Screen Use Context Reflection

ADHD Executive Function Tools

Identify the specific moments, emotions, and patterns
that pull you toward screens.

Noticing Screen-Use Context

Use this reflection to record what happens before screen use without assuming the amount is excessive or that a single trigger exists. A feeling, situation, time, place, access need, work task, or practical purpose may be present. Record only what you personally notice; the worksheet does not determine a cause or diagnosis.

The important distinction is between screens as distraction and screens as regulation. Screen use can serve many purposes, including work, access, rest, entertainment, information, or connection. A pattern is not evidence of a neurological mechanism, diagnosis, or character flaw. The three questions in this worksheet are not asking you to judge that response. They are asking you to see it clearly enough to decide whether it is working.

How to Use This Worksheet

  1. Review the optional context examples first. Not to check boxes, but to see which descriptions feel familiar. The ones that land are usually pointing at something real.
  2. Answer each question for your actual patterns, not your ideal patterns. What you actually do is the data - not what you wish you did.
  3. Be specific. "When I'm stressed" is a start. "Right after a difficult meeting, before I've had a chance to decompress" is actionable. Use as much or as little detail as is useful.
  4. Keep this worksheet. Context may change over time. What you identify today may look different in six months. It is worth revisiting when patterns seem to have changed.

Coaching and Health Scope

This is an optional coaching reflection aid, not therapy, diagnosis, medical care, financial advice, employment advice, or a validated instrument. Record your own observations without inferring a cause or required response. Skip, adapt, or stop any prompt that feels unsafe or distressing. Bring persistent sleep, mood, stress, medication, physical-symptom, or safety concerns to a licensed health professional; use emergency or local crisis services for immediate danger.

1

Your Screen Use Context

Possible Contexts Before Screen Use
Context Description
Stress Some people notice screen use near feelings of overwhelm or worry
Boredom Some people notice screen use during unstructured or low-stimulation time
Loneliness Messaging or social media may be used for connection
Procrastination Screen use may appear alongside a task someone does not want to start
Habit Some screen use may happen without a context the person can name
FOMO Concern about missing information may appear alongside repeated checking

When do you most often reach for your phone or a screen?

What emotions or situations are usually present when you are pulled toward screens?

2

Patterns and Next Steps

Are there specific times of day or places where screen use becomes automatic?

Before Your Next Session

Look at what you wrote. Pick the one trigger that accounts for the most screen time - not the most frequent one, the most costly one. What would it look like to address that trigger at its source rather than managing the screen use that follows from it? What would need to change?

3

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