Why motivation is harder when you have ADHD

This year has felt really up and down for me in terms of where my motivation has been and while I have no shortage of ideas, sometimes they feel stuck and I need to draw on what I know and explore some tools that might help me to get unstuck.

And if you have periods where you might feel like that too, then maybe this post might help you as well.

What motivation dips can look like

It might be different for each of us, but maybe you might relate to some of these:

You have a new idea, you're full of optimism and can't wait to get started
You might absolutely love the planning stage or maybe you jump right in and start creating
Maybe you've overestimated the number of steps and how long things might take and your motivation slows a little
When we start to feel like that, maybe another new idea starts to bubble up and our focus moves to that
And maybe repeat for the rest of time?

The neuroscience behind the dip

If you've ever wondered why this happens so consistently (and is often, frustratingly, the only way we feel consistent!) it can be helpful to look at what's happening in our brains and specifically, with two parts of our brains, the Default Mode Network (DMN) and the Task Positive Network (TPN).

The DMN is the part of our brain where our minds wander. It turns on when we're relaxing, reflecting or daydreaming. The TPN is the part that lights up when we are actively engaged in a task. Ideally, these two networks would act a bit like a see-saw and when one goes up, the other goes down.

We also need to understand the role that dopamine plays here as well. Dopamine essentially acts like a spotlight for us, highlighting what matters right now. In many neurotypical brains, that spotlight is quite bright so even moderately interesting tasks stay consistently illuminated. For ADHD brains, that spotlight is often dimmer so as soon as a task loses it's novelty, or we come up against a barrier, that light dims right down.

Once our spotlight has dimmed, our brains naturally drift back to its default setting, the Default Mode Network. So, this is often why, when you stall on one project, your mind might instantly lights up with three completely new, unrelated ideas. This isn't about willpower or laziness, your brain is simply reacting to a drop in the dopamine signal. Without that signal telling your brain that what you're doing is important, the DMN takes over and you're back to daydreaming, rumination and on the hunt for something new and shiny to interest you.

Some ideas that might help with you want to try and stick with it

Understanding and naming what's happening

I share this with a lot of clients on a whole range of topics, but often the first step can be to simply acknowledge that it's going to happen. We know that often ADHDers are interest based and now that we understand a bit more about why that happens, we can hold that knowledge and plan for it.

When we plan for it, we take control and reduce the fear and frustration which can make it easier to create a way forward. Knowing that it is a biological response (your spotlight fading), rather than a character flaw, can make it much easier to treat yourself with compassion rather than frustration.

Flipping the see-saw

So, we know what's happening and why, but we still might need some help to actually flip the see-saw back to the TPN. Some ideas might be:

Talk it over with someone you trust, someone who isn't just going to tell you to 'just put it in your calendar'. No thanks. Verbalising your thoughts engages the prefrontal cortex, which can help to override the DMN. (And this comes up in coaching all the time - talking it through often means that you realise you already have the answers inside you, you just need some help to get them out).
Changing your environment can give you fresh sensory input. This small burst of novelty can help to trigger a tiny dopamine spike which can then help to engage your attention back to the current task.
Taking a break can also help. A walk, a snack, doing something else for a while can give your brain space to reset. Sometimes, the 'stuck' feeling is just fatigue and resting allows your dopamine system to recalibrate.

Give yourself a head start

If you're working on a longer term project, leave it somewhere that's easy to pick up next time, a space where you know exactly what comes next. Reducing the friction required to start lowers the amount of dopamine you need to initiate the task again.

And remember NICE - novelty, interest, challenge, extremely urgent. Sometimes integrating one of these can help to kick start you again.

Be nice to yourself

Honestly, I think this is the hardest bit. But there's no point being harder on yourself for something that isn't your fault. One way I like to think about it is that even if I've completely lost motivation for something, whatever I try to help me get back to where I was is helping to give me information about what I need. So even if it's not working, I'm still learning something. it might be that I'm just not as interested as I thought I was in something. I try and use that to figure out what I want to do next. Sometimes that helps me to move forward, and sometimes it's about acknowledging that I'm going to leave a project behind. Maybe I'll pick it up another time, maybe I won't.

I hope this has been helpful. I'm sharing more about the Default Mode Network in my blog series (search Default Mode Network for more).

This is also something that I talk about with coaching clients and if you'd like to talk more about what coaching could look like for you, you can read about what coaching with me looks like here.

Contact me

Email me allie@alliewarren.co.uk

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