02/12/2025
It has nothing to do with laziness or not trying hard enough, and everything to do with how the ADHD brain actually wakes up. For a lot of us, our circadian rhythm runs slightly delayed, which means our brain naturally gets its “awake” signals later than everyone else’s. So while the rest of the world feels alert at 7am, we’re still waiting for our system to come online.
On top of that, mornings demand a huge amount of executive function at a time when ADHD brains have the least to give. The moment we open our eyes we’re expected to make decisions, shift gears, start tasks, remember plans, and move quickly from one step to the next — and none of that is easy when dopamine is low and the prefrontal cortex hasn’t fully warmed up yet.
So it’s not that we’re not morning people by choice. It’s that our brain simply wakes up more slowly, and once it does, we function perfectly well - just on a slightly different schedule. If this sounds like you too, you’re definitely not alone.
Sincerely: someone who hits the snooze button mostly one too many times 😴
