Tricking Myself Into Being Productive

Welcome back to another blog post! I’ve had a lot on my plate the last couple of weeks with some whirlwind travel, volunteering for Vacation Bible School at our church, and helping to coordinate décor for a friend’s upcoming wedding. But, as I’m sure you well know, the regular responsibilities of life are annoyingly consistent and ever-present, even when there are “extras” thrown into the mix – and the combo of the two has me employing every tool at my disposal to force myself to keep moving through what needs to be done.

I love being productive. I mean, who doesn’t? Beyond the simple reality that the stuff must get done, I truly find deep satisfaction in looking back on my day and saying “wow, I got a lot done!”. Despite that, though, I typically have to fight several of my ADHD tendencies to actually get to that end-of-day, post-productivity bliss. I’m not naïve – I know that people without ADHD also struggle with motivation! But I think it’s important to understand why this is extremely common for folks with a diagnosis like mine.

Here’s a quick little blurb on the fundamentals of ADHD brain function, if you’re new to this concept:

A predominate factor in the presence of ADHD in the brain is an irregularity with the brain’s dopamine receptors. Dopamine is the neurotransmitter that is largely responsible for motivation and drive, and it plays a very important role in the brain’s reward system. This reward system is what allows our brains to associate a positive reward or outcome with any given stimulus – like recognizing that your taste buds will be happy if you eat a piece of cake, or that you will feel clean and refreshed if you take a hot shower.

For an ADHDer like myself, the inconsistency in this system often manifests in difficulty initiating or maintaining attention to mundane tasks, because the brain is unable to recognize a motivating reward for completing those tasks. On the flip side, it can sometimes create a “hyperfocus” mode of obsession, when the brain latches onto a stimulus that finally quenches that thirst for dopamine. Unfortunately, you don’t usually get to choose when either one of these happens.

It’s also very common for people with ADHD to have heightened senses – sensitivity to loud noises, bright lights, strong smells, etc. – and the addition of any mental chaos can quickly push us over the line into a state of overwhelm. Feeling overwhelmed in the face of a long list of tasks is so paralyzing! If I’m not careful, I’ll find myself giving up before I’ve even begun.

This constant motivation pendulum swing and the likelihood for overwhelm are the very tendencies that I fight every day to get things done!

Even though I can’t just up and change the way my brain is wired, I have found ways to help me work with that wiring to actually accomplish my goals. For me, it all comes down to harnessing momentum and allowing that to carry me from task to task, instead of relying on my motivation – because, let’s be honest… motivation is not very reliable. I used to waste a looooot of time waiting for it to stir up and push me to action. And, don’t get me wrong; I definitely still fall into that trap regularly! But I’ve had much more success being a little sneaky with my own brain and tricking myself into gaining momentum.

I’ll give you an example of how this works. Say I am behind on cleaning in the apartment. Of course that never happens to me, and it certainly didn’t happen just a few days ago… so this is purely “hypothetical” ;)

Although I love the occasional day of (what my friend likes to call) “Elena Unleashed”, freely pinballing from thing to thing all over the place, that isn’t usually the most time-efficient way of doing things. But when I have a lot of things to do that all have virtually the same level of urgency, and I don’t have all day to do them, my brain is about as organized as a swarm of bees (aka, not at all).

Obviously, I’ll start with a list; a giant brain dump of everything on paper, to catch each little bee and quiet the mental swarm. But a chaotic brain dump leading to a messy, unorganized list is a surefire recipe for feeling overwhelmed. So before I even get started on the tasks, I actually rewrite my list. Often, multiple times. I try to separate the to-do’s into categories, specifically under these two umbrellas: “Today” and “Extras”. Even though there are usually a lot of things left in the “Today” list, it helps keep the overwhelm at bay if I can give myself the option to push at least a couple of tasks to another day.

Once my list is settled, I find that the hardest part is literally getting started. Even if my list no longer feels super overwhelming, the temptation to divert to something more enjoyable is practically unbearable! This is where harnessing momentum comes in. I pick the task on my list that either sounds like the quickest or the most rewarding in that moment – and I do that first. Because the initiation can be the biggest barrier, I use this to trick myself into getting moving! And then Newton’s first law will come to my aid; the object in motion (me) will stay in motion (completing tasks) until something interrupts it.

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Don’t be fooled – over the span of time that I am cleaning, there are countless interruptions that can distract me from the tasks at hand! So initiation is not the only time I utilize momentum to trick myself. Here are a few of the typical interferences I can get caught up in, and how I address them to keep my momentum going:

Environmental Distractions: If I succumb to the temptation to pinballing around my apartment, I am much more prone to distraction. It makes it harder to remember what I’m trying to accomplish, and it’s usually an inefficient use of energy. To avoid this…

• I try to stick with one room at a time, which helps me see and then complete what’s right in front of me. At the very least, I stay on one floor as much as I can and then move up or down when everything is finished there.
• I stash things at the bottom (or top) of the stairs to take it all in one big haul when it’s time to transition to the next floor. This conserves my energy by limiting trips up and down the stairs.

My Phone: The doom scroll is real. If I let myself get on my phone for any reason, it’s kind of embarrassing to admit how quickly I’ll get sucked in. To avoid this…

• I wear my apple watch so any urgent notifications come directly to me. Then, I can put my phone aside for the duration of my clean without feeling anxious that I’m missing something important.
• I satisfy my desire for entertainment by putting on an audio of some sort – music, audiobook, podcast… whatever I’m feeling that day! It occupies my brain and distracts me from losing interest in the tasks at hand.

Enticing Side Quests: Oh man, the amount of fun projects I suddenly remember when I’m faced with a list of mundane tasks is absurd! The temptation to indulge is ever-present. To avoid this…

• I literally close the door to my often messy project room, lol. Simple, but effective.
• I schedule a future (but close) time to work on a specific project, so I can look forward to it, or I’ll add it to my “Extras” list for the day as a reward if I finish everything else!
• Occasionally, I actually let myself indulge if it’s something quick – doing so can actually help refresh my momentum and keep me moving!

Losing Steam: Starting strong is one thing, but maintaining attention is a whole other animal. I can quickly lose momentum when my energy starts to slip away. To keep pushing…

• I do a “reset” by pausing to make myself a snack, a yummy drink (usually iced tea), or taking a shower! In fact, on productive days at home I will frequently wait to shower until later for this exact purpose.
• I set myself timers! This can take two forms. To encourage myself to complete another task on the list, I’ll set a limited timer (usually no longer than 15 minutes) as sort of a “race” to get it done. Works like a charm! I will also occasionally set a timer to allow myself to do something unrelated to the list for a bit. This can be dangerous, since I’ve been known to ignore timers… but if I avoid sitting down or pulling out my phone, it can help give a little refresh.
• I revisit my list to add, remove, or “check off” anything I’ve completed. If I’ve gotten a little off task, but still finished things that are worth noting, I’ll add those to the list and check them off immediately – this is a bit of a guilty pleasure, but it goes surprisingly far in renewing my motivation!

To make a long story short, I basically just cater to all my facets of impulsivity: appropriately confine myself, distract from the disinteresting, hide away all the temptations, and give myself “challenges” to rise to. While I still sometimes get caught in the Sit Pit (as I’ve referred to in the past), these tools help me get myself back on track so I can feel good at the end of the day about what I’ve accomplished.

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Now, you may or may not have ADHD. But I think we can all relate to the general difficulty of maintaining productivity, even when we know that the end result is satisfying. So regardless of your diagnosis (or lack thereof), I hope this encourages you to explore what could be most helpful to you when it comes to harnessing momentum toward your goals.

But as I wrap this one up, I want to emphasize something. I’ve spent far too much time getting mad at myself for not getting enough done on any given day. I’m trying to leave that behind me! However satisfying it may be, our worth is not determined by how much we can accomplish in a day. Our worth is determined by God – and He proved how much we were worth to Him when He sent Christ to carry our sins to the cross with Him and bridge the gap between us. And it was all by His grace! Nothing that we ever do could deserve such a gracious reward.

So I’m learning to accept that grace every day, and learning to accept that my worth does not change based on how much I do. Rather, I can steward my time and energy toward important things with joy, because I am free to spend time learning how! And so are you :)