, then I’ll re-evaluate and go again.”
— Marnie Wills, ADHDifference
This isn’t about hustling harder. It’s about tuning in, committing with clarity, and building a framework that feels energising, not exhausting.
Why It Works
For ADHD brains, long-term planning can feel vague, overwhelming, or disconnected from the motivation of now. But short, energised timeframes help channel drive and creativity without tipping into burnout. A 90-day sprint provides just enough structure to create urgency, without the pressure of permanence.
It also reframes commitment in a way that feels more doable: It’s not forever. It’s just for now. Whether you’re launching a project, trying a new habit, or shifting focus, 90 days is a timeframe that respects the ADHD need for novelty, flexibility, and visible progress.
When to Use It
90 day sprints are ideal when you:
- Feel stuck or stagnant and don’t know what’s next
- Have too many ideas and don’t know where to start
- Need to reignite motivation and clarity
- Are afraid to commit because you’re not sure it’s “forever”
- Want a fresh start without a full reinvention
How to Use It
- Choose one clear focus.
Pick a single area of your life or work you want to shift — something that feels meaningful right now. - Define your outcome.
What would progress look like by the end of 90 days? Be specific. A feeling, a result, or a milestone. - Reverse engineer the path.
Break that outcome into manageable steps. Brainstorm what actions, habits, or support you’d need week by week. - Write it down.
Don’t let your plan live only in your head. Externalising your ideas helps reduce overwhelm and creates a map you can actually follow. - Check in regularly.
Every few weeks, ask: Am I on track? Do I need to recalibrate? Self-leadership isn’t about staying rigid — it’s about staying connected. - Mark the finish line.
Whether or not everything goes to plan, reflect and acknowledge what you did. That closure creates momentum for the next sprint.
This strategy is about building direction without pressure, momentum without burnout, and working with the way your brain moves best.
The Science Behind It
Executive Function Challenges in ADHD:
ADHD involves impairments in executive functions (including planning, organisation, working memory, and follow‑through) which makes long‑term goals feel overwhelming or hard to initiate.1 Executive functions are central to self‑regulation, goal pursuit, and task initiation, all of which are addressed by breaking goals into shorter, more manageable sprints.
ADHD and Motivation / Temporal Challenges
People with ADHD often struggle with motivation for long‑range outcomes because the brain finds immediate rewards more salient than distant ones, and planning far ahead can feel unrewarding.2 This is why 90‑day timeframes which create nearer, clearer targets help sustain attention and drive.
Goal setting for ADHD:
Research shows that specifying when, where, and how actions will occur can increase response inhibition and help translate intentions (goals) into real behaviour, especially helpful in ADHD contexts for short‑term planning.3
💬 Final Thought
You don’t need a five-year plan to make meaningful progress, just a window of time that your brain can hold onto. Ninety days isn’t forever, but it’s enough. Enough to try something bold. Enough to shift direction. Enough to remind yourself what you’re capable of when pressure gives way to permission.
As Marnie reminds us, you don’t have to commit to a lifetime, just the next season. Each sprint becomes a chance to reconnect with what matters, move with intention, and build trust not just in the plan, but in yourself.
🎧 Listen to the full episode S2E22 with Marnie Wills here 🎧
REFERENCES
- Barkley, R. A. (2013). The Important Role of Executive Functioning and Self-Regulation in ADHD
- Morsink, S., Van der Oord, S., Antrop, I., Danckaerts, M., Scheres, A. (2021). Studying Motivation in ADHD: The Role of Internal Motives and the Relevance of Self Determination Theory
- Wieber, F., Thurmer, J.L., Gollwitzer, P.M. (2015). Promoting the translation of intentions into action by implementation intentions: behavioral effects and physiological correlates