(Following ADHD Awareness Month, we’re continuing to give space to the voices that matter most those with lived experience. This special feature is written by our guest contributor)
There have likely been times when you’ve experienced an intense wave of motivation. For me, it mostly happens at night. My future becomes clear, and I can see exactly what needs to be done to achieve it. Moments like these are powerful, but they can also be misleading. Many people take a huge step forwards, only to stumble and fall on the next one. A person who wants to get into the best shape of their life might start with an intense workout, then feel overwhelmed when they realise they must do it again the next day.
I call this drowning in the deep end.
Instead, it’s much better to start with smaller steps. That way, you can take the next one without falling.
I have struggled a lot with this. ADHD makes it harder to focus. My brain constantly seeks dopamine, and working towards long-term goals often provides very little of it. My first piece of advice is to start small and build gradually. Feel the success of your completed task. My second piece is something called bread crumb training. Instead of studying for an hour straight, I set a timer for ten-minute intervals. Each time the alarm goes, I feel the success of another ten minutes completed. It motivates me to do another ten minutes, and so on.
My third piece of advice is using a worksheet. It lists every day of the month and all the tasks I need to do. When I complete one of them, I fill in the cell with green. It doesn’t only give me a satisfying visual of my progress, but it also removes the fatigue of decision making. I don’t have to think about what to do next. The worksheet tells me.
By combining these dopamine-driven strategies with gradual progress, I’ve learned to thrive in the deep end instead of drowning in it.
