I procrastinate. I sometimes hardly start something I’m interested to, if i start i don’t get the work done for example if i want to read an article i find myself checking instagram or whatsapp or reading an extra link
Please i really suffer with this
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Quite frankly getting addicted to these apps doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with you. Their creators literally spent Billions to make them as addictive as possible. You just have to physically disconnect. Delete your accounts, put your phone down, etc. Ideally you want to avoid them entirely so you never get addicted in the first place.
Executive functioning is your brain’s manager basically
Our brain has all sorts of different parts with specialized roles. Some parts can jump between tasks and others just do the same thing all the time.
Executive functioning is about how your brain tells those parts that can jump between tasks to prioritize. It seems like poor ability to concentrate but really it’s just your brain prioritizing the *wrong* thing, so you will be concentrating, just not on the things you want to be concentrating on necessarily.
So poor executive functioning (ADHD) is like a workplace with good employees, but a manager who isn’t always great at prioritizing because they’re coming in to work sleep deprived, and maybe as a result, asks workers to prioritize less important things and the overall functioning of the business suffers as a result
ADHD medication is like giving that sleep deprived manager a cup of coffee. Then now that they’re a bit more awake, they may be better at prioritizing and asking the employees to prioritize things that are important for the overall functioning of the business
So you trying to focus on work but finding yourself on instagram is like your brain’s manager coming in and saying “ok, I need you all to stop whatever you’re doing and divert all attention to instagram, that’s very important right now and we need to focus our efforts there”, and the rest of your brain just kind of goes “well ok, that doesn’t sound right but you’re the boss!”
However, getting distracted and procrastinating don’t inherently mean you have ADHD, it could just mean you’re stressed or tired or bored, and seeking things out that don’t wear you out further, relieve stress, or entertain you.
Not an expert but I’ve found that procrastination or executive dysfunction tend to be a type of anxiety response for me. For example, if I need to do laundry, I know how overwhelming the task can be because of how much time it takes, all the steps involved, etc so sometimes I will end up sort of paralyzed by that anxiety even though I know I need to do it and it won’t really be that bad, but the thought of it is just too much.
Some things that help are:
1. Dedicating a set amount of time toward doing a task, like instead of “I’m going to get this paper written” just set a goal of “I’m going to work on this paper for 45 minutes and then stop”. It makes the task less daunting knowing you don’t have to do ALL of it right now. And if the 45 minutes are up but you still have energy left to work, you can reset the timer.
2. Using an app to set and complete goals, and get rewards when you do. There are lots of apps like this that give you a little pet, then when you complete your goals you give your pet food or something.
I have both, for my executive dysfunction means that when I think about doing something I don’t get the dopamine “hit” that other people do.
The way it should work is that I think “I should clean the bathroom” >> I get a small hit of dopamine >> this encourages me to think that completing the task will get me more >> I start doing the task. This doesn’t happen to me, so I keep scrolling of whatever.
What I have to do it stop and take a few mins to imagine what it feels like when I complete the task >> then I realise that I will like the result (clean bathroom or whatever) >> I start doing the task.
N.B: Everyone’s different, this works for me but YMMV :+1:
This is a big one and I feel your pain; it took me 44 years to really come to understand and see the threads.
The brain has a lot of working systems in it, and is fundamentally a learning system. It learns in different ways, and in most people there is a system that causes dopamine to get released in anticipation of reward. So simple conditioning, do thing, get reward, do thing again, get pre-reward to tell us “doing the right thing”. That is how learning works. In people with ADHD, one of the most common reasons for executive dysfunction, this doesn’t work right.
What this means is that motivation works differently for me. ADHD brains pay attention to urgency. So if you have something that is urgent in any way, we can focus on it to the point of obsession. We can look like the most dilligent workers in the world, if the world is on fire.
What doesn’t work, is getting excited about, and paying attention to, the future, or things that are important but not urgent.
So facebook and arguments on reddit? Urgent but not important. This discussion is now, it wont be happening later, that is urgent. Its not important, my life wont change if I hit cancel and walk away. We are not becoming friends, this is ships passing in the night. But I am here because, my brain tripped on it and now its more important to me than what I should be doing.
Whats not urgent? Making friends, maintianing relationships, that paperwork my boss isn’t actually going to complain about. These things can be ignored for years and years, because they never become urgent until depression or loneliness comes in and makes them urgent.
There are treatments, like stimulants. They really help, but there is no cure and really what the stimulants do, is help me focus enough that I can start learning how to control my own attention and hopefully find tools to do it with. They will never cure me to the point that I don’t need to actively manage it and work on connecting with my self and my future.
Executive function is the part of the brain that puts together cause and effects that are slightly separated by time. So in your case, it’s the part of your brain that needs to connect the part of you that wants to check instagram with the future part that feels like crap when you look back at how you should have been doing something more productive. Your brain is supposed to connect those two things together so they sort of cancel each other out and maybe you don’t go on instagram. But there are other ways to get the same thing for example, someone that helps you connect those two things together (a therapist).
A source that was useful for me but intended for parents is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Illf_Hsy570
A short attention span is not the same as ADHD. By a long shot.
If you’re concerned about this, you need to inquire with a professional . They can explain the differences, and diagnose the difficulty, and propose ways to address it.
Here’s the real ELI5 answer: Don’t ask idiots on the Internet for answers to problems only behavioral professionals can diagnose.
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