Ah I think I have been doing this without knowing! I always put on a podcast or audiobook to work, then get annoyed when I get into something and it’s distracting so swap to music, and then when I’m really focused I get annoyed at the lyrics and swap to instrumental 😂
I do the same. I cannot write or focus when I understand the lyrics or can sing along so I either move to: classical, foreign language songs, heavy metal depending on my mood.
If I’m tidying, then I need the extra distraction of some very memorable lyrics 😂.
OMG! You just put into words the tactic I already use to do work I am avoiding. I was feeling guilty using Netflix, YouTube and Podcasts to help me focus. But now I realize it's actually a legit way to get me going and just accept this is how my brain works. Thank you!
I always felt guilty that I did these things first, falling into the trap of “you can only reward yourself with something fun when you’re finished” when in reality, I never get there anyway because I’m stuck in freeze and not helping myself regulate.
When I do do these things, listen to some music, read a bit of my book etc I find it much easier to move onto what comes next!
Time to stop guilt tripping myself over this I feel and start recognising it as what my brain NEEDS to accomplish tasks.
Interesting idea! Any tips on remembering to dial it back down and go to the next level? I'm worried if I started on YouTube, I might get sucked into "just one more clip".
I really do love the idea of having something fun at my desk that at least gets me moving into the right direction. Great food for thought, thank you!
Thanks Hanna! Yeah it really helps to set everything up so that it's hard to autoscroll. E.g. maybe you download the videos to watch first or maybe watch it on a different account that has less things you'd get sucked into. The other key is also to make sure the next level is also interesting e.g. a new album you wanted to listen to. That way it's easier to switch. And then it's just a about experimenting and being kind to yourself when things down work perfectly the first time. Good luck!
That makes sense! Takes a bit of planning, then. I’ll have to think about : experiment with the medium, too. Laptop vs phone vs journal vs headphones… thanks for the additional ideas!
There are some browser extensions where you can customise YouTube and change its appearance to your preferences! I've removed the side bar of videos to stop me from going down a rabbit hole of different videos. The customisation is up to you though :)
So funny, I feel like I’ve been doing this instinctually as a way of curbing PDA. I really love the face that you’ve given examples in a visual format, thanks so much for sharing!
For me any kind of noise is distracting and almost painful to me due to having hearing sensitivities. I love silence. Yet I have AuADHD with pda profile so find myself easily refusing to do work and/or easily distracted. Interested in the idea of using other senses in a similar way like you mentioned though. Any ideas welcomed.
Appreciate this perspective and conversation! ADHDers need help finding the right balance between understimulation and overstimulation.
Personally, not owning a TV has changed my life. My friends don’t get it or think I’m depriving myself, but I have so much more agency. It’s easier for me to reach for other tools and seek other sources of joy/decompression that are actually hella more effective than TV ever was. I am so much more accomplished, prepared, organized, and *REGULATED*!!!! than I used to be.
Yeah, my phone still has a hold on me. But girl thats a hard one. 🤷♀️
Interesting. I’m ADHD-ish (undiagnosed) and have always had the issues you discuss here. My go to solution has always been to do the last minute crunch. Not super healthy as you suggest.
I’m a visual artist. I began my career as a staff graphic designer, eventually working my way up to managing people, teams and global creative departments. With each promotion, the salary increased but the sense of fulfillment declined, as the completion of a project no longer produced a tangible result. There’s a huge difference between a completed budgeting spreadsheet and a completed set of advertising designs. The very nature of the outputs are different.
Anyway, I think that only adds to the procrastination issues. My 2¢.
This was really interesting and I loved your real life demonstration of it in practice writing this piece! As a CBT therapist, it sounds like a creative almost counter intuitive use of tolerating discomfort. Ie you start by tolerating a bit of discomfort by initially allowing high distraction, then as you dial down the distraction, you tolerate more discomfort, habituating to it (ie getting used to it!) as you go. Ingenious! Thanks
Like others here, I think this is what I intuitively do, but it's in more of an up down up down pattern as I need breaks from the deep work. Super helpful to see it explained this way, thank you!
Thank you so much for this!! I find myself in a battle to get things done. Some tasks I just can’t start. I started telling myself that maybe it’s God’s timing that I need to follow and not my own so I should just wait until I’m able to start the task. But it’s stressful because I’m still in paralysis and the paralysis just spreads over time until I can’t do anything. Then I end up completing the task as a distraction to another crucial task that I’ve started lol 🤣🤣.
This idea of the dial is a great way to think about it. Gonna give it a try.
I’ve convinced myself that to get work done, I need some sort of background noise . I believed this for the first 3 years of my undergrad degree. Just this year I have cut that idea out and have worked in complete silence.
I homeschool a newly diagnosed 8 year old and I think this is why she ALWAYS has headphones and an audiobook on (as well as rollerblades). I have been taking away the headphones to do school work because my neurotypical brain thinks "how can you think and listen to a book simultaneously?" Now, it's hard to teach a kid to read when Jim Dale is narrating Harry Potter in their ears, but I am wondering if we could swap audiobook for music when we read and let her go back to HP for other tasks.
I definitely fall into the trap of… once you complete the task you can get the “reward” but then often sit staring into space getting NOTHING done because I’m stuck in freeze. In the end the doom scroll is a distraction but one that comes with feelings of failure.
On days where I subconsciously distract I definitely get things done in a different way. I struggle to write anything with music with discernible lyrics so often start there and move to classical, foreign language or heavy metal (depending on my mood). I’ve just always felt a sense of guilt for this as if I’m somehow NOT doing what I “should” be.
It’s time to stop guilt tripping myself over this (easier said than done as an ADHDer, but saying it out loud helps) and start recognising what my brain NEEDS to accomplish tasks ✨.
This is so so good, thank you for sharing! Another thing I do is, if for instance I have a strategy or presentation to make I find a YouTube video of someone explaining or doing a similar kind of presentation and it makes me want to start. So I guess it’s somewhere in the middle of what you described. The other dopamine hit it gives me is that if I watch the right person, I sometimes also learn something about what I’m about to do too, making me better at it!
Ah I think I have been doing this without knowing! I always put on a podcast or audiobook to work, then get annoyed when I get into something and it’s distracting so swap to music, and then when I’m really focused I get annoyed at the lyrics and swap to instrumental 😂
I do the same. I cannot write or focus when I understand the lyrics or can sing along so I either move to: classical, foreign language songs, heavy metal depending on my mood.
If I’m tidying, then I need the extra distraction of some very memorable lyrics 😂.
OMG! You just put into words the tactic I already use to do work I am avoiding. I was feeling guilty using Netflix, YouTube and Podcasts to help me focus. But now I realize it's actually a legit way to get me going and just accept this is how my brain works. Thank you!
Yes!
I’m like you.
I always felt guilty that I did these things first, falling into the trap of “you can only reward yourself with something fun when you’re finished” when in reality, I never get there anyway because I’m stuck in freeze and not helping myself regulate.
When I do do these things, listen to some music, read a bit of my book etc I find it much easier to move onto what comes next!
Time to stop guilt tripping myself over this I feel and start recognising it as what my brain NEEDS to accomplish tasks.
Interesting idea! Any tips on remembering to dial it back down and go to the next level? I'm worried if I started on YouTube, I might get sucked into "just one more clip".
I really do love the idea of having something fun at my desk that at least gets me moving into the right direction. Great food for thought, thank you!
Thanks Hanna! Yeah it really helps to set everything up so that it's hard to autoscroll. E.g. maybe you download the videos to watch first or maybe watch it on a different account that has less things you'd get sucked into. The other key is also to make sure the next level is also interesting e.g. a new album you wanted to listen to. That way it's easier to switch. And then it's just a about experimenting and being kind to yourself when things down work perfectly the first time. Good luck!
That makes sense! Takes a bit of planning, then. I’ll have to think about : experiment with the medium, too. Laptop vs phone vs journal vs headphones… thanks for the additional ideas!
No worries, keep experimenting and remember that trying and failing is part of the process and okay. :)
There are some browser extensions where you can customise YouTube and change its appearance to your preferences! I've removed the side bar of videos to stop me from going down a rabbit hole of different videos. The customisation is up to you though :)
So funny, I feel like I’ve been doing this instinctually as a way of curbing PDA. I really love the face that you’ve given examples in a visual format, thanks so much for sharing!
No problem - I'm glad it helps!
For me any kind of noise is distracting and almost painful to me due to having hearing sensitivities. I love silence. Yet I have AuADHD with pda profile so find myself easily refusing to do work and/or easily distracted. Interested in the idea of using other senses in a similar way like you mentioned though. Any ideas welcomed.
This is fantastic. Thank you!
Appreciate this perspective and conversation! ADHDers need help finding the right balance between understimulation and overstimulation.
Personally, not owning a TV has changed my life. My friends don’t get it or think I’m depriving myself, but I have so much more agency. It’s easier for me to reach for other tools and seek other sources of joy/decompression that are actually hella more effective than TV ever was. I am so much more accomplished, prepared, organized, and *REGULATED*!!!! than I used to be.
Yeah, my phone still has a hold on me. But girl thats a hard one. 🤷♀️
Interesting. I’m ADHD-ish (undiagnosed) and have always had the issues you discuss here. My go to solution has always been to do the last minute crunch. Not super healthy as you suggest.
I’m a visual artist. I began my career as a staff graphic designer, eventually working my way up to managing people, teams and global creative departments. With each promotion, the salary increased but the sense of fulfillment declined, as the completion of a project no longer produced a tangible result. There’s a huge difference between a completed budgeting spreadsheet and a completed set of advertising designs. The very nature of the outputs are different.
Anyway, I think that only adds to the procrastination issues. My 2¢.
This was really interesting and I loved your real life demonstration of it in practice writing this piece! As a CBT therapist, it sounds like a creative almost counter intuitive use of tolerating discomfort. Ie you start by tolerating a bit of discomfort by initially allowing high distraction, then as you dial down the distraction, you tolerate more discomfort, habituating to it (ie getting used to it!) as you go. Ingenious! Thanks
Like others here, I think this is what I intuitively do, but it's in more of an up down up down pattern as I need breaks from the deep work. Super helpful to see it explained this way, thank you!
I'm glad the explanation was helpful!
Thank you so much for this!! I find myself in a battle to get things done. Some tasks I just can’t start. I started telling myself that maybe it’s God’s timing that I need to follow and not my own so I should just wait until I’m able to start the task. But it’s stressful because I’m still in paralysis and the paralysis just spreads over time until I can’t do anything. Then I end up completing the task as a distraction to another crucial task that I’ve started lol 🤣🤣.
This idea of the dial is a great way to think about it. Gonna give it a try.
I’ve convinced myself that to get work done, I need some sort of background noise . I believed this for the first 3 years of my undergrad degree. Just this year I have cut that idea out and have worked in complete silence.
Not sure how I feel about it so far honestly.
I homeschool a newly diagnosed 8 year old and I think this is why she ALWAYS has headphones and an audiobook on (as well as rollerblades). I have been taking away the headphones to do school work because my neurotypical brain thinks "how can you think and listen to a book simultaneously?" Now, it's hard to teach a kid to read when Jim Dale is narrating Harry Potter in their ears, but I am wondering if we could swap audiobook for music when we read and let her go back to HP for other tasks.
This advice could be lifesaving. Damn.
I so needed to read this.
I definitely fall into the trap of… once you complete the task you can get the “reward” but then often sit staring into space getting NOTHING done because I’m stuck in freeze. In the end the doom scroll is a distraction but one that comes with feelings of failure.
On days where I subconsciously distract I definitely get things done in a different way. I struggle to write anything with music with discernible lyrics so often start there and move to classical, foreign language or heavy metal (depending on my mood). I’ve just always felt a sense of guilt for this as if I’m somehow NOT doing what I “should” be.
It’s time to stop guilt tripping myself over this (easier said than done as an ADHDer, but saying it out loud helps) and start recognising what my brain NEEDS to accomplish tasks ✨.
Thanks for writing this 💖.
This is so so good, thank you for sharing! Another thing I do is, if for instance I have a strategy or presentation to make I find a YouTube video of someone explaining or doing a similar kind of presentation and it makes me want to start. So I guess it’s somewhere in the middle of what you described. The other dopamine hit it gives me is that if I watch the right person, I sometimes also learn something about what I’m about to do too, making me better at it!