ADHD Mind Mapping – How to Break Down Overwhelming Tasks

Summary

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Podcast Summary

Podcast: Adult ADHD ADD Tips and Support
Host: Michael Joseph Ferguson
Episode: ADHD Mind Mapping – How to Break Down Overwhelming Tasks
Date: February 10, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode focuses on using mind mapping as a practical strategy to break down large, overwhelming tasks—a common challenge for adults with ADHD. Drawing from personal experience and coaching methods, Michael Joseph Ferguson illustrates how unclear, “simple” tasks can paralyze progress, and explains step-by-step how mind mapping transforms them into manageable action items. The episode features a real-world example and highlights the importance of clarity, systems, and breaking tasks into sessions.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Why Simple Tasks Become Overwhelming

• Unrecognized Complexity:
  • Many tasks seem simple but are subconsciously avoided because they have hidden complexities or unclear components.
  • Overwhelm is often caused by a lack of clarity.
  • Quote:
    • “If you're finding yourself in that position, it's usually because the task is more complicated than you're giving it credit for and probably has some key components to it that are overwhelming.”
      — Sam (00:00)
• The ADHD brain tends to push off tasks that are not well-defined.

2. Introducing Mind Mapping for ADHD

• Definition & Benefits:
  • Mind mapping is presented as an essential tool for the ADHD brain, allowing for visual breakdowns of big tasks.
  • Quote:
    • “Mind mapping can be the crucial tool to make your life so much better when our brains are wired this way.”
      — Michael Joseph Ferguson (01:22)
• Community Resources:
  • Mention of ongoing workshops and accessible software for mind mapping.

3. Walkthrough: Breaking Down an Overwhelming Task

• Case Study – “Clean My Home Office”
  • The task “clean my home office” seems basic but is usually too broad, leading to overwhelm.
  • Quote:
    • “If you came to me and I was coaching you and I heard that, I would say, whoa, whoa, whoa, I'd stop you and say, that's too broad. You need to break that down.”
      — Sam (03:16)

Step-by-Step Mind Mapping Example

• Step 1: Place the “clean and organize the office” task at the center of the mind map.
• Step 2: Identify the three main subcategories:
  • Boxes (e.g., old documents to be sorted)
  • Top of the Desk (e.g., messy papers, items to be organized)
  • Shelves (e.g., books and items in disarray)
• Step 3: Break each subcategory into actionable items:
  • Boxes: For each box, decide:
    • What needs filing?
    • What can be thrown away?
    • What goes into storage?
    • “Now you've given yourself the directive. If you're working on boxes, now you've got three things that you know you need to do...”
      — Sam (06:41)
  • Top of Desk:
    • File papers, throw away trash, put away items (like cups).
    • Organize and set up the desk to increase productivity.
    • Place planner or necessary tools nearby as reminders.
  • Shelves:
    • Straighten and organize as needed. Often the easiest, so it can help create a sense of accomplishment.
• Step 4:
  • Prioritize the order based on need (e.g., top of the desk first if it most impacts work capacity).
  • Split the larger task into sessions (e.g., first deal with the desk, then boxes, then shelves on another day).
  • Schedule sessions in your calendar with reminders.
  • Quote:
    • “Maybe, maybe I only got an hour today to work on this. So let's start with the top of the desk. And now you've got your task list. You're clear now what you need to do. And you're just going to tackle that and you tell yourself that's it.”
      — Sam (09:34)

4. Generalizing the Approach

• Use mind maps for any complex task:
  • Write the task in the center.
  • Break it into main components.
  • Make actionable to-do lists for each branch.
  • Divide into realistic work sessions.
• Quote:
  • “Pick your task. You can go through that same basic planning method and do your mind map and extract from that a clear action item list and see if you can split it out into sessions.”
    — Sam (10:25)

5. Mind Mapping as a Lifelong Skill

• When practiced regularly, mind mapping becomes second nature for handling overwhelming situations.
• The technique isn’t just for cleaning, but for any project—planning, writing, brainstorming, or problem-solving.
• Quote:
  • “When you get in the habit of doing this, then you're no longer pushing things out. You're switching a light on and saying, wait a minute, I know how to handle this, I'm going to break it down and here's how I do it.”
    — Sam (00:44)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “The lack of clarity causes overwhelm and then you push it out." — Sam (03:37)
• “Mind mapping is such a useful tool.” — Michael Joseph Ferguson (11:28)
• “So as you can hear from that example, this all sounds blaringly simple, but we forget to do it.” — Sam (10:04)
• “If I handle the top of the desk. I'm done for the day.” — Sam (09:34)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:00–01:22 – Why we procrastinate on “simple” tasks; role of overwhelm
• 01:22–03:16 – Introduction to mind mapping for ADHD
• 03:16–09:34 – Step-by-step mind mapping example: Cleaning a home office
• 09:34–11:05 – Scheduling and splitting tasks into sessions; setting reminders
• 11:05–12:34 – Recap, encouragement to use mind mapping for various projects
• 12:34–13:51 – Announcements and community invitations (skip for content)

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Additional Resources Mentioned

• ADHD Mind Mapping workshop: Next session Feb 28, follow-up Mar 3.
• Community Gathering: Online event Feb 24.
• The Drummer and the Great Mountain: Books, quizzes, and mailing list for future events.
• Mind mapping software offered free during workshop.

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Tone & Takeaways

The tone is practical, upbeat, and empathetic, acknowledging common difficulties for adults with ADHD while offering clear, actionable solutions. The episode empowers listeners to recognize task avoidance as a signal for breakdown and clarity, and demonstrates mind mapping as a versatile, confidence-building tool for neurodivergent minds.

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This summary captures the episode’s structure, main lessons, tools discussed, and specific approach outlined by the host, giving practical value even to those who haven't listened.

Transcript

[Sam]

Often we have what appears to be a simple task and yet we keep pushing it out and pushing it out and we go like, okay, that's so simple. Why can't I just get myself to do it? If you're finding yourself in that position, it's usually because the task is more complicated than you're giving it credit for and probably has some key components to it that are overwhelming. Your subconscious knows this and just pushes it out and says, oh, that's just too much. I know that kind of task, I hate that. Let's just move on. And it might not even be conscious, you might not be thinking through or why it is that you're pushing it out. So let's give you an example of a type of task like this and how to break it down and use some tools to make it more manageable. And what I find is when you do that, once you, when you get in the habit of doing this, then you're no longer pushing things out. You're switching a light on and saying, wait a minute, I know how to handle this, I'm going to break it down and here's how I do it. So having a system in place is going to be really helpful. Welcome everyone.

[Michael Joseph Ferguson]

Thanks for tuning in. I'm your host, Michael Joseph Ferguson. Hope you're all doing really well. In today's episode we'll be discussing how to break down overwhelming tasks using mind mapping. And as many of you have heard me talk about and you've taken our workshops, that mind mapping can be the crucial tool to make your life so much better when our brains are wired this way. So this is an Excerpt from episode 64, mastering mundane, overwhelming and Non Stimulating Tasks. And I was just going through some of the episodes the other day and I thought, oh, this one's perfect. It's tight, it's short and it really takes home. Like here's how you take an overwhelming task and break it down. And it felt like good timing because twice a year we hold our ADHD Mind Mapping masterclass which is by far our most popular workshop. The next one will be happening on February 28th with a follow up session on March 3rd. Comes with free software that has no limitations. If you haven't taken it yet, I highly recommend it. We try to keep it affordable. For more information you can go to adhdmindmapping.com and I'll share a little bit more at the end of this episode. Episode also we have our first free community online event in many years now and this will be happening on February 24, this is a time for all of us in the community to get together and talk, connect, ask us questions, connect with people from around the world. I will most likely be sharing a bit about the new book because I think I've got enough to share at this point, which will be coming out in spring. If you are interested, you can just go to drummerinthegreatmountain.com, join our email list and you will get the invite. So I hope you can join us. And now here's how to break down an overwhelming task using mind mapping.

[Sam]

So let's take the task clean my home office. So clean and organize your home office. Let's take that task. So clean my home office. That's four words, super simple, right? Why can't you just get that done? Well, if you came to me and I was coaching you and I heard that, I would say, whoa, whoa, whoa, I'd stop you and say, that's too broad. You need to break that down. That's too, too broad of a task. What's involved in that? So in this, again, this is where the overwhelm comes from because you don't have a clarity on what needs to happen. The lack of clarity causes overwhelm and then you push it out. So let's take a tool like mind mapping, which I love for breaking down tasks. To me that's like the tool that really changed my life. If we were to map this out, if we were to do a mind map on this, we put in the center of the mind map, clean and organize the office. Okay? That's the central topic at the center of the mind map. And then let's take three big potential what are the big three categories that would be involved in cleaning the office? So maybe there's a ton of boxes that are all over the place that have half filed documents. Maybe they're from even five years ago and they're scattered around the office. So let's say that's one categories. So let's make that as one subcategory and call it boxes. Okay? That's one thing we know we got to deal with. And then let's create another branch and let's say top of the desk. Clearly that's one that it's like it's messy. There's papers everywhere. And when you go into your home office, instead of being clear about what you need to do, you feel overwhelmed because you know you have to do all this extra work in order to get to a place where you can be productive. So top of the Desk, let's call that branch number two. And say the third element of this task of cleaning your home office is you're looking around the room, your shelves are kind of in disarray, there's books kind of tipped over and it's just not clean and organized. It doesn't feel zen. And so when you see it, you're just like, okay, you step in, then you step back out. You're like, I pass on that, I'll work from somewhere else. These are common examples from other coaching clients that I have. And I also myself. So I'm in this boat as well. So now we have a mind map. At the center of the mind map we have clean the office, that clean the home office. And then we have three main branches. Boxes, top of desk and shelves. So we've taken now this task of clean your office and we split it out into three big categories. Good start. Now let's start to break those down again using the mind map. So we know there's boxes of non filed paperwork, some that are like five years old. So let's put on that task, assess each box and ask myself three questions. One, is there items in this box that I need to keep in file in my main filing system? Let's say that's one example. Two is what can be thrown away and three is can I just move that box into storage? Okay, so now you've given yourself the directive. If you're working on boxes, now you've got three things that you know you need to do in order to assess that box. What way easier. Now you can go, okay, here's box one. Let's look at it. I've got my checklist. Now let's go through the checklist and see what I need to do. And at the end of it you're either throwing stuff away, you're filing it and at the end of that you're going to put the box in storage and hopefully you have nothing left and then you can just throw, you can just put the box away. So boxes, you fleshed that out. Just took a couple minutes and you're clear. Now here's my directive. When I'm handling a box, this is what I need to do. So let's move on to the second branch which is top of the desk. So tons of paperwork there. Filing the paperwork is clearly going to be one of the components to it. So that's going to be task number one. Two is throwing anything away that needs to be thrown away or put away. Maybe there's cups and things that you need to put in the sink or whatever, depending on the level of catastrophe that is your home office. So that's number two. And three is just organize anything that needs to be moved to the desk to make your work life more wonderful. What else needs to happen in order to really straighten out and make your top of the desk really nice? Maybe you have a place for your planner and maybe putting your planner there in the morning is going to remind you to get up and go and do your planning in the home office. That's one way to think about it. So make your list for that. Go through your checklist. What am I going to do on the top of the desk? To take that and make it into something that's zen. So at the end of it you feel like, okay, that task was handled. And then three, let's say the shelving is kind of in disarray. Well, this might be the easiest one. So we might put that last because last or first, maybe you put it first in the list because you want to get some. Make some progress. And that's cool too. It's good to feel like you're making progress. But so for the shelves, it's just straightening. Maybe there's really. It's not that bad. It's just, you know, arranging some books, moving things around. Maybe there's a couple items that need to be moved. Give yourself your list for that branch. So now we have boxes, top of desk shelves. We have a clear action item list for each of those sub components. Then you prioritize. And this may only take a second. You might say, okay, well actually the top of the desk is the primary piece because I need to get work done. So let's call that number one and let's make that the priority.

And.

And because it's affecting my ability to work and maybe there's some key pieces of paper on there. Maybe there's bills that need to get paid, those need to be sorted out. And maybe you go, okay, well, boxes is second and then shelving is third. Okay, so awesome. Now you've got your map. You've got three sets of action item lists that you can go through and split this up potentially into sessions. So we have session number one. Maybe, maybe I only got an hour today to work on this. So let's start with the top of the desk. And now you've got your task list. You're clear now what you need to do. And you're just going to tackle that and you tell yourself that's it. If I handle the top of the desk. I'm done for the day.

[Michael Joseph Ferguson]

Great.

[Sam]

Then maybe you say tomorrow. Now that's not going to work tomorrow, maybe the weekend. Okay, I can schedule maybe a half hour session on the weekend to handle this again. You get out your phone, you make a reminder to yourself for Saturday morning at like 10am 10 to 10:30, you know, you got a window. And so now we know if the top of the desk was today, then that's going to be the boxes. And you're going to hand of the boxes in that session. And then at the end of that session you may say, okay, well let's schedule the next one. And you probably can get the boxes and the shelves done in the same session. So that's two sessions and you're done. So as you can hear from that example, this all sounds blaringly simple, but we forget to do it. So pick your task. You can go through that same basic planning method and do your mind map and extract from that a clear action item list and see if you can split it out into sessions. If it's too big of a task for you to handle in one session. So start with what is the task that's getting pushed off. Two is ideally do a mind map. Put the task at the center of the mind map and then split it out into its main components and then drill down your action item list per component and then you can take it and split it up into multiple sessions if you need to, with a reminder to yourself on your calendar so you know you can come back to it.

[Michael Joseph Ferguson]

Okay. Pretty good, right? Went back and listened to that episode.

[Sam]

A while back and I'm like, oh yeah, that's good.

[Michael Joseph Ferguson]

I needed to pull that one out. So hope that was helpful to you. And if you'd like to join us on our upcoming mind mapping workshop, we will be holding that on February 28th with a follow up on March 3rd. And as you listen to the podcast, you kind of get okay, we'll be covering talking about how to plan your day using mind mapping. Mind mapping out large projects, fleshing out writing assignments, problem solving, brainstorming. Mind mapping is such a useful tool. You can learn more about it at ADHD mindmapping.com Also February 24, live online community gathering. Come and join us. We'll be connecting, talking with people from around the world who listen to this podcast. You can ask me questions. I'll probably be sharing a little bit about the new book that should be coming out in spring. Question mark. Hopefully just about done, but just would love to connect with you. There's such an amazing community that has sprung up around this podcast and I love connecting with all of you creative.

[Sam]

Types, people from all over the world.

[Michael Joseph Ferguson]

Please come and join us if you're interested. Totally free, no obligation. Just come and hang out.

[Sam]

So February 24th, if you are interested.

[Michael Joseph Ferguson]

Just go to drummerinthegreatmountain.com right, the friend page. Just join the email list and we'll be sending out invites probably next week.

[Sam]

Okay, that's it.

[Michael Joseph Ferguson]

So until next time, be well.

[Narrator]

Thanks for joining us. If you'd like to learn more about the book the Drummer and the Great Mountain, visit Drummer and the Great Mountain.com to join us on social media. Click the links at the top of the homepage. Help us spread the word. We're a small press and reviews and really help. If you've been enjoying the podcast or the book, consider writing a review on itunes, Amazon, Goodreads, or your podcast app. If you're new to the podcast and want to quickly get up to speed on the concepts we discuss, check out our free 5 day mini course. Visit drummerandthegreatmountain.com Minicourse if there's a topic you'd like us to cover on future episodes, we'd love to hear from you. Please send us an [e-mail].

[Sam]

Sam.