We live in a culture that thrives on urgency. Every ping, buzz, and red notification bubble on your phone is designed to grab your attention and push you into reaction mode. That constant state of reactivity is called urgency bias—and for those of us with ADHD, it can be both a survival strategy and a fast track to burnout.
What Is Urgency Bias?
Urgency bias is the tendency to focus on whatever feels most urgent in the moment, even when it isn’t actually the most important task. For neurodivergent brains, urgency bias often looks like procrastination: waiting until the last second, then pulling off a burst of hyperfocus to meet the deadline.
But underneath the surface, urgency bias is really about how our brains process dopamine and stress. ADHD brains crave novelty and immediate reward, and urgency provides the dopamine boost needed to get moving. That’s why so many of us can’t start a task until it feels absolutely necessary.
How ADHD Turns Urgency Into Fuel
For years, I mistook my urgency bias for executive functioning. If I had enough anxiety about a deadline, I could trick my nervous system into action. The rush of panic became the only reliable fuel source. And while it sometimes led to brilliance under pressure, it also left me living in a constant cycle of stress.
Examples of urgency bias in ADHD life:
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Paying bills at 4:45 pm when they’re due at 5.
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Waiting until April 15 to file taxes (sometimes years late).
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Ignoring routine work until a fire drill forces action.
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Avoiding phone calls until the nervous system gives just enough “juice” to pick up the phone.
Urgency works—until it doesn’t.
When Urgency Bias Helps
Urgency bias isn’t all bad. Deadlines can push us into hyperfocus and unlock incredible problem-solving skills. I once had to migrate an entire catalog of courses in a short period of time. The urgency forced me to streamline my process and sharpen my tech skills so I could deliver quality results under pressure.
When Urgency Bias Hurts
The pitfalls are real:
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Living in constant stress floods your system with cortisol.
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You stay stuck in reactivity instead of long-term planning.
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Perfectionism collides with urgency, creating mistakes or emotional crashes.
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Burnout becomes inevitable when every task feels like an emergency.
I’ve been there—teaching, directing, working in higher ed, even podcasting. Urgency bias kept me producing, but it also kept me exhausted and disconnected from the big picture.
Reframing Urgency Bias
So how do we move forward without shame? The first step is perspective: Is anything actually on fire? Is anyone bleeding? Most of the time, the answer is no. Learning to pause and ask those questions helps retrain the nervous system to separate true urgency from manufactured urgency.
Here are strategies that help:
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Use your phone wisely: Turn off non-essential notifications, set up Focus modes, and create intentional digital boundaries.
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Time blocking: Dedicate specific times for both short-term and long-term goals so everything doesn’t feel like a crisis.
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Body awareness: Notice when your nervous system is running on adrenaline instead of regulation. Exercise, rest, or movement can reset your system.
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Reframe urgency as a tool: Sometimes, a deadline is the push you need. Other times, it’s a trap. Learning the difference is key.
The Takeaway
Urgency bias isn’t laziness or failure. For ADHD brains, it’s a nervous system strategy—a way to generate energy when motivation feels impossible. Sometimes it leads to brilliance, and sometimes it leads to burnout. The goal isn’t to eliminate urgency, but to use it intentionally while building gentler systems of accountability.
So next time you feel your heart racing with “must do this now” energy, pause and ask yourself: Is anything on fire? Is anyone bleeding? If not, you may just have more time and space than your nervous system wants you to believe.