S1 E31 Can’t Start: ADHD Women, Body Doubling & Not Doing It Alone

Why is it so hard to start even when you want to?

In this episode of Angry on the Inside, Jess and Jeannine talk about ADHD task paralysis, late diagnosis, and the surprisingly powerful tool known as body doubling.

If you’ve ever stared at an email, a sink full of dishes, or one simple bill and thought, why can’t I just do this? This conversation will feel familiar.

Body doubling isn’t supervision. It’s not someone doing the task for you. It’s not productivity hacking. It’s simply doing a task while someone else is present in the room, on the phone, or even quietly working nearby.

And for many late-diagnosed ADHD women, it works.

Jess and Jeannine unpack:

• Why ADHD brains struggle with task initiation and activation energy

• The difference between accountability and performance anxiety

• Mirroring, co-regulation, and why presence lowers resistance

• Productive procrastination (gutters, toilets, and the classic “I’ll do it later”)

• Why asking someone to “just sit with me” can feel deeply vulnerable

• The identity shift late-diagnosed women experience around competence and independence.

• Why productivity can feel lonely and doesn’t have to.

This episode isn’t about fixing your brain. It’s about understanding it.

For women who were diagnosed with ADHD later in life after decades of white-knuckling responsibilities, careers, motherhood, and expectations body doubling isn’t childish. It’s not weakness. It’s support.

Maybe the real shift isn’t learning how to force yourself to start.

Maybe it’s realizing you don’t have to do it alone.

When this resonates you’ll know exactly who to send it to the friend you’re going to body double with.