Why simple tasks can feel impossible
The dishes. The email. The form. The phone call. The objectively five minute task that has been on your list for six weeks. If you have ADHD, you know this list intimately.
It isn't about willpower
Task initiation is a specific executive function, and for ADHD brains it's often underpowered. Knowing what to do, wanting to do it, and being able to start are three different things that don't always cooperate.
Telling yourself to just do it is a bit like telling a phone with a flat battery to just turn on.
What actually helps
Make the first step laughably small. Not 'do the tax return'. 'Open the folder.' That's the whole task.
Add a body to the room. Body doubling, working alongside someone in person or on a call, can quietly unlock tasks that have been stuck for months.
Lower the stakes. Permission to do it badly is often the unlock for doing it at all.
Simple isn't the same as easy. For ADHD brains, the gap between the two is where most of the real work lives.