Task Paralysis
The "Do It Badly" Protocol: Lowering the Bar for Task Initiation
Task initiation ADHD stalls when the bar feels too high. The Do It Badly protocol removes perfectionism so starting is always possible.
ADHD perfectionism and task avoidance are closely linked — and in a counterintuitive direction. It is not that ADHD adults do not care about quality. Often they care so much that the fear of producing something substandard makes starting feel impossible.
"I will do it when I have enough time to do it properly." "I need to be in the right headspace." "I want to do it right the first time."
These are perfectionism statements, not laziness statements. The task avoidance is protecting a standard that the current conditions cannot meet.
The "Do It Badly" protocol neutralises this by making bad output explicitly the goal.
The protocol
Before starting any task you have been avoiding, say or write the following explicitly:
"I am going to do this badly. The goal is a bad version, not a good one. A bad version is infinitely better than no version."
Then do a bad version.
Write the terrible first draft. Make the rough sketch. Send the imperfect email. Start the messy spreadsheet.
The "Do It Badly" protocol works because it changes the performance contract. Instead of "produce something good" — an ambiguous standard that perfectionism can always find fault with — the goal becomes "produce something." And "something" has a clear, achievable definition.
Why bad is better than nothing
A bad version of something has properties that nothing does not:
- It can be edited (nothing cannot)
- It shows you what the task actually involves (nothing does not)
- It proves you are capable of starting (nothing does not)
- It creates momentum for improvement (nothing does not)
- It might be better than you feared (nothing will never surprise you)
The first draft of almost every piece of writing, code, plan, or design is bad. Professional writers know this; they call it the "vomit draft." The value is not the quality of the output — it is that you now have something to react to and improve.
For ADHD brains that struggle with blank-page initiation, the bad version is exactly the scaffold needed to begin editing rather than originating.
Done is better than perfect — and Herding Chickens helps you start. Join the early access list and get task-starting tools built for ADHD brains.
Applying it to specific task types
Emails: Write exactly what you want to say, without editing for politeness or professionalism. Read it back. Edit. Send.
Work documents: Open the file. Type the title and a rough summary of what you need to say. Put "THIS IS BAD AND WILL BE EDITED" at the top so you cannot mistake it for final. Then write freely.
Phone calls: Write three bullet points of what you need to say. Practice saying them out loud once, badly. Then dial.
Home tasks: Start with the section most in disarray, do a rough 50% job on it, and stop. Good enough to make the space functional is the standard, not Pinterest-perfect.
The enemy of "Do It Badly"
The technique fails when you secretly hold onto the good-version standard as the real goal. "I'll do it badly at first, but then I'll fix it until it's perfect" is still perfectionism with extra steps.
Use it genuinely: the bad version is the goal. If editing happens, great. If it does not, the bad version stands.
Keep reading
- The "Five-Minute Rule" to Trick Your Brain into Starting Frictionless Tasks
- Bypassing the Wall: Turning Overwhelming Projects into Single-Action Steps
- The "No-Guilt" Task Roll-Forward: How to Handle Incomplete To-Do Lists
Not medical advice. Herding Chickens is productivity software, not therapy or clinical treatment. For clinical support, please contact a qualified professional.