How i-have-adhd Caps Lists at 5 Items as a Prioritization Strategy

The i-have-adhd skill enforces a hard limit of five items per list, automatically splitting overflow into "Do now" and "Later" buckets to respect working-memory constraints and force strict prioritization.

The i-have-adhd repository provides an open-source framework for generating ADHD-friendly outputs by constraining how information is structured. By capping lists at exactly five items, the system transforms standard list generation into an active prioritization strategy that prevents cognitive overload.

Why Five? Working Memory and Cognitive Constraints

The five-item limit is not arbitrary. It directly addresses the working-memory constraints common among readers with ADHD.

The Science Behind the Cap

Long lists become overwhelming and are often ignored by readers with limited working memory capacity. According to the source code analysis, the human brain—particularly the ADHD brain—struggles to hold more than a handful of items in active attention simultaneously. By restricting any displayed list to at most five items, the skill ensures each entry can be processed and acted upon without triggering paralysis or avoidance.

How the 5-Item Cap Enforces Prioritization

The cap functions as a forced-ranking mechanism. When content naturally exceeds five elements, the implementation applies a strict splitting algorithm that visually separates immediate priorities from deferred work.

The "Do Now" and "Later" Split

When a list exceeds five elements, the system divides it into two distinct groups:

• "Do now": The top-ranked five items that are most urgent or valuable.
• "Later": The remaining items, presented as a secondary, lower-priority bucket.

This split occurs only after items are ranked by importance, difficulty, or impact. The ranking step is critical—it forces the author or generating LLM to evaluate every element and surface the most critical actions first.

Impact on Decision Making

The visual separation creates a clear hierarchy. The primary bucket receives full cognitive attention, while the secondary bucket acknowledges additional work exists without demanding immediate focus. This structure eliminates "analysis paralysis" by removing the need to choose between dozens of competing items simultaneously.

Implementation in the Source Code

The rule is formally defined as Rule 9 – "Cap lists at 5 items" in the skill definition file. According to the source code in skills/i-have-adhd/SKILL.md, this guideline is part of the core output-shaping rules that guarantee consistency across all responses generated by the plugin.

The enforcement mechanism is straightforward. Consider a scenario where seven tasks require prioritization:

# Desired output list (7 tasks)

tasks = [
    "Write unit tests",
    "Update documentation",
    "Refactor login flow",
    "Add type hints",
    "Run lint",
    "Optimize DB queries",
    "Deploy to staging"
]

# Prioritize (e.g., by impact) and split

do_now = tasks[:5]      # top‑5 items

later  = tasks[5:]      # remaining items

print("Do now:")
for t in do_now:
    print(f"• {t}")

if later:
    print("\nLater:")
    for t in later:
        print(f"• {t}")

This logic reflects the actual behavior implemented in the skill. The first five items populate the immediate action list, while the remainder are quarantined in the "Later" section. The cap is also referenced in README.md and INSTALL.md, ensuring users encounter this constraint during installation and usage.

Summary

• The 5-item cap is codified as Rule 9 in skills/i-have-adhd/SKILL.md.
• Lists exceeding five items are split into "Do now" and "Later" buckets.
• Items must be ranked by importance before the split occurs.
• The strategy targets working-memory constraints specific to ADHD readers.
• The rule is enforced consistently across the repository's documentation files.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is the limit set to exactly five items?

The limit aligns with working-memory research regarding ADHD cognitive constraints. Five items represent the maximum number of discrete elements that can be held in active attention without triggering overwhelm or avoidance behaviors.

How does the skill handle lists that contain more than five items?

The implementation splits the list into two sections. The top five highest-priority items appear under "Do now," while remaining items move to a "Later" bucket. This occurs only after ranking items by urgency, difficulty, or impact.

Where is the 5-item cap rule defined in the codebase?

Rule 9 is documented in skills/i-have-adhd/SKILL.md. The constraint is also summarized in README.md and reiterated in INSTALL.md to ensure consistent application across all plugin outputs.

Does this rule apply to all types of lists or only task lists?

The cap applies to any displayed list generated by the skill. Whether the content includes action items, features, or options, the five-item maximum remains enforced to maintain ADHD-friendly output standards.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "instagit": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "instagit@latest"]
    }
  }
}