Most prompt lists are written for brains that were already organised. These seven are written for ADHD founders: a weekly CEO check-in, a starter motor for task paralysis, an overwhelm triage, a decision-maker, an email backlog clearer, a re-entry prompt for after life blows up your day, and a shutdown prompt so tomorrow starts warm. Copy them, paste them, change nothing except your details. A good prompt isn't clever. It's honest about the state you're in.
You've seen the prompt lists. "100 ChatGPT prompts to 10x your business." You saved three of them, tried one, got a wall of generic advice, and closed the tab feeling worse than before you started.
Here's the thing nobody says about those lists: they're written for a brain that was already fine. A brain that just wanted faster output. They assume you know what you're working on, what matters most, and what state you're in. For an ADHD founder, those three things are usually the entire problem.
You were never bad at prompts. You were handed prompts written for a brain that wasn't yours.
Why Prompts Work Differently For ADHD Brains
Every prompt below follows the same four-part pattern, and it's worth knowing because it lets you write your own forever: name the state you're in, name the job, name the format you want back, and tell the AI to ask questions before it answers.
The state is the part every other prompt guide skips. But it changes everything. The answer you need when you're frozen is not the answer you need when you're firing. Telling AI "I'm overwhelmed and can't pick a starting point" gets you a completely different, and dramatically more useful, response than "write me a to-do list".
One more thing before the prompts: they all work in Claude, ChatGPT, or whatever you use. And they all get ten times better once your AI actually knows your business - that's the AI second brain setup, and it's worth doing once so you can stop re-introducing yourself in every conversation.
1. The Weekly CEO Prompt
When: Monday morning, or whenever your week officially starts. This is the one that stops the week happening to you.
Act as my chief of staff. I have ADHD, so I need you to be direct and keep this short. Here is everything on my plate this week, in no particular order: [brain dump everything - tasks, worries, half-ideas, the thing you're avoiding]. From that mess, tell me: 1) the three things that will actually move my business this week, 2) the things that feel urgent but aren't, and 3) one thing I should delete or delegate entirely. Then ask me one question I'm probably avoiding.
The brain dump is the point. Don't tidy it first. The sorting is the job you're handing over.
2. The Frozen Prompt
When: you know exactly what you need to do and you physically cannot start it. Task paralysis, the ADHD classic.
I'm frozen on a task. The task is: [name it]. I've been avoiding it for [how long]. Don't give me a pep talk and don't explain why it matters - I know why it matters, that's the problem. Break it into steps so small they're almost silly, and give me only the first one. It has to take under two minutes and require zero decisions. Once I tell you it's done, give me the next one.
The "zero decisions" line is the engine. Most task paralysis isn't laziness, it's a stack of tiny undecided things pretending to be one big task. This prompt un-stacks them one at a time.
3. The Overwhelm Triage Prompt
When: everything is urgent, nothing is happening, and your chest is doing the tight thing.
I'm overwhelmed and my brain won't sort anything. I'm going to dump everything in my head into this chat - business, life, all of it. Don't respond to each item. When I'm done, sort it into four lists: today, this week, someday, and not actually mine to carry. Then tell me the one thing on the today list to do first, and hold the rest. I'll come back for it. Here's the dump: [go]
"Hold the rest" matters more than it looks. Half the weight of overwhelm is the fear you'll drop something. Letting AI be the holder is the closest thing we've found to an external working memory.
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Take The AI Quiz →4. The Decision Prompt
When: you've been circling the same decision for days and every option has grown its own anxiety subplot.
I need to make a decision and I've been avoiding it. The decision: [describe it]. The options as I see them: [list them]. What's making it hard: [be honest - money, guilt, fear of the wrong call, all of it]. Ask me up to five questions, one at a time, to get the information you need. Then recommend one option and tell me plainly why. I get the final say, but I need you to actually pick one, not present a balanced summary.
"Actually pick one" is the difference between AI as a thinking partner and AI as another tab of research you didn't need. You're not outsourcing the decision. You're outsourcing the tie-break your tired brain keeps refusing to run.
5. The Email Backlog Prompt
When: the inbox has crossed from "behind" into "avoiding it because it's now embarrassing".
I have an email backlog and the shame spiral has set in. I'm going to paste in the emails I've been avoiding, one at a time. For each one: draft a short, warm, human reply in plain Australian English. If I'm replying late, acknowledge it once in one line without grovelling, then get to the point. Keep every reply under 120 words. I'll tweak and send. First email: [paste]
"Acknowledge it once without grovelling" is doing a lot of work in that prompt. Late replies get longer and more apologetic the longer we avoid them, which makes them harder to write, which makes them later. Cut the loop.
6. The Re-Entry Prompt
When: a sick kid, a flare-up week, three days of appointments - and now you're back at the desk with no idea where "back" even is.
I've been away from my business for [how long] because [life reason - one line, no guilt spiral]. I'm back at my desk and I can't remember where anything was up to. Here's what I know was in motion before I left: [dump whatever you remember, even fragments]. Help me rebuild the picture: what was probably mid-flight, what can wait another week, and what's the one thread to pick up first today so I'm moving again by lunchtime.
If you've set up your second brain, this prompt is even better, because the AI already knows what was in motion. Re-entry goes from a lost morning to about ten minutes.
7. The Shutdown Prompt
When: end of the work day. Especially the days that got away from you.
The work day is ending. Here's what happened today, the good and the unfinished: [quick dump]. Do three things: 1) list what actually got done today, including the invisible stuff I won't give myself credit for, 2) park everything unfinished into a note for tomorrow-me with enough context that she won't have to reconstruct it, and 3) write me one line I can put down the laptop on. Don't be saccharine about it.
ADHD brains are terrible at closing loops, so the loops follow us to the couch, the shower, 2am. This prompt closes them on purpose. Tomorrow-you opens a note that says exactly where everything is, instead of a cold blank screen.
Make Them Sound Like You
These prompts are the back end. The words that go out into the world still need to be yours - that's the whole back-end AI, front-end human rule, and it's non-negotiable around here. Let AI sort, triage, structure and hold. You do the voice, the stories, the relationships.
And if you paste one of these in and the reply still feels generic, that's not you failing at AI. It's the AI not knowing you yet. Context is the fix, not effort. You are not the problem - the model just hasn't met you properly.
Want the full picture - which AI to pick, the second brain setup, and where prompts fit in the bigger system? This post is one chapter of our ultimate guide to AI for ADHD entrepreneurs.
- Prompt lists fail ADHD founders because they skip the bit that matters: the state you're in.
- The pattern behind every good ADHD prompt: state + job + format + "ask me questions first".
- The Frozen Prompt works because it removes decisions, not because it adds motivation.
- Letting AI "hold the rest" is what turns a brain dump into actual relief.
- Ask AI to pick an option, not summarise them - you keep the veto.
- A shutdown prompt means tomorrow starts with context instead of a cold blank page.
- Every prompt gets better once AI knows your business. Build the second brain once.
Frequently Asked Questions
The one you'll actually open on a bad brain day. Both Claude and ChatGPT can hold your business context - we keep our second brain in Notion so any AI can tap into it. We teach with Claude because we like how it handles long messy conversations and its calm, uncluttered interface, but every prompt on this page works in Claude, ChatGPT or any chat AI. The tool matters far less than giving it your real context and your real state.
Use the four-part pattern from this post: name the state you're in (frozen, overwhelmed, foggy), name the job, name the format you want back, and tell the AI to ask questions before answering. Naming your state is the part most guides skip, and for ADHD brains it's the part that changes the output most.
It can act as a starter motor: shrinking a scary task into a two-minute first step, talking you through the wall, and holding the list so your working memory doesn't have to. It's a support for executive function, not a treatment for ADHD - it works alongside whatever support you already have, not instead of it.
No. They're plain-English prompts and work in any chat AI. They all get noticeably better once the AI knows your business, which is why we bang on about setting up your AI second brain first - so you stop re-explaining yourself in every single conversation.
