eli5 – Can someone explain ADHD? Specifically the procrastination and inability to do “boring” tasks?
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A lot of the answers in this thread talk about specific examples that hone in on the “lack of focus” aspect of ADHD, which is notably the most obvious and relatable thing to express about ADHD symptoms, but the biggest aspect for me that I feel gets left out is the inability to prioritize *literally anything* properly.
Every single task that needs to get done throughout the day, from simple tasks, like brushing your teeth, to complex ones with many smaller steps, like cooking breakfast, has the same level of **maximum priority**, making it incredibly difficult to complete tasks without getting pulled away. This is why focusing on one thing until it is completed feels impossible to us; nothing feels like it can get broken down into manageable pieces because every single aspect demands our full attention the moment we think about it.
Imagine if the moment you thought of a task that you had to complete that day you immediately feel an overwhelming urgency to get it done, even if it is interrupting something you’re currently working on.
Another aspect that compounds on this urgency is having terrible memory. Oftentimes things like names/dates/task due dates are difficult for us to remember (probably for a variety of reasons), so we often get called lazy or told that we “don’t care enough”, which couldn’t be further from the truth.
Because we forget things so frequently, there’s a sense of “I *must* do this thing the moment I think about it, otherwise I’ll just forget to do it later”. Most people can supposedly “put a pin in it” and come back to a task later, but that feels impossible for some people with ADHD.
The list goes on and on for various symptoms, and everyone experiences it differently, but the lack of being able to effectively prioritize things makes basic task management and living extremely hard.
tl;dr: Having ADHD can effectively “break” a person’s ability to prioritize things, making their squirrel brain want to jump tasks even if it means they leave many things incomplete.
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