Tips for Addressing Procrastination
There are many strategies to improve initiation, but these are our favorites that we use most frequently with clients.
1. Recognize emotional barriers
Everyone has a wall of emotions that promote procrastination to some degree. By taking a moment to explore the bricks that make up your own wall, you can mentally prepare yourself to overcome them. Knowing what the obstacles are allows you to pick the most effective strategies to tackle them.
2. Don’t conflate emotions with time
Will your work assignment really take all week, or does it just feel that way? Sometimes people with ADHD conflate feelings with time. For example, when something feels really difficult, you imagine that it will take your hours to complete. When, in reality, you can complete the task in thirty minutes. A way to address this is to cultivate time awareness. The next time you have a big task, time yourself to see how long it actually takes you to complete it. If you get into the habit of timing yourself, you’ll likely realize that many tasks don’t take as long as you initially thought.
3. Create specific, achievable goals
Sometimes we task ourselves with achieving a goal without making it specific enough. This leads to feelings of overwhelm because you have no idea when you’ll actually be done. For example, the idea of checking your email is anxiety-provoking because you have hundreds in your inbox. Are you done when you check the hundreds of emails, or are you done if you just check ten? Create a concrete (and achievable!) goal for yourself so you know what to aim for.
4. Break tasks into bite-size pieces
If you sit down at your desk with the goal of writing an entire 10-page term paper, how do you think that will work out? You probably won’t even start writing because writing ten pages feels daunting. Instead, break the task up into bite-sized pieces and tackle them one at a time. For example, a reasonable goal for a single evening might be to write an outline for your paper or to find three good research sources. If you find that it’s still too difficult to do the task, then break it down into an even smaller bite-size piece. So, if finding three good sources feels overwhelming, try instead to make a list of potential places to look for sources. Then look at ten random sources first. After that, narrow down the list to three sources. This strategy can decrease feelings of overwhelm and make it easier to get started.
5. Focus on problem-solving
Many adults with ADHD immediately blame themselves for past failures, but it is much more helpful to evaluate the approach to completing a task. Ask yourself: What was it about your approach to creating last week’s presentation that caused you to do it at the last minute? Perhaps your workspace was full of distractions, or you failed to break the task into small steps. By taking a few minutes to review your previous performance and focus on problem-solving, you take yourself out of the blame game and focus on eliminating factors that contribute to your procrastination.
6. Pay attention to your internal monologue
Fear of failure is common, but it can cause ADHD-ers to avoid getting started on tasks that intimidate them. The next time you tell yourself that you are probably going to fail, ask yourself whether you would speak to your best friend the same way. If not, you’re probably being too hard on yourself. Instead of immediately accepting self-critical thoughts when they pop into your head, ask yourself whether they’re true or helpful.
7. Increase your dopamine
We often suggest this tip to our clients. By increasing your dopamine, you kick start your pre-frontal cortex (the part of your brain in charge of executive functioning). This boost of dopamine facilitates task initiation. A common way to increase your dopamine is by exercising. Engaging in a pleasurable activity also increases dopamine. So things like playing a favorite video games, listening to great music, or painting can help. Exposing yourself to novel stimuli, like changing your environment, helps, too.