(originally published October 20, 2011, updated November 8, 2024)
I know you’re reading this because you’re trying to find a way to do what’s important to you.
And you know that if you could do tasks on autopilot, out of habit ,it would make it so much easier to tackle your important tasks. At the same time I bet you’re having a really hard time making this happen. Because of these challenges you might have even come to the conclusion that, “It must not be that important to me or I would be able to follow through on these habits.”
That’s just not true. My guess is that the habits that you want to adopt are really important to you. It’s just that it’s exceedingly hard to make it happen. And there are a number of factors, including your ADHD, that contribute to the difficulties you are having creating the habits you want.
Fortunately, you can learn how to operate more on autopilot and in helpful ways by adopting certain strategies and tools that work for ADHD adults.
Fortunately, there are strategies and tools ADHD adults can use to make it easier to adopt habits so you can operate more on autopilot in helpful ways.
How Habits Help ADHD Adults Manage Their Symptoms
Trying to adopt habits as an ADHD adult definitely can be a chicken and egg problem. That is, your ADHD can make it hard to create the structure, habits, that you want. At the same time the lack of this structure habits can exacerbate your ADHD symptoms.
Yet, as you know already, a certain amount of structure, including habits, is necessary to effectively manage your ADHD. The structure of routines can help you create the order that does not come naturally to you. And this order can make it easier for you to do everything from daily tasks to demanding work projects because:
- you are purposefully deciding where to focus your attention.
- the routines can help pull you forward like a magnet.
- you may also be able to better resist the pull of immediate gratification once you’ve adopted routine.
- it will also be easier to persist when the behavior becomes automatic.
- You will have an easier time remembering your intentions.
The key is to decide, based on your needs and preferences, what kind of routines or habits you need. There’s no magic number to this.
Adopting Habits Is Difficult for ADHD Adults
Well routines are obviously helpful for ADHD adults, it is also not easy to change your habits. Whether it’s adopting new habits or time to drop old habits that don’t serve you anymore. In part this is because you need to unlearn old habits that might be getting in the way of either adopting new habits or dropping old habits.
These old habits might be ones that you’ve used to compensate for your ADHD challenges, for example you might decide to do a task as soon as you think about it instead of writing it down on a list, which might be a new habit. This old habit lends itself to a lot of task-switching and makes you less efficient.
Also your ADHD symptoms such as distractibility, impulsivity, inability to tolerate boredom, challenges with decision making, ect Also make learning new habits and unlearning old habits difficult.Because of your ADHD symptoms, you may:
- find it challenging to persist and maintain interest in a routine.
- become easily overwhelmed and give up quickly because you have challenges managing your emotions.
- forget your commitments to the routines because of your memory challenges.
- switch task quickly because of your impulsivity.
- get distracted by all the stimuli in your environment and just not start.
- seek out novelty rather than routines.
It sounds a bit like a Catch-22, right?
The good news is, once you know more about these challenges, you can address them to successfully adopt the habits that will help you build the bridge between your intentions and your goals – the finish line.
To start I want to dispel a few myths.
Relying on Motivation to Adopt Habits Is Unreliable
Like many ADHD adults, when it comes to adopting habits, you may tell yourself, “I just need to get motivated!” That is, you think either you have the mojo to adopt the habit, or you don’t. And, if you May think that if you don’t have the mojo it’s just not going to happen.
I don’t think that’s true.
Think about those habits, like exercise, tending to your finances, etc., you’d like to adopt. Your motivation may be inconsistent. That is, you don’t feel like doing them often. First, remember, inconsistency is one of the hallmark symptoms of ADHD. I bet you knew that already.
For example, I bet you’ve never been excited to pay your bills or do your finances. sure, you may do them out of fear of the consequences of not doing them. but sometimes even avoiding a negative consequence still isn’t enough to motivate you. So when your mojo isn’t there, you may tell yourself “ I’ll do it later…”
Then your sense of self-efficacy, belief in your ability to adopt habits, takes a beating. this leaves you with even less motivation. The key is to not rely on needing to feel motivated to adopt habits. you want to be able to follow through on your habits even when you’re not feeling like it.
Then your sense of self-efficacy — belief in your ability to adopt habits — takes a beating, leaving you with even less motivation. Clearly, you don’t want to rely on needing to feel motivated to adopt habits. You want to be able to follow through on your habits even when you’re not feeling it.
Relying on Willpower to Adopt Habits Won’t Cut It
Though this is a mess, you may also think when it comes to habits that you just need to try harder. I hear this a lot from people I work with. what you mean by this is that you need to use more willpower and then you’ll get it done, right? but when you don’t follow through on your habits you may tell yourself that you’re just lazy. that’s not true!
Here is Roy Baumeister’s, author of Willpower, definition of willpower. It is the energy needed to exhibit:
- control of thoughts
- control of emotions
- impulse control
- performance control (focusing on tasks)
I bet you’re wondering, aren’t these the challenges you have because of your ADHD? Yes, they are! So, no surprise your ADHD makes it harder to exert willpower. In addition, willpower is a limited resource. This means no matter how hard you try, you’re eventually going to be running on empty when it comes to willpower.
Just as with motivation, you can’t rely on your willpower to consistently follow through on the habits you want to adopt.
The good news is there are ways that you can more easily adopt the habits that you want.
#1 Focus On Forming New Neural Pathways
Almost half of our behaviors occur in the same place every day and are cued by our environment, according to studies by USC psychology professor Wendy Wood. Called habit loops, they are comprised of a cue, a routine, and a reward.
While you may not recognize them as such, you already have many habits.
One of the ways to change your habits is to rewire your brain’s neural pathway for a particular behavior. When you are able to do this it will be easier for your brain to repeat the pattern without much thought or need for motivation. Because, yes, it will be a habit. This happens when you repeat the behavior enough times.
Here is one example. When you are overwhelmed by a work task (the cue) you might default to surfing the Internet (routine). Then when you do this you may be soothed by the cute cat videos you are no longer stressed out by the report that you’re not doing (reward). This sequence of behaviors is so automatic that you may not even recognize it as a response to being overwhelmed.
Deciding which routine you want to change is the first step to change this and other habits. For example, if you want to stop surfing the Internet (routine), you’ll need to decide what you will do instead when you are overwhelmed and want relief. That is, what will be your new routine? For example, you might:
- take a walk or meditate for 1 minute.
- identify the source of the overwhelm. It might be that you don’t know how to do the task.
- then decide what would help decrease the overwhelm. You might need to reach out for help, create a plan, defer the task for another time, etc.?
To learn more about the habit loop, check out The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
#2 Start with Something Small and Doable
One way to make it easier to rewire the neural pathways to make it easier to act is to start with mini habits. Stephen Guise, author of Mini Habits, describes these types of habits as “stupid small.” It is a behavior so incredibly easy to do that you should feel very little if any resistance to acting.
When you do this you can focus on repetition, rather than the ultimate habit. In time the circuits in your brain will be rewired so that the behavior will be automatic. This, of course, is the definition of a habit. A good example is brushing your teeth. Not hard to do, right?
Remember, the goal in the beginning is to focus on repetition.
Here is another example. Maybe you have thought of creating a meditation habit. Like many other adults with ADHD, you may have decided it’s not possible because of your ADHD. It is possible. If you are curious, stop reading and try this one-minute meditation. You were probably able to do it because it is so short/small.
If you want to meditate, try the one-minute meditation (link above) first thing after getting out of bed for 15 days or more if you want. Notice how it becomes easier. As you are doing this you are rewiring your brain circuit to help “pull you forward.”
Once you start small, whether it is meditation or another behavior you want to do routinely, it will become a habit. Then you may decide to leverage it and build the habit in the way you envision, make it bigger, perhaps.
If you’re interested in more small ideas, check out Guise’s list of mini habit ideas. To learn about your brain circuits check out this video describing the connection between your brain circuits and habits.
#3 Adopt An Experimental Mindset When Changing Your Habits
So you can persist in attempting to change your habits it will also be important to be compassionate and patient with yourself. To this make sure you allow for imperfection, and focus on the incremental progress you are making. This is especially true when the progress may feel particularly insignificant.
To start, focus on starting where you are. For example, with meditation, you will have a greater chance of building the habit by starting with a minute each day rather than trying to meditate for 1/2 an hour each day. That’s not going to happen, right? 😉
Also, it’s important to acknowledge your successes along the way, despite the challenges. So, if you miss a day, you miss a day. If you beat yourself up, you will be less likely to be motivated to try again the next day. To be able to persist remind yourself of what you’re doing right along the way.
So think of it as an experiment. Rather than being judgmental, be curious about how you are doing. Remember the more you can persist, you will have a better chance of building the habit.
Rinse and repeat!
Stay Tuned…
When you are ready to leverage your mini habits to create the habit you envision, the next step is to learn how to use the 5 Habit Triggers to change your habits. Part 2 will show you how you can do this.
