What it is
An implementation intention is a sentence with a very specific shape: "When X happens, I will do Y."
It sounds almost insultingly simple. It works because it does something an ADHD brain finds genuinely hard: it makes a decision now, in a calm moment, so your future self doesn't have to make that decision later, when your brain has a hundred tabs open and zero spare bandwidth.
When to use it
- You keep meaning to do something but never do
- You start the thing and get derailed at a predictable point
- You're trying to build a new habit and "remembering" isn't enough
- A task requires switching, and the switch is what kills you
How to do it
- Pick the trigger. Not a time (times are slippery for ADHD brains). A moment: the second the kettle clicks, when I sit down at my desk, after I lock my bike, when I put the kids to bed.
- Pick one specific action. Not "do some admin". "open my email and reply to one thing."
- Write it as one sentence. "When the kettle clicks on, I will text Sam back."
- Put it where you'll see it at the trigger moment. A sticky note on the kettle. A reminder that fires at 7pm. Not a vague intention.
An example
I had three weeks of unread voicemails. Setting aside "voicemail time" never worked. What worked:
When I open the car door to drive home, I will play one voicemail before starting the engine.
One per day. Three weeks of backlog cleared in two and a bit weeks. The trigger did the work. I didn't have to decide each time.
When this fails
- You pick a trigger that doesn't reliably happen. "When I have a quiet moment" is not a trigger. "When my partner walks out the door for their run" is a trigger.
- The action is too big. "I will reply to all emails" isn't an implementation intention, it's a wish. "I will open the email app" is.
- You forget about it. This is why the physical reminder at the trigger location matters. Don't trust your memory; that's the whole reason you needed this technique.
Try it this week
Pick one thing you keep meaning to do but never do. Write a single implementation intention sentence for it. Put it somewhere you'll physically see at the trigger moment. Notice whether it changes anything.
If it does, you've found a new tool. If it doesn't, the trigger was wrong. Try a different one.