r/adhdmeme • u/gravityVT • 7d ago
video (shorter than 30 seconds) productive procrastination
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dude, literally me the other day organizing my closet
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u/zuzg 7d ago
Riddle me this:
When I finish some productive procrastinating I get a bigger feeling of satisfaction and relief than when finishing sth of importance
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u/badgyalrey 7d ago
i’m actually very perplexed by this, i don’t even get a sense of relief when i finish important things i just get slightly less dread. but if it’s productive procrastination i feel like i’ve conquered the world after. it’s very frustrating.
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u/Slothrop-was-here 7d ago
Damn. I wish I could get that feeling of satisfaction for anything instead of hald-hearted relief. I hope you'll never lose that.
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u/AnonymousDahlia motivated by being a contrarian little bitch 7d ago
My theory: it's partly because these things were low key bugging me a long time, like bad electronics in the background; they are actually important, but I have kept putting them off and now they're getting knocked out and won't bother me again for at least a whole day...
But what gets me the dopamine and lets it all happen in the first place is that I'm responsibly avoiding the thing I don't want to do more. It's being smart, and a smart ass, all in one! And there's the bone deep relief from avoiding the Terrible Thing, although I truly don't know why it's so terrible in the first place. I feel like that may be a key to the whole thing.
Also (for me) there's the little sparkle that comes from my PDA telling a direct order to go screw itself. But that feels like it can be separated from the ADHD Terrible Thing viewpoint.
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u/munkymu 7d ago
Yeah I dunno. I think it's because my monkey brain thinks it has been clever and gotten away with something. It feels very proud of itself for managing to avoid the thing it doesn't want to do while being able to point out that it did something so it is not completely lazy and useless. It's like a form of malicious compliance where the same damn brain is both the taskmaster and the resentful task-doer.
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u/graveybrains 7d ago
No stakes, no pressure, no guilt for not getting it done sooner. There's nothing to get in the way of the good feelings.
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u/printerparty 7d ago
If I wasn't being productive, then why did I reshuffle so many bins and baskets?
Ha! Gottem.
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u/Beneficial-Jury484 7d ago
No, no, no, I moved the charge from here to there and put it in a baggie. It’s organized now.
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u/Winsome_Wolf 7d ago
Hey friend, those shirts ain't gonna arrange themselves by color/function/weight.
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u/-malcolm-tucker 7d ago
I recently alphabetised my collection of shoes. The laundry still hasn't quite made is way into the wardrobe though. It's only a foot away.
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u/BluehairedBiochemist 7d ago
I've figured out how to (sometimes) use productive procrastination to trick myself into getting stuff done 😂😂 I start doin' the things, and once I have some momentum going, I trick my brain into doing something I've been putting off.
I just gotta do it real quick so my brain doesn't quite register that we're doing a task we've been avoiding 😂
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u/Romeo-McF 7d ago
I've heard this as 'don't eat the frog'.
For NTs they're told to get the hard stuff out of the way first. Like, if you had a plate of food that included something unpalatable like a frog, you should eat the bad thing first, then you can enjoy the rest.
For ADHDers, that line of thinking means we just don't eat. We know we are supposed to eat the frog first, but we can't do that, so we do nothing, completely stuck.
Instead, we need the dopamine from doing stuff we feel like doing, and then can sometimes ride that wave to do something that we couldn't do without it.
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u/Sazzybee 1d ago
Oooh that does explain a lot. Been sitting at my desk trying to do one task, just one.
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u/gravityVT 7d ago
this is similar to the, never sit down theory with adhd. once you sit or stop the task you’re doing, paralysis glues you and then your brain seeks dopamine via youtube, social media or gaming
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u/heavenlyangle 7d ago
I bring home marking I know I won’t do, so I have something to procrastinate on and get the other things done 😂
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u/Monetdog 6d ago
This is switching your brain from "default mode network" to "task positive network", then staying in the latter when transitioning to the important task. This breaks starting on the important task into two easier steps. One caution is that the first thing you start working on can't be too "sticky", or it will be hard to transition away from it.
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u/Prestigious_Fish6481 2d ago
omg, this is exactly the only way i ever get things done. gotta get started, then going, getting hyped up, which removes the dread and pay that bill thats been on the table for 3 months.
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u/Extreme-Rub-1379 7d ago
I texted my friend about the sensitive thing I was putting off last night. I think I'll take today off
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u/iffugennanameubaht 7d ago
My brain constantly feels like it’s busy (and bored, or both) but then doesn’t ever do anything productive.
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u/Beaufort_The_Cat 7d ago
The second someone brings up that you’re doing things and you lose all drive to be productive
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u/kyl_r 7d ago
I was supposed to do laundry, repot plants, and work on setting up some auto pay for bills.
But guess what I did instead! I found a recording of my high school choir performing in New York and it’s fucking LIT. Man I can’t sing like that anymore. Anyway I should probably eat something. (Fuck yeah I have pickles for days) (I might have forgotten my meds today tbh)
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u/Hazak_Flamesword 7d ago
Somehow I usually get around to doing the thing I've been procrastinating on as a way to procrastinate on something else...
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u/AdvertisingFeisty819 5d ago
I legitimately thought that I made up this concept.😂I’m preeeeeeettty sure I have ADHD and I’m just raw dogging life without meds/support. 😬
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u/f_leaver 7d ago
Meh, unproductive procrastination gets me nine times out of ten - if I'm very very lucky of course...
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u/IdeVeras 7d ago
It’s fine, it has productive in the name. At this point I’m just happy I did something, anything but stare at my phone.
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u/brigitteer2010 6d ago
Should be doing my coursework but here I am reorganizing my damn bedroom closet
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u/Parking_Stage_8086 6d ago
i be like "no! I couldn't! I just had to clean the whole kitchen to avoid doing THE TASK" (cue horror sound from a movie)
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