The 5 Steps to Create Motivation When You Have ADHD
I bet you said to yourself more often than you can count “I know what I need to do, I just need to do it!” and you’re probably frustrated that you have to wait until it feels urgent before you get into action. After all it seems as though everyone else around you can get their stuff done easily right?
You might even tell yourself, I should just do it! But trying to force yourself to do something or beating yourself up doesn’t help you get started does it? Well you can’t make yourself work, there are strategies you can use to create motivation to help you follow through on what is important to you.
MANAGING YOUR ADHD IS A LIFELONG JOURNEY
No matter how much progress a client makes in our work together they will eventually get stuck. And they are surprised at this. As inconsistency is the hallmark of ADHD. For example, getting organized isn’t something you do, especially with ADHD. It’s a lifetime of trial and error revisions and refinement. The key is not to expect to be finished. But rather it’s a way to live your life
But, while managing your ADHD is definitely a life-long journey, it doesn’t need to be hard.
HOW YOUR ADHD CAN IMPACT YOUR MOTIVATION
One way you can make working with your ADHD easier is to understand how it affects you. You already know it is easier to execute when you are interested in a task. And, if you’re not interested in a task it can feel like waiting through cement, right?
The reason for this is you have an ADHD interest-based nervous system. This means you will be much more interested and motivated when something has an element of challenge, novelty, urgency and interest. Because of this the challenges you have with executive functions due to your ADHD are situationally variable.
And, contrary to a popular myth, just because you are able to more easily do work that interests you doesn’t mean you can easily do work that does not interest you!
As Dr. Thomas Brown, ADHD expert, notes, executive functions are unconscious in the sense that they are more automatic; it is not a matter of “willing” them to work. He makes the analogy that, “most operations of these executive functions are not under conscious control any more than is erectile dysfunction.”
I think you get the point.
You can’t just force yourself to do a task when it is not intrinsically interesting. You will have to find creative ways to get your work done.
LACK OF INTEREST IN THE MOMENT ≠ NOT IMPORTANT TO YOU
To create the right workarounds, it is helpful to first understand why you may not feel up to it when it is time to act on something that is important to you.
Think of a time when you’ve felt motivated, maybe even excited, but when you needed to act, your mojo just wasn’t there. You have been surprised and thought to yourself, “How can I be motivated one second, and then the feeling just disappears?”
Remember that ADHD is a brain based biological disorder or “neurobehavioral disorder.” Primarily because of a neurotransmitter imbalance you have difficulty, among other challenges, focusing, paying attention and persisting. As I noted above this leads to an interest based nervous system.
When it comes to motivation, this means that, while a task may be important to you, in the moment you may not feel like doing it. That doesn’t necessarily mean the task is not an important to you. It could just mean your mojo isn’t there in that moment. That’s it.
While ADHD medication can help, there are other steps you can take to provide the motivation you need to act.
STEP #1 – ACTIVATE THE BRAIN’S REWARD SYSTEM
The first step you can take is to make a connection to your payoff or reward. So, when it is time to act, you trigger the Brain’s Reward System. This happens when your brain anticipates a reward and you are more likely to make choices and prioritize goals that are important to you.
When the reward is anticipated dopamine is released to various parts of the brain, activating the motor functions, attention and memory pathway. Also, when the memory of the stimulus and associated reward is in place, you will be more likely to tackle the task the next time.
One way to activate this system is to figure out why a task is important to you — its reward. This is especially true if it is not readily apparent. Because, when you can find the value for you in doing a task, it will pull you forward.
Here is an example of a typical low-interest task where the reward is not obvious.
John was responsible for taking out the recycling. But he ended up forgetting and even passing by it when it was overflowing. He just didn’t notice it. and when he did it didn’t seem like it was the right time to take it out.
Unfortunately, this mundane task resulted in fights between his spouse and him. Finally, John decided he wanted to stop these arguments and figure out how to take care of the recycling.
He identified the two values related to this task, which were honoring his spouse’s needs and maintaining a peaceful house. When he did this he became more invested in figuring out how to consistently follow through with taking out the recycling.
Figuring out the reward was the key to turning this situation around.
Choose a task you are neglecting and is not intrinsically rewarding, and figure out the reward for you in doing it.
STEP #2 – REMEMBER THE REWARD
The next step is remembering the reward, which might be a challenge for you. To address this challenge you will want to have a visceral connection to the payoff, not just an intellectual one.
This means, you want to really feel and see the reward by creating a visual cue (pictures, quotes totems, etc.) to help you remember what it will feel like when you are successful. And make sure the item is easily accessible so you can see it in those moments when you think, “I don’t want to…!”
STEP #3 – WHEN DEFINING A TASK MAKE IT SPECIFIC, DOABLE AND SMALL
You can still have trouble acting even if you remember why a task is important. So to make it easier to act you’ll also need to make sure the task is concrete, doable and small enough..
Take the example of Todd who struggled to get his taxes in on time even though being on top of his finances was important to him. he struggled to get his taxes in on time. He wanted to change that this year!
But whenever he saw, “Get tax paperwork to Sue,” on his task list he became overwhelmed and avoided it. He told himself “I’ll do that later…” He finally realized he was procrastinating because the task felt too daunting.
When he broke it down he immediately felt a sense of relief. To start with, he made his first task, “find the checklist Sue sent me.” He could easily do that. Then he decided to work for a minimum of 25 minutes each day working his way down the checklist. If he felt like it, he would work longer.
What tasks can you make more concrete, small and doable. So you feel more like acting?
STEP #4 – IDENTIFY NEGATIVE THINKING THAT MAY BE GETTING IN YOUR WAY
The next step is to learn how to manage some of the faulty thinking that may be getting in your way. Below are some examples.
- When you rely on black-and-white thinking you can think in terms of “must” and “should.” Then you might take actions that may not serve you.
- Similarly, when you disqualify the positive, you may not be motivated. Because you see what is going wrong and not what is going right.
- You think your feelings are a fact when you rely on emotional reasoning. So, for example, if you feel “apathetic,” you might decide you don’t care about a task. That’s not true, though, right?
- When you catastrophize, you think a situation is much worse than it is. Of course, this makes it hard to persist.
- And, when you jump to conclusions, you may act on inaccurate information. And then not feel like following through.
Negative or faulty thinking can get in the way of your motivation to follow through. So, it’s important to learn how to manage them.
STEP #5 – BE WILLING TO WITHSTAND SOME DISCOMFORT WHEN STARTING
Using the above strategies will help you get started. But you will inevitably feel comfortable at times because of your fear of:
- success because you are uncertain you can replicate that success
- feeling like an imposter
- failing
- of not executing perfectly
- other
The key is to first identify the source of your discomfort. And then figure out how to manage it well enough so you will feel enough motivation to persist.
NEXT STEP FOR YOU
Choose a task you don’t feel like doing. Do you have one in mind? Okay, now, use the above 5 steps so you can manufacture enough motivation to execute.
