Can't Start Tasks? Try This Now!

Hello, Brains! I'm guessing you clicked on this video because there's something you need to do, but you're having trouble getting started. If that's you, good news. I bet you won't even make it to the end of this video because you'll have already started. Task initiation, or, getting started on a task is something that a lot of people with ADHD struggle with. And there are a lot of reasons why. But that's all right. Because after a decade of learning and teaching about ADHD, while having ADHD, I have a whole toolbox filled with tools that actually work to help us start getting stuff done. Which one do I use? Well, that depends on why I'm stuck. So let's explore five common struggles ADHDers face when it comes to task initiation. And for each, a tool that can help. starting with overwhelm.

Sometimes we struggle to get started because we're overwhelmed. There's just too many things we need to do. Tasks don't ever stop coming in. We get bombarded with them 24/7. Tasks come in through email notifications, requests from others, and all the things that you suddenly remembered that you'd previously forgotten. and ADHD brains have trouble prioritizing. So when we have too many to do's on our plate, it's hard to even know where to start. We can end up in analysis paralysis. We can freeze and end up doing none of the things we intended to do. So here's my secret: Do less. Prioritize three things. Choose three things that if you get those three things done today, you'll consider today a success. Choosing between three things on a to-do list is a lot easier than 40 things, which can make getting started easier. It also removes the mental and emotional weight of feeling like we have too many tabs open in our brain. This lighter load can free up our brain and body to do the tasks we need to do, rather than just think about them. Does this mean you can only do three things that day? No. If you're pretty sure you need to shower, take a shower. It means the three things on your list are the priority, and all the things you could be doing can fade into the background where they're less distracting. Do I always do all three things? Not always, but more often than not, I actually do. For me, the three things strategy is one I keep coming back to because it's kind of magical. But what if your problem isn't with overwhelm? What if it's...

A lack of urgency. Sometimes it's not about being overwhelmed, it's that there's no clear starting gun telling us when to start, or no obvious checkered flag telling us when something will need to be done by. This can make it feel like the thing we really need to do isn't really urgent at all. What's more, is other things suddenly do feel urgent and start to distract us. ADHD brains tend to prioritize tasks that are urgent, even if they're not as important. The solution? Make important tasks feel urgent. My favorite way of doing this is It's a pomodoro timer. Decide what you're going to work on. Then set the timer for however long you think you can manage. On bad brain days I might start with 5 or 10 minutes. While on good brain days I might set it for the full 25. Once the timer starts, ignore everything else that pops into your head. But I had an important thought come up. Yeah, that's going to happen, and that's okay. Park it by noting that thought in a parking lot, be that a piece of paper or a notes app. You can always review it later. When the timer goes off, you can take a break before starting another pomodoro. But if you're in the groove, then you can keep on going too. Side note: something that helps me personally with both overwhelm and that lack of urgency is Sunsama, which is a productivity app system that's designed to help you get stuff done without burning out. I've been using it on and off for years. At this point, a lot of people in this community use it and love it. And when I use Sunsama to plan my day and week, I notice a really big difference in my ability to prioritize and get stuff done. Actually get started on tasks without people needing to keep reminding me to do them. I have found it's especially useful for weeks when I am very overwhelmed, which I am this week, because I just got back from a trip and there is a lot of work waiting for me. And it's not entirely clear like, what I need to be doing or what needs to be done first. So let me show you what I do. I usually start with my daily start up routine. That has all the things that I need to do, which is great because otherwise I will forget how I start my day when I get back from vacation. So it's nice to have this checklist. I'm also going to see what's on my plate. Like, on my calendar for the day. So Du du... this one, this one add meet with producer and talk schedule for this week. That is production. So you can either do the little sub hashtags or do the longer ones. So I don't know what we're going to be talking about. So I'm just going to put it in production in general. Which is really nice. I'm going to catch up on Slack. I used to think that would be really quick. Now I know better. When I first come back from a trip, that's going to take a while. I can hit play and that is my starting gun. So get to desk I love this because I'm already at my desk whenever I click on this. Grab coffee, tea or water? Got my water? Yep. Set alarm for lunch. I always forget to do that. The nice thing about this is that this little guy will show up even if I minimize this. So let's say I want to get started on this. I'm going to prep for the shoot. I can still see that I'm prepping for the shoot. It stays up on my screen, which is really, really nice. So now there's such a thing called Daily Highlights. my whole team is on Sunsama so I can see what they're doing, they can see what I'm doing, which is really cool. And so you write your own highlight of how it went today. Today was more smooth than it would have been without Sunsama. Cool. What were the noteworthy things you did today? Yep. Did that. Catch up on slack, email editor? Not everybody needs to know about that. I can take that out. Prep for a shoot tomorrow. Sure. And then I can hit publish. you can try Sunsama today. It's free to try. And you don't even have to put your credit card in because they're so confident you will love it. It's also very ADHD friendly of them. Very cool of them. Whether you use Sunsama or not, I highly recommend some way to make sure that you know when it's time to get started on a task and what task it is that you need to get started on. That helps a lot with task initiation. By the way, you can also pair this strategy with body doubling. Check out our video about that here. But what if a lack of urgency isn't really the problem? What if it's just that

Getting started is going to suck. Let's face it, not all tasks are fun. Some tasks (maybe most tasks) are lengthy, repetitive, or boring, which can be painful for ADHD brains. And pain? Our brains like to avoid that. So to get started, treat yourself. During the task. Yep, you heard me right. Reward yourself for starting, not just for finishing. Rewards for finishing a task often aren't motivating enough for ADHD brains, because the finish line feels too far away. A small reward during a task often has more motivational power for our brains than a bigger reward at the end of a task, and it can provide the stimulation we need to actually do it. So, drink your favorite tea while you go for a walk. Curl up with a cozy blanket while you write. Watch fun YouTube videos while you declutter a doom closet. Break out the good snacks while you study. If you need to do a thing that you don't feel like doing, pair it with something you do feel like doing, and you'll be more likely to be willing to get started. That's math. Sometimes, though, even with the best pairing, the task might still seem

daunting. Sometimes it's not about urgency or the task being boring. It's that the task feels daunting. Organizing paperwork for taxes, planning a birthday celebration, making lunch, or filling out paperwork for that address change you should have done when you moved two years ago. Okay, three. When a task feels daunting. My first go-to step Is to break the task into smaller, more digestible steps. See, playing with Legos as a kid wouldn't have been a waste of time. Do it for a living now. Steps! Do you need to know all the steps before you get started? No, and usually I don't. I'll break down just enough to get started and get some momentum going. And then I can usually see the next step from there. For a more complicated project or on a bad brain day, you can also get help. We can ask a friend to help us break things down, but we can also use a free tool. A lot of people in our community use Goblin Tools, which has a Magic to Do list feature for breaking tasks down. WikiHow is another great free tool I use. It tells you and shows you step by step how to do things. Like, anything. I wrote this song using a Wiki's step by step instructions. That said, if the first step still feels daunting, it's probably still too big. Think of it like a staircase. If that first step is out of reach, break it down into smaller steps until you're able to reach it. And here's where you might notice the real problem: that there are too many barriers.

Sometimes, no matter how much we care about a thing or how many strategies we've tried, it's not happening. We just can't get started. Maybe we can't even get ourselves to use the strategies. Especially on bad brain days, a big part of why I'm stuck is that there are too many barriers in the way. There might be barriers physically in my way. I might not have what I need, there might be sensory barriers. I might not remember what to do, or I'm too burned out to even think about it. For situations with too many barriers, I switch my focus. Removing barriers to doing the thing becomes my focus. I go barrier hunting. Let's get rid of some friction. No space to do what you're trying to do? Make space. Are the supplies you need dirty? Clean 'em. Environment too loud? Find you noise canceling headphones. Exhausted? Take a nap. If you're not doing the thing anyway, you might as well tackle the barriers that are getting in your way. That way, the next time you attempt the task, it'll be so much easier to get started, because you've cleared the path. Some days, our ADHD wins. But by removing barriers, we can make sure it doesn't have to win tomorrow. And we can still do the things that are important to us to do. Just, maybe not today. So, there you go. Feeling overwhelmed?

Narrow down your to do list to 3 things. Not feeling the urgency? Start a Pomodoro timer. Getting started feel painful? Make it enjoyable. Task feel daunting? It probably is. Break it down further. Too many barriers in the way? Tackle the barriers first. Hopefully by now, you know what you want to get done today and you have some tools to help you get started. If you're still feeling stuck, rewatch this video and pause at each strategy while you try them. Comment below after you've started on the thing and let me know how it went. Or if you're still not ready to get started, feel free to procrastinate mindfully by commenting below something that might help someone else, including your future self. Thank you to our Brain Advocates and all our Patreon Brains for supporting the work that we do. if you don't know about this, we have an awesome community through Patreon on Discord, where people often support each other in getting started with the things that they want to do. I'll put a link in the description below, check it out. Like, subscribe, click all the things and I will see you next video! Bye Brains!