Picture this: You’re on your couch on your day off, browsing Netflix for something to watch. Suddenly, you feel a rush as your eyes widen — there’s a task you have been putting off for weeks. Whether it’s paying bills, doing laundry, or tackling a work project. You’re fully aware that you need this task done, but there’s a problem — the couch is too comfortable. You tell yourself five more minutes, and before you know it five minutes have turned into hours and you’re no closer to getting it done. Sound familiar? You just went through a common time management struggle that affects people everywhere — called procrastination.
We are all familiar with that old adage, “I’ll do it later.” Whether it’s intentional or not, procrastinating is often at the expense of stress management, but for those who have Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), procrastination goes beyond time management. ADHD is complex and impacts the brain’s executive functioning. This means that time management, emotional regulation, and filtering external and internal stimuli can make it more challenging to tackle a to-do list.
People with ADHD experience procrastination on a whole different level. The medical community has coined terms like ‘brain gaps,’ and ‘emotional flooding’ to describe the intensity of emotion that people with ADHD deal with when it comes to managing tasks. Emotions can overwhelm the ability to think clearly, making to-do lists unmanageable, leading to avoidance, especially for unpleasant tasks, like cleaning a bathroom, doing taxes, or having a difficult conversation. With their high-speed race car motor of energy, they often complete an impressive amount of work unrelated to tasks they are delaying. Without adequate regulation (with the power of bicycle brakes), they are virtually helpless against their own brain chemistry.
When ADHD isn’t managed, whittling down a to-do list can be intimidating, and a lot of energy is put towards avoidance. Worse is when a negative thought cycle begins, called Automatic Negative Thoughts, (ANTS), which is a thought pattern that sets those with ADHD up to fail. An internal, self-defeating dialogue that points out all the ways in which one is failing can lead to extreme procrastination, anxiety, and depression. It can be difficult to recognize an ANT pattern. However, once an individual with ADHD begins to notice it, they can proactively counter “I’m a failure,” with, “I can do this.” Reframing the outcome of a task is a positive strategy for procrastination, and a small step towards that refreshing feeling of checking something off a to-do list.
Chores and tasks are never going to vanish from our lives. People with ADHD need support developing life skills to prioritise the constant bombardment of to-do lists that come into their lives. It is easy to get overwhelmed, and it can be hard to know where to start, so identifying a ‘first’ task can help someone with ADHD focus their energy and attention. The Eisenhower Matrix is a useful tool to categorize tasks into four quadrants: 1) urgent & important, 2) important & not urgent, 3) urgent & not important, and 4) neither urgent nor important. This tool can help focus on tasks that are truly important, while delegating tasks that are not.
Breaking down where to start on a to-do list is helpful, and understanding the root of procrastination can provide longer-term support for people with ADHD. Speaking at a recent conference (Center for ADHD Awareness Canada, CADDAC 2023), Rhiannon Carter, a certified ADHD coach, described a 5-step framework to overcome procrastination. It begins with (1) identifying the task that is being delayed, followed by (2) identifying the feelings or other reasons it is being put off. Perhaps it is an unpleasant task, maybe it’s boring, stressful or hard. Next, (3) make a list of all the circumstances surrounding the procrastination of this one task. The framework includes a helpful checklist to help sort out reasons and feelings around the issue. Step 4 is to identify strategies that apply to the current circumstance, and finally, (5) choose how to reward yourself for accomplishing a task that has been delayed.
We can all relate to the struggle of procrastination. Just getting started on a task that has been put off can significantly increase well-being, but it’s clear that people with ADHD need help achieving that first step. The struggle is real, but those with ADHD can learn time management and still enjoy some guilt-free time relaxing on the couch on their days off.
Mel Lefebvre is Communications Director and Sarojini Sengupta, PhD is CEO of AIMH Inc. (www.aimhinc.com). The authors thank Venture for Canada for the Intrapreneurship programme, which allowed Mujtaba Qureshi and AIMH the opportunity to work in partnership on this article. The authors also thank Dr. Doron Almagor for providing helpful feedback on this article. Dr. Doron Almagor MD FRCPC is Founder and Director of Possibilities Clinic, Toronto, Canada and former President of the Ontario Psychiatric Association. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views.
Comments
0 comment