ADHD and Task Completion (Day Three)

Think about the following scenario: 

You feel hungry, so you decide to make a sandwich. 

You get the bread, the fillings, the condiments out. 

You assemble the sandwich. 

What is your next step? 

If you have ADHD, you probably eat the sandwich. You also forget the bread, fillings, condiments, and knife even exist, because you only got them out to make the sandwich. Putting all that stuff away is a brand new task, completely separate. And cleaning isn't exciting, it's not fun. You were meeting a need (hunger), and putting away the stuff you used has nothing to do with hunger. 

Here's another example, from my own experience - 

I put my desk together, and it was rewarding. I have a beautiful desk, and I love it. Putting all of the things away that came off the old desk was not part of building the desk, and without a late afternoon medication boost, I would not have done that job, because it was tedious.  Part of the difficulty with that sort of thing is that each step after the building is done has multiple decisions to be made. I see every single decision to be made (what will I do with this candle? Where will I put the charging cords? What about this pile of forms? and so on) all the way through the whole process. They're not lined up like at a book signing, they're a mosh pit at a metal concert. My unmedicated brain grinds to a halt in the face of that many decisions. Having medication meant I could put the things safely in a big plastic tub with a lid, and come back to it when I was fresh. Before medication, I would have burned myself to ash getting that stuff sorted out, so I call that a win. 

Prior to diagnosis, and prior to medication, I operated using what I call "task method". I do one whole task at a time, until it is finished. There are a couple of flaws to that method, in that if I do not have enough time (and remember, I cannot accurately estimate how long it takes to do things), I simply won't start a task. The other drawback is that some tasks (like laundry) are repetitive and not ending, so they're never really finished, and that almighty dopamine boost I'm seeking does not come. 

Now that I understand my brain a bit better, I have altered the way I do things. I go for a 'working until I stop' method, and wherever I end a job is just fine. The dopamine isn't tied to completion, but to the effort. Isn't that what we're encouraged to do with kids , praise the effort, not the result?

Thanks for listening!

XO, Sarah