Prorastinating, Putting off doing things, wasting time, etc. well try ADHD Power Bursts – Miracles in 10 minutes or Less!
For people with ADHD there is a very real sense of dread that comes over us when faced with a daunting or big task!! Today I looked at my messy home office today and thought to myself,  “I don’t know where to begin”, followed by,  “I will never be able to get that done!”.  Some people with ADHD steer that dread right into avoidance,  or disinterest.  It is as if something takes over my thinking, and before you know it, I am mesmorized by some small part of the task, and then it is two hours later and Im still no closer to getting started on the real task at hand”, says a friend of mine who also has ADHD.
This kind of inability to begin or finish an important or simple task is very discouraging to people with ADHD.  Another common task distractor is the idea that things have to be perfect, and therefore everything must be looked at and thought over. This kind of thinking will destroy your ability to get anything done.

It has been my mission,   to discover what techniques for getting my essential life tasks finished actually seem to work for people with ADHD. I have found several antedotes for the poisen of overwhelm and lack of productivity.

First, change your self talk immediately! Few things are as damaging as the stories that we with ADHD tell ourselves.  Instead of  “I will never get the job done”, begin saying, “ I will get some of this done right now, no problem at all”.

Second, Get real with your abilites and pick a task tolerence time for yourself.    Ask yourself, “how many minutes would I for sure be able to handle doing this task?”   Most people with ADHD can do anything for a few minutes at a time – no problem.  Decide what your task tolerence limit is. For me, I can do anything for 10 minutes, even the hard things like laundry, or straightening up my stuff.  If it is really difficult, like opening the mail, I will break that down into 3 minute sessions.

Third, Use a timer or countdown clock online ( I like the online countdown clock atwww.online-stopwatch.com).  Set your timer for the number of minutes you decided on, start the timer and begin repeating your mantra “ I can do this, I can do this yes I can, yes I can”!  If you start to daydream or become distracted or discouraged, just look at the clock and remember you totally get to stop, after your timer goes off!  I am usually shocked how much I can do in ten minutes of uninterrupted task time. Today for example, I cleared off a pile of clothes and junk from a surface in my home office. It turns out that 10 minutes is all it took to organize and put away a weeks worth of piled clothes, papers and other miscalaneous stuff!

Fourth, Decide how much time you get off for doing a little on a task.  I am allowed 20 minutes off for every 10 minutes I spend doing my tasks. That might seem like a lot, but I would have easily burned right through a half an hour just procrastinating or doing something else. In fact as usual, I am writing this blog entry as a reward for doing a 10 minute office clean up.  I find that setting a reward-time timer is also essntial.  Without timers, I would be lost in internet space, or find myself three hours later writing a million word essay instead of a short and useful blog.

Getting tasks done around the house and at work used to really be overwhelming for me.  I found that for myself and for many of my clients with ADHD, setting a timer, using my mantra and giving myself reward time really works.

In fact, my reward time is almost done, so I will set it for another 10 minutes and see how much I can get straightened on my desk, then I will use my next reward time to finish and polish up this blog entry.  In any case, I have one very clear surface in my home office, and I got another blog entry done, not bad for about 30 minutes work.  My ADHD really works for me!

Let me know what you want to accomplish in 10 minute Power Bursts.