ADHD Executive Coaching · Tactical Coaching
The System
An ADHD coaching framework for follow-through
It's not about goals. It's about what you do every day.
The System is the practical framework Robert Pal uses with coaching clients to turn priorities into specific daily commitments, and to keep them going between sessions. He developed it, and keeps refining it, through his work with adults with ADHD.
Send a short inquiry. I reply within two business days, and if it looks like a fit, we set up a 20-minute call.
- Structure
- Triggers
- Accountability
Why It Exists
Knowing what to do was never the problem.
Most of the people I coach are intelligent, capable, and successful. With a deadline, a crisis, or a big opportunity in front of them, they often do their best work. What is harder is the ordinary week: deciding what matters, starting the task that is unclear or uncomfortable, and doing it again the next day.
Most productivity advice assumes you can count on motivation, memory, and self-discipline. For many adults with ADHD, that assumption does not hold, and trying harder does not fix it.
It is rarely an ability problem. What is usually missing is a structure that works with how you function. The System is that structure. It sits outside your head, so less depends on remembering, feeling motivated, or forcing yourself.
What It Helps With
More control, less carried in your head
The point is not to do more. It is to feel more in control of your time, your responsibilities, and your decisions, without the mental weight of managing everything yourself.
Clear priorities
When everything feels equally urgent, The System helps you decide what matters most this week, and what waits on purpose.
Intentions become actions
Each goal is broken down to a first step small enough to take tomorrow, with a time, a place, and a reminder attached.
Less mental clutter
Commitments move out of your head into one place you review, so you stop carrying the feeling that something important is being forgotten.
Consistency you can count on
Routines small enough to repeat on a hard day, so getting things done depends less on urgency or a burst of motivation.
Accountability without guilt
You see your intentions next to what actually happened. When something slips, we look at what got in the way, not at who to blame.
Daily actions tied to long-term goals
Work, health, relationships, and how you look after yourself stay connected to how you spend each day, instead of being crowded out by whatever is loudest.
How It Works
Three parts: Structure, Triggers, Accountability.
Every goal goes through the same three parts. On the right is one goal, worked through from start to finish.
The three parts
Part 1 · Structure
Make the goal specific
Five questions turn a goal into something you can act on tomorrow. What: the first small step. When: tied to a time, or to a habit you already have. Where: the place that makes it easiest. Who: anyone who can do it, help, or join you. Why: your reason, and your reward. Not every goal needs all five.
Part 2 · Triggers
Remember at the right moment
A trigger prompts the habit when it is time to act: an alarm, an object where you will see it, a checklist, a person. We also look at what pulls you off track, like the phone, e-mail, and interruptions, and change what you can.
Part 3 · Accountability
One daily question, one weekly look back
Every goal ends in a single "Did I" question. Each day you score your effort. Each week we look at the averages together and adjust.
One goal, worked through
| Category | Health |
|---|---|
| Goal | Exercise daily |
| What | 20-minute walk |
| When | Before lunch |
| Where | The park |
| Who | Left blank |
| Why | Energy in the afternoon |
| Trigger | Phone notification just before lunch |
| Accountability | Did I walk 20 minutes today? |
"Exercise daily" is too big to act on. A 20-minute walk before lunch is small enough to do tomorrow, even on a busy day. Lunch happens anyway, so the walk has something to attach to, and the notification does the remembering. The walk is solo, so Who stays blank. For someone else, a walking partner is what makes it happen.
Daily Scoring
Score the effort, not the result.
Each day you answer each question with one of three scores. That is the only thing you enter. The questions and weekly averages fill in for you.
0
No effort
It did not happen today. That is information, not a verdict.
1
Made an effort
A 1 counts. Making an effort on a hard day is what consistency looks like.
2
Success
You did what you committed to.
Scored a 0? Ask one more question: did I remember at the time? If not, the trigger needs work. If you remembered and still did not do it, that is useful information, and it is exactly what we talk about in session.
Each week, the average tells us what to do next
| Weekly average | What we do with it |
|---|---|
| Close to 0 | Ask whether the goal still matters right now. Letting it go is a legitimate outcome, not a failure. |
| Around 1 | The habit is alive. We adjust the structure or the trigger so it is easier to do. |
| Close to 2 | Success. Once it is complete or automatic, it comes off the list and makes room for the next one. |
"They knew every step. The list made sure every step got done."
In 2001, Johns Hopkins Hospital gave intensive care doctors a five-step checklist for putting in a central line. Every doctor already knew the steps. Over the following year, the infection rate on those lines fell from 11% to zero. Knowing was never the problem.
Source: Atul Gawande, The Checklist Manifesto
Start a ConversationResults
What nine clients' check-ins show.
Because every daily score is recorded, The System keeps its own record. I reviewed the check-ins of nine coaching clients, with no names attached: more than 200 weeks and over 12,000 daily check-ins.
7 in 10
daily commitments rated a success by the typical client, with at least an effort made on 8 in 10.
9 in 10
tracked weeks included check-ins on at least five days.
100+
weeks tracked by one client. Five of the nine kept going for 14 weeks or more.
What the numbers cannot show is the starting point. In most cases, these were things clients were not doing at all before they started.
Clients rate their own effort. Figures cover the weeks each client tracked.
"The System has helped me put more structure around how I work, how I plan my day, run meetings and work with my team. Delegating feels much more natural now. And it's carried over into my personal life too. Things like exercise and drinking enough water, which I used to have to think about, are now just part of my day. I feel healthier, and I'm doing better at work as well."
Santonio Sanman
CEO, Papline · Toronto
Part of the Coaching
The System brings our work into your everyday life.
Understanding something in a session does not mean it happens on Tuesday afternoon. The System closes that gap. I introduce it early, adapt it to your circumstances, and we use it in every session to set priorities, agree on commitments, and see what is and is not working.
The System helps you manage what you do. Mindful Intelligence helps you understand what influences how you do it.
The two levels of every session
01 · Tactical Coaching
What you do
The System is the centre of the tactical side: planning, prioritizing, organizing, deciding, and following through. Your check-ins are already in front of us, so each session starts from what actually happened, not from memory.
02 · Mindful Intelligence
What keeps getting in the way
Say an important task keeps getting avoided. The System can clarify it, set its priority, and build a plan. If the avoidance comes from anxiety, perfectionism, or fear of failure, we work on that too.
How Mindful Intelligence works →What Makes It Different
It is not about managing tasks. It is about managing yourself.
| A typical productivity tool | The System |
|---|---|
| Records what needs to be done | Helps you decide what matters, and what waits |
| Holds a list of tasks | Turns each goal into a first step with a time, a place, and a reminder |
| Maintained alone, until it is abandoned | Reviewed with your coach every week, and changed when it is not working |
| Tracks whether things got done | Looks at what got in the way, so you can handle it next time |
| Built for how people are supposed to work | Built around how you actually work |
Many people with ADHD start a new system with enthusiasm and drop it once it becomes demanding or rigid. So the structure has to work for you, not the other way around. When something is not working, we change what needs to change, rather than assuming you need to try harder.
Getting Started
Start small. Build from there.
Two to six goals is plenty to begin with. More than that tends to become one more thing to manage.
Step 1
Your own copy
You get your own copy of The System, shared with you. Bookmark it, and it is ready to use.
Step 2
Build your first goals together
We set up your first goals in session, line by line.
Step 3
Score each day
Answer each question with a 0, 1, or 2. That is all you enter.
Step 4
Review the week together
The averages show what is working. We adjust, the finished week is saved, and a clean week begins.
The goal isn't perfection. It's consistency over time.
What you take with you
- Clearer priorities
- Less overwhelm and mental clutter
- More consistent follow-through
- Confidence that you can handle your responsibilities
- What you intend and what you do lining up
- More time and energy for what matters to you
The aim is not to depend on The System, or on me. Over time you learn how you work best and how to set up the conditions for it, and that stays with you long after coaching ends.
Questions About The System
Common questions, honest answers.
What people most often ask before they start using The System.
About The System
What is The System?
The System is a coaching framework developed by Robert Pal, an ADHD executive coach, to help clients follow through consistently. Each goal is made specific (What, When, Where, Who, Why), given a trigger that prompts it at the right moment, and tracked with a daily effort score and a weekly review. It is used throughout coaching and adapted to each client.
Who developed The System?
Robert Pal, who has coached since 2014 and has more than 8,500 hours of coaching. Before that, he spent 25 years founding and running companies, and he was diagnosed with ADHD at 40. He developed The System with his own clients and keeps refining it with them.
Do I need an ADHD diagnosis to use it?
No. The System is built around how many adults with ADHD work, but it does not depend on a label. Many clients are diagnosed, some suspect it, and some simply recognize the pattern. I work with the client, not the diagnosis.
Using It
Is The System an app I have to maintain?
No. You get your own copy, shared with you, and the only thing you enter each day is a score for each question. The questions, averages, and weekly feedback fill in automatically.
How many goals should I start with?
Two to six. More than that tends to become one more thing to manage. Once a habit is automatic, it comes off the list, which makes room for the next one.
What happens if I miss a day or score a 0?
Nothing is wasted. A 0 leads to one question: did I remember at the time? If not, the trigger needs work. If you did and still did not act, that is what we look at in session. The goal is consistency over time, not a perfect week.
The System and Coaching
How is it different from apps, planners, and productivity systems?
A typical tool records what needs to be done. The System is part of a coaching process: it helps you decide what matters, turn intentions into specific commitments, understand what gets in the way, and build habits that last. The value is in how we use it together, week after week.
How does The System relate to Mindful Intelligence?
They are the two levels of every coaching session. The System is the tactical side: what you do. Mindful Intelligence works on the thinking patterns, emotions, and beliefs that influence how you do it. Each makes the other work better.
Can I use The System without coaching?
It is designed as part of coaching. The framework helps on its own, but most of the value comes from adapting it to you and reviewing it together each week, especially in the first months.
Find out whether The System fits how you work.
Send a short inquiry about where things stand. I read every one myself and reply within two business days. If it looks like a fit, we set up a 20-minute call.
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