Anyone else buy planners and then never use them?

Yes, this is incredibly common in ADHD and it’s not because you don’t care about organization. New planners provide novelty, hope, and a burst of dopamine. At first they feel motivating and full of possibility. Once the novelty fades, the planner requires sustained effort, memory, and routine, which are the very things ADHD makes harder. Many people then avoid the planner because opening it reminds them of what they didn’t do. Clinicians don’t see this as failure. They see it as a mismatch between rigid planning tools and a brain that needs flexible, low friction systems. The problem isn’t you. It’s the tool.