{"id":821387,"date":"2026-08-21T21:18:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T21:18:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/821387\/"},"modified":"2026-08-21T21:18:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T21:18:12","slug":"home-shoes-can-help-with-task-paralysis-from-adhd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/821387\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Home Shoes’ Can Help With Task Paralysis From ADHD"},"content":{"rendered":"

Attention-deficit\/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) comes with many challenges, which commonly include \u201cgetting distracted, staying motivated and following through,\u201d according to Brighid Gannon<\/a>, a psychiatric nurse practitioner and co-founder of Lavender, an online psychiatry practice. These issues make completing tasks extremely difficult for many people with ADHD \u2015 so much so that there\u2019s a name for it: task paralysis<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea of task paralysis is you want to start a task \u2015 your brain could be screaming at you, \u2018get up and do the task,\u2019 but some invisible, unseen barrier is preventing it,\u201d said Andrew Robinson<\/a>, a licensed clinical social worker and ADHD-certified clinical services provider. Task paralysis is an example of executive dysfunction, a common symptom of ADHD that makes it really tough to get up and do (and complete) a task, Robinson said.<\/p>\n

On social media<\/a>, there is no shortage of hacks to tackle executive dysfunction and task paralysis, specifically. One that went viral recently claims that \u201chouse shoes\u201d are a way to<\/a> combat task paralysis and get necessary chores done.<\/p>\n

Basically, people say wearing specific shoes in the house (anything from sneakers to comfy sandals) helps provide motivation to get tasks done.<\/p>\n

Mental health providers told HuffPost the idea of \u201chouse shoes\u201d to defeat task paralysis makes complete sense. Your body goes into \u201crest mode\u201d when you get home and take off your shoes, which would feasibly then lead to struggle doing a task, Gannon said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur body is connected to our mind … there\u2019s certain physical cues that change the state that we\u2019re in, and I could absolutely see when you take your shoes off, you go into rest mode,\u201d Gannon said. \u201cThere are neurons on the bottom of your feet that talk to your brain, so I could absolutely see if you get to your house and you simply switch into your house shoes, your brain is staying in active mode and it\u2019s signaling to keep your motivation up so that you can finish your tasks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Robinson added that starting a task isn\u2019t easy, but house shoes can be the trigger that gets your head into task mode.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are very creative with how we work around our task initiation barriers, and I think when we\u2019re able to have something that puts our brain into the concept of \u2018OK, I associate this with work,\u2019 that association takes some of the hurdle out of starting the task,\u201d Robinson said.<\/p>\n

\"For<\/p>\n

Fiordaliso via Getty Images<\/p>\n

For people with ADHD who struggle with completing tasks, putting on a pair of \u201chouse shoes\u201d for motivation can be helpful.<\/p>\n

Picking a simple chore to do in your home shoes is a great way to start your house shoe habit.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the problem for a lot of us with ADHD, we get really big, lofty ideas,\u201d Robinson said. Because of this, it\u2019s best to pick a small to-do item as your foray into completing tasks while wearing house shoes. This way, you won\u2019t set yourself up for failure. <\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe start with doing the dishes. Maybe start with wiping off the windows or the counters,\u201d Robinson suggested. <\/p>\n

Allow yourself to get into the habit of doing a specific chore while wearing your house shoes. Then, make sure you\u2019re only wearing the shoes while doing the task, Robinson said. \u201cDon\u2019t intermingle. It wont work,\u201d Robinson stressed. \u201cAs soon as you\u2019re done with that task, take off those shoes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t get discouraged if this hack doesn\u2019t work for your task paralysis, Robinson said. \u201cNot only is it not going to work for everyone, but there\u2019s different ways that you can try it if it doesn\u2019t work right away,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

You could put on your house shoes with a different outfit and see if that helps. Or you could put on some motivational music as you try to complete the must-do task.<\/p>\n

\u201cTry this, but also give it some time to see if it will work,\u201d Robinson added. If it doesn\u2019t, there are other strategies out there.<\/p>\n

Gannon said if you feel like you\u2019re struggling with task paralysis or any other symptoms of ADHD, it\u2019s a good idea to see a psychiatrist or psychiatric nurse practitioner for an assessment to determine whether or not you have ADHD.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the first step, and it can be really empowering,\u201d Gannon said. \u201cThen they can talk to their provider about what treatment modalities are available to them,\u201d she noted.<\/p>\n

Completing tasks is a way to build up self-worth in people with ADHD \u2014 and in those without the diagnosis, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I\u2019ve read from people on social media that are using this life hack that have ADHD, they\u2019re able to stay motivated longer and accomplish more in their day, which not only allows you to have better functioning in your life, but also it has a positive effect on your self-esteem as well,\u201d Gannon said.<\/p>\n

People who have ADHD face a lot of self-criticism over not being able to complete certain things, she added. \u201cI would imagine when you\u2019re able to complete the tasks of the day that you want to complete, it really does help with your self-esteem and your self-worth,\u201d she said. \u201cAs a human being, we all need that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kate Hanselman, the vice president of clinical psychiatry at Thriveworks<\/a>, added that for people with ADHD, there can be shame and embarrassment around the inability to do certain things. \u201cAnd there also can be some grief around that. Like, why do I have to figure out house shoes when everybody else just seems to be able to do their chores?\u201d Hanselman said.<\/p>\n

Hanselman described behaviors like completing tasks as \u201chuman skills\u201d that some people implicitly can do and others have to learn explicitly.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the difference,\u201d she said. Thinking of it this way can \u201creduce … some of the shame and stigma around wanting, needing, leveraging extra tools when we describe them not only as tools to support people who are neurodivergent, but tools to support humans to do stuff,\u201d Hanselman added.<\/p>\n

Anyone, neurodivergent or not, can benefit from having house shoes to help them complete boring chores.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody has a hard time with motivation, transition, etc. I\u2019ll teach everybody these tools, and they can be particularly helpful for people with ADHD,\u201d said Hanselman.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Attention-deficit\/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) comes with many challenges, which commonly include \u201cgetting distracted, staying motivated and following through,\u201d according…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":821388,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[3796,97,259],"class_list":["post-821387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-adhd","tag-health","tag-mental-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/821387","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=821387"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/821387\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/821388"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=821387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=821387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=821387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}