DESCRIPTION:
Starting and executing is hard for ADHD Adults. Here are 8 strategies to make it easier.
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
Answers to these question can help you execute better:
* What is the value — reward — for doing this task?
* Is there a task I need to do before this one that would make it easier for me to execute on this one?
* Do I have everything I need to get started?
* What can I do to minimize the distractions and interruptions I can anticipate?
* Is there is other work I’m worrying about completing? Do I know when I can tackle it?
* What will help me to withstand discomfort with tasks I might avoid?
* Am I using a warm-up routine consistently?
* Am I using self-talk that is helping me to execute?
RESOURCES:
Blog Posts
* Are You Allowing Interruptions to Run Your Day?
* ADHD & 5 Ways You Can Use Self-talk to Stop Procrastinating
TRANSCRIPT:
(00:01):
Executing can be easier even when you have ADHD. You’ve tuned into Scattered, Focused, Done – Reimagining Productivity with ADHD, a podcast for ADHD, adults like you who want to learn how to adopt the best strategies, tools, and skills to get your essential work done in a way that works with the way your brain is wired. I’m Marla Cummins, and I’m glad you’re joining me today on this journey to reimagining productivity with ADHD. So you can get what is important to you done without trying to do it like everyone else.
(00:36):
Some well-known productivity methods, such as David Allen’s Getting Things Done, assume you know how to plan and get started. But of course, with your executive function challenges, that’s just not true for adults with ADHD. As a result of these assumptions, you may have encountered the same frustration as many other ADHD adults who try to use GTD, for example, right out of the box. And it’s not that GTD or any other system is bad. It’s just that you have to improve some of your foundational skills before you can implement them effectively.
(01:12):
So if you try a system without much success, consider whether you have the necessary foundational skills to use it. And if not, then you can think about how to develop them. One of these skills is knowing your why for doing a task. Sometimes even when accomplishing a task is important to you, you still may have a hard time getting started because it’s just not intrinsically interesting.
(01:38):
So in the moment when you are deciding whether to do the task or not, you may say to yourself, I don’t want to. And of course, when you give into this feeling, you don’t start. One of the keys to not going down the slippery slope is to know your why or reward. For example, one of my clients wanted to be better at following through on his administrative task. His reason or reward for this was he wanted his colleagues to see him as a professional.
(02:08):
Of course, it’s not enough to know your why. You also need to be able to remember it in the critical moment of choice, not easy for ADHD adults who have working memory challenges,
