The 4 Phases of Creativity
(and How ADHD Brains Hack Them)
Ever had a million ideas in the shower… only for them to disappear before you can write them down? Or maybe you’ve got half-finished projects, dozens of domain names, and notebooks full of sketches that never became anything.
That doesn’t mean you’re bad at being creative. In fact, you might be too good at parts of the process.
Psychologists have been writing about creativity for over a century, and one of the oldest models still gets quoted today: the four stages of creativity. It comes from Graham Wallas’s 1926 book The Art of Thought. The stages are:
Preparation – you gather information, influences, inspiration.
Incubation – ideas simmer below the surface while you’re doing other things.
Illumination – the famous “aha!” moment when the solution hits you.
Verification – testing and developing the idea, making it real.
It’s neat on paper. In reality, it’s messier and more cyclical. And if you’ve got an ADHD brain? The pattern often looks quite a bit different.
A simple diagram showing the four classic stages of creativity — Preparation, Incubation, Illumination, and Verification- arranged in a cycle
The ADHD Remix
Preparation
We’re brilliant at diving into new rabbit holes. Researching, collecting influences, getting inspired- that part’s fun. The danger is over-researching, bouncing between topics, or getting stuck in the thrill of discovery rather than moving forward.
Incubation
Some people need long stretches of downtime before ideas click. ADHDers, though, often generate connections instantly and constantly. Divergent thinking (coming up with many, varied, traditionally unconnected ideas) tends to come naturally. Sometimes it feels like we skip incubation because ideas pop up so fast and often.
Illumination
Instead of one big eureka moment, we get floods of them. A dozen new business ideas, song hooks, or product concepts in a single afternoon. Some people might not think that’s a problem but it can be. We can’t capture them all, and even when we do, we don’t always give them the incubation or development time they need. That’s how you end up with a trail of half-started projects, voice notes, or dormant URLs.
Verification
This is where it gets sticky. Turning an idea into something tangible requires sustained focus, detail-work, and tolerance for tedium. That’s exactly where ADHD brains struggle most. The dopamine buzz of a new idea is huge; the grind of editing, refining, or fixing small problems doesn’t give the same payoff. Which is why so many projects stall at 80%- leaving you feeling like you never follow through.
A playful version of the creativity cycle where blue footprints labelled “ADHD” skip over the Incubation stage and rush towards Illumination, illustrating how ADHD brains often move differently through the process.
Sticking Points
Idea overwhelm – too many illuminations to capture or process.
Verification fatigue – losing steam before the finish line.
Avoidance of micro-problem-solving – the fiddly bits feel boring or frustrating, so they get skipped.
What Helps
If you recognise yourself here, the good news is you don’t have to fight your brain- you can work with it. What we tend to forget is that most people are not able to come with as many ideas as us- the refining and developing process is where other people can excel and help.
A few ideas:
Preparation – set time limits for research. Pick one influence to work with instead of fifteen.
Incubation – build in pauses: a walk, a nap, a playlist. Even ADHD brains benefit from downtime.
Illumination – always have quick-capture tools to hand. Voice notes, sticky notes, a “dump doc” in your phone. Don’t judge ideas at this stage; just collect them. Make a date to go through them once a month.
Verification – break the process into tiny finish lines and celebrate each one. Use body doubling, accountability sessions, or coaching support to keep you moving. Reward yourself as you go, not just at the end.
Final Thoughts
ADHD brains aren’t short on creativity. If anything, they overflow with it. The challenge is less about sparking ideas, and more about shepherding them through the slower, less glamorous stages. This end part of the process is the exact place when external support and structure would be most effective.
So next time you find yourself drowning in voice notes or half-finished drafts, ask yourself: which phase am I in right now? And more importantly: what would help me move this idea one small step forward?