Outsourcing for ADHD Brains: Where to Delegate When You Don’t Know Where to Start

29 Aug

You know you need help.
You’re overwhelmed, behind on everything, and barely holding it together.
People say, “Just delegate!” but that advice usually sparks more anxiety than relief.

Because here’s the thing, if you have ADHD, delegating is a decision-heavy process that can feel just as hard as doing the task itself.

Where do you even start?
What’s okay to outsource?
And how do you even explain what’s in your head?

Let’s slow it down together and walk through it gently.

Why delegation feels so hard with ADHD

It’s not that you don’t want support. It’s that:

You struggle to break down what needs to be done
You don’t know what’s “worth” handing off
You feel guilty asking for help on things that seem “basic”
You’ve tried support before and ended up more stressed

Plus, decision fatigue is real. Choosing what to delegate feels like one more overwhelming task, and your brain is already maxed out.

So instead, you keep juggling everything.
And it’s slowly draining you.

Let’s start from a place that feels more doable.

Step 1: What’s quietly draining you the most?

Don’t start with what’s “urgent.”
Start with what’s making you feel heaviest.

Ask yourself:

What task do I keep avoiding even though I think about it daily?
What would make me feel 10% lighter if it was off my plate?
What do I know I won’t do, even if I tell myself I will?

It could be:

Email management
Booking appointments
Uploading content
Tracking expenses
Setting reminders
Organising files
Following up with clients

These aren’t “little things.” They’re the invisible bricks in your mental load, and when they stack up, they block everything else.

Start there.

Step 2: Make a “What I’d Love to Let Go Of” List

No pressure, no judgment. Just brainstorm freely.

Try finishing the sentence:
“If I didn’t have to think about ____ anymore, I’d feel so relieved.”

You might list:

Inbox clean-up
Paying invoices
Creating social media captions
Making follow-up calls
Managing your calendar
Researching tools or suppliers

This list becomes the beginning of your support blueprint.
Even if you don’t delegate all of it right away, just writing it out gives you clarity - and that’s a massive win for ADHD brains.

Step 3: Match tasks to support types

Now look at your list and ask: Who could help with this?

You don’t need to know the job title, just think about the kind of help:

Do you need someone to take over and handle it fully?
Do you just need someone to remind you and keep you accountable?
Do you need help setting up the system once, then you can maintain it?

Here’s an example breakdown:

  
      Task
      Type of Support
    
      Following up with clients
      Someone to draft/send emails for you
    
      Inbox overwhelm
      A VA to triage, flag, and unsubscribe
    
      Overdue appointments
      A PA-style VA to book and confirm
    
      Posting social content
      Someone to schedule or format posts
    
      Forgetting bills
      Someone to set up reminders or auto-pay
    
      Can’t finish big projects
      An accountability check-in buddy

This shows you that not everything needs to be outsourced completely. Some things just need to be structured with support in mind.

Step 4: Lower the bar, it doesn’t have to be perfect

Here’s the ADHD trap:

“I can’t hand this over because it’s not ready to delegate.”

So you wait until the task is perfectly defined, neatly packaged, and explainable - which rarely happens.
And nothing gets handed off.

But here’s a secret: You can delegate messily.

A good support person (especially one trained in ADHD-friendly assistance) can help you figure it out as you go.

You can say, “I don’t know what I need, but here’s what’s stuck.”
You can delegate just part of a task.
You can adjust over time as you learn what works.

You don’t need to manage someone. You just need someone who can meet you in the fog and gently help clear a path forward.

Gentle reminders for your brain:

Delegating isn’t weakness, it’s strategy
You don’t have to do everything yourself to be capable
Getting help on life admin doesn’t make you less smart or driven
Starting small is still starting

If all you do today is write down one thing you wish someone else could handle, that’s progress.

Ready to lighten the load?

If you’re drowning in life admin, unfinished tasks, or decision fatigue, you don’t need to figure it all out alone.

At Real Time VA, we work with ADHD brains every day - which means we know how to meet you where you are, even if that’s “I don’t even know where to start.”

We offer a FREE strategy call where we talk through what’s on your plate, what support could look like, and how to make life feel a little lighter.

There’s no pressure, no prep needed, just a gentle space to get clearer on what’s next.

Book your FREE strategy call