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Quiz: Building Daily Systems

Test your understanding of externalizing memory, capture systems, and the daily-system toolkit for an ADHD brain with these review questions.

1. What does "externalizing memory" mean in this chapter?

  1. Memorizing information more thoroughly through repetition
  2. Relying entirely on someone else to remember things for you
  3. Moving information out of your head and into reliable external storage — paper, phone, alarms — the moment it arrives
  4. A medical procedure that improves memory function
Show Answer

The correct answer is C. Externalizing memory means moving information out of your head into reliable external storage the instant it arrives, patching working memory's leaks and prospective memory's unreliable alarm. Option A describes the opposite approach, relying more on internal memory. Option B misplaces the responsibility onto another person rather than an external system. Option D confuses a practical technique with a medical intervention.

Concept Tested: Externalizing Memory

See: Chapter 9

2. What is body doubling?

  1. Doing your work in the presence of another person who is simply there, without them helping or supervising
  2. Assigning two people to complete the same task independently for comparison
  3. A therapy technique where a therapist mimics the client's behavior
  4. Scheduling two accountability partners instead of one
Show Answer

The correct answer is A. Body doubling means working in the presence of another person who is simply there doing their own thing, supplying mild arousal and social presence without supervision or help. Option B describes parallel task assignment, not shared presence. Option C invents an unrelated clinical technique. Option D confuses body doubling with the separate concept of accountability partners.

Concept Tested: Body Doubling

See: Chapter 9

3. What is the Pomodoro technique, as described in this chapter?

  1. A method of preparing meals in advance to save time
  2. A type of alarm that only rings once per day
  3. A technique for permanently eliminating the need for breaks
  4. Committing to one task for a fixed sprint (classically 25 minutes), followed by a short timed break, repeated
Show Answer

The correct answer is D. The Pomodoro technique packages timers into a work rhythm: a fixed sprint, classically 25 minutes, followed by a short timed break, repeated with longer breaks every few cycles. Option A is an unrelated meal-planning concept. Option B misdescribes it as a single alarm rather than a repeating rhythm. Option C is the opposite of the technique, which deliberately builds in sanctioned breaks.

Concept Tested: Pomodoro Technique

See: Chapter 9

4. Why does the chapter say alarms and timers should be labeled with their action (such as "PHARMACY before home") rather than left blank?

  1. Labels are not actually necessary; any alarm works the same way
  2. Labels are required by phone manufacturers
  3. An unlabeled alarm firing later becomes a mystery rather than an instruction, since the intention behind it was never externalized in a retrievable form
  4. Labeled alarms play a different sound than unlabeled ones
Show Answer

The correct answer is C. The chapter stresses that an unlabeled alarm going off later is a mystery, not an instruction — labeling the alarm with its action is what makes externalization actually work at the moment it's needed. Option A contradicts the chapter's explicit advice. Option B invents an unrelated technical requirement. Option D is a fabricated claim about alarm sounds.

Concept Tested: Timers And Alarms

See: Chapter 9

5. Why does this chapter recommend anchoring routines to an existing fixed event (like "after the coffee finishes") rather than a specific clock time (like "at 7:15")?

  1. An event-anchored cue survives schedule disruptions like weekends, while a clock-time cue is more fragile and easily missed
  2. Clock times are technically impossible to use for routines
  3. Anchoring to events is required by law in some states
  4. Clock times work better for people with ADHD than event anchors do
Show Answer

The correct answer is A. The chapter explains that "after the coffee finishes" survives weekends and schedule changes, while "at 7:15" is a more fragile cue that's easy to miss when the day's rhythm shifts. Option B is factually false; clock times can be used, just less reliably for this purpose. Option C is an invented and irrelevant claim. Option D reverses the chapter's actual recommendation.

Concept Tested: Routines And Habits

See: Chapter 9

6. Why does defining a concrete "next action" (like "find the renewal notice and put it by the laptop") often break through weeks of stalled procrastination, according to this chapter?

  1. Because it makes the task more important than it was before
  2. Because most stalled procrastination is actually an undefined next action — the starter motor has nothing sized correctly to grab, and a small, concrete, decision-free step gives it something to start
  3. Because writing anything down guarantees task completion
  4. Because next actions eliminate the need to ever finish the larger project
Show Answer

The correct answer is B. The chapter argues that most procrastination on projects is an undefined next action problem — the starter motor needs something specific and small enough to grab, illustrated by the ninety-second registration renewal example. Option A misattributes the mechanism to perceived importance. Option C overstates what mere writing accomplishes without concreteness. Option D confuses a starting step with skipping the rest of the project.

Concept Tested: Defining Next Actions

See: Chapter 9

7. A parent wants to help their teenager start using a planner. Based on this chapter's guidance, which approach fits best?

  1. Buy an elaborate planner as a surprise gift and expect the teen to adopt it immediately
  2. Set up every feature of the planner in one sitting to save time later
  3. Require the teen to use the planner exactly as designed with no adjustments allowed
  4. Build the system together with the teen's input, starting with one small piece like a daily three-item list, rather than imposing a complete system all at once
Show Answer

The correct answer is D. The chapter's closing diagnosis of a failed planner gift stresses that systems built with the person, starting small and added to gradually, succeed where imposed, all-at-once systems collapse. Option A describes exactly the imposed-gift pattern the chapter diagnoses as a common failure. Option B risks the "installed everything at once" collapse the chapter warns about. Option C removes the tinkering and iteration the chapter treats as essential.

Concept Tested: Habit Stacking

See: Chapter 9

8. A person wants to stop reaching for their phone during homework time. Which environment design move from this chapter best fits this goal?

  1. Leave the phone on the desk but ask themselves to resist checking it through willpower alone
  2. Charge the phone in the kitchen during homework time, so distraction requires extra physical effort to reach
  3. Delete all apps from the phone permanently
  4. Set a phone alarm reminding them not to check the phone
Show Answer

The correct answer is B. The chapter's environment design principle is to add friction to the wrong things — charging the phone in the kitchen during homework is exactly the kind of friction-adding move it recommends. Option A relies on willpower, which the chapter explicitly argues systems should replace. Option C is a far more drastic step than the chapter suggests. Option D uses the phone itself as the reminder, undermining the whole point of removing it from reach.

Concept Tested: Environment Design

See: Chapter 9

  1. Add even more items to make sure nothing is forgotten
  2. Memorize the forty items instead of writing them down
  3. Keep a separate everything-list, but limit today's actual list to three-to-five items, physically separated from the larger list
  4. Complete all forty items in a single day through sheer effort
Show Answer

The correct answer is C. The chapter's rule for to-do lists that work is keeping today's list to three-to-five items, physically separate from the everything-list, since a forty-item list produces decision paralysis and daily non-completion shame. Option A worsens the exact problem described. Option B contradicts the externalization principle underlying the whole chapter. Option D is an unrealistic demand the chapter never recommends.

Concept Tested: To-Do Lists That Work

See: Chapter 9

10. A person, newly excited about this chapter, installs a capture app, a new to-do list system, an estimation log, a Pomodoro timer, a body-doubling schedule, and a full morning and evening routine all in the same weekend. By Thursday, none of it is being used. Using this chapter's analysis, what best explains the collapse?

  1. Installing many new systems at once collides with the novelty curve and habit fragility this chapter describes; the fix is one system at a time, rebuilt smaller after any collapse, not abandoned as a character failure
  2. The person simply lacks the willpower required to maintain systems
  3. None of these systems actually work for anyone with ADHD
  4. The collapse proves the person doesn't actually want to improve
Show Answer

The correct answer is A. The chapter names this exact pattern as the classic failure mode: installing every system in one inspired weekend collides with the novelty curve and the fragility of new habits, and the fix is starting with one system at a time and rebuilding smaller after a collapse. Option B revives the willpower myth the book has already retired. Option C overgeneralizes from a design mistake to blanket ineffectiveness. Option D wrongly reads a predictable systems failure as a statement about motivation or desire.

Concept Tested: Routines And Habits

See: Chapter 9