ADHD, and the Law of Momentum, Inertia, and Flow
Just a heads up, this is a long blog, please take your time and break it up if you need to.
Shane
Procrastination and the Struggle with Overwhelm
Procrastination and our overwhelming feelings of avoidance struggles hit people with ADHD hard and often. We do not see a simple task as just that simple task. We see the task as an entire process, and it can be overwhelming. We see the tedious parts, the confusing bits, the "wait, wasn't John supposed to handle this?" sections. In essence, every potential pitfall and failure stares us down. A lot of the advice that we get from people is along the lines of “Just do it!” and people trying to explain "motivation" to us like it's some magic elixir to make us more productive. However, for many of us with ADHD, motivation is the last thing that works for us because our brains are literally wired not to use motivation.
For people with ADHD, it’s more about creating a process to introduce momentum, inertia, and flow. It’s about learning how to start things, and for many of us, we aren’t taught how to start things; we are always taught that we should always finish things, not only that, but finishing things perfectly. For people with ADHD, this is a recipe for disaster and a lifetime of shame.
Let’s change the game and learn how to utilize our natural strengths to mitigate the weaknesses that we often struggle with, join me on the journey of understanding The Law of ADHD Productivity: Momentum, Inertia, and Flow.
An Example of the Day of a House-Husband
Let’s give you an example of a process I follow as a house-husband. I get up in the morning, get the kids up and dressed and fed, and then I start my day. At 9:30 AM, an alarm goes off that tells me to look at my tasks and calendar for today and tomorrow.
For example, I don’t have any appointments for the day, and my chore list for the day is:
Clean the kitchen
Do Laundry
Clean Cat Boxes
I have learned that looking at the entirety of a task is too much for me. I have learned to not just look at cleaning the kitchen as my goal.
Because when I think about cleaning the kitchen, that means:
Gather all of the dishes
Rinse the dishes
Load the dishwasher
Put everything away (Spices, food, etc.)
Clean the countertop
Clean the stovetop
Clean the island
Sweep
Mop
For some, this seems easy; however, that’s not all I see though. For me, I also see:
The twin toddlers need to be played with, or the destruction that they will cause
How I hate to mop
Ugh, there’s spaghetti sauce baked into the stovetop
I have a blog that I have to write
I’m tired
All of this goes through my head when my goal is to clean the kitchen. It’s hard to wrap my head around all of that without procrastination trying to kick in.
But if I step back and just focus on starting the process, it eases up on the overwhelm and is easier for me to look at. So when I go into the kitchen, I focus on starting the dishes. I do my best to tune out the overall static of overwhelm. I put my headphones in, put on a good audiobook, and focus on starting that one thing.
From there, though, because I know in the back of my mind I am supposed to clean the kitchen, I find myself putting away things from on the counter, which means I need to put away the spices and whatever food, and extraneous clean (or dirty) utensils, that are on the counter to make sure I have all of the dirty dishes. From there, load the dishes in the dishwasher. But when I finish putting the dishes in the dishwasher, I already have my wet towel; I might as well clean off the counter and the island.
Now that I've cleaned them off, I know I may not have caught all the foodstuff and whatnot, and some of it wound up on the floor.
Since my broom is at the logical end of where I would end up after I clean off the counter, I might as well sweep; because the broom is right there at hand.
When I am sweeping, I notice that there are sticky spots (Yay, toddlers). When I get done sweeping, I wind up being where back near where my mop is.
So I grab it and go ahead and set it up to mop.
But... All I did was go into the kitchen with the intention of starting the dishes.
The Law of ADHD Momentum, Inertia, and Flow
What happened?
Let’s take a step back and understand The Law of ADHD Momentum, Inertia, and Flow.
Momentum is the product of a body’s mass and velocity.
Inertia is the measure of resistance exerted by an object to any change in velocity.
Flow is the path of least resistance and the direction a body will go as it moves.
In other words: An object (or, in this case, the person with ADHD), once in motion, stays in motion through the path of least resistance unless acted upon by an equal or opposing force.
Because I intentionally focus on only starting the process by doing the dishes, my brain isn't overwhelmed by the entire process or any of the other issues that cause distractions, procrastination, and avoidance. I am able to get my body moving. Because I intentionally put the tools that I need in the spots where I naturally end one thing, I am allowing myself to flow from one task to the next, following the path of least resistance. I didn’t have to hunt down the broom, get distracted by the clothes that needed to be washed, or start playing with my kids or any other of the myriad hundreds of distractions that can happen that can cause me to lose momentum.
Continuing the Process
We must create an environment to let things flow to continue the process. Sometimes this means physically creating a space that allows your tasks to flow from one to the other. In this case, from cleaning the kitchen, my goal is to do the laundry. But again, I am just trying to start the process. To create this flow, my broom, mop, and laundry baskets are all in the same area. So from putting the mop up from the kitchen, I can grab a basket, go through the house, and load the laundry into the basket, then go to the washer and load the washer.
The cat boxes are right next to the washer, so now that I’ve loaded the clothes in the washer, I can now start the cat boxes, and everything I need to do the cat boxes is right there, and it takes just a few minutes actually to finish them.
This also applies to your tasks in a similar way. When you plan your tasks out, they should be set up so that you don’t have a series of jarringly different tasks that do not flow well. Try to set tasks up so that they aren’t drastically changing your process or location or that add unnecessary distractions to intrude.
For example, I wouldn’t plan to go from cleaning the kitchen to going outside to mow the yard. Instead, I focus on flowing through the way that I have my house set up.
However, what about tasks that are drastically different, but because they have to be done, we can’t create a good flow? Because for many with ADHD or other neurodivergences, transitions can be seriously debilitating. In this case, we just have to do our best and focus on starting the tasks as we go through our day. This can mean we have to do a more start-stop process, which isn’t ideal. However, we can only do the best we can and may need help to mitigate these transitions. This may mean planning to do more of our things that flow, then taking a rest break, then moving into the next transition phase and doing the things we need to do there, allowing ourselves to reset and prepare for each transition. So if I know that I am going to clean the kitchen and then mow, I will take a break in between to reset my mind, and then move into the flow of mowing, and again, start the process.
The Need for External Tools
Because of my ADHD and how much my time blindness affects me, I know I must have external tools to measure time and what I want to do. My task list is one; it helps me focus on the higher-priority things that I want or need to get done. When doing the laundry, there is a gap between the first load and putting them in the dryer of about 45 minutes. To stop forgetting about changing the clothes, I use a timer to help me not lose myself in whatever I do next. By using an external tool, I am mitigating a pain point of my process. Once that timer goes off, my process begins again with the goal of starting back up and then rinsing and repeating. (Literally, in this case).
However, what do I do with the 45 minutes I have between these 2 tasks?
Take Time To Rest & Relax
I could do another task if I wanted to. This, however, is a great place to point out the need for rest. Resting is a part of productivity. This process of doing the laundry offers me some time to rest, but it also allows me another thing that people with ADHD need: external rewards. External rewards can be a part of my rest. I can sit down and play with my kids, read a book, or start up the ol’ Xbox and play a game.
Because I’ve set a timer, when that goes off, I can change over the laundry, reset the alarm, and go back to resting until the clothes are done. Because I am resting and giving myself time to incorporate a reward, I am doing something I enjoy, and I am now giving myself time to process stress and frustration and not allow it to build up, thus preventing overwhelm from being as severe.
Rewarding the effort that we have put into the work that has been done so far is important because we aren’t always going to finish everything within the planned time frame. Things happen, and life is full of distractions that we are primed to find. We have kids, a spouse, coworkers, last-minute tasks our bosses ask us to do, and any number of things, and sometimes, we just need to be ok with the work we did and the effort we made and be proud of that as well.
However, using the timer, I am not allowing myself to get lost in whatever I am doing; I am simply making good use of my time in between without the fear of forgetting or dealing with the shame of forgetting.
When the Tasks Do Not Flow
But what about tasks, or parts of tasks that we don’t like doing or those tasks that we don’t know how to do or know enough about? Or what if our space or environment doesn’t allow for good flow, and it’s causing you to struggle? Back to my laundry example. Here’s the thing. I don’t mind picking up laundry. I don’t mind washing it. I don’t mind drying it. I don’t mind sorting it. However, I absolutely loathe with a depth of passion that borders on hatred for folding, hanging, and putting away laundry.
I have no idea why.
However, instead of the laundry just sitting there, never being put away. My wife and I compromised if I did everything above and sorted the laundry. She folds, hangs, and puts away the laundry.
Asking for accountability, delegating, or eliminating a task that we don’t know how to do or do not like to do can be a part of our process. In fact, it honestly has to be an integral part of our process. Asking for help is extremely hard for many, as is expressing that we can’t do something that for others may seem to be a basic thing to do. I mean, how bad can folding, hanging, and putting away laundry be? I did literally everything else; why can’t I just finish it?
Because I hate doing that part, that happens, especially when it comes to ADHD or other neurodivergence; there are things that we just don’t like or want to do. But instead of letting it go and ignoring it. I asked for help. I went to my wife, explained the issue to her, and she said she didn’t mind doing that. Just like that, now the entire process can be finished.
Similarly, I redesigned my kitchen and my house so that everything flows together each way I clean, allowing me to flow from one task to another. I do the same for my schedule. I schedule my tasks as much as possible, allowing me to flow from one task to another in a way that doesn’t have me jumping drastically between hugely different things.
You can do the same thing: go to your boss or a friend, or find an accountability partner and explain the situation, and more often than not, you can get the help you need. Whether delegating it to someone, getting someone to help you directly like an accountability partner, or body doubling, you can get to a place where you can finish more things than you don’t.
And That’s How It Works
If we can start the ball rolling, use momentum, and then make sure that we set our work/task list/space to allow for more efficient transitions, then we can allow the momentum of our work to move more consistently.
By using external tools, like our task list, timers, reminders, and calendars, we can create a working system that allows us to plan our tasks and time from week to week or month to month.
By resting at regular points or within the transition gaps and putting some external rewards in place during our rest cycles, we also reward ourselves for the effort that we’ve put in and mitigate stress. This doesn’t mean that we don’t get the rewards for completing our tasks so that we can look forward to finishing up our work days. Take time to do something you enjoy after your work day to decompress.
Finally, have grace for ourselves. Sometimes we will forget the timer. Sometimes we will lose ourselves to hyperfocus; when this happens, we just have to reset and figure out what happened and work to be more persistent with our external tools and processes. Sometimes our friends or work won’t be able to help us or accommodate our needs, and we may have to wait to get the help we need. Sometimes we may not have the energy to do things; when this happens, we need to recognize it, acknowledge that we might just need a rest day, and have grace for ourselves and rest. Sometimes we may have to work within a space or schedule that we can’t design around our struggles. Sometimes, we will have to recognize that some things may be completely out of our control and that we will just have to delegate it completely.
So, have grace for yourself. Recognize your limitations and your strengths, and do what you can.
Most of all, try to have fun; life isn’t meant to be suffered. It’s meant to be enjoyed.
Shane Thrapp is a Certified ADHD Life, Relationship, and Career Coach.
Through his business, Creating Order From Chaos, he has helped hundreds of people find their paths through the chaos of life with ADHD and find their order and purpose.
He is also the Operations Director for our nonprofit Men’s ADHD Support Group, a board member for the Inattentive ADHD Coalition, and a public speaker who works to be a voice in advocacy for adult ADHD awareness.
If you want to help support our efforts, then please consider donating or volunteering so that we can keep Inspiring, Educating, and Empowering men to thrive with their ADHD.
