You know you need to do something. You want to do it. But somehow… you don’t.
Welcome to the world of ADHD & procrastination – where motivation is unpredictable, and deadlines always seem to come out of nowhere. But why does this happen? Why do ADHDers struggle with getting started?
🧠 1. ADHD & Motivation: The Dopamine Problem
Our brains need dopamine to activate. But in ADHD, this reward system works differently:
✅ Fun tasks? Brain activity spikes.
❌ Boring tasks? No dopamine → No motivation → Procrastination.
📌 Solution:
- Add a game element to boring tasks (like a timer challenge).
- Start with something small and rewarding
2. Time Blindness & No Sense of Urgency
With ADHD, time doesn’t feel linear. A deadline next week? Feels like forever.
Result? You wait until it’s really urgent – and then panic.
📌 Solution:
- Set a “fake deadline” earlier than the actual one.
- Use a visual timer to make time feel real.
💭 3. Decision Paralysis & Too Many Options
Where do I start?” → You don’t know → So you start nothing.
Too many choices can be overwhelming, especially with open-ended tasks.
📌 Solution:
- Start with one tiny micro-step (“open the document,” “write the first sentence”).
- The 5-minute rule: You don’t have to finish, just start.
⚡ 4. Hyperfocus on the Wrong Things
ADHD means you either can’t start or can’t stop.
Sometimes, you get stuck in something else: scrolling, YouTube rabbit holes, Wikipedia deep dives.
📌 Solution:
- Use the “2-minute rule”: If you’re stuck, give yourself a short break and restart with a simple task.
- Set “stop alarms” to remind yourself when you’re off track.
🚀 Conclusion
ADHD procrastination isn’t laziness – it’s a brain system that struggles to start without the right triggers. But once you understand why you procrastinate, you can find smarter ways to break the cycle.
📌 What’s your biggest procrastination trigger? And what strategy helps you the most?
Elias Carter 