ADHD isn’t just ‘easily distracted.’ It’s staring at a task for two hours, knowing exactly what to do, and still not being able to start. And feeling like a failure because of it.
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I know this feeling well. I’ve learned that if I’m overwhelmed, break something down into smaller parts. Then pick the easiest, enabling component to get started.
I'm sorry, but that is not at all the way I feel with my ADHD, and no manner of breaking the task down or making a list or setting a timer or promising yourself a reward will help if you can't brute force the initial block.
Ah task paralysis. I know it well. Also the delights of deferring a relatively minor task so many times it ends up feeling insurmountable even though it's a basic task that won't take long.
There's lots of different types But I think that kind is one of the worst. I have some tips and tricks I've learned along the way but It's a daily fight and it gets tiring.
I hear you. I like what Epictetus said about struggles: "The true man is revealed in difficult times. So when trouble comes, think of yourself as a wrestler whom God, like a trainer, has paired with a tough young buck. For what purpose? To turn you into Olympic-class material."
To many people it might seem silly to consider distractibility to be such a monolithic challenge. But over the span of a lifetime it's everything. When I feel myself falling into that headspace, I remind myself: this is the battle. How I handle this defines who I am. It's a chance to get stronger!
You'll lose a lot of matches but if you approach it the right way, each match makes you stronger and better than before. You learn the ways distractibility defeats you, your weaknesses to it, etc. But you also learn and adapt. There's a light at the end when you look at it that way
Then doing something completely unrelated to what you need to do, which brings great satisfaction but delays you getting done what you absolutely need to.
Thankfully Vyvance gives me maybe two good hours of work in a day, and that’s enough to get a lot of things done. But it’s nowhere near enough and it sucks
Haha and i feel somewhat fortunate. I look at dyspraxia as the mother of all three. A lot dyspraxics have a whole host of fun learning and anxiety related issues that run comorbid. I’m more of an ADD guy, minus the H. A hurry up, and go nowhere type.
It's also thinking about said task and your brain doing other things. It's doing tasks in the wrong order. It's not being able to do the things you enjoy because you feel guilty about other things to do.
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Rinse and repeat.
Thankfully Vyvance gives me maybe two good hours of work in a day, and that’s enough to get a lot of things done. But it’s nowhere near enough and it sucks
My main symptom is debilitating insomnia. Also not fun.