We’ve all been there; we put off doing something despite knowing that it isn’t in our best interests to do so…

A Primer on ADHD

ADHD is a neurological condition that can be seen in both children and adults. Among the most common behaviours associated with ADHD include impulsivity, inattention – or very short attention spans, and hyperactivity. While procrastination isn’t an officially acknowledged ADHD behavior, several behaviour traits associated with ADHD can make procrastination more likely to occur, particularly if the task to be done isn’t interesting. These traits include having a short attention span, distractibility, challenges with organization, difficulty with time management, and being hyper-focused on projects that are seen to be interesting to the exclusion of all others.

If you have ADHD, you may notice you procrastinate often, and that it’s affecting your quality of life, and relationships with others.

While the scientific evidence isn’t yet definitive, it seems there is a causal relationship between procrastination and ADHD. A study published in the International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research found that inattention among undergraduate students was correlated with procrastination. In particular, people with ADHD get distracted easily and often have trouble finishing tasks they’ve started. Another study found that people with ADHD have difficulty with the mental processing skills associated with executive functioning. These include flexible thinking, self-control, and working memory.

ADHD is a neurological condition that can be seen in both children and adults. Among the most common behaviours associated with ADHD include impulsivity, inattention – or very short attention spans, and hyperactivity. While procrastination isn’t an officially acknowledged ADHD behavior, several behaviour traits associated with ADHD can make procrastination more likely to occur, particularly if the task to be done isn’t interesting. These traits include having a short attention span, distractibility, challenges with organization, difficulty with time management, and being hyper-focused on projects that are seen to be interesting to the exclusion of all others.

If you have ADHD, you may notice you procrastinate often, and that it’s affecting your quality of life, and relationships with others.

As we stated at the beginning of this blog, procrastination is common. Still, for people living with ADHD it can be especially challenging. Based on our experience working with hundreds of ADHD clients over the years, here are some simple rules that we have found helpful in getting on top of procrastination.

An ADHD diagnosis can help

Many people reach adulthood without receiving an ADHD diagnosis. ADHD is associated with many different behaviors, including procrastination, so a diagnosis can be helpful in developing a treatment plan that is tailored to your unique circumstances. Wholeness Psychology Centre has assessors well-versed in ADHD who can provide a definitive diagnosis and develop a treatment plan that works for you. Contact us today to schedule an assessment.

1. Set a Deadline

We often find that our ADHD clients find it easier to procrastinate if they think they have all the time in the world to complete a task. We recommend setting a deadline for projects or tasks, even if there isn’t a specific one for the work being done. This can be a motivating force or “goal” and help to keep the client on track.

2. Resist the Urge to Multitask

If procrastination is common in our culture, so too is multitasking – the tackling of several different jobs more or less simultaneously. For people with ADHD, and especially inattentive ADHD, trying to keep several different tasks on track is a recipe for disappointment, if not disaster. We have found it is better to have our ADHD clients streamline their workload by focusing on one thing at a time – this helps focus the concentration.

3. Make a List

Remember how your mom or dad would have a list of chores to be done and take great delight in crossing something off the list once it was done? There’s great satisfaction in getting through the day’s work. We encourage our ADHD clients to make a list of the tasks that need to get done each day, and equally, to estimate how long it will take to get each one done. This can be as simple as a piece of paper like our mom or dad used, or a time management and list app on our smartphone. The trick is to use the list as a tool to keep us focused.

4. Be Realistic about Time

This goes hand-in-hand with making a list. In estimating the amount of time each project or task needs it is crucial to be realistic. The idea here is to avoid setting oneself up for failure – or feelings of failure – by trying to do a task in less time than it realistically takes.

5. Break Projects or Tasks into Bite-Sized Pieces

Big projects can feel overwhelming. Where does one start? In our experience, it is much easier to work on small, bite-sized pieces. Accordingly, we advise our ADHD clients to take projects (or big tasks) and break them down into smaller pieces. Each of these small pieces can then be tackled as its own job with its own timeline.