How to Not NEED as Much Motivation to do the Thing

Something I’ve realized recently is that those of us with ADHD HATE doing things when we feel like we are being forced to do them. I’m almost like a stubborn child when it comes to this. “Gameifying” and reminding yourself that you actually want to do X or Y are helpful.

Top 5 Ways to Shorten the Motivational Chasm: 01:51 = 1. Break the tasks down into smaller chunks 02:36 = 2. Reduce barriers to doing the task 03:11 = 3. Make the task itself easier 04:04 = 4. Get support with the task 04:32 = 5. Ride the wave I decided to write this down for myself, so might as well share for those who need it written like I do.

"Riding the wave" is SO me. If I decide/feel that NOW is the moment to do the thing I've been putting off I KNOW I have to do it RIGHT NOW because God only knows when I'll have the resources/motivation to do it another time...

I cried for hours today cause I couldn't do my college assignments that are overdue. Thank you so so much for this video, I needed this today ❤️

Me trying to be motivated to watch this video

I have no idea why, but if I frame these helpful tips as "ways to overcome a problem" they never work. If I however frame them as "sneaky ways to trick my brain" they can work wonders. It's like gameifying but the end goal isn't getting stuff done, it's about making that side of you that's struggling make the pikachu face when you fool it into getting things done.

One thing that has really helped me is "anything worth doing is worth doing poorly". Eg, it doesn't matter if it's done properly or perfectly. As long as I do it, at all, even if that's the bare minimum, that's okay. And not just okay, but excellent! And that can help build habits so it's easier and easier to do things properly.

One way that works great for me is to pick a song you like, tell yourself you'll finish a small task (like getting dressed) by the time the song is over, then play it and do it quickly. Super rewarding for adhd brain lol

Your original video was the reason I got tested a few months ago and finally diagnosed with Inattentive-ADHD at 32. I was burning out HARD last year and at serious risk of losing my job and my home. Thank you for your passion and effort, your videos have really helped me 🖤

This is so helpful! I also find that using color helps me so much to get motivated. Sometimes I clean “by color” like anything I see that’s blue, I take care of it. Blue dishes to the sink, blue wrappers to the trash, blue clothes to the washing machine. It’s scattered and not as efficient as other ways that I clean but it starts the motivation train enough to get me going at a better pace!

“Grew up feeling like we couldn’t do anything right. Like we had to prove ourselves and our worth” Now that hit close to home.

Jess this is the eternal dilemma. Whether it's procrastinating, over thinking what's already been done (did I do it properly, etc ) or self-distracting to not do it... I swear some days I wish I could have a transplant or something to address this.

Yeah, we can work on increasing our motivation. ...But here are some hacks so we don't NEED as much motivation :)

One of the challenges I have is once I break my task down into more manageable size tasks the overall picture looks so overwhelming that I have absolutely no motivation to do any of it… as one of us that has ADHD along with depression, motivation deficit, trauma and burnout…. I get to the point where I could care less if the task ever happens…🥺

I’m guessing we all have to do lists, but maybe a ta da list is also helpful. Make a separate list of the things you did and sometimes it is surprising what we actually get done. Then reward your self

This makes me feel such a huge level of comfort knowing that the reasons I do what I do, are explainable and normal for those like me

I am autistic and I find I really struggle getting motivation for tasks. I spesificly struggle with homework like math (I'm quite slow at math), tasks you need to do multiple times (like making a weekly planning), cleaning, working out, and tasks with many steps can become overwhelming quickly for me. And then I get random bursts of anxiety because I didn't do the thing yet and I know I want to do it and I should do it. But I didn't for some reason. I always think about it when it's not apropriate, like when I'm trying to sleep. Also, this channel is a great source of information, also for neurodiverse brains who don't have ADHD, but do stuggle with (some of) the syptomes.

If you haven’t already done it I’d love a video on HOW to break projects into smaller chunks. It’s the biggest advice everywhere but sometimes when I have a big project, I know I have to break into smaller steps to get it done but it’s like my brain literally can’t conceive of how this 1 big thing can be several smaller things.. and even if I do come up with multiple steps, they’re in a chaotic order and not actually step by step (like having “edit paper” first on my list before I’ve written the thing)

Thanks so much for this, I get a lot of the paralysis, sitting on the sofa staring into the abyss looking towards the endless depths...

Dude I swear this girl is mind reader, this is exactly the problem I'm having right now, there is all this krap I have to do and I can't even get motivated to do any of it !!! This girl is litteraly reading my thoughts right now !!! She is mind reader I swear!!!