ADHDers have difficulty with starting tasks (initiation). While a significant part of it is our executive dysfunction, other conditions and issues also factor into it. Its why you might have difficulty doing work even when medicated.
I’ve recognized and listed my main initiation difficulties below, an explanation of where I feel it stems from and my solution for it.
- I’m intimidated/ overwhelmed by BIG WORKLOAD and dunno where to start
Executive dysfunction problem. The brain doesn’t know how to break up the work into workable chunks (planning).
My Solution:
The aim is to ease the intimidation by giving yourself a small and easy task to start with. ADHDers struggle with STARTING, so once the process has started, it should get easier. Think of it like task ice breakers.
I plan larger projects by taking some time at the very start to divide the work into ‘ONE THINGs’. These are tasks I can do without needing to think about anything else as our brains are much better at handling just one topic at a time.
Planning requires switching between topics so the goal is to get the overall thinking out of the way. That way we don’t have to keep mentally juggling everything and getting intimidated/ overwhelmed.
- Two or more different things to do and I dunno which one to do first
Executive dysfunction problem. The brain isn’t good with choices and priority.
My Solution:
Thinking about which task to do wastes a lot of time and the decision paralysis causes us to end up doing nothing.
Unless there is a time constraint, the best solution is just picking one and running with it. Its a brute-forcing method but I haven’t found a better method that works. - Work is too small, too boring to start
Executive dysfunction problem. Difficulty with uninteresting work.
My Solution:
Nothing is truly boring. Relate the work to your interests. Find new interesting ways of doing things. Go above and beyond and learn more about the topic than necessary. Overcomplicate to make it interesting, if possible or gamify it.
I once had to edit the names of a few hundred files. I was expected to do it manually but instead, I learnt to code an auto name editor to do the work for me. Actually ended up doing the work faster. - I’ve failed while doing this before, I’m anxious starting it again
Learned helplessness/ anxiety/ perfectionism/ RSD.
My Solution:
This one is tricky. Personally, I needed to come to terms with failing and realize that every failure is a learning experience.
Remember that failing a task doesn’t mean YOU yourself are a failure.
You have genuine mental health difficulties so judging yourself to others’ standards simply doesn’t make sense. There is NOTHING shameful about struggling due to genuine mental health problems. - I can only do it when everything is PERFECT
Anxiety/ perfectionism.
My Solution:
Its happened to me too many times. I waste time and when I finally get down to it, it’s 6 pm so I put it off cause I might as well start the next day with more time. Come the next day, I waste time again, and put it off again, and over and over.
Our anxiety about not being able to focus easily makes us want to start with plenty of time. Not to mention, fear of failing makes us want to ensure everything is PERFECT so we are less likely to fail.
If you start the work at 6 pm, do it till 7 or 8. Doing some is better than none. The perfect time to have done anything is yesterday, but the second-best time is right now.
- I CAN’T START
Executive dysfunction problem. The brain struggles with ‘activation’.
My Solution:
Activation difficulty is one of the worst issues in my opinion. We might be fully motivated, have our anxieties and perfectionism under control, but we struggle getting ourselves to do ANYTHING.
Things like feeling super hungry but just being unable to go make something to eat. Or wanting to pee, but just not being to get yourself to go to the bathroom for hours. It still happens with me nowadays.
The main difficulty tends to be starting so my strategy is to get myself to do/ succeed any small task to get the ball rolling. Small victories to build momentum and sustain some mental inertia.
Recently I felt quite out of it mentally and struggled to do anything. However, I have a habit of brushing my teeth in the mornings which I forced myself to do. After I got up and brushed my teeth, I felt the ball rolling and was able to cook and then write and then work properly.