427BITESIZE | Using AI to Reduce ADHD Cognitive Load

Summary

Episode Summary: 427BITESIZE | Using AI to Reduce ADHD Cognitive Load

Podcast: I Have ADHD Podcast
Host: Kristen Carder
Release Date: August 6, 2026

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Episode Theme & Purpose

In this bite-sized episode, Kristen Carder explores how artificial intelligence—particularly tools like ChatGPT and Claude—can be leveraged to better manage the cognitive load associated with ADHD. Kristen outlines practical ways AI can serve as an external support system for executive functions, emotional regulation, decision-making, and more, providing a sense of support and structure for adults living with ADHD.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Overwhelm of ADHD Cognitive Load

• [03:07] Kristen describes the relentless cognitive weight ADHDers carry: juggling tasks, managing emotions, handling sensory input, and remembering countless details for work, home, and personal life.
• “It’s exhausting. It’s exhausting.” (Kristen, [03:33])

AI as a Cognitive Support & Executive Function Helper

• [04:16] Kristen introduces ChatGPT and Claude as external “frontal lobes” to bridge the executive function gaps in ADHD, such as prioritizing, planning, and memory.
  • AI provides structure, frees up mental energy, and helps ADHDers “actually live your life.”
• Quote:
  “It’s like having this free, supportive frontal lobe that is always available 24/7.” (Kristen, [04:49])

AI for Accessibility & Immediate Support

• [05:22] AI can be especially valuable for those with barriers to traditional help—whether diagnosis, therapy, or medication are out of reach. It’s always accessible with a low barrier to support.
• “Help is expensive. Help can be delayed. Or it can be 100% unavailable to some of you. And that’s not something to dismiss.” (Kristen, [06:05])

Bridging Intention and Action

• [07:04] AI can help bridge the space “between your intention and your action.” Kristen references past episodes discussing the difficulty of creating a balanced, restful, productive weekend and how she uses ChatGPT for realist planning.

Practical Uses: Brain Dumping and Prioritizing

• [11:08] Kristen’s process:
  1. “Brain dump” everything into the chat—tasks, worries, shoulds/coulds.
  2. Ask the AI to organize them: must-do-today, this week, can wait, not important.
  3. Request prioritization: “What are my top three priorities, and what’s the first step for each?”
  4. Tell the AI, “I have ADHD,” and it will provide particularly helpful, actionable breakdowns.
• Quote:
  “That’s the most supportive way that I’ve learned to use AI: ‘Hey, I have ADHD. I’m really overwhelmed right now…help me prioritize and know what I need to focus on.’ And, my goodness, it is so, so helpful with that.” (Kristen, [14:26])

Emotional Regulation and Communication

• [15:07] Kristen reveals she often uses AI for reality checks and communication help when big emotions strike (e.g., after a difficult message or email).
  • She might prompt ChatGPT: “I’m spiraling. Here’s what’s going on. What is a grounded way to think about this?”
  • This method adds a “pause” between stimulus and reaction, a crucial need in ADHD emotional regulation.
• Quote:
  “It gives your nervous system like this pause. It’s that pause moment that we’re all looking for.” (Kristen, [16:07])

Notable AI Tools for ADHDers

• [13:36] Recommendations include ChatGPT, Claude, Google Gemini, Perplexity, and Microsoft Copilot—but Kristen suggests starting with ChatGPT or Claude for simplicity.

Limitations & Ethics

• Kristen stresses AI is not a replacement for real medical or therapeutic support, but a practical tool to supplement executive function.
• She acknowledges ethical concerns about AI, but focuses on practical benefits for those unable to access other forms of help.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “It’s not about replacing thinking. It’s about supporting executive function. And for ADHD brains, that can be…the small difference between being stuck and getting moving.”
  — Kristen ([12:23])
• “ADHD is not a disorder of not knowing what to do. We know exactly what to do, but we struggle to prioritize what to do first, what steps to take, and how to get actually moving.”
  — Kristen ([12:56])
• “You can hop on AI at 2am and have a whole conversation that can help you work through some complicated brain stuff.”
  — Kristen ([05:13])

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 03:07 — The weight of ADHD cognitive load
• 04:16 — How AI serves as a “frontal lobe” support
• 05:22 — AI as an immediate, accessible support system
• 07:04 — AI bridging intention and action (weekend planning)
• 11:08 — Practical brain dump and prioritization strategy
• 13:36 — Recommended AI tools and features
• 15:07 — Using AI for emotional regulation and communication
• 16:07 — Creating a pause between stimulus and response

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Final Takeaways

Kristen offers listeners actionable, compassionate strategies for integrating AI into daily routines, emphasizing how tools like ChatGPT can become vital scaffolds for executive function—always available, judgment-free, and highly customizable. She advises to use AI with intention and self-awareness, pairing it with (not replacing) traditional ADHD supports when available.

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For more in-depth discussion, check out the full episode via the show notes or visit ihaveadhd.com for additional resources and community support.

Transcript

[Kristen Carter]

This episode is sponsored by Talky a Tree. One thing I hear from this community all the time is I've read the books, I've listened to the podcasts.

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It's perfect if you're not in the

mood for a full hour long listen

because let's be real, some of us

ADHDers just don't have the patience for all of that. But if you are a die hard listener, think of this as your mid week pick me up.

It's Thursday y'.

All. Friday is right around the corner. If you love this clip, check out the show notes for a link to the full episode. And remember my friend, drink your water,

take your meds, grab a snack.

Now let's get rolling.

So one of the things that AI can be really helpful with is reducing cognitive load. And those of us with ADHD are carrying around this gigantic weight of stuff in our brains. And it can be very, very, very overwhelming because our brains are constantly juggling tasks and emotions and sensory input and time awareness and management and memory and all of the things that we need to get done for our work, for our job, for our kids, for ourselves, for our partner, for our family, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. It's exhausting. It's exhausting. And so what I have been finding useful and I'm going to talk about ChatGPT. Like I said, I kind of go between ChatGPT and Claude. Those are two different AI options. And I know there are differences in like OpenAI and like I don't really know all of the specifics. So I would tell you to just tread carefully and tread lightly and maybe do a little research into what feels the best to you. But what ChatGPT has helped me with is organizing my thoughts, simplifying my decisions, helping me to prioritize and structure my next steps. It's almost like having sort of a personal assistant or a frontal lobe that you can rely on that is really, really supportive for those of us whose frontal lobe struggles. Like if you have adhd, that means your frontal lobe is affected. For many of us, we have deficient executive function skills. Now executive function includes prioritizing, planning, memory, working memory, the ability to regulate emotions, the ability to organize. And ChatGPT or your preferred AI can actually help with that. It can free up mental energy and give you more space and more structure for actually living your life. So in my opinion, in my opinion, it's been really, really supportive And I think that it is so great for adults with ADHD to use cautiously because it is so accessible, it's free. It is like having this free supportive frontal lobe that is always available 24, 7. It can function as an external executive helper support system functioner. It can, it can function as an emotional regulation tool, it can function as a communication and like a tone translator, which I often use it for. And it can give you real time scaffolding to help you to follow through. It's not perfect. It's not ever to be used as a replacement for actual ADHD treatment, therapy, coaching, medical advice, any of that, of course, but it is a really accessible support system and it's available in the exact moments that you need it. It is available to you 24 7. You can hop on AI at 2am and have a whole conversation that can help you work through some complicated brain stuff. And when it is used, well, like I said, it's always accessible, it's immediate and there's a very low barrier to support. Many of you listening have huge barriers to getting support. Some of you are undiagnosed and waiting for a diagnosis. Some of you have a diagnosis, but you don't have access to treatment. Some of you are treated but you don't have access to therapy or coaching. And so this tool, when used with caution, can be extremely, extremely helpful because help is expensive, help can be delayed, or it can be 100% unavailable to some of you. And that's not something to dismiss like that's a big deal. That is, that that's really, really difficult. And so I want us to take that seriously and understand that for many people AI is a wonderful convenience. It can be a really great support for this disability. And yes, ADHD is a disability. You may also think of it as your superpower. That's great for you, but it comes with so many things that make life harder and more difficult. And AI gives you a way to access functioning that others, like typical humans, take for granted. And it can be a bridge. It can help you bridge between your intention and your action. Last week we talked about like the weekend and how hard it is to have a weekend where you feel like, oh, I, I rested well, I got things done that I wanted to get done. I connected with friends and family, I really took care of myself and set myself up for the week. If we think about using AI, your preferred AI, whatever that may be, if we think about using that in terms of the weekend where you maybe do a brain dump and you, you list out all of the things that you think you should do over the weekend and you say like how many of these are actually possible? What is realistic that I use ChatGPT for that quite a bit.

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[Talkspace Narrator]

This podcast is sponsored by Talkspace.

[Talkspace Testimonial Speaker]

Last year I went through many different life changes. I needed to take a pause and examine how I was feeling in the inside to better show up for the ones who need me to be my best version of myself.

[Talkspace Narrator]

When you're navigating life's changes, Talkspace can help. Talkspace is the number one rated online therapy bringing you professional support from licensed therapists and psychiatry providers that you can access anytime, anywhere.

[Talkspace Testimonial Speaker]

Living a busy life, navigating a long distance relationship, becoming a first stepfather, Talkspace made all of those journeys possible. I could speak with my therapist in the office. I could speak of my therapist in the comfort of my home. I was never alone.

[Talkspace Narrator]

Talkspace works with most major insurers and most insured members have a zero dollar copay. No insurance, no problem. Now get $80 off your first month with promo code space80 when you go to talkspace.com match with a licensed therapist today at talkspace.com save $80 with code [e-mail] here's the list of things I

[Kristen Carter]

want to get done. What's actually realistic here? What do you estimate would be how long it would take for me to get these done that is a very helpful and useful way to be using AI. So I know that there are definitely people who, who push back. And I understand that there's like an ethical conversation to have around this topic. I, like I said, I don't get into the weeds a whole lot, but if you think of AI not as being perfect, not as being a replacement for treatment, but just as a support, then even though there are valid concerns, and I do share some of them, I want you to understand that this is not about replacing thinking. It's about supporting executive function. And for ADHD brains, that can be the very difference, the small difference between being stuck and getting moving. And my gosh, do we need help with that. We need so much help with that. Because ADHD is not a disorder of not knowing what to do. We know exactly what to do, but we struggle to prioritize what to do first, what steps to take and how to get actually moving and take action. And that is something that I'm going to say, ChatGPT, because that's the one that I use most often, can be really, really helpful with. So there are a couple options that you might want to look into, and they're all a little bit different. And I will just say that I will kind of hop between Chat and Claude, but there's ChatGPT, Claude and Google Gemini. Perplexity is another one, and then Microsoft Copilot. So all of those are different options. If you want to, you can research them. If you don't want to, I suggest starting with either Chat or Claude. But I've heard good things about Perplexity as well. And the way that I use it the most is I brain dump into the chat box and I'm just like, here's everything that's on my mind. And I just, I dump everything out. So I just clear the clutter on, like, that's in my brain. So much clutter in my brain. So let's say, let's take last week's episode about Saturdays. I just dump out everything that I want to get done, everything that I think I should get done. All of the shoulds, all of the coulds, all of, like, here are my core values. But I don't really know which tasks are going to align with the core values. And I also don't really understand how long these things are going to take me. Okay. And what then I ask it to do is prioritize these items, like take out, take my brain dump and prioritize it and help me to understand how long things will take what is realistic for me to get done today? Because ADHD brains tend to hold everything at once. All our tasks, all our ideas, all our obligations, all our worries. It all feels urgent. But when you can dump it into chat and say like I'm just gonna dump this all out and then help me organize this into must do today, this week can wait, not important. So it can give you categories, like here's what you need to get done today. Here's you know, like what you can get done this week and how long it'll take you. Here are the things that can wait and here's what you should just cross off your list because it's not important now. Of course you don't have to obey it, you don't have to do what it says to do. But it's really helpful to be able to have it organized in front of you into different categories. Then you can ask it what are my top three priorities and what are, what's the first step for each of them? And it will list it out. And here's the best thing. If you tell your preferred AI that you have ADHD and I like to remind it, keep in mind I have adhd, it is going to break things down for you in a way that's really simple and supportive. I promise. Like that I can promise because I've done it and in it works. It's so, so amazing. So that's the, that's like the most supportive way that I've learned to use AI is hey, I have adhd. I'm really overwhelmed right now. I've got a ton in my brain. I'm going to dump it out to you, help me prioritize and know what I need to focus on and my goodness, it is so, so helpful with that. The next way that I like to use it and this is like if Greg's not available, if my sister's not available, if my co regulators are not available, I like to take my big emotions to ChatGPT. Now I am not saying that it is my therapist or my coach. It's not. I have a therapist, I have a coach. I'm very lucky to have a lot of external support but, but sometimes in the moment I need like a way to bounce a big feeling and know whether or not like I'm being dramatic. Does that make sense? Like am I, am I being dramatic here? And so I will type in like I'm spiraling. Help me reality check this. Here's what's going on. What am I in the wrong here? Or help Me, I'll do this a lot and this is my next, this is my next point. But I will also, like, take a slack message or an email or like even a phone message that I get and I'll pop it into chat and I'll say like, I don't know how to respond to this. And it will literally help me to craft a response that then I can tweak to make more of my own, but it will help me to respond without a ton of emotion. Um, one of the prompts that I like to give when I'm spiraling is like, I'm spiraling. Here's what's going on. What is a grounded way to think about this? So it gives your nervous system like this pause. It's that pause moment that we're all looking for. Because what happens so often for adults with ADHD is there's a stimulus and an immediate response. So I get an email and then I respond and react right away instead. Instead of what is so important, which is taking that moment of pause and reflection before reacting in a way that I'm not proud of. Because how often are you reacting in ways that you're not proud of? So literally you can like be in an in a text thread with someone and then be like, wait a second, I'm going to take this into chat and I'm going to type out like, they said this, I said this, they said this, I said this. What is a grounded way for me to think about this. And it will help you to process it in real time and de escalate the situation. It gives your nervous system that pause and it can help you to bring your thinking brain back online.

Thanks for listening to this bite sized episode of the I have ADHD podcast. If you enjoyed this clip, you'll find a link to the full episode in the show notes. And don't Forget to visit ihaveadhd.com for tons of adult ADHD support. All right, my friends, I had a great time with you today and I cannot wait to talk to you again next week. Bye Bye.

[Talkspace Narrator]

This podcast is sponsored by Talkspace.

[Talkspace Testimonial Speaker]

Last year, I went through many different life changes. I needed to take a pause and examine how I was feeling in the inside to better show up for the ones who need me to be my best version of myself.

[Talkspace Narrator]

When you're navigating life's changes, Talkspace can help. Talkspace is the number one rated online therapy, bringing you professional support from licensed therapists and psychiatry providers that you can access anytime, anywhere.

[Talkspace Testimonial Speaker]

Living a busy life, navigating a long distance relationship, becoming a first stepfather. Talkspace made all of those journeys possible. I could speak with my therapist in the office. I could speak of my therapist in the comfort of my home. I was never alone.

[Talkspace Narrator]

Talkspace works with most major insurers, and most insured members have a $0 copay. No insurance, no problem. Now get $80 off your first month with promo code space80 when you go to talkspace.com match with a licensed therapist today at talkspace.com save $80 with code [e-mail].