ADHD and: Procrastination

It’s not uncommon for some women with ADHD to scramble to complete tasks at the last minute despite having ample time to start. This struggle can cause frustration, anxiety, and even stress. 

Listen as Dr. Monica Johnson breaks down how symptoms of ADHD can lead to delays in task completion. And get strategies on how to improve productivity and reduce stress.

We love to hear from our listeners. Email us at podcast@understood.org.

Related resources

• Prioritizing the wrong things at work? This may be why

• Procrastination, rushing, and ADHD (Yasmeen’s story)

Timestamps

(00:58) What is procrastination?

(01:13) What are key characteristics of procrastination?

(04:22) Ways to break the cycle of procrastination

(05:21) What is the Pomodoro Technique?

Episode transcript

Dr. J: If you're anything like me, procrastination can feel like an ever-present shadow, slowly creeping in whenever you need to be the most productive. But for women with ADHD, procrastination is more than just a bad habit. It's literally linked to the unique wiring of the brain.

This is "ADHD and," where we talk about everyday life and ADHD. I'm Dr. J, a licensed psychologist who works with people with ADHD, and today we're going to talk about ADHD and procrastination.

For many women with ADHD, tasks that appear to be overwhelming or boring can bring about procrastination. And it's not about laziness or lack of motivation. It really is about how the ADHD brain processes and prioritizes information.

(00:59) What is procrastination?

Procrastination is commonly conceptualized as an irrational tendency to delay required tasks or assignments despite the negative effects of postponing. I'm going to review a few key characteristics that are present with typical procrastination.

(01:13) What are key characteristics of procrastination?

The first characteristic that I'll mention is something that I like to call a voluntary delay. Procrastination typically involves a conscious choice to delay a task or a decision.

The second thing that I'll mention is expecting negative consequences. Most of the time, individuals who procrastinate, they're aware that a negative outcome is likely. This can be things like increased stress, poor performance, or missed deadlines.

The third thing to mention is task aversion. Typically, when it comes to procrastination, we're more likely to procrastinate on things that we find to be unpleasant, boring, or challenging.

The final characteristic that I'll mention relates to emotion regulation. So, something that's important to understand is that procrastination is often a coping mechanism that's used to deal with the negative emotions that are associated with a task. There are a lot of contributing factors to procrastination that relates to ADHD and women. Those with ADHD typically have higher levels of impulsivity. They struggle with executive functioning like planning and time management and also have issues with emotional regulation, which all contribute to the presence of procrastination.

Also, if you have distractions in your environment, unclear goals, or a lack of structure, all of these things increase the likelihood of procrastination. But I want to caution you to not be too judgmental of yourself. Procrastination really is a common behavior, with some estimates suggesting that around 20 to 25% of adults identifying as what they call chronic procrastinators, and that's with or without a diagnosis of ADHD. So, you're not going to be alone and dealing with this.

So, research suggests a connection between procrastination and dopamine. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that is associated with reward, motivation, and pleasure. This connection helps to explain why some people may prefer immediate rewards over delayed gratification.

The first thing to talk about is the reward system. So, when we anticipate a reward, what happens is dopamine levels increase in our system, and this motivates us to the actions that would lead us to obtaining that reward.

The second thing to mention is something called delay discounting. Procrastination is often associated with this, and this is where you have a preference for smaller, more immediate rewards over larger delayed rewards. Higher dopamine sensitivity can make immediate rewards more appealing to you, leading to procrastination on tasks that have delayed rewards.

Lastly, conditions like ADHD, which do involve impulsivity and inattention, is associated with lower dopamine levels in certain brain regions. This can lead to difficulties with sustaining attention or keeping motivation, which is all associated with procrastination.

(04:22) Ways to break the cycle of procrastination

So, if we're looking to break the cycle of procrastination, something that I would strongly suggest is the technique of cognitive restructuring, which is a part of cognitive behavioral therapy or CBT, identifying and challenging negative thoughts and beliefs that relate to procrastination can be really impactful.

For example, if you're engaging in negative self-talk that leads you to feel like you're inadequate or you're defective, or you're a bad person due to procrastination, all that's going to do, usually at least, is just lead to more procrastination. Or what it'll do is encourage you to engage in bad habits like not utilizing skills to combat procrastination tendencies.

Having a growth mindset and seeing this as a learning opportunity that can improve over time will yield better results.

(05:21) What is the Pomodoro Technique?

Another strategy that I like to implement when talking about procrastination is the Pomodoro technique. I'm going to break down each step of utilizing this method.

The first step is to choose a task. So, you want to select a specific task or maybe a series of tasks that you want to work on. This can be anything from studying for an exam, writing a paper, or cleaning a room. The second step is to set a timer. 25 minutes is the standard amount of time for the Pomodoro method. The third step might seem really obvious, but that is to actually work on the task.

So, whatever task that you've selected, you want to work on it until your timer goes off. Anything else that arises in that moment, you should consider to be a distraction and you should avoid engaging with it. If the distraction becomes too much, you can just jotted down and return back to the task at hand.

The next step is to take a break. So, once your timer goes off, reset it for a five minute break. In this time, you can relax, stretch your legs, grab a drink, or anything that you would find to be useful during this five minute time period. This break allows for your mind to kind of refresh and for you to be prepared for the next Pomodoro.

And the final step is to repeat the process. So, you want to repeat the process of setting the timer, working for the prescribed period of time, and then taking a break. Typically speaking, after doing four Pomodoros, you would take a longer break of at least 15 to 30 minutes.

And here are a few of my tips for using the Pomodoro method. The first additional tip is to actually track your progress. So, what I want you to do is keep a record of how many Pomodoros it takes to complete each task. This can help you estimate how much time it takes for you to complete different activities and improve your time management skills.

My second suggestion would be to adjust your intervals as needed. So, while the standard Pomodoro is 25 minutes, you can lengthen or shorten your work intervals or your breaks based on your needs or the needs of the tasks. And lastly, what I would encourage you to do is minimize your distractions. So, to make the most of each Pomodoro, what I want you to do is turn off notifications, close any unrelated tabs or apps, and also notify people when you're in focus work periods if needed.

If you follow the steps of the Pomodoro technique, what it'll do is improve your focus, reduce your mental fatigue, and lead to better overall productivity.

Now, just to summarize, I want you to remember that procrastination is very common. It's also something that you can learn skills around. If you use techniques like cognitive restructuring and the Pomodoro technique, it can lead to increased productivity.

And that's it for this episode of "ADHD and." Thanks for joining me. And if you have any strategies that work really well for you, comment below. And I would absolutely love it if you subscribe to our channel for more.

This show is brought to you by Understood.org, a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering people with learning and thinking differences like ADHD and dyslexia. Learn more at Understood.org.

"ADHD and" is produced by Tara Drinks and edited by Alyssa Shea. Our video producer is Calvin Knie. Ilana Millner is our supervising producer. Briana Berry is our production director. Neil Drumming is our editorial director. Our audio engineer and music composer is Justin D. Wright. Our executive directors are Laura Key, Scott Cocchiere, and Seth Melnick. And I'm your host, Dr. J.