Hello Brains! Remember this?
Let's revisit.
[♪ Intro music ♪]
In this episode, I talk about how there's a chasm between wanting to do a thing and actually getting it done,
and how motivation is how we bridge that gap.
This is motivation bridge and it's built using motivational planks like,
"this is good for my career,"
"it will make my family proud,"
"I told a bunch of people I would."
Motivation bridge isn't always perfect
but little gaps in motivation can be overcome with willpower, self-discipline.
I don't wanna do the thing, but if it's important enough to me, I will.
I might not have all the motivation in the world but I have enough that I can get there.
Unfortunately, ADHD is what Dr. Russel Barkley often refers to as a "motivation deficit disorder".
Something might be just as important to us as it is to someone without ADHD.
But that importance doesn't give us as many motivational planks.
We don't have little gaps in motivation. Half the bridge is missing.
Which means we might want to cross the chasm and do the thing.
We might put a ton of effort into trying to, we just... can't.
The solution I presented in that episode was to fill in the planks.
We can make tasks more engaging to our brains by adding things that increased our motivation,
giving our brains the stimulation they need by using stimulant medication,
or adding a sense of urgency or novelty.
You can check out that episode here.
But there's something else we can do as well: shorten the chasm.
If the space between wanting to do the thing and actually getting it done is smaller,
we don't need as much motivation to get it done.
And for those of us who have a motivation deficit, that's a good thing!
Because there are times we're going to be short on motivation, even after we filled in the planks.
Especially for not just dealing with ADHD.
Depression, trauma, burnout.
All of these can have a major impact on our motivation.
And those of us who are neurodiverse are at higher risk for all of them.
So the less we have to rely on motivation the better.
There are a lot of things that can shorten the chasm.
Here are my top five:
1. Break the task down into smaller chunks.
Instead of waiting until we have enough motivation to write a term paper,
which is a pretty big project,
we can get to the same place by having multiple small chasms, multiple small bridges.
Breaking projects down into smaller chunks
gives us a better chance of having enough motivation to actually get each chunk done.
And as a bonus, finishing one part of the task can sometimes earn us extra motivational planks
we can use to get across the next part.
On bad brain days, this might mean breaking tasks down to the point that it feels kind of silly.
Getting to work felt overwhelming this morning
so I needed to break it down into "put on shoes" and "walk out the door".
How small the chunks need to be depends on where we're at that day.
My rule of thumb is, if a task doesn't feel doable,
that's a good sign it needs to be broken down smaller.
2. Reduce barriers to doing the task.
If motivation bridge has to zig-zag around barriers,
it's going to be longer and require more motivational planks.
Which means sometimes, even small barriers can be enough to keep us from crossing.
Especially on tasks we know are harder to get up the motivation to do.
For those with ADHD, those are often the tasks that are lengthy, repetitive, or boring.
On high motivation days, we can increase our chances for success
by removing barriers ahead of time.
I talk a bit more about removing barriers in this video
but a few types of barriers to look out for
are physical, organizational, and sensory.
3. Make the task itself easier.
The amount of motivation it takes me to go get a vacuum and vacuum my living room
is very different from the amount of motivation
that it requires for me to push a button on my Roborock.
Yeah, I still have to pick things up off the floor,
but the urgency of "it's already going"
gives me plenty of motivational planks to go do that.
In situations where we can't have a robot do the thing for us,
we can check to see how much of what we think we need to do
comes from the pressure we put on ourselves
versus what the task actually requires.
We can identify exactly what we're doing and not doing to avoid scope creep.
Often there's this translation thing that happens in our heads where we hear
"do X," and decide we need to do X, Y and Z.
Especially for those of us who grew up feeling like we couldn't do anything right
and needed to do extra to prove ourselves and our worth.
When motivation is a challenge, doing the bare minimum
can be better than not getting it done.
And sometimes it's a good idea to just say no to the task entirely.
4. Get support with the task.
If a friend can help, you don't have to do all of it yourself.
And as a bonus, doing something with someone
can add motivational planks.
A support of friends' belief in us
can help close the gap on the chasm and make it feel more doable.
They also might have a different perspective that can help with making the task itself easier.
So can delegating the task, or hiring help.
A lot of ADHD Brains, including me, use services like TaskRabbit or Instacart.
For some people, it might be a luxury,
for us it's often an accommodation.
5. Ride the wave.
The amount of motivation we need to do a task
doesn't just depend on the task itself.
It also depends on how we feel about it.
There are some days we're just gonna be more in the mood to do something...
other than the thing we had planned.
For instance, this episode.
I was going to write a different one
but this one felt more ready to write, so I went with it.
It's the same amount of work but it requires less motivation to go with your brain's flow.
Riding the wave and doing it while we're feeling it can make it a lot easier.
If we need to do the thing right now, we can also do things to help create the wave.
Like, using a playlist or a ritual that helps us get into the zone
so it doesn't take as much mental effort to get there.
Again, these are just some of the ways to shorten the chasm
between wanting to do a thing and actually getting it done.
If you have any I missed, let me know in the comments below.
This video is sponsored by Fabulous,
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You can use it to build and track habits on your own
or, if you need a little motivation, use the guided version -- which is what I did.
I wanted to work on increasing my energy,
so the app guided me on a journey toward that,
starting with drinking water every morning.
I loved the storytelling and artwork
and found myself actually coming back to the app every day to see my progress.
It was really encouraging and motivating to feel like my tiny baby steps mattered,
and to realize, I was starting to do them automatically -- and it was also kind of fun.
Routines are something I usually really struggle with.
I found that the app helped a lot with mindfulness too.
There were letters I could read that made me think about my life and my goals.
And the sounds of the app reminded me to focus on what I was doing.
You can start a different journey whenever you want
but, if you do, it pauses your progress on your current journey -- which I love!
Because realistically, we're not gonna be able to get better at everything at the same time.
And I love that the app gets that and encourages us to focus at one thing at a time.
You can also go at your own pace.
If you don't want an afternoon routine, you can just turn off the alarm on that.
If you wanna do your workout before breakfast, you can switch them. Whatever works for you.
If you wanna use Fabulous to build your ideal daily routine,
click on the link in the description below.
And the first 100 people who click on the link will get 25% off a Fabulous subscription.
Thank you to my Brain Advocates and all my Patreon Brains.
For the sake of making this task easier, I didn't actually write out a thing to say to you.
Just know that I really appreciate you and all of your support.
Like, subscribe, click all the things, and I will see you next video!
Bye Brains!
[♪ Outro music ♪]