A common experience for ADHD folks is the struggle to stay on top of tasks – due to memory issues, emotional discomfort, or a myriad of other things. The money we spend to fix the problems that arise from this is called the “ADHD Tax“.
What Is the ADHD Tax?
The ADHD tax is the extra cost that comes from the everyday slip-ups ADHD can create. It might be money spent replacing lost items, paying late fees, missing discounts, forgetting appointments, rebooking something because you no-showed, or buying things in a rush because planning fell apart.
These costs can also show up emotionally — the shame spiral, the overthinking, the “why can’t I just do this?” moments, and the exhaustion that follows.
In Australia, many ADHDers talk about this openly because it’s such a shared experience. Bills, school forms, Myki top-ups, car rego, Medicare appointments, NDIS paperwork — they all become taxing when working memory and executive functioning are stretched thin.
Now let’s drop into some familiar moments.
Let Me Know If This Sounds Familiar:
- I left my phone charger at home, so now I need to buy one while I’m out. Bringing my total number of loose chargers to 7
- I bought fresh fruit and vegetables two weeks ago, and forgot about them. Now I’ve wasted money on food, and I need to clean rotten tomatoes out of the crisper.
- I organised a doctor’s appointment, but didn’t put it in my calendar. I’m getting charged a no-show, and I still need to rebook and see them.
- I need to fill out this form. I need to fill out this form. I need to-oh, I missed the deadline.
- Every time I’m in the bathroom, I tell myself to buy drain cleaner. Every time I’m at the shops, I forget. Now it’s clogged, and I need a plumber.
- I forgot to pay my bills, and now my power’s shut off, AND I need to fork out the additional late fee.
- I need to complete assignments for all of my classes, or I’ll fail them and have to redo them. There’s no time, but I might get one of them done. But which one?? Oh, I got so stressed that I couldn’t start anything, and now I have to redo the whole term.
- I need to go to work, but my car’s registration has expired. Now I have to risk being late to work, call an Uber, or drive anyway and risk a fine.
These are all examples of the “ADHD Tax”. It’s the extra “cost of living” expenses that arise from forgetting things, missing deadlines, feeling too anxious to handle a tough task, or becoming overwhelmed to the point of giving up.
The best part? It’s rarely just one of these at a time. When we’re stressed, our memories tend to worsen, and as they do, we forget more important things. But hope is not lost. While there will probably always be some things we forget, we can reduce the amount and the impact of the consequences.
Why Does It Happen?
There are two parts to this: memory and our old friend, task paralysis. Let’s start with memory.
Memory
What makes something memorable? Interest, connection, and context. And other stuff, probably, but let’s start here.
Interest:
We’re more likely to remember something if it’s interesting. Makes sense, right? Now, note that I’m not saying anything important. Our brains can’t always recognise that something is important and needs to be held on to. But if we like thinking about it? Easy. So you’re more likely to remember that orange lilies mean hatred in Victorian flower language than you are that you need more toothpaste, because one of those things is fascinating.
Connection:
Memory is theoretically based on interconnecting concepts, and our brains are great at that. Too great. Our thoughts move really fast, and instead of holding one idea, they juggle many interrelated ideas. This can manifest as having a bit of info on all sorts of things, but struggling to have intense depth in just one. Jack of all Trades, Master of None. (This has pros, as well, but I absolutely can’t follow my own thought-connections onto that topic right now, or this’ll be 6000 words long. Oh, hey, how this impacts essay writing and studying could be interesting- no. NO. STOP)
With memory, what this means is that when we think of one thing, we think of its cousins, too. Thing A, Thing A-B, Thing A-C, Thing B-C, and so on. So, unless we consciously rein it in, one thought will naturally give way to lots of other thoughts, and the moment one of them is more interesting than the others, it becomes stronger, and new thoughts pop up based around that instead.
Did everyone just think of pausing in checking your emails to make a cup of tea, searching for sugar, realising you need to reorganise the pantry, noticing you’re out of garlic, making a shopping list, wondering if there’s a shopping app that calculates the total… and then it’s two hours later, and the tea is cold? Yeah. It’s that.
Context:
Our brains don’t just connect ideas; they connect them to the context they exist. So you’re more likely to remember you need to book a doctor’s appointment while walking past the clinic than anywhere else. This has two effects:
- If you leave the context, you might leave the thought. The ‘Walking through a door and forgetting why you came into the room’ phenomenon. And if the thought “I need to pay my bills” only exists in the email for that bill, then the moment the email is closed, there’s a problem.
- New contexts inspire new thoughts. That “tea -> pantry -> google” example above is what happens when you enter a space that has its own thoughts (or worse, tasks!) and your brain immediately starts latching on to them.
You put these things together, and you have a supercomputer that is constantly calculating new data and connections, and generating ideas, all based on how interesting and motivating you find them. The problem is, it’s the boring stuff that makes up a lot of our day-to-day responsibilities.
Task Paralysis
The other part of this is Task Paralysis, or Executive Dysfunction. It’s that thing where you need to do something and you know you need to do it, but you can’t. You don’t know why you can’t, but your brain and body freeze up, you start feeling stressed or anxious or blank, and you either have to stay trapped in a freeze state or do something else. Task paralysis sits in a deeper place than your surface thoughts; it’s usually feeling-based.
It can be triggered by:
- Boredom – when a task is so uninteresting that your brain just shuts down and won’t let you do it (There are reasons for this- next topic perhaps!)
- Anxiety – either the task itself, or what it represents. Like fear of rejection can make applying for studies or jobs a lot harder
- Hopelessness – like answering emails knowing there’ll just be more emails tomorrow, and ongoing forever.
- Anger – “I need to do this, but I shouldn’t have to do this, and it’s bullshit that I am being forced to!”
It can be caused by all sorts of emotions, but at the end of the day, it’s usually triggered by a task that, for whatever reason, you don’t want to do, even if doing it will have positive outcomes for you.
WHAT CAN I DO?
Many of us haven’t been told our brains have a specific way of connecting to thoughts, and instead that we’re just forgettful or not trying hard enough. Or worse, if you really cared about this, you’d remember. Love that one, because it attaches moral and emotional shame to your brain, too. But there’s stuff that helps.
WRITE. EVERYTHING. DOWN. RIGHT. NOW.
Seriously. If you get told “you should remember this” enough times, you start to believe it, and you don’t write things down because that feels like admitting defeat. Stop it. Whether it’s a paper notebook or planner, or a digital calendar, put in everything that needs doing and attending, literally the moment you find out about it.
Set Reminders
This isn’t just for important events. Schedule in the due dates for bills, stick “buy the thing” somewhere when you’re likely to be out of the house, and give yourself mini-deadlines before the real deadline. A reminder won’t help if it appears when you’ve run out of time. And don’t make them passive, you might not check your phone. I’m sorry, but you need to set alarms and make some of your notifications visible so you actually SEE the reminder when you need it. (ADVANCED ADHD tip: change your alarm noise every few months, or your brain gets used to it.)
Do it immediately (or soon, at least)
If you can, Do The Thing Now. For me, this means paying bills the moment they hit my inbox if I can, or making a “pay bills” task on my pay day. It’s also about putting dates in your calendar right now, instead of assuming you’ll remember to put them in later. Assume you’ll forget, and the instinct to do it now while it’s fresh in your mind will get easier.
Make it Visible
A lot of these examples are task-based, but what about forgetting things? The more things that are in your line of sight, the easier it will be to remember their existence and that you need them. Some people create home “launch pads” that contain everything they’ll need for the day- bag, keys, letter to mail, etc. Or they have their bins out somewhere visible instead of in a drawer, to reduce rubbish building up.
Double-Up
Don’t want to constantly take stuff from one place, put it somewhere visible, take it back to use,
Then put it there again? Phrased like that, it certainly sounds exhausting. Well then, pay the ADHD tax in advance and double- or triple-up on what you need. That phone charge example from the top of the page wasn’t hypothetical: it happened and inspired this blog. So I’m going to go home- wait. No. I’m going to PUT A TASK IN MY CALENDAR. THEN I’m going to go home, gather up all my chargers and powerpacks, and put one in each of the bags I regularly use. And they will LIVE in those bags. For things I don’t have multiples of on hand, I have to spend a bit to have bulk, then divide them up. It’s not for everything, but anything small enough to forget that you’re likely to impulse-buy to have on hand is worth it.
Everyday Systems That Reduce the ADHD Tax
Small supports can make a huge difference, especially when they’re designed around how an ADHD brain naturally works.
- Keep essentials in visible places so your brain doesn’t need to “remember” them
- Automate bills and renewals where you can
- Use calendar alarms that go off more than once
- Lay out items you need the night before (keys, bag, meds)
- Create simple “launch pads” by the door
- Break appointments into micro-steps: “Find number → Call → Add to calendar → Prep bag”
- Use reminders that interrupt you, not ones that whisper politely from the notification bar
These aren’t hacks — they’re accommodations.
When the ADHD Tax Feels Heavy
Sometimes the ADHD tax isn’t just about money. It hits your confidence, your self-esteem, and your sense of capability.
Therapy can help by:
- Reducing shame around forgetfulness
- Supporting emotional regulation
- Building ADHD-friendly routines
- Understanding your personal executive functioning patterns
- Helping you feel safe enough to try again without the self-blame spiral
If you’ve ever felt like you’re fighting your own brain, you’re not failing. You’re navigating life with a different set of mental gear ratios.
TO SUMMARISE:
- The “ADHD Tax” refers to added costs from forgetfulness, missed deadlines, and task overwhelm.
- Stress worsens memory issues, leading to forgetting important things.
- Memory is influenced by interest, connection, and context, causing scattered knowledge.
- Task paralysis, driven by emotions like boredom or anxiety, hinders task initiation.
- Strategies include immediate note-taking, setting visible reminders, and prompting task completion.
- Visibility of essential items and doubling up on necessities helps to counter forgetfulness.
- Understanding ADHD’s cognitive processes allows for proactive measures for better control.
And that’s that! Think about the situations you pay the most “tax” for – bills, appointments, replacing items, fixing the consequences of forgotten items… whatever it is, you’re not the only one dealing with it, and with some gentleness and cleverness, there are ways to feel in control.
Final Thoughts
The ADHD tax can feel relentless, especially when you’re trying so hard to remember everything, keep up with life, and not disappoint anyone — including yourself. But you’re not broken, lazy, or careless. You’re managing a brain that works differently in a world that rarely slows down long enough to notice.
With understanding, gentle support, and the right tools, the ADHD tax becomes something you can reduce, soften, and navigate with far more self-kindness.
FAQs About the ADHD Tax
What is the ADHD tax?
It’s a term used to describe the extra financial, emotional, and time-based costs that come from ADHD traits like forgetfulness, impulsivity, overwhelm, and task paralysis.
Why is it called a “tax”?
Because the costs feel like a penalty you’re paying simply for having an ADHD brain — not because you did anything intentionally wrong.
Is the ADHD tax a recognised medical term?
No. It’s a lived-experience term widely used within ADHD and neurodivergent communities.
How do I reduce the ADHD tax?
Simple, visible systems, automation, compassionate routines, and professional support can help. Small steps make a meaningful difference.
Is the ADHD tax common in Australia?
Yes — many Australians with ADHD experience ongoing costs from missed deadlines, Myki fines, forgotten appointments, rebooking fees, and daily overwhelm.
