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The Podcast

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For the person who wants to stop feeling burnt out and start tackling their to-do list

It's time to go From Stuck to Started!

Get actionable strategies while you drive to work, walk the dog, cook dinner, or fold that pile of laundry 😉

Jump to Episodes

Whether you have ADHD, identify as a perfectionist, or are just someone juggling a million tasks every day, this podcast is for you

New episodes come out every Wednesday. Make sure to subscribe & follow along!

Not a podcast listener? No worries! Each podcast has a short, skimmable blog post that you can read. 

headshot of Sarah Lovell, Owner and Coach at Executive Functioning First, LLC

Hi, I’m Sarah Lovell! 

I created the From Stuck to Started podcast because I think more people should be talking about executive functioning & how it impacts our everyday lives. 

In my 10 years of executive function & ADHD coaching, the clients I coach all struggle with similar challenges: procrastination, time blindness, forgetfulness, distractibility, overwhelm, guilt, shame, imposter syndrome, and perfectionism. And they feel so alone with those challenges (until coaching!). 

If you’ve experienced those challenges, you are not alone. 

That’s where the From Stuck to Started Podcast comes in. I am going to share resources, strategies, and invite guest experts so we can all learn and grow together. 

Whether you're an adult with ADHD, an ambitious professional, an overwhelmed college student, a perfectionist, or you just love learning, the From Stuck to Started Podcast  is here for you.

Tune in whenever you’re feeling stuck or need a boost. 

Episodes & Blog Posts

Sarah Lovell Sarah Lovell

How do you Delegate Tasks​ with ADHD: Strategies to Make Delegating Easier

How do you delegate tasks​ with ADHD: Strategies to make delegating easier

Delegating sounds simple; just hand something off and check it off your list, right? But if you have ADHD, executive functioning challenges, or a touch of perfectionism, it’s rarely that straightforward. In this episode, I’m breaking down why delegating can feel so complicated, sharing a few real-life examples, and giving you practical strategies to make it a little easier. 

What you’ll learn in this episode:

  • Why delegating requires all of your executive functioning skills

  • The most common reasons it’s hard to delegate — from time blindness to people-pleasing

  • How to separate planning from action so you can actually pass things off

  • Simple check-in questions to help you decide what’s worth keeping and what to delegate

  • How to reframe delegation as an act of trust, not control

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Sarah Lovell Sarah Lovell

Why “Just Ask for Help” Isn’t Actually That Simple (& how to practice asking for help)

Why “Just Ask for Help” Isn’t Actually That Simple (& how to practice asking for help)

Sometimes being stuck asking for help isn’t about fear or shame—it’s about not knowing what to ask, who to ask, or how to ask for help. That uncertainty can leave you spinning your wheels, overthinking, and feeling even more overwhelmed. In this episode, I’m breaking down the practical side of asking for help—the executive functioning skills it takes, why it can feel so complicated, and what to do when you don’t even know where to start.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

  • Why asking for help uses every single executive functioning skill (and why that’s part of what makes it so hard)

  • A real-life example of how to ask for help, even when you don’t have a clear question yet

  • How to figure out who to ask for help and when to ask so it’s actually useful

  • A simple script you can use when you’re stuck and don’t know what to say

  • Ways to give yourself credit for every small step of the process (even when it feels uncomfortable)

Let’s dive into the emotional barriers that make asking for help so difficult, why your brain resists it, and how you can start to shift that internal dialogue to make it feel a little less overwhelming.

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Sarah Lovell Sarah Lovell

Why Asking for Help Feels So Hard (and How to Make It Easier)

Why Asking for Help Feels So Hard (and How to Make It Easier)

Asking for help can feel really uncomfortable—even when it’s something small, like figuring out a tech issue or a favor like asking a friend to grab your kids from school. For many people, especially those with ADHD, it can trigger feelings of guilt, shame, or fear of judgment.

Let’s dive into the emotional barriers that make asking for help so difficult, why your brain resists it, and how you can start to shift that internal dialogue to make it feel a little less overwhelming.

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Sarah Lovell Sarah Lovell

How to stop being a people pleaser: 5 traps to watch out for

How to stop being a people pleaser: 5 traps to watch out for

Have you ever caught yourself saying “yes” when you really wanted to say “no”? Pleasing people isn’t always about keeping the peace or avoiding conflict. Sometimes it’s about not realizing how long something will take, how it will impact your schedule, or whether you truly have the capacity to do it.

Let’s explore how people pleasing often shows up when executive function challenges are in the mix and what you can do to shift out of it.

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Sarah Lovell Sarah Lovell

3 questions to help overachievers avoid burnout

3 questions to help overachievers avoid burnout

If you’re an overachiever with ADHD, you’ve probably heard two conflicting messages:

  1. Do more, push harder, achieve bigger goals.

  2. Slow down, set boundaries, rest more.

You’re constantly being told to “do more” and “do less” at the exact same time. No wonder you feel overwhelmed, guilty, and burnt out. Instead of swinging between “go faster, do more” and “slow down, do less,” I want to help you find a gentler middle ground where productivity and rest can actually coexist.

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Sarah Lovell Sarah Lovell

My #1 Strategy to navigate overwhelm as an executive function & ADHD Coach

My #1 Strategy to navigate overwhelm as an executive function & ADHD Coach

If you’ve ever felt so overwhelmed that your brain either spins out at 10,000 miles an hour or completely shuts down, you are not alone. Overwhelm with ADHD can show up whether it’s caused by stress, anxiety, or even excitement.

In this post, I share my favorite strategies for navigating ADHD overwhelm, how to ask for help (even when it’s hard), and ways to support someone you care about who might be feeling stuck. These are tools I use personally and with my ADHD and executive functioning coaching clients, and they work whether your overwhelm is occasional or chronic.

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Sarah Lovell Sarah Lovell

How to Manage ADHD Overwhelm When Your To-Do List Feels Impossible

How to Manage ADHD Overwhelm When Your To-Do List Feels Impossible

If your to-do list feels impossibly long and you're stuck in a cycle of avoidance, analysis paralysis, and guilt—you’re not alone. This kind of ADHD overwhelm is incredibly common, and it’s not about needing more discipline. 

In this episode of the From Stuck to Started podcast, I share how executive functioning and overwhelm are connected and offer mindset shifts and strategies you can use to get unstuck and take action—even when everything feels like too much.

Read More
Sarah Lovell Sarah Lovell

3 Mindset Shifts to Stop Feeling Overwhelmed When Everything Feels Like Too Much

3 Mindset Shifts to Stop Feeling Overwhelmed When Everything Feels Like Too Much

If you’re feeling maxed out, behind on everything, and like your brain might explode from all the tabs open in your mind (and maybe on your laptop), you’re not alone. It’s not always easy to stop feeling overwhelmed - but there are certain things you can do. 

Whether it’s the never-ending to-do list, that pile of laundry staring you down, or the mental exhaustion of juggling work, home, family, and everything in between overwhelm with ADHD is real. And it’s not just about the tasks themselves. It’s about the energy, executive functioning, and emotional labor it takes to get through the day.

I'm not offering a one-size-fits-all solution. There isn’t one.  Instead, I’m sharing some mindset shifts, gentle reframes, and reminders to help you feel a little more grounded when everything feels like too much.

What You’ll Learn in this Blog Post: 

  • Why overwhelm hits differently when you have ADHD or executive functioning challenges

  • The “something goes up, something has to go down” mindset shift

  • How to spot (and stop) the habit of comparing yourself to a past version of you

  • Questions to ask when you're in survival mode and need to re-center

  • Reframes and reminders to support yourself when overwhelm takes over

Read More
Sarah Lovell Sarah Lovell

How to Be More Efficient When You Feel Overwhelmed

How to Be More Efficient When You Feel Overwhelmed

If you've ever found yourself trying to hack your way through a task, trying to be more efficient, searching for the fastest, easiest route, only to create more chaos for yourself… you're not alone.

As an executive function & ADHD coach, I see this pattern show up constantly:

You want to save time, so you take shortcuts. But those shortcuts often lead to more work, more overwhelm, and more decision fatigue. 

What you’ll learn in this blog: 

  • Why chasing efficiency can backfire (especially with ADHD)

  • The difference between actual efficiency and avoiding discomfort

  • 5  reflection questions to ask before taking a “shortcut”

How to be more efficient with time without overwhelming yourself

Read More
Sarah Lovell Sarah Lovell

How to Take Action When You’re Paralyzed by Uncertainty and Overwhelm & Don’t Know Where to Start

How to Take Action When You’re Paralyzed by Uncertainty and Overwhelm & Don’t Know Where to Start 

Have you ever avoided a task because you weren’t sure how to start? Maybe it was an email, a project, or even figuring out your plans for the day. If that sounds familiar, you’re not alone—and it’s not laziness You might be struggling with ADHD paralysis and uncertainty.

Here’s what you’ll learn in this blog post: 

  • Why uncertainty leads to ADHD paralysis and procrastination

  • How to take action when you feel stuck, overwhelmed, or unclear

  • How executive functioning challenges make getting started harder (especially when there is uncertainty)

  • 3 actionable strategies to navigate analysis paralysis, create clarity, and build momentum

  • How to figure out what “done” actually looks like—so you can work backward

Read More
Sarah Lovell Sarah Lovell

How to Be Consistent with Hobbies (Even If You Love Starting New Ones)

How to Be Consistent with Hobbies (Even If You Love Starting New Ones) 

Why You Stopped That Hobby—and What to Do About It

Have you ever gone all-in on a hobby—bought the painting supplies, yarn, Cricut machine, committed to working on your new craft every day, fully committed to becoming an artist—only to drop within a few weeks? If so, you’re not alone, and you’re definitely not inconsistent. You're probably just someone with a brain that thrives on novelty, and that’s okay. 

Let’s talk about why hobbies change, how to reconnect with hobbies you've lost touch with, and how to release the guilt when your passion fades. Because consistency with hobbies doesn’t have to look like doing the same thing forever.

Read More
Sarah Lovell Sarah Lovell

What to Do When Your Systems Stop Working: How to Develop Good Habits

What to Do When Your Systems Stop Working: How to Develop Good Habits
How to be consistent with ADHD, even when your habits, routines, and systems fall apart

If you’ve ever created a system that felt life-changing—only to stop using it a few weeks later—you are not alone. Developing a good habit that actually sticks can be difficult.  And more importantly, it doesn’t mean you’re doing it wrong. 

Let’s talk about the full life cycle of a system, why even the best ones can fall apart, and what to do when that happens.

Read More
Sarah Lovell Sarah Lovell

3 Mindset Shifts to Be More Consistent with ADHD

“How can I be more consistent?”


This is one of the most common questions I hear as an executive functioning and ADHD coach. Whether you are trying to be more consistent with laundry, yoga, or emails, this blog (and podcast episode) is going to help you shift your mindset about what it means to be consistent and how to keep up with things. 

I know the title says I’m going to help you be consistent. And while I will share some insights about consistency today, it might not be what you expect. The twist: this episode (and this blog post) is actually about why it’s okay to not be perfectly consistent. Tricked ya!

Because here’s the truth: it’s basically impossible to be 100% consistent with habits, goals, systems, and routines. Things will pop up: illness, travel, burnout, deadlines, emergencies, distractions, and your routines will get interrupted. That doesn’t mean you’ve failed. It means you’re human.

This post is about how to return to what matters. How to get back to the habit, the goal, or the structure you care about after a pause—without spiraling into shame or giving up entirely. It’s about creating a kinder, more realistic way of defining consistency so it actually works for your brain.

Read More
Sarah Lovell Sarah Lovell

How to Plan Unstructured Time: ADHD-Friendly Strategies for Using Free Time More Productively

When you have a big chunk of free time, do you struggle figuring out what to do with it? Maybe you have so many options, it feels impossible to prioritize. Or the idea of getting started on something is paralyzing even for things you want to do. Do you spend your free time trying to figure out what to do with it? And then by the time you make a decision, all of your time has been wasted?

Read More
Sarah Lovell Sarah Lovell

How to Create a Morning Routine That Actually Works for You (Especially if You Have ADHD)

How to Create a Morning Routine That Actually Works for You (Especially if You Have ADHD)

Let’s be real, morning routines get a lot of hype. Your feed is probably full of perfectly lit early 5am wakeups, green smoothies, and 10-step rituals that promise to change your life. But if you’re like most of my clients (and me), that kind of routine just doesn’t work. Maybe you keep up with it for a day or two, but it ends up forgotten. 

Building a morning routine is not about perfection. It’s about finding a rhythm that fits your actual life, especially if you're working with an ADHD brain.

I’m sharing how to create a morning routine that works for you, even if you’ve never been a “routine person.” These are the same strategies I use with coaching clients who want more ease and less pressure to do mornings "right."

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Sarah Lovell Sarah Lovell

3 Tools to overcome procrastination when you're paralyzed, overwhelmed, and stuck

3 Tools to overcome procrastination when you're paralyzed, overwhelmed, and stuck

Feeling Stuck? Here’s How to Take Action with ADHD and Finally Move Forward

Do you ever have something you really want to do, but no matter how much you think about it, you just can’t seem to start? It keeps popping into your head, you might even feel excited about it, but when it’s time to actually do the thing… you freeze. 

This is more common than you think. But it doesn’t mean anything about who you are as a person. 

You’re not lazy. You’re not unmotivated. You’re stuck. And there’s a few things you can do to get unstuck.

Read More
Sarah Lovell Sarah Lovell

6 Ways to Make Life Easier One Small Step at a Time

Small Steps for Future You: How Tiny Choices Can Make a Big Difference 

Do you feel like you're constantly rushing, barely keeping up, and unable to add anything extra to your plate? The cycle of catching up can be exhausting. But what if small, simple choices could make things easier for future you? 

The good news is, they can! And I promise, we’re not adding anything overwhelming to your to-do list. These are realistic, sustainable strategies that will help ease your load and set you up for success.

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Sarah Lovell Sarah Lovell

How to keep track of everything on your plate: A simple strategy to make to-do lists less overwhelming

How to keep track of everything on your plate: A simple strategy to make to-do lists less overwhelming

The Bucket System: A Flexible Alternative to To-Do Lists

If you ever struggle to decide what to do with your free time, you deserve new systems to support you. I’m sharing a simple yet flexible tool that you can start using right away to keep track of everything on your plate and start tasks with less stress: the Bucket System! 

To-Do Lists: Love Them or Hate Them?

To-do lists can be polarizing. Some people rely on them, while others avoid them altogether. Checking things off your list can make you feel on top of the world. Or, staring at a giant list with no clear starting point can be overwhelming and make you feel like you aren’t doing enough. 

Maybe you have lists everywhere—on sticky notes, whiteboards, phone reminders, notebooks, and calendar apps. Or perhaps you rely on your memory and resist writing things down. No matter where you fall on this spectrum, the Bucket System is a different way to manage tasks that provides both structure and flexibility.

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Sarah Lovell Sarah Lovell

Why to-do lists don’t work (especially for overwhelmed ADHDers)

Why to-do lists don’t work (especially for overwhelmed ADHDers)

To-do lists don’t work.

I know, that’s a bold statement—especially coming from an executive function coach. But if you’ve ever stared at a long list of tasks and felt completely stuck or guilty when you couldn’t finish it, you’re not alone.

To-do lists, on their own, aren’t enough to help you take action. They don’t tell you where to start, when to do something, or how to prioritize. Without the right system in place, they can quickly become overwhelming. But don’t worry—I’m not here to tell you to abandon them altogether. Instead, let’s talk about why they can feel impossible and what you can do to make them work for you.

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Sarah Lovell Sarah Lovell

"Why can't I finish my to-do list?" 5 Tips to manage overwhelm as a perfectionist

Why You Can’t Finish Your To-Do List (And What to Do About It)

Ever feel like your to-do list is running the show and you never actually finish it? No matter how much you check off, there’s always more waiting for you. If your overwhelming to-do list makes you feel like you’re constantly behind, you’re not alone.

The problem isn’t you. It’s the unrealistic expectations and the constant pressure to do more. Plus if you have ADHD and experience challenges with executive functioning, like time blindness and prioritization it can make finishing your to-do list even harder. 

The good news? There are ways to work with your brain instead of against it.

Let’s break down why you can’t finish your to-do list and five practical strategies to help you regain control.

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