The Priority Triage Template
Use this prompt to sort through mental chaos and figure out what really needs your attention today.
ADHDers often struggle to filter tasks by urgency or importance. When everything feels equally pressing, it’s hard to make decisions — which leads to overwhelm, paralysis, or impulsive choices that don't reflect true priorities.
This isn’t just poor planning. It’s a failure of the internal triage system — something executive function usually handles quietly in the background.
The Cost: Burnout by Busyness
Without a clear way to triage, we:
Start too many things at once
Procrastinate on what matters
Stay in motion without momentum
By the end of the day, we’re exhausted and still unsure whether we did anything that mattered.
The AI Template Solution
This template turns a cluttered brain dump into an actionable, values-aligned triage list.
Base Template (Mad Libs Style):
“Here’s everything I’m juggling right now: [List of tasks, obligations, or ideas] Can you sort them into:
Do Now
Do Later
Let Go or Delegate?”
Tone Variants:
Clear and Focused:
“Sort these by importance and urgency — I need help seeing what matters now.”
Emotionally Supportive:
“I’m overwhelmed. Can you help me figure out what deserves my focus, what can wait, and what I can release without guilt?”
Simple and Direct:
“Help me divide this list into: urgent, later, and drop.”
Template in Use (Curio’s Triage Dump)
Curio types:
“Here’s what I’m juggling:
Prep Thursday’s meeting
Check in with Dex
Finish reading that research article
Clean workspace
Respond to two coaching emails
Organize Airtable
Can you help me triage?”
AI replies:
Do Now: Prep Thursday’s meeting, Respond to coaching emails
Do Later: Check in with Dex, Finish reading article
Let Go: Clean workspace, Organize Airtable (unless you need it for the meeting)
She smiles. Finally, something clear enough to act on.
Tips for Personalizing:
Add a timeframe: “Triage this just for today” or “This week”
Add constraints: “Assume I have 2 hours of energy”
Ask to align with goals: “Sort by what moves me toward my business priorities”
Ask for emotional guidance: “Tell me which ones I’m avoiding out of fear vs low importance”
When to Use It / When Not To:
Use When:
Your to-do list feels like a crisis menu
You keep working on easy tasks instead of important ones
You need to clear decision fog fast
Avoid When:
You have no tasks defined — do a brainstorm or dump first
You’re too dysregulated to choose anything — ground yourself first
Level Up Option:
“Now that we’ve triaged, can you help me block time for the ‘Do Now’ list across the next 3 days?”
Copyable Prompt:
“Here’s everything I’m juggling right now: [Paste your tasks] Can you sort them into: Do Now, Do Later, and Let Go or Delegate?”