ADHD, The 12 Week Year and Plan Amnesia

ADHD sends me into a productivity frenzy and then makes me forget about it altogether.

Photo by cottonbro

Stumbling upon the 12 Week Year concept was a revelation. Condensing a year’s worth of goals into three months, thus achieving ultimate productivity? Count me in, sign me up, and let’s go. Cue 5 weeks in and I rediscover my 12WY Notion page for the first three weeks that I filled it. I should have known. My 3 months (+ a pre-planned vacation in the middle) date was supposed to be July 1st. Oh well. It’s the 30th when I’m writing this.

Living with ADHD means experiencing bursts of hyperfocus followed by periods of forgetfulness. It’s as if my brain launches into a frenzy of productivity, only to leave me in a haze of plan amnesia shortly afterwards. I find myself engrossed in a task, pouring all my energy into it, only to completely forget about it once the initial excitement wears off. And when I say completely, I mean completely.

Trying to Google the term plan amnesia didn’t really result in any worthwhile results. Maybe other people just don’t have it? I would explain it as a type of selective amnesia that occurs in neurodivergent people who may or may not go into manic productivity episodes.