I do things little and often, the above don’t work for me
The most important thing for me was to select a task (like move the mugs), and let that be the end of the task if I’m not feeling great. If I know that I’ll have to finish the room, it makes starting the first task impossible.
Non zero days are important. Even the smallest task (one piece of rubbish in the bin) will add up if done every day.
When I’m depressed and non-productive and the place is a mess, I tell myself: just one thing in every space, one thing in every space. Eventually I’ll get moving.
It doesn’t matter what the one thing is? Picking a leaf off the entrance floor counts, so does putting the empty toilet paper rolls into recycling, so does putting one glass into the dishwasher, so does recharging my watch. Walk into a room or hall or stairway landing, find one thing that isn’t right, fix it and move to the next space.
Somewhere a little over halfway through, I’ll get a run of energy. I’ll usually stay in whatever room I’m in and just keep moving stuff, cleaning, straightening up, doing whatever needs done. At some point, I’ll notice that I’m running out of energy. At that point, I’ll finish whatever single task I’m doing in that area, and go through the rest of the place, fixing one thing in every room.
I meantioned elsewhere, but I will sometimes break it down so far as to say “I’ll walk in the kitchen and look at it. Adn if I turn around immediately, that’s okay, I tried.” and that doesn’t always work.
But I need to do dishes right now, so I’m going to do just that after hitting reply on this and see if I can go unload the dishwasher. Will I load it again? We’ll see, but i’m taking a couple of dirty dishes in there with me as I go. So it’ll be progress, no matter how tiny.
edit: dishes unloaded, dishwasher loaded and started, whee
This is also what I do. Have a one item todo list and have it be a success if that task gets done.
It doesn’t work for me, because I know the plan. I know the intention is for this to create a cascade that results in lots of stuff happening, and so carrying the mug inherits the load of all that’s intended to come after.
I don’t like getting fooled, even if it’s by myself, so I do nothing, like a fool.
I don’t like getting fooled, even if it’s by myself, so I do nothing, like a fool.
I also have this honestly very frustrating mindset. All this inaction and foresight is really fucking hard to get rid of sadly. I hate it
It reminds me of a lot of simple diet advice, like smaller portions or subsititutions with less fat or sugar.
Do they think our bodies are stupid?
I don’t look at it like fooling myself but taking a physical first step may get the brain juices flowing enough to continue the task
it’s no problem if it doesn’t
I’m glad it works for you, because that’s probably quite helpful.
For me saying its just the first step to get the momentum needed to do the task feels like arguing I didn’t kill the guy, I simply built a ramp and engineered an axe on a cart. Sure I setup a system by which ringing my doorbell would release the death cart, and sure the ramp leads directly head level to the front door, and sure I invited him over, but I think we can all agree gravity is what killed him, I wasn’t even home at the time!
And to be clear, I’m not arguing with you, I’m truly happy it works for you, this is the argument I have with myself. I suggest to myself that the nice internet people say I could maybe start with just one thing, and then I respond to myself by saying if starting one thing leads to me doing more things, then doing one thing is the same as doing all the things. Then I suggest to myself I’d have to get up pretty early in the morning to try pulling that shit on me, and that I should take myself back to lawschool.
Of course, I’ve never been to “Law School”, nor planned on it, but I’ve never let that get in the way of a good line!
I see what you’re saying.
Add this idea to it:
Do you want to get the task done? Does the task align with your values?
If it’s not for “killing a guy indirectly” but for something good. Why not take the first physical step.
When the dopamine starts flowing because your body does an action then even your frontal cortex with all it’s logic ability takes a while to disable that initial dopamine.
Yes, but not because I don’t know where to start or feel overwhelmed. It’s just a lot easier to carry the momentum once you’re up and moving. If vacuuming feels overwhelming, avoid putting it in the back of the closet so you have to work just to begin, and avoid starting with it!
The purpose of this strategy, which applies to everything, is simply to carry momentum. Get off your chair and look out the window for a minute. Now you’re standing up, might as well grab that dirty plate and move it to the sink. It’s right there, it’s so easy. Well, since you’re up and about, might as well take out the trash. When you get back, your legs are in motion and exercised so you might as well grab the vacuum that you placed so conveniently.
Neurotypical people who write these type of hacks (OP pic) tend to think we’re all the same, and because it worked for one person they told it to, that it should work for all of us.
This method also really helps when you’re the “Why did I get up? What was I going to do?” Type.
You might forget why you got up, but you take the opportunity to do one of the things that needs doing.
The mantra of “no empty hands no empty trips” helped me; if I’m up from my desk I’ll take any mugs to the kitchen, I’ll grab a drink while in the kitchen, might as well do the bins, but if I’m doing the kitchen bins, I might as well do the whole lot and take them out. Then suddenly one of the bigger cleaning jobs is done, all because I wanted to get a drink.
Autistic inertia is real.
I got around vacuuming by getting a robot to do it for me. The Chinese may now see my dick, but that’s a sacrifice i’m willing to make.
The podcast If Books Could Kill covered Atomic Habits, and they had a similar critique: They thought it would be helpful for exactly the kind of person that really wouldn’t need to buy a book about it, and useless to everyone else.
I feel this a lot. On weekends, often times I wake up with a burst of productive energy which I can channel in tidying up the flat, cleaning the kitchen, the bathroom, doing laundry etc. This keeps up for a couple hours before the momentum starts to fade.
I have always relied on this “magical” momentum boost, but I’ll definitely try conjuring the momentum up via this “trick”
I’ll start with “move the mugs to the kitchen” but see something else that needs done on the way, stop and do that and forget where I set down the mugs to do that other task. From there I’ll go pee, realize the soap dispenser needs refilling, see that the refill bottle is low and go write down hand soap on the shopping list on the kitchen whiteboard. Then I’ll realize I was gonna bring the mugs into the kitchen, but then remember I also needs to vacuum the kitchen. Uh oh, vacuum is full lemme empty that, uh oh trash is full gotta empty that, and so on and so on.
At this point it’s after 5pm and I remember I haven’t ate anything all day.
So no, that doesn’t work for me lol
i think the most important bit is: you finish it before picking up another task.
it shouldn’t be anything to arduous nor should it be bullshit.
and if on the way, one finds there is more to do, thats just the todolist flying by, it will still be there when the current task is finished… and i can see it can be difficult carrying five mugs to the kitchen when encountering another group of five mugs somewhere in the house… or something worse… but its important one finishes at least that one originally set task
Umm, I’m sorry, but it sounds exactly like it’s working? You’re getting stuff that needs to be done, done, that it’s not exactly the thing you started out with doesn’t really matter, does it? If you do it like this, no matter what you do exactly at any point, eventually you’re done with everything.
I have ADHD and that’s exactly how I manage it, I simply stopped caring about specifics and just that I did something, if I went to the bathroom to pee, refilled the soap dispenser, and forget what I was doing originally, that’s just a win in my book, I refilled the soap dispenser.
Step 1 read this post
Step 2 continue reading, maybe there are other great tips
Step 3 whatever
Step 4 Went to take a nap
To fix your deficit of executive function, simply have executive function!
Real talk, lists of steps and small tasks making up a whole is super helpful to me, but that needs to be generated outside of the moment…
I take the mugs to the kitchen. The sink is full. I should put stuff in the dishwasher. The dishwasher is full. I should empty it. This will take a while, I should put on something to listen to on YouTube. Oh that’s an interesting short. Doomscroll for an hour. Oh yeah mugs.
Precisely.
step zero: create a new web based app in a front end framework you want to learn, to keep track of your tasks. then never finish it. trip over a pile of mugs on your way to bed.
to-do
make to-do system
Hahaha jokes on me. I decided I wanted to secure my front end apps finally. Maybe I should read a cyber security book instead of vibing my way through the old fashion way: blind. I finally got a cloudflare acct but I believe I’m making it 100% more complicated, have you heard of zrok2?
Unironically the only thing that works for me is this
I keep posting this quote because it remains true and has helped me a lot with overcoming my executive dysfunction:
“Anything worth doing is worth doing badly”
It doesn’t matter if you don’t take all the dishes to the kitchen; just take 1.
It doesn’t matter if you don’t do all your laundry; just put 1 shirt in the hamper.
If you’re in school, turn in unfinished assignments, even a 1 sentence essay.
At work, do the smallest task you can imagine, even if it’s just opening a document.
The point is, while all of these things aren’t perfect, they are infinitely better than doing NOTHING. Plus, that one small thing will often snowball into doing more. And if it doesn’t, so what? You met your goal already. Anything else is extra.
You are not lazy. You are not a failure. There is absolutely nothing wrong with you. It’s the world that is wrong. Remember, society has evolved WAY faster than our brains have. Quit placing such high expectations on yourself when none of us are meant to be doing any of this in the first place.
Wtf that’s a fix for procrastination, not ADHD. With ADHD I take the cups and want to put them into the kitchen, see that the plant needs water, put the cups down to get the watering can. I get the watering can, fill it with water and on my way to the plant I see that I left the window open, go to the window to close it and put the watering can down.
The whole inventory is constantly on the move.
Kind of, but you dismiss the fact that they are ever so slightly closer to their destination. Well… more often than not, at least :) but it’s not exactly a cheat code. More like a very basic strat that at least isn’t net negative.
(Btw, you probably bash yourself too hard and miss celebrating small steps forward, but it’s just a feeling. Pun intended.)
Don’t worry, I am absolutely happy with how I live my life and I have accepted my traits years ago. But it is very kind of you to address it.
Excellent! That makes my day. Just curious, how do you handle food? Like, insertion of nutrients every so often.
How I handle food? Exceptionally bad. I jump from phase to phase every couple weeks.
Phases that I am aware of:
- frozen pizza diet
- yfood-like-shakes diet
- healthy one-pot diet
- self-made shakes diet
- pasta diet
All in all I survive, but I am far away from having a working system, which would lead to a healthier gut. At the end of the day, my energy flows into bigger issues and I am aware of the consequences.
Damn it, same. I wish the was a solution for putting fuel into the body
I miss back when I only had these problems and less task paralysis 😭
People will really attribute fucking ANYTHING to adhd.
This is a common, normal ass life experience. Everyone on the face of the earth procrastinates with things like this and “choosing a smaller version of the task” is a common technique used by millions without ADHD
So yes you’re right in general, but also ADHD specifically fucks with executive function, meaning it makes it much harder to actually put the brain into doing shit mode.
Doing something much smaller, e.g. only committing to 5 minutes of cleaning as opposed to cleaning an entire room, makes it much easier to actually start doing a thing. Half the time I end up carried by momentum past my initial commitment, so it really can be a lifesaver.
It’s not the overwhelm that’s being attributed to ADHD. It’s the anxiety, shame, task paralysis, whatever else that’s stopping you from taking a first step that’s attributed to executive dysfunction that’s part of ADHD. The technique is used by millions without ADHD because things that work with hard-mode brains work just as well with normal-mode brains.
But then it’s not a “psychology hack for ADHD”. It’s just a normal productivity tip. Some with ADHD will find it useful, others won’t, and some NT people will find it useful, others won’t. Maybe on average it’s more beneficial for those with ADHD, but as I wouldn’t guess so. I don’t have any data/research supporting either direction though.
Frankly I just have a distaste for the whimsicalness applied to ADHD in online discourse. We don’t need “psychology hacks” or to describe ourselves as having “hard mode brains”. It’s a disorder. Cancer patients do not have “hard mode bodies”. And the people with more severe ADHD in my experience tend to not resonate with a lot of these terms, it’s generally only people with low level ADHD or just want to pin their dysfunction on something else who resonate with this terminology.
The mozzarella in your freezer expired in 2022
Yup I collect mugs and take them to the kitchen, it takes multiple trips. While in the kitchen on the second trip I see a piece of mail that needs to go to the desk, I take it to the desk. While at the desk I see the jacket that needs to go to the coat hook, I take it to the coat hook. While there I realize I’m thirsty and go get a mug of tea. I take that to the desk and forget that I’m cleaning up mugs and the day is over.
Go to bed and realize I’ve practically made no dent in what needs done. But I worked all day.
