ADHD brains don’t just think fast; they think in more than one direction at the same time. We tend to move fluidly between top-down and bottom-up thinking, which means we can hold the bigger picture, the sense of where something is heading, while also tracking the detail, the mechanics, and the practical steps that make it work in real life.

Most people are stronger in one direction than the other. Some need to start with the detail and build their way up before the vision makes sense, while others are comfortable with the big picture but struggle to stay with the specifics long enough to ground it. ADHD brains are often agile enough to do both, switching between them quickly, sometimes without even noticing we’re doing it.

That flexibility is a genuine advantage. It’s why we can see through situations so quickly, why patterns jump out at us, why we often spot the snag before it becomes a problem. To us, the logic feels clean and obvious, as though the path has already been walked.

And this is also where things can quietly start to trip us up.

Because when your brain has already done the full journey, it’s easy to assume that everyone else has travelled at the same speed. In a meeting, for example, you might already be able to see where a conversation is heading, what the risk is, and what would solve it. You might also have thought through the practicalities, the safeguards, and the consequences. So you jump in with the answer, believing you’re being helpful, efficient, and respectful of everyone’s time.

What other people experience, though, is something very different. They may still be trying to understand the problem itself, or working through one part of the detail. When the solution arrives before they’ve had a chance to ask the question, it can feel jarring, or even unsettling, as though something has been taken out of their hands.

This is where the shift really lives. The work isn’t about having the perfect answer ready; it’s about being willing to stay with the question for a moment longer.

For many ADHD brains, this requires a deliberate unlearning. We’re often used to bracing ourselves by thinking everything through in advance, anticipating every angle, every objection, every possible outcome. It’s a form of self-protection as much as competence. If we arrive prepared, we won’t be caught out.

But that constant bracing is exhausting.

Letting go of the need to have all the answers before any question is asked doesn’t mean being unprepared or careless. It means trusting that thinking can happen in real time, and that it doesn’t all have to sit on your shoulders alone. Instead of presenting a fully formed solution, you might offer a partial thought, name what you’re noticing, or ask an open question that invites others into the process.

In practice, this might look like noticing that a team is struggling with a process and saying, “I’ve got a sense of where this might be getting stuck, but I want to check how it feels from your side,” rather than arriving with a ready-made fix. Or it might mean resisting the urge to smooth everything out immediately, and allowing a bit of productive uncertainty while people find their footing.

What’s happening here is not less thinking, but shared thinking. And that’s where the real efficiency lies.

When people feel included in the journey, they don’t resist the destination. When they’ve had space to ask the question themselves, they don’t need to push back against the answer. The emotional and relational load lightens, and the work itself starts to move more easily.

This is what working smarter, not harder, often looks like in practice. It’s conserving energy by not doing all the thinking, anticipating, and containing on your own. It’s saving some of that energy for the actual doing, rather than spending it all upfront on bracing.

Thinking top down and bottom up is a rare and valuable skill. It allows you to see further and more clearly than many people can. But it works best when paired with the willingness to slow the communication just enough for others to come with you, and to trust that not every step needs to be mapped before you take the first one.

You still get to be fast, perceptive, and capable. You just get to use your energy where it actually matters.

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