As the king of procrastination, I know just how easy it is to find any excuse not to get on with the task at hand – especially if it’s something that could be considered a bit dull.
The ADHD mind is an incredibly powerful and creative business tool, but many of its biggest benefits such as heightened business ability, idea formulation and risk-taking can knock us off track and take us away from important daily tasks that we really should be getting done.
I’ve found that identifying and challenging the reasons why we procrastinate is key to overcoming this urge we have to do anything other than what’s sitting in front of us. How many of these five excuses sound familiar?
- Our day lacks structure
If a new task has suddenly landed on your desk and thrown you a huge curveball because you haven’t planned your day or set aside any time for unforeseen additions, the lack of structure could be one of the main excuses you use for putting it at the bottom of the pile.
The secret to staying on course with tasks with ADHD is to write lists and set aside a little time each day to tackle anything else that might land on your desk. Fail to plan your day or week and you could find yourself wasting time procrastinating.
- We aren’t 100% into the task
The ADHD brain gets bored with things that don’t interest us but can achieve total focus if we find a task that really gets our juices flowing.
Sadly, we can’t always have responsibilities that cater to our interests, but this shouldn’t be an excuse not to get things done. Instead, put your most hated task at the top of your daily to-do list and work in a little reward for actually completing it like a takeout coffee or beer after work with a friend.
- Anxiety starts to build
Once that anxiety train gets in motion, it can be difficult to slow down. To stop yourself feeling overwhelmed by the tasks that you’ve been putting off forever, sit down and map out your next week or month and work in one of those jobs per day. This will help keep overwhelm at bay.
- We lack self-confidence
One of the biggest reasons for not tackling a task head-on is that we’ve lost confidence in our abilities.
The more we cave into negative self-talk, the fewer reasons we have to get the task completed. Instead of giving in to negativity remind yourself that your ADHD gives you certain superpowers that not everyone has and that you are more than capable of tackling any task put in front of you – you just need to take those first steps and you’ll soon get into the swing of things.
- We blame our ADHD
I have to say that occasionally I’m guilty of this, but it’s so easy to blame our ADHD for procrastination.
ADHD doesn’t cause procrastination. Instead, it makes us more susceptible to distraction if our interests lay elsewhere. Face up to the fact that you are in control of your day and can stop procrastinating when you put your mind to it.
