There is it sitting on your desk or maybe stored in your phone – the dreaded to-do list. Listed there are tasks you know you should do and that you know how to do but you just can’t make yourself do them. Just the thought of doing one of them is physically painful but you can’t seem to explain that to the people in your life. You lack interest or motivation to get them done. You will spend the day procrastinating and using various avoid techniques that you have mastered over the years. Then the negative self-talk will come and you will feel bad about not doing what is on your to-do list. It has nothing to do with laziness or not trying hard enough and everything to do with your ADHD brain. So what do you do to get stuff done:
- Just do it – I know that is the problem but you are waiting to feel like you want to clean the bathroom, or whatever you can’t make yourself do. You may never feel like you want to clean the bathroom. I know never have and I don’t have ADHD. Cleaning is just not that interesting to most people. 45 to 90% of what we do every day is a habit. Forming a habit can take a while (4-6 month for some people) but stick with it.
- Create urgency – that looming sense of dread is great for people with ADHD to turn on the hyperfocus and get whatever it is done. This can be done by waiting until a date arrives and give yourself 15 minutes to do the dishes, or by waiting until the end of the day when a report is d and giving yourself an hour to have it on your boss’ desk. How many ways can you create urgency? Make peace with yourself that this works for you.
- Talk yourself in it – I may not want to clean the bathroom but I can so I do it. What is the end result? I clean the bathroom because I know that I don’t want to be sick nor do I want my family to be sick and cleaning will decrease that chance. For you, it may be that not cleaning will make a roommate angry thus damaging the relationship.
- Sometimes good enough is good enough – Sometimes procrastination is tied to perfectionism and anxiety that the end product won’t be up to par. Ask yourself – “What is good enough in this situation?” Just aim for that to lessen the anxiety.
- Use a body double – Body doubling works for all of my clients. From working in a coffee shop and having a friend help you clean having someone else there helps get stuff done. Fold laundry while Skyping a family member or a friend.
- Avoid distractions on purpose – Phone distracting you? Want to play a video game? Avoid distractions that will keep you from getting whatever task done that you need to do. You can use them as rewards if you like. Hand your phone to a co-worker (because putting it in a drawer will not work), left your house to work if there are too many temptations there.
- 25-5 – Work in 25-minute blocks with 5-minute breaks. Use an app like Focus Keeper to time both your work blocks and your breaks. Each new work block is a clean slate.
- Delegate it – Sometimes no matter what we try nothing seems to work. Make peace with yourself; there are plenty of things that you are great at. So hire a cleaner, a laundry service or have your groceries delivered if that is what it takes. At home, trade for chores that you have an easier time doing. At work, do the same. There is always someone who hates what you love and vice versa.
- Use your creative ADHD brain to think of solutions that work for you to create a life that fits you. Your solutions only have to help you get done what you need to do. They don’t have to be what you think everyone else is doing.
