FOCO Research
Original data on how ADHD actually plays out in a working day, published free for anyone to read, quote, or reuse with attribution.
We publish the full response distribution behind every number, label the limits of every sample, and never quote a statistic we cannot source.
Published reports
Headline finding: 73% of respondents said the first barrier to any task is not knowing where to start, and 80% hit that wall five or more times a day. Download the data (CSV).
What we are working on next
The ADHD Insights Series is planned as an ongoing programme rather than a one-off. These are the subjects in the queue, in no fixed order and with no promised dates.
If you research or report in this area and want to suggest a question worth asking, or collaborate on a sample, we would rather hear it than guess. Contact details are below.
How we work
We publish the raw distribution. Every report ships with a downloadable file containing the full answer breakdown, not just the percentages we found interesting.
We label the sample honestly. Our surveys are self-selected and self-reported. We say so at the top of the methodology, we do not quote a margin of error on a non-probability sample, and we do not describe our findings as prevalence.
We separate the research from the product. FOCO is an app, and the research covers ground the app works on. That disclosure appears in every report, and the product section sits at the end, after the findings.
We do not invent numbers. Any statistic we did not collect ourselves is linked to its source.
Press kit
Everything below is cleared for editorial use. Attribution to FOCO Research is appreciated and, for the data, required.
Logo
Founder photo
App screenshotsBrand description (use freely)
Short: FOCO is an ADHD focus companion app that turns a stuck task into one small first step.
Long: FOCO is an app for adults with ADHD, built around task initiation rather than task management. It breaks any stuck task into tiny first steps with time estimates, and its focus mode pairs a session with an AI body-doubling companion so starting is not done alone. FOCO is free to install on the App Store and Google Play. FOCO Research is its research arm, publishing original survey data on ADHD and executive function.
Founder: Adi Ben Elyahu is the founder of FOCO and RemindHer, two apps focused on reducing mental overload and helping overwhelmed minds feel calmer, more focused, and more capable. Read the founder story.
Press contact: support@tryfoco.com, with “Press” in the subject line. We can supply methodology detail, higher-resolution charts, and founder comment.
Press release, Volume 1
For immediate release, July 2026
Survey of 194 adults with ADHD finds 73% do not know how to start a task
New data published by FOCO Research suggests the hardest part of a task for adults with ADHD is not finishing it, or even concentrating on it. It is beginning.
In an online survey of 194 adults who identify as having ADHD, 73% said the first thing they feel when a task comes to mind is “I don’t know where to start”, far ahead of not having enough time or energy (20%). Four out of five respondents (80%) said they find themselves frozen in front of a task they know they need to do five or more times a day.
The emotional cost was consistent. 75% named guilt as the main feeling attached to their procrastination, and only 2% chose apathy, a result that cuts against the common reading of ADHD procrastination as not caring.
Asked which strategies help, respondents rated working alongside another person highest, with 87% calling it helpful or life-changing, followed by breaking tasks into small steps (78%). Asked to name the single tool they most need, 76% chose help breaking down the first step.
“The most surprising finding wasn’t procrastination. It was that people already knew what they needed to do. Their biggest challenge was taking the first step,” said Adi Ben Elyahu, founder of FOCO.
The survey was fielded between January and February 2026 among women and men aged 18 to 60, recruited from the FOCO mailing list and ADHD communities on Reddit. It was self-selected and self-reported, and ADHD status was not clinically verified, so the findings describe this group of 194 people rather than the ADHD population. The full methodology and the complete response distribution are published alongside the report.
Report: ADHD Execution Paralysis: A Survey of 194 Adults. FOCO Research, ADHD Insights Series, Volume 1. tryfoco.com/adhd-execution-paralysis-survey
Data: Full response distribution (CSV)
About FOCO: FOCO is an app for adults with ADHD, built around task initiation rather than task management. It breaks a stuck task into tiny first steps and pairs focus sessions with an AI body-doubling companion. Free to install on the App Store and Google Play.
Press contact: support@tryfoco.com
Citing FOCO Research
Volume 1: Ben Elyahu, A. (2026). ADHD Execution Paralysis: A Survey of 194 Adults. FOCO Research, ADHD Insights Series, Volume 1. https://www.tryfoco.com/adhd-execution-paralysis-survey/
Charts and figures are free to reuse with the line “Source: FOCO Research, 2026” kept visible.