Bandwidth
The working vocabulary · entries 01–18

Concepts

Bandwidth names things. Most of what is hard about running a senior job with an ADHD brain goes unmanaged because it goes unnamed — you cannot delegate, schedule or defend against a problem you can only gesture at. These are the manual’s working terms. Eighteen entries; the eight that carry the most weight have pages of their own.

The principal entries

The full glossary

The Inversion §01 · The Inversion
The observation that seniority makes ADHD easier, not harder: control over your own diary is the variable everyone misses. Read the entry
The ADHD tax §02 · Working With, Not Against
Small costs paid deliberately — the meal deal, the spare charger — to eliminate decisions that would cost more than the money saved.
5-4-3-2-1 §02 · Working With, Not Against
The grounding technique: five things you can see, four you can hear, three you can touch, two you can smell, one you can taste.
Body doubling for executives §02 · Working With, Not Against
Five-minute calls to do small avoided tasks together — reframed from a coping mechanism into a senior management technique. Read the entry
The stock response §02 · Working With, Not Against
A single rehearsed sentence for receiving criticism, said even when angry. It gets you through the meeting unscathed. Read the entry
The hyperfocus tax §03 · The Energy Economy
The recovery cost of a high-output burst. Pay it deliberately, or pay it later as burnout. Read the entry
The early warning catalog §03 · The Energy Economy
A written list of your personal signs that adrenaline is impersonating energy — read before the crash rather than after it. Read the entry
The strategic reserve §03 · The Energy Economy
Finished work held deliberately in your back pocket, released when pressure arrives. Read the entry
The sofa-tea paradox §03 · The Energy Economy
Wanting the sofa and a cup of tea at work; thinking about work on the sofa with the tea. Compartmentalisation is the discipline. Read the entry
Let’s percolate §04 · Meetings, Reframed
The script for closing a meeting that has run its course: park the question, let it brew, return with something better.
The 10-minute quick chat §04 · Meetings, Reframed
The bookable-culture norm — anyone can take ten minutes in your diary — that stops you becoming the bottleneck.
The message tax §05 · Inbox, Slack, and the Message Tax
What the inbox and Slack actually cost this brain, and the windows-and-triage system that caps the bill.
The dopamine kill §06 · Decisions and the Dopamine Economy
The premature praise or announcement that quietly finishes a pet project by paying out its reward before the work is done.
Proceed until apprehended §07 · Leading a Team With This Brain
The delegation philosophy: trust plus clear-but-implicit boundaries. People act on their own judgement until something genuinely needs to stop. Read the entry
Risk of the week §07 · Leading a Team With This Brain
The standing agenda item that turns an ADHD nose for risk into a team asset rather than private anxiety.
The 5% passion-project culture §07 · Leading a Team With This Brain
Protected team time for small self-chosen projects that quietly improve the company.
The two-archetype framework §07 · Leading a Team With This Brain
Hard feedback delivered one of two ways: the same opening for everyone, different endings for the genuine learner and the unchanging.
The stinging nettle §07 · Leading a Team With This Brain
The performance-management decision you keep deferring. When nothing changes, partner with HR and follow the process to its end. Read the entry