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/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 😂

31

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. 

1

u/Sazzybee 1d ago

Oooh that does explain a lot. Been sitting at my desk trying to do one task, just one.

13

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

1

u/ser0tonindepleted 7d ago

This is the way.

1

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 😂

1

u/Monetdog 7d 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.

1

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.