Adult ADHD Self-Check — Free 16-Question Attention & Executive Function Test
- Free
- 16 questions
- No sign-up
- Instant result
A free self-check that separates attention, organizing and finishing, restlessness and impulsivity, and time sense over the past three months. 16 questions, about 3 minutes, with per-area scores showing where the difficulty actually sits. Diagnosis requires a professional assessment.
What's included
- Questions
- 16 items
- Price
- Free
- Areas measured
- Sustaining Attention · Organizing and Finishing · Restlessness and Impatience · Sense of Time
16 questions in four areas, covering the past 3 months
The Attention & Executive Function check (AEF-16) is a 16-item self-check of the everyday difficulties that attention and executive function have caused you over the past 3 months. For each statement you choose how often it applied, on four steps from "Rarely" (0 points) through "Sometimes" (1) and "Often" (2) to "Almost always" (3); it takes about 3 minutes. The guideline is to answer for your usual self rather than for an unusually busy stretch.
The items are split into four areas of 4 items each. Holding attention covers losing track while reading or listening and drifting off a boring task within minutes; organizing and finishing covers unfinished tasks, hunting for keys or a phone, and multi-step jobs feeling heavy. Restlessness and impatience covers staying seated, waiting and cutting people off, and time sense covers running late, starting only at the deadline and underestimating how long things take.
Each area runs 0–12, read in four bands
Each of the four areas runs from 0 to 12: 0–2 means little difficulty, 3–5 means occasional slips, 6–8 means frequent difficulty, and 9–12 means severe difficulty. No overall total is calculated, so look at which area is highest and at the shape across the four. Someone high only on attention and someone high only on time sense usually benefit from quite different strategies.
Scores are strongly coloured by recent circumstances. Three months of short sleep, low mood or anxiety, or a sudden pile-up of work tend to lift all four areas together, and an environment full of phone notifications pushes the attention score up. The result is a screening reference, not a diagnosis; it is most useful for sorting out which areas are hard so you can start a conversation about them.
Soundary's own items, and what to do next
The items in this check were developed by Soundary itself; they are not a translation or adaptation of any standardized scale. They were built on the view that the single complaint "I can't focus" hides several different difficulties, so sustaining attention, organizing and finishing, impulsivity and time sense are asked about separately. Attention problems in adults have to be understood alongside their course since childhood, so this check alone cannot settle anything.
When you retake it, compare each area with your previous result. After changing habits or starting treatment, you can see which area moves first. If one or more areas fall in the "Severe difficulty" band, or the same problems keep recurring at work, at school or in relationships, consider an assessment by a psychiatrist that includes your developmental history.
How scores are interpreted
Sustaining Attention
This score reflects how long you were able to sustain attention on a single task (0-12 points).
0–2pts · Minimal Difficulty
You had no significant difficulty sustaining attention.
3–5pts · Occasional Distraction
There were occasional moments when your attention wandered. Simply turning off notifications and focusing on one thing at a time can make a noticeable difference.
6–8pts · Frequent Distraction
You frequently had days where it was hard to maintain focus. Breaking tasks into shorter intervals, like 25 minutes of work followed by a 5-minute break, is often helpful.
9–12pts · Severe Difficulty
Sustaining attention was almost always difficult. At this level, it may be a characteristic of your attention regulation itself rather than a matter of effort, so we recommend consulting a mental health professional.
Organizing and Finishing
This score reflects your ability to organize and finish tasks in order, and to keep track of belongings and to-dos (0-12 points).
0–2pts · Minimal Difficulty
You had no significant difficulty initiating and finishing tasks.
3–5pts · Occasional Oversights
You occasionally had unfinished tasks or misplaced items. The habit of writing down your to-dos in one place instead of keeping them in your head works well.
6–8pts · Frequent Backlogs
You frequently started tasks but failed to finish them. Breaking large tasks down into 'next step' sizes makes starting them much easier.
9–12pts · Severe Difficulty
Organizing and finishing tasks was almost always overwhelming. Since difficulties with executive function sometimes do not improve with training alone, we recommend checking this with a professional.
Restlessness and Impatience
This score reflects how much your body or words acted before thinking, and how difficult it was to wait (0-12 points).
0–2pts · Minimal Difficulty
You had no significant difficulty waiting or sitting still.
3–5pts · Occasional Impatience
There were occasional moments when you felt impatient.
6–8pts · Frequent Impatience
Your body or words frequently acted before thinking. Practicing counting a beat before speaking and taking short, active breaks can be helpful.
9–12pts · Severe Difficulty
Restlessness and impulsivity were almost always present. We recommend consulting a professional before these cause irreversible issues in your relationships or work.
Sense of Time
This score reflects your ability to gauge the passage of time and stick to a schedule (0-12 points).
0–2pts · Minimal Difficulty
You had no significant difficulty gauging time and staying on schedule.
3–5pts · Occasional Misjudgments
Your schedule occasionally went off track. Estimating tasks to take 1.5 times longer than expected can help reduce these misjudgments.
6–8pts · Frequent Misjudgments
You were frequently late or procrastinated due to your sense of time. If you only get moving right before a deadline, try setting intermediate deadlines for yourself.
9–12pts · Severe Difficulty
Gauging time was almost always difficult. Difficulties in this area tend to accumulate and affect work and relationships, so it is worth exploring with a professional.
Sample questions
- 1. My mind wandered while reading or listening, causing me to miss what was just said or read.
- 2. During conversations, I had trouble taking in the latter part of what the other person was saying.
- 3. When I started a boring task, I found myself doing something else within a few minutes.
- 4. I could hardly concentrate unless my surroundings were quiet.
Thinking about the past 3 months, please choose how often each statement applied to you. Rather than focusing only on a particularly busy period, choose the option that best reflects your usual self. It takes about 3 minutes.
FAQ
Can this test diagnose ADHD?
No. Diagnosing adult ADHD requires a developmental history going back to childhood, observations across settings (home, work, school), and ruling out other causes such as sleep deprivation, depression, anxiety, or thyroid problems. This self-check organizes which areas feel hardest right now; bringing the result to an appointment makes that conversation faster.
What do the four areas measure?
"Holding attention" is staying with one thing; "Organizing and finishing" is sequencing a task through to the end without losing objects or to-dos; "Restlessness and impatience" is waiting and impulse control; "Time sense" is gauging elapsed time and keeping to a schedule. Each area runs 0–12. They are not merged into one total because the same complaint — "I can't focus" — points to different areas in different people.
Does a high score mean I have ADHD?
Not necessarily. Sleep deprivation, depression, anxiety, chronic stress, thyroid problems, and simple overload produce the same difficulties. If the trouble started only in the last few months, a cause other than ADHD is more likely. Consider whether a similar pattern has followed you since childhood.
How often should I take it?
The items ask about the past three months, so every two to three months is a good interval. If you have started medication or therapy, comparing before and 6–8 weeks after shows which area improves first.
Source
The items in this test were written by Soundary with reference to published diagnostic criteria and academic literature. They are not a translation or adaptation of any standardized instrument, and the score bands are Soundary's own self-check thresholds.
Read more
How Adult ADHD Is Diagnosed — From Self-Screening to a Psychiatric Evaluation
A diagnosis of adult ADHD is made through an interview with a psychiatrist. This guide covers how symptoms look in adults, how to read a self-screening result, what the assessment actually involves, why depression, anxiety and sleep loss are so easily mistaken for it, and what to bring to your appointment.
6 min read
How to Bring Your Self-Test Results to a Psychiatrist: A First-Visit Guide
How psychiatrists actually use self-report screeners, what to bring to a first visit, how to describe symptoms by onset, duration, and functional impact, what a first psychiatric appointment in Korea looks like, and how to track your progress with repeat tests afterward.
5 min read
Related tests
This is a self-screening tool, not a medical diagnosis. If the result concerns you, please consult a mental health professional.