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Good Enough IS Good Enough ...for now

You know that project you've been thinking about for weeks? Maybe months?

The one that's sitting in your mental queue, getting bigger and more complicated every time you consider it?

Yeah, that one.

Here's what your ADHD brain is doing: It's building a perfect version in your head. Every detail is mapped out. Every potential problem is solved before you start. Every scenario planned for.

And while you're doing all those mental gymnastics, the project isn't getting done.

I know this game well. I played it for 73 years before I figured out the cheat code.

My Google Calendar Wake-Up Call

A few weeks ago, I decided I needed to get serious about structuring my days. I'd been carrying my schedule in my head—a terrible idea for an ADHD brain, but one I'd somehow convinced myself was working.

The reality? I was dropping balls, missing opportunities, and spending way too much mental energy just trying to remember what I was supposed to be doing.

So I decided to set up Google Calendar properly.

And here's where my ADHD brain tried to sabotage me: I started planning the perfect system. Colour coding for different types of tasks. Elaborate naming conventions. Multiple calendars for different life areas. Integration with seventeen other apps.

I spent three days thinking about it.

And zero days using it.

The 'Good Enough' Intervention

That's when I asked Claude (yes, the AI) for help. Not to design the perfect system—but to give me something I could start using TODAY.

The instructions were laughably simple:

• Open Google Calendar

• Add your recurring commitments (gym, meals, bedtime)

• Start with the easy stuff

• Begin using it immediately

No colour coding. No complex categories. No integration with my entire digital life.

Just... good enough to start.

What Happened Next

Here's the thing about "good enough"—it gets you moving.

On day one, my calendar looked basic. Almost embarrassingly so. But I was USING it.

By day three, I noticed I kept forgetting to add my morning routine. So, I added it.

By day five, I realised I needed to see my focus blocks differently. So, I created one simple distinction.

After a week of daily use, my calendar had evolved. Not because I'd planned it perfectly from the start, but because I'd discovered what I really needed through real-world use.

The system I have now is nothing like what I would have designed in my head. It's better. Because it's based on how I actually work, not how I think I should work.

Why This Works for ADHD Brains

Your ADHD brain is brilliant at seeing possibilities. That's your superpower.

But when you're starting something new, that same superpower becomes a trap. You see all the possibilities, all the potential problems, all the ways it could be better.

And while you're seeing all that, you're not DOING anything.

"Good enough for now" short-circuits that loop.

It gives your brain permission to be imperfect. To learn by doing instead of planning. To iterate instead of perfecting.

More importantly, it builds momentum. And momentum is everything for ADHD brains.

The Refinement Is the Real Work

Here's what I learned: The refinement doesn't happen before you start. It happens WHILE you're doing it.

Every time I used my calendar, I learned something:

• This timing doesn't work for me

• I need to see this information differently

• This task always takes longer than I think

• These activities need to be grouped together

None of that learning could have happened in my head. I had to experience it.

That's the real power of "good enough for now"—it transforms planning into learning.

Your Turn

Think about that thing you've been overthinking.

Maybe it's:

• Starting a morning routine

• Organising your workspace

• Beginning that side project

• Setting up a task management system

• Creating a meal planning process

Whatever it is, ask yourself: What's the simplest version I could start TODAY?

Not the best version. Not the complete version. Not the version you'll still be using in six months.

Just good enough to start.

Then do that. Today.

Use it daily for a week. Notice what works and what doesn't. Adjust ONE thing that's bugging you most.

Repeat.

The perfect system isn't out there waiting for you to discover it. It's something you'll BUILD through use, refinement, and adaptation to your specific ADHD brain and environment.

But you can't build it until you start.

And "good enough" is good enough to start.

What's one thing you've been overthinking that you could start on "good enough" terms today?

Focus on what matters

Jim

P.S. My Google Calendar still isn't perfect. It probably never will be. But it's infinitely more useful than the perfect system I never built.

Download your complimentary PDF of the first two chapters.

Readers Review

“I also love this brilliant approach to self-help. It is so much less abrasive and aggressive and allows for some serious growth and change to happen. Setting the key points and call to action and change against the backdrop of real life and the story of his late diagnosis and how he evolved from there was beautiful and extremely effective”. - Anthony Avina

Download your complimentary PDF of the first couple of chapters.

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This site is not intended to provide and does not constitute medical, legal, or other professional advice. The content in this newsletter is designed to support, not replace, medical or psychiatric treatment. Please seek professional help if you believe you may have Mental Health Issues.