Do I Have ADHD? Self-Reflection Checklist for Adults (Non-Diagnostic Guide)
Many adults reach a quiet moment where they think:
“Do I have ADHD… or am I just failing at normal life?”
If you’ve spent years feeling scattered, inconsistent, overwhelmed, “too much” in some situations and “not enough” in others, it’s understandable to look for a framework that makes sense of it all.
This guide is a self-reflection checklist, not a diagnostic test. It’s here to help you:
🔍 Notice patterns
🗣️ Put words to your experience
🧭 Decide whether exploring ADHD further could be useful
📜 Before You Start
This checklist is:
📜 A tool to organise what you already live with
📜 A way to notice patterns over time
📜 Written to be neutral and non-blaming
It is not:
📜 A final answer on whether you have ADHD
📜 A substitute for assessment by a GP, psychiatrist or psychologist
📜 A perfect fit for every culture, background or identity
You can use it as:
📝 Notes for yourself
🩺 Input for a conversation with a professional
🧡 A starting point for talking with trusted people or ND-friendly communities
📋 How to Use This Checklist
Instead of counting “points,” treat this as a guided scan of your life.
For each statement, you might think:
🟢 “Rarely / not really me”
🟡 “Sometimes / in some situations”
🔴 “Often / this is very me”
The checklist is divided into five areas:
- ⏰ Focus, attention and time
- 💥 Emotions and motivation
- 🧩 Organisation and daily life
- 👥 Relationships, work and study
- 🧬 History, overlaps and coping strategies
ADHD is usually a pattern across time and settings, often starting in childhood or adolescence, changing shape as you grow, but still recognisable in adulthood.
Try to read in “observer mode”:
“This happens a lot,” rather than
“This proves something about my worth.”
⏰ Section 1 — Focus, Attention & Time
🎯 Focus and Attention
🎯 I can focus very deeply on some things I enjoy, but my attention falls apart on boring or repetitive tasks.
📚 I often re-read the same paragraph or replay the same clip because my mind wandered.
🗣️ In conversations, my mind drifts to other thoughts and I miss parts of what people say.
📱 I get pulled into scrolling, clicking or researching and stay there much longer than I meant to.
🧠 What this may suggest
Your attention seems closely tied to interest and emotional pull. When something is stimulating or meaningful (a favourite topic, game, drama, crisis), your brain can sink into it completely. When a task feels flat or unclear, attention slips away even if you planned to focus. The challenge is less about “having no attention” and more about difficulty steering attention where you want it.
⏳ Time, Planning and Starting
⏳ I regularly underestimate how long things will take, even tasks I’ve done many times.
⌚ I lose track of time easily and only realise I’m late when it’s almost too late to fix it.
🧊 I know what I need to do, but I freeze instead of starting, especially when the task feels big or emotionally heavy.
🚨 I tend to start working seriously on important tasks only when the deadline is very close and I feel panic.
🧭 What this may suggest
Time may feel more like “now” vs “not-now” than a continuous line. Future moments are hard to feel in your body, so acting for them is difficult. Starting can feel like standing at the edge of a gap rather than taking a small step. When the deadline is close enough to feel real, urgency suddenly gives your brain the push it needed all along.
🧳 Memory and Losing Things
🧳 I frequently misplace keys, phone, wallet, glasses or important documents.
🚪 I walk into a room and forget why I went there, more than once a day.
📩 I forget appointments, plans or messages unless they’re written down and I’m reminded.
🌌 I’ve been described as “scattered,” “spacey” or “in my own world” more than once.
🧾 What this may suggest
Your working memory—the mental “clipboard” that holds information for a short time—may be small or easily overloaded. When it fills up, small intentions (“I’ll just put this here and come back”) and short-term plans (“I’m going to get my glasses”) fall off quickly. This is about how much your mental bandwidth can hold at once, not about how much you care.
💥 Section 2 — Emotions & Motivation
💫 Emotional Intensity
💫 My feelings often feel strong and fast, shifting quickly from calm to overwhelmed, angry or sad.
🌪️ When something hurts or embarrasses me, it tends to replay in my mind for a long time.
💢 I sometimes react more intensely than I meant to, then feel unsettled or guilty afterward.
🧊 I usually need longer than others to recover once I’m upset.
🌊 What this may suggest
Your emotional system might register events at a high volume. Experiences land deeply, and your body responds quickly. Once your system is stirred up, it takes time to settle again. This can make life vivid and meaningful, but also tiring and sometimes confusing to people whose emotional “volume” is lower.
💔 Sensitivity to Rejection and Criticism
💔 Small signs of distance (no reply, a short message, a changed tone) can feel like rejection.
🧷 Mild criticism can trigger shame or panic that lingers for a long time.
🔁 I replay conversations and messages, worrying I said or did something wrong.
🚪 I sometimes avoid opportunities because I’m afraid of being judged or disappointing someone.
🧩 What this may suggest
Your brain may treat possible social disapproval as a big risk. If you’ve often been misunderstood, scolded or blamed, it makes sense that you scan for danger and quickly assume you did something wrong. Your system is trying to protect you from more hurt, even if it overshoots sometimes.
🎢 Motivation and Energy
🎢 My motivation comes in waves: some days I can do many things, other days starting one thing is hard.
⚖️ I often feel either over-committed and overwhelmed, or under-stimulated and restless.
🔥 I can do very demanding tasks under pressure, but struggle with small everyday tasks.
🙇 I feel guilty for needing so much effort just to begin things other people seem to do easily.
🔋 What this may suggest
Your drive to act seems strongly linked to stimulation, novelty and urgency, not just to plans or values. When something feels exciting or urgent, you can surge. When it feels flat or far away, your system slow-walks or stalls. This creates a lived experience of “all or nothing” effort that can be confusing to you and to others.
🧩 Section 3 — Organisation, Daily Life & “Adulting”
🧺 Daily Tasks and Routines
🧺 Laundry, dishes or cleaning often pile up until they feel like a mountain.
🕰️ I find it hard to keep routines going, even when I genuinely want them.
🔄 I swing between short bursts of intense tidying and long periods of slow build-up.
🍳 I sometimes forget key steps in a task (like starting dinner but forgetting to turn on the stove).
🏚️ What this may suggest
Everyday chores rely on a combination of planning, sequencing, remembering, switching and tolerating boredom. When those systems are under strain, tasks that look simple from the outside can feel complicated and draining from the inside. It’s like trying to juggle several small balls with limited hands.
📅 Planning, Admin and Paperwork
📅 I delay or avoid paperwork, forms, email and admin because they feel confusing or exhausting.
📭 I miss deadlines or pay bills late, not because I don’t care, but because I lost track of them.
📓 I start using planners, apps or to-do lists but struggle to keep using them consistently.
🧮 Multi-step tasks (taxes, forms, applications) feel overwhelming, and it’s hard to see where to begin.
📂 What this may suggest
Many admin tasks are a mix of low interest, many steps and delayed reward. For a brain that needs clarity and immediacy to engage, this combination is heavy. Tools like planners can help, but they also require the very skills that are under pressure—hence the familiar pattern of enthusiastic setup followed by drop-off.
🧳 Environment and Clutter
🧳 Clutter appears quickly around me, even if I tidy fairly often.
📦 My bag, desk or digital files often feel like “organised chaos,” and sometimes just chaos.
🔐 I put things in “safe places” and then can’t find them when I actually need them.
🙈 I feel anxious or ashamed when people see my space unexpectedly.
🧱 What this may suggest
Your environment can reflect a mind that is busy, interrupted and full of inputs. Items land where your attention was at that moment, and decisions about where they “really” belong get postponed. Over time, these postponed decisions become piles, and those piles become another source of mental load.
👥 Section 4 — Relationships, Work & Study
🗣️ Social Patterns
🗣️ I interrupt or talk over people sometimes because I’m afraid I’ll lose my thought if I wait.
🎙️ I either talk a lot and share a lot, or go very quiet and let others do most of the talking.
🔍 After social events, I replay what I said and worry I came across as odd, annoying or “too much”.
👥 Group conversations (meetings, dinners) are hard to track, and I often miss parts or get lost.
🎭 What this may suggest
Social interaction asks you to track multiple voices, content, tone, body language, your own thoughts and timing at once. When your attention and working memory are already busy, it’s easy to come in too quickly, lose the thread, or spend a lot of time afterwards analysing and second-guessing.
❤️ Relationships and Family
❤️ Past partners or friends have called me “inconsistent,” “unreliable,” “always late,” or “not fully present”.
🤍 I care deeply about people but struggle with regular check-ins or remembering important dates.
🌪️ I can swing between being very involved and suddenly needing a lot of distance when I feel overloaded.
💬 Emotional conversations can escalate quickly or shut me down, even when I want to stay engaged and calm.
💞 What this may suggest
ADHD affects time sense, memory, energy, sensory load and emotional regulation, all of which live inside relationships. You can feel genuine care and still struggle to show it in steady, socially expected ways. Others may see this as not caring, while for you it may actually be a sign that you are over your internal limit.
💼 Work and Study
💼 At work or school, feedback often mentions high potential, inconsistency or lack of organisation.
📊 I do well in brainstorming, problem-solving or crisis situations, but struggle with routine admin and follow-through.
📉 My performance varies a lot depending on interest, novelty, pressure and mood.
🚪 I’ve changed jobs, roles or courses multiple times while trying to find a better fit.
📌 What this may suggest
Your strengths may be in ideas, creativity, quick thinking, empathy or big-picture problem-solving, while the structures around you reward steady, predictable, admin-heavy output. Living in that mismatch can make you feel both very capable and constantly off-balance at the same time.
🧬 Section 5 — History, Overlaps & Coping Strategies
🧒 Childhood and Earlier Life
🧒 As a child or teen, I was described as dreamy, hyper, chatty, easily distracted, or “in my own world”.
🏫 I had trouble staying seated, waiting my turn, or following multi-step instructions.
📚 My school reports mentioned potential, inconsistency, daydreaming or not using my abilities fully.
👪 Family members remember me as “sensitive,” “intense,” or “all over the place”.
📜 What this may suggest
Because ADHD is usually neurodevelopmental, it tends to leave traces early on. Even if no one used the word “ADHD,” comments about daydreaming, hyperactivity, talking, forgetfulness, or untapped potential can show that the pattern has been there for a long time.
🧠 Overlaps With Other Patterns
🧠 I’ve wondered if I might be autistic, highly sensitive, anxious, depressed or traumatised instead of (or as well as) ADHD.
🧠 I connect with content about neurodivergence in general, not just ADHD.
🧠 Stress, burnout or big life changes have made these difficulties much more intense.
🧠 I notice sensory issues (noise, light, textures, smells) that strongly affect my focus and energy.
🌈 What this may suggest
It’s common to live with more than one thing at the same time: ADHD and anxiety, ADHD and trauma, ADHD and autism, and so on. Many traits—like overwhelm, shutdown, rumination, or social fatigue—show up in several conditions, which can make self-understanding tricky and layered.
🧷 Coping and Masking
🧷 I’ve created complex systems (alarms, notes, scripts, personas) to keep myself appearing organised.
🧷 I often hide or minimise struggles because I’m worried people won’t understand or will judge me.
🧷 I feel like I’m acting “normal” on the outside while juggling chaos and overthinking on the inside.
🧷 When my mask slips (missed deadlines, mess, emotional outbursts), I feel intense shame.
🎭 What this may suggest
You’ve likely invested a lot of effort into appearing okay—remembering rules, scripting conversations, over-preparing, carrying mental checklists. These strategies are clever and resourceful, but they also cost energy. Over time, that cost can accumulate into burnout and a feeling that no one sees how hard you’re actually working.
🧮 Putting the Pieces Together
Looking back over everything, you might notice:
🧮 A few items that fit a little
🧮 Many that feel exactly like you
🧮 Some that don’t apply at all
Instead of focusing on how many you “passed,” ask things like:
💭 “Do these patterns describe struggles I’ve carried for a long time?”
📆 “Do they show up in different areas of my life, not just one?”
🔍 “Does this framework make more sense than just calling myself lazy, broken or too sensitive?”
You don’t need a formal diagnosis to:
🫶 Talk to yourself more kindly
🧱 Experiment with small changes to your routines and environment
🧑🤝🧑 Seek out ND-friendly spaces and information
A label can be helpful, especially for access and support, but your experience is real with or without one.
🩺 When to Consider a Professional Assessment
It might be worth seeking an assessment if:
🩺 Many statements felt like “this is me, most of the time”
🩺 These patterns have been present since childhood or teen years, even if they’ve changed
🩺 They have a noticeable impact on work, study, health, relationships or self-confidence
If you decide to go further:
📝 Gather Examples
📝 Note specific situations where focus, time, organisation, emotions or relationships regularly get tangled.
📝 Include both difficulties and strengths—times your brain has helped you in unique ways.
👩⚕️ Look for ADHD-Aware Support
👩⚕️ Start with a GP if that’s how referrals work where you live.
🧑⚕️ When possible, look for someone who explicitly mentions adult ADHD in their work.
If the first person you see isn’t helpful or minimises your concerns, that doesn’t erase what you live with. Where it’s an option, a second opinion can be worthwhile.
🌱 Final Thought Do I Have ADHD
Reaching the question “Do I have ADHD?” usually means you’ve already spent a long time working around challenges that nobody fully saw.
You’re not starting from scratch. You’re starting from everything you’ve already navigated.
From here, you’re allowed to:
🌱 Be curious instead of harsh
🌱 Treat your brain’s needs as real
🌱 Experiment with supports and boundaries that make life a bit kinder and more doable
Whether you eventually receive an ADHD diagnosis or not, you deserve understanding—for yourself, and from others.
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