adhd and procrastination
Photo credit: Dolo Iglesias
29th October 1787.
The National Theatre of Bohemia, Prague.
We’re at the premiere performance of Don Giovanni – Mozart’s hotly anticipated new opera.
As the man himself steps onto the podium, a packed house falls silent – and one of the most eagerly awaited moments in music’s Classical period is finally here.
But not a single member of the orchestra is happy.
Having only received the sheet music in front of them that same morning, they’ve not had a single rehearsal together of the piece they’re about to play.
The ink on the score is still wet.
Mozart, it’s said, was a MASSIVE procrastinator.
A huge repeat offender of putting off until later, what should really (as in absolutely, definitely) be done now.
Legend also has it that Mozart may well have been a bit ADHD.
Which means ADHD might explain why the overture to Don Giovanni – an opera that went on to become one of the most successful and critically acclaimed of all time – had only been written in the early hours of the very day it was premiered to the world.
The awkward space between knowing what should be done and actually doing it isn’t the exclusive domain of the neurodivergent.
But us ADHD types do spend an awful lot of our lives hanging out there, frustrated with our struggle to initiate tasks.
It’s a common one among ADHDers – including the majority of those who approach me for coaching.
The reasons behind this tendency towards procrastination can nearly always be divvied up three ways:
1. Too boring
The classic – and a brilliant example of why the word dopamine crops up so often in conversations about ADHD.
This is the neurotransmitter (neuromodulator, if we’re being precise) that fires up the circuits in our brain associated with movement, motivation and drive.
An inefficiency in the way it’s produced and processed in the brains of some people is thought to be among the root causes of ADHD.
And so their base levels of this molecule have a tendency to be on the low side.
Any mammal will find this to result in a lack of zip or zest – that enthusiasm required for springing into action and pursuing something outside of itself.
To a neurotypical, it’s experienced ‘at times’. In the ADHD world, it can be a state that’s ‘always on’.
Take a looming deadline, for example.
To an ADHDer, a deadline doesn’t have much loominess about itself whatsoever.
The intended outcome, whatever it may be, isn't required ‘now’, therefore it doesn’t rank as important.
And so the consequences for inaction are too abstract to feel real.
When that same deadline’s bearing down on us at full pelt, however…
…when the physical possibility of getting whatever it is done on time has become decidedly touch and go…
…well that’s different.
Now the situation has our full attention.
Everything just got exciting – and we can happily (if a bit stressily) move through the gears at speed.
2. Too much
That wave of overwhelm we’re all familiar with – caused by a temporary struggle to see the wood for the trees.
At a macro level, this brings exasperation and inertia born form a belief that there’s way too much on our plate to cope with.
At a task-specific one – we’re left staring up at a seemingly colossal undertaking, not a clue where to begin.
Of course, prioritisation and task assessment are some simple, if obvious, ways forward here.
Breaking something down into bite-size stages and chunks helps, no doubt.
But that’s not to gloss over the truth that the ADHD brain is running an awful lot of software all at once.
Multiple thoughts and feelings are firing up simultaneously – each competing for attention but getting lost in the overall noise.
In the moment, the filters required for discerning what’s high priority from what’s not simply aren’t up to the job.
And so the sum total of everything that needs addressing becomes the challenge, rather than a high priority task simply sitting at the top of a mental list.
The attempted fix here – the subconscious escape route from anguish that promises to lead to a state of serenity and calm – is to try and ignore the problem altogether.
To kid ourselves that it’s not really there.
The child closing their eyes to make the ghost go away.
3. Too slow
Arguably the most complex, and ironically created by-and-from itself.
All too often, years of shelved projects and aborted starts have resulted in criticism – both externally and from within.
So it’s not uncommon to develop an instinct to keep busy. To stay productive. To achieve.
Or, rather, to try and trick ourselves into believing that we’re constantly achieving by getting through tasks at speed.
Whilst this may sound like a contradiction to point one above – an innate inner drive being at odds with the concept of a lack of motivation – there’s an interesting difference.
Here, potential criticism is enough of a reason to get going.
This isn’t waiting for the mood to take hold; it’s heading off any threat of the ‘dysphoria of rejection’ taking place before it has a chance to get hold.
Trouble is, we’re often putting off the important in favour of the easily achievable or fun-to-do.
The quick wins that make us feel as though we’re moving forward, regardless of how important or beneficial the activity is that’s eating up our time.
So what do you do with that?
Procrastination – in any of its forms – is often mistaken for laziness.
But when unfair labels like that start getting applied, insult gets piled on top of the frustration, guilt and shame that’s already on the scene.
The good news is that, with a better understanding of ADHD, this common symptom can be seen for what it actually is, and observed with a little more… well, understanding.
Perhaps even more useful to an ADHD-type themselves, is that this knowledge can be the key to unlocking some very cool – and very simple – tricks and techniques that’ll bring about a sense of progress as well as one of calm.
Clearly, that's a good thing. But it’s not to say that anyone should ever try and change – or regret being – who they really are.
The world’s always needed folks who think differently; they’re the artists and inventors and entrepreneurs and eighteenth century composers.
Anyway, who’s to say that the overture of Don Giovanni would be nearly so good, had Wolfgang been the kind of guy to have all of his sh*t together – all of the time?
Copyright © Kevin Exley 2023
You should not regard the information contained in this article/post as being, or as a replacement for, professional medical advice or treatment. The words contained herein represent the thoughts and opinions of the author, who is not clinically or medically trained.