Procrastination or ADHD? Why can’t I get things done?

We all struggle to get things done!

All of us struggle to get things done sometimes. For some of us though, we experience

repeating patterns of task execution failure. 

We know what we need to do, we want to get it done, and yet we seem unable to actually follow through. It’s no surprise that this is a deeply distressing experience. 

The role of self-judgement in task execution failure

It can be easy to slip into self-judgement. “I’m lazy.” “I’m stupid.” “I’m incompetent.” And our outlook on life and the future can turn negative. “I’ll never finish this project.” “I’ll never be able to accomplish my goals.” “I’m doomed to failure.”

These sort of self-judgements distort our reality, and what’s more, they don’t actually help. If it

was as simple as “Stop being lazy and get to work! ” we would have done it already. 

Stop Judging Yourself and Try to Understand Yourself!

The crucial first step is to stop judging yourself and instead try to understand yourself. That’s

right, understand yourself. Strange as it is to say, we are often fairly unaware of how we work,

of what derails us from getting things done, and what actually helps us to be more productive.

We remember planning to do a task, and having an intention to complete it, we may have even started working on it, but then somehow we find ourselves doing something totally different without a clear idea of how we got off track.

My Own Experience of Procrastination as  a PhD Student

I remember my own experience as a PhD student trying to write a dissertation. I just couldn’t

seem to make any meaningful progress on it, though I badly wanted to complete it. Each day I

set out with the intention to work on it, often with a specific plan for what I wanted to get done.

But so often I found myself hours later doing something else. And not just time-wasting things

like browsing the internet. I’d spend the day doing a deep-clean of the kitchen, or helping a friend move a couch, or reading about alternative electoral systems. 

Why I was like this was a mystery to me, and really it never occurred to me to actually consider that question seriously:

Why did I keep getting sidetracked from the thing I needed to do? If I had, I could probably

have shaved a couple years off my time as a PhD student.

The Importance of asking Why

When we do finally begin to ask the “why” question about ourselves, a couple of possibilities

often suggest themselves: Maybe I have ADHD? Or: Maybe I have a procrastination problem?

While these are by no means the only issues that can contribute to task execution problems,

procrastination and ADHD are certainly common ones. But how do they work? And what is the difference between them? (And does the difference matter?)

Well it turns out that the difference does matter. It matters because they involve very different psychological “mechanics,” and as a result they require different sorts of interventions or strategies to address.

What is ADHD?

ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder) is a neurodevelopmental condition. That means it involves a physiological difference in the nervous system that develops in childhood. If you decide to get an ADHD assessment as an adult, the doctor or psychologist doing the assessment will be looking for evidence of symptoms in your developing years, not just at current experience and functioning. 

If the adults who were in your life during childhood (parents, teachers, etc.) didn’t notice your ADHD symptoms or make a record of them, it can be hard to get a diagnosis of ADHD.

What is Procrastination and how is it different from ADHD?

Procrastination, by contrast, is a behavioural condition that anyone can develop at any time in their life. All of us procrastinate some of the time, and the line between ordinary procrastination and a problematic procrastination pattern is really just that the behaviour has become habitual.

Problematic procrastination is a repeating and often self-reinforcing behavioural pattern. But from my perspective as a counsellor helping clients address task execution problems in their lives, the really important difference between ADHD and procrastination is not their source

but their mechanics — how they work. 

And the heart of the difference is that ADHD-based executive function issues are related to attention, whereas procrastination is related to distress- avoidance. Let me explain.

People with ADHD have two modes: inattention and hyperattention

The attention system of people with ADHD works differently. It is often said that ADHD is

characterized by symptoms of inattention (as well as impulsivity and hyperactivity). A “deficit of attention.” But this isn’t really quite accurate. 

People with ADHD tend to have two modes, one being lack of ability to sustain attention and another which is a heightened ability to sustain attention — hyper-attention. The key difference, it seems, is that people with ADHD require a much higher threshold of interest in a thing or activity in order for it to hold their attention — though if their interest is high, they may remain focused long past the point others without ADHD could sustain.

Consequently, people with ADHD often struggle to stay focused on what doesn’t hold a lot of

intrinsic interest for them, on mundane things (like where I put my keys, or the teacher droning

on about verb conjugation). They can also struggle to retain focus on the steps of a project or

task that are less interesting — like the middle part between the exciting creativity of the

beginning and the satisfying completion of the end.

Procrastination as an Anxiety-Avoidance Cycle

Procrastination works differently. Procrastination can be understood as an instance of the

anxiety-avoidance cycle. I have a task that I am aware of that needs doing. But as I think about the task I form certain thoughts about it, consciously or not. “This is going to be really hard.” “I’m never going to finish this.” “I’m not smart enough to do this.” Etc. (Fill in your own favourite negative thoughts.) 

As we think about the task in these ways, we feel distress. Usually this takes the form of anxious feelings. But it can also be boredom. It can even present somatically as brain fog or a headache or sleepiness.

In any case, these associated feelings of distress are, well, distressing. They don’t feel good.

And its a fairly natural human response to seek to move away from things that cause us

distress. So our cognitive system goes to work and provides us with some great rationales to

do something other than the distressing task. “I’ll do it later.” “I’ll first do this other important

task.” “I’ll be more productive if I take a break first,” etc. 

We are then freed to do something else that doesn’t feel distressing. It can be something unproductive that gives us some pleasurable dopamine hits like scrolling on our phones, or it can be something “productive” like my kitchen deep-clean. But the result is the same — task avoidance. 

And it works! 

We really do feel better now that we are no longer focused on our distressing task. The problem is its only matter of time before we remember our task, which unfortunately has not gone away, and now we can add feelings of guilt and increased time-pressure stress to our awareness of the task. I.e. more distress. Which gives us — you guessed it — more reason to engage in further avoidance. The circle is complete!

Now, a lot of the time this procrastination cycle operates without much self-awareness. We

don’t consciously say to ourselves: “Oh I’m feeling distressed about this task because it feels

to large and overwhelming to complete, so I’m going to find a reason to do something that

feels less distressing instead.” We just start feeling stressed as we contemplate working on our dissertation, and then find ourselves starting to do something else, anything else!

Let’s Talk Solutions: How do I get things done that I find difficult to do?

Ok, let’s pull things together and talk solutions!  Many of us struggle in completing important

tasks and goals in our lives. This can lead us to a place of discouragement and self-judgement.

But the key to addressing this issue is actually to take a posture of curiosity towards ourselves, and to pay attention to what happens when we get derailed in our tasks.

We looked at two common sources of task execution issues: ADHD and procrastination.

How to accomplish tasks when you have ADHD

With ADHD the key issue is the difficulty in sustaining attention on tasks that hold low intrinsic

interest for us, especially in the presence of other higher interest options. Importantly, this is

also true of the more routine or mundane parts of more complex tasks that do hold high

interest for us. With procrastination, by contrast, the key issue is the distress we feel

associated with our task, and our natural and often unconscious tendency to avoid distress

and rationalized our avoidance.

These differences matter because they indicate different strategies to address the problem. If

my task execution problems are the result of difficulty in sustaining attention, then I will need to adopt strategies that centre around keeping myself interested in the work I am doing. That can be as simple as working in a stimulating environment like a favourite cafe.

How to get things done when you have a procrastination problem

If, on the other hand, I have a procrastination problem, then I will need to find strategies that

focus on addressing the distress I feel in association with my task. One of the key principles in

task-distress management is to break down tasks into smaller parts and to start with the

smaller, less distressing parts.

The key to getting things done is self-understanding

That said, every one works a little bit differently, and so the strategies that work for one person may not work for another. That’s why self-understanding is so important. 

To which I would now add, self-understanding is a process — a process of observation and discovery about how best to work (do your tasks) given how you work (your motivational mechanics).

Where to find help for ADHD and Procrastination Near You

Jamie Hellewell is a clinical counsellor working in Vancouver, British Columbia at Emotion Wise Counselling . He supports clients in dealing with a range of executive functioning issues, including related to ADHD and procrastination.  

Reach out today to book a complementary consultation to talk about how Jamie can help you get things done if you are facing issues with procrastination or ADHD.