![]() In Part 1 of my series about ADHD and procrastination, I introduced Dr. Thomas E. Brown’s executive model for ADHD, which is focused on what Dr. Brown calls “activation.” This article deals with the second executive function in Dr. Brown’s model: “focus.” Distractibility and hyperfocus, the intense focus that blocks out cues to task switch, are two of the more well-known hallmarks of ADHD. How can both be true for ADHD when they are seemingly polar opposites? My ADDCA (ADD Coach Academy) training explains that this ADHD variability is explained at least partially by interest. If interest is high, the ADHDer can focus or even hyperfocus. If interest is low, the ADHDer experiences excessive distractibility from the environment or internal thoughts. Dr. Brown also mentions a lesser-known focus challenge: retaining attention long enough to complete a task. I’ll discuss this in more detail later. It initially seems that unintentional focus challenges are unrelated to the purposeful delay of procrastination. However, as we look a bit more closely, we find that focus challenges play a part in procrastination. Hyperfocus and Shifting Attention: Here is an example showing how the challenges of hyperfocus and shifting attention relate to procrastination. Meet Sarah. Sarah must file taxes. She finds the project mind-numbingly boring. It is as if almost every cell of her being is protesting, “Thanks, but no thanks.” She needs a week to gather her papers and run through the entire process. She tells herself she will start at two p.m., even though she only has four days left to finish. She knows that starting so late will create unnecessary stress and mistakes, but she also knows that adrenaline from an urgent deadline makes a tedious task much easier. She feels an immediate sense of relief. Simultaneously, though, she feels a twinge of guilt. On some level, she knows that reading the news online or chatting with her friend will only increase her guilt. So, to eliminate the discomfort, she tells herself that she will fill the time by cleaning out her closet, which she has avoided for two years. Although she previously dreaded that closet project, it suddenly feels like a cakewalk compared to tax prep. She grabs some bags and empty boxes from the garage. “I knew these boxes would come in handy someday!” she chuckles as she heads to the bedroom. Hours later, Sarah can be found in the dark recess of her closet, wearing a triumphant smile. She marvels at the growing mound of donations and the number of beloved items she has found. She is understandably proud of her progress. The challenge is that it is now six p.m., and her energy is about to take a massive nosedive. She last ate at nine a.m., and her brain is desperate for more energy from a meal. It is also about to retaliate after nine hours of intense concentration. Fast-forward twenty-four hours. Sarah has recuperated from the marathon decluttering session and is now ready to tackle the taxes. She scrambles for two days straight and finishes in the nick of time. Exhausted and feeling like a zombie, she crawls into bed with her favorite pair of pajamas she found a few days ago. A full fourteen hours later, Sarah reemerges from her room. Although refreshed, she feels ashamed that she has repeated the pattern. She promises to do better next year and makes a note on her calendar to speak with her ADHD coach and professional organizer about the incident. We all feel for Sarah, right? Most of us have succumbed to procrastination and can empathetically see where Sarah got tripped up. What she initially deemed an innocuous few hours of productive procrastination resulted in an unintended case of distracting hyperfocus that caused massive stress and exhaustion. Not to mention the money she lost. By having to cut corners to save time, she ended up paying the IRS more than she would have if she had additional time to prepare. This lost savings is an example of “the ADHD tax.” However, Sarah is a smart cookie and talks to her ADHD coach about the incident. As she processes the situation, she realizes that she needs some sort of obnoxiously loud alarm to shake her out of hyperfocus. “The more annoying the sound, the more likely I am to stop and turn it off. I think this will help me pause long enough to remember that I need to switch gears.” “Problem is, I’ve already tried turning up the volume on my phone’s alarm. Half the time, I lose track of my phone, so that’s out. It’s almost as if I need a robot to follow me around and tap me on the shoulder when I need to move on to something else.” She and her ADHD coach chuckle at the image, but she really is on to something. Although she knows that tips and tricks will not solve all her problems, she asks her coach about ADHD-friendly alarms that would work better than her phone. Her coach recalls a product invented for heavy sleepers that could work in this situation. She has no affiliation with the product and is impartial whether Sarah decides to use it but shares her knowledge about clocky*. It is an obnoxiously loud alarm that can jump off nightstands and move around a room. It forces the alarm-ee to stop what they are doing and look around the room to turn it off. Sarah is sold on the idea. They then talk through other more powerful strategies that Sarah thinks of to avoid this problem next year. Armed with a new sense of confidence, Sarah comes out of the meeting with an action plan for how she will set herself up for success the next time an arduous task tempts her to procrastinate, and she inadvertently fall into hours of hyperfocus. Distractibility and Sustaining Focus: Speaking of arduous projects, it is important to note how boredom and distraction can go hand in hand. While procrastination does not solely affect ADHDers, their boredom tolerance is lower than that of neurotypicals. As such, ADHDers will face higher levels of distraction (whether thoughts or external distractions like surrounding conversations) when they face a tiresome task. Anything more interesting than what they intend to be doing at any given time could tempt them into procrastination. They might participate in procrastination more frequently since they feel more uncomfortable with tedious tasks. This is precisely why Sarah avoided organizing her closet for two years but immediately jumped on it when she faced the more arduous and boring task of tax prep. How could Sarah tackle this conundrum? After thinking out loud with her ADHD coach, she decides to use additional support and structure when a boring project is on the horizon. She will call her friend, who is always good for a pep talk. She will also set up body-doubling sessions with her coach to help her stay on task, even with distractions that could tempt her to procrastinate. This wraps up the “focus” section of Dr. Thomas Brown’s Executive Function model for ADHD and how it relates to procrastination. Next, we will examine what Dr. Brown identifies as “effort” and how that relates to delayed action. *Just like the ADHD coach and professional organizer in this story, Judith Dold is not affiliated with or connected with clocky. She just happens to think it's clever.
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