Challenges of ADHD: producing creative work consistently.

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Challenges of ADHD: producing creative work consistently.

What can make it hard for creatives with ADHD to produce work consistently over time? And what can help? Part one of a two-part blog.

For me the definition of creating on a consistent basis means to create something regularly. Many of us in creative fields need to be able to produce work on a regular basis in order to keep income flowing in. There are projects to complete, work to hand on to others where work involves more than one person, due dates for submission, deliveries to consider, publishing deadlines to meet.

You could say that producing work consistently is going to involve several different stages

  • Having initial ideas
  • Preparation and planning
  • Getting started
  • Carrying out the work, and continuing to work on it over time making adjustments as needed.
  • Getting it finished and out of the door.

I hear a lot from people with ADHD who tell me they are able to do something quite well for a while, then it lapses for one reason or another. It can be days, weeks, or months before they realise they have stopped, and even longer before they find a way to return to it.

Could it be due to novelty wearing off?

Could it be that the buzz that comes from achieving something at first, is no longer providing the juice of motivation needed to continue, as soon as it begins to become routine?

Could it be to do with getting easily thrown off course by external events like interruptions or distractions?

Could it be because self-directed transitions are hard for those of us with ADHD, so returning to something again once you have stopped presents problems?

There are many possible answers to this conundrum, as everyone has their own particular “brand” of ADHD. Yes, we are all different.

Years ago I used to believe that I could only paint when I felt like it. Then, on occasions when I did feel like it, I would not be organised enough in my materials to make a start. By not organised enough I mean, for example, that my paper would be stored in one place, my paints and brushes in another, and I didn’t have a dedicated clear workspace to work in, etc. This caused me no end of frustration, as I often could not find what I was looking for, and on many occasions I spent so long looking with no success, that I finally gave up in disgust. Painting accomplished – nil.

I also think on reflection that I may have been slightly affected by inflexible thinking, as I would get hyper-focused on finding the exact brush or paper that I had thought of using, whereas, looking back now I wonder, why didn’t I just use my creativity to improvise and do something else?

Hyperfocus is an interesting one for ADHD creatives, as it can either take the form of “helpful hyperfocus” which enables us to be immensely productive, or “hindering hyperfocus”, as in the example above. Sometimes we can experience a combination of both! I’ll have more to say about hyperfocus and creativity in a future blog.

In the end, once I realised that ADHD was an issue for me, I found a great piece of advice by Dr. Ned Hallowell. His recommendation is to only get as organised as you need to, to achieve what you want, without taking organisation too far and getting embroiled in perfectionism. Doing this has certainly helped take my own productivity in painting to a whole new level.

For now, here are three tips you can try, if producing work consistently is eluding you.

TIP one: To help take that first step towards creating, have everything you need set up in advance for yourself and to hand, so that it becomes really easy to begin. Preparation is one key to avoiding frustration and inertia.

TIP two: If getting prepared seems like a bit of a chore, try separating it out into a standalone activity, and then take a break and go away. Making yourself a drink or going for a walk can provide enough of a break for it to seem like a completely separate activity. Then when you return to begin your creative project, voila! There is your workspace and everything you need to get started immediately. Getting going feels much smoother and more effortless.

TIP three: Beware of thoughts telling you it has to be done in a certain way. You’re a creative after all; some of the best inventions and creations in the world have come from happy accidents or from people making it up as they go along. Keep that inner flexibility and creative muscle well-exercised.

Another thing to understand is that if we wait until our brains and bodies are in the state we believe is ideal for creating before we begin, like I used to, then we risk either at worst not achieving anything at all, or at best only a fraction of what we could be capable of.

So instead of the “Do I feel inspired to create today?” criteria, we need some other way of getting ourselves to create regularly – which is what I understand by consistency. Someone once said that our lives are defined by the questions we ask ourselves.

What might we be capable of if we changed the question above to, “What do I feel inspired to create today?” Feel the difference in those two questions. The first asks for a simple yes or no answer, while the second question opens up a whole world of possibilities.

What kind of questions are you asking yourself when you set out to create something? The first kind, or the second? And which will you be using next time?

In part two of this blog we will be examining ways to get unstuck if your creative projects grind to a halt.

Anna Schlapp B.A., AACC, ACC, is a certified coach with the ADD Coach Academy and the International Coach Federation. Specialising in ADHD and Creativity, Anna helps talented people like you find ways of being more creatively productive and productively creative.

Get in touch to schedule your complimentary coaching session with Coach Anna.

 

 

Part 2: Procrastination: How ADHD traits can derail productivity for creative entrepreneurs

Is it possible to procrastinate without meaning to? How ADHD traits can derail productivity for creative entrepreneurs.

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Part 2 of a Two-Part Blog

In the first part of this blog we looked at how the ADHD traits of highly variable working memory, and aversion to the routine and mundane, have a part to play in Procrastination for the ADDer. In this second part, we put two more traits under the spotlight, to illuminate whether procrastination is truly deliberate, or simply a natural result of the interplay of symptoms or traits, and therefore incidental to ADHD.

There is an oft quoted proverb which states that “Procrastination is the thief of time”. For those of us with ADD/ADHD, time can indeed disappear before our eyes, but what if the whole concept of time was different for us because we just don’t see it in the same way.

A completely different way of perceiving time:

It is said that neurotypical people divide time into discrete chunks in their heads and can estimate when five minutes has gone by without too much difficulty. Not so with those of us with ADHD traits. One common trait I find in my ADHD clients is overestimating or underestimating the time they will need to accomplish something. Task length can be frequently over or under estimated, leading to missed deadlines or projects which stretch on and on into eternity. These experiences can be unpleasant to ADDers so that they wish to avoid repeating them, the solution being procrastination. One way to approach this is to first spend some time learning about how you estimate time. Try experimenting with how much time it takes to do an activity, and write down the result. Is it more or less than you expected?

Having a broad and vague concept of time passing, leads to lack of precision in setting start times for tasks or projects. How many times have you caught yourself saying “I’ll do it later.”? When might later be exactly? Without a specific start time in mind, it can look to yourself and others as though you may be deliberately procrastinating.

Try setting a specific time of day for something you have been meaning to do for a while, like “10 o’clock on Friday 7th “, rather than “by the end of the week”. Put it in your schedule, and maybe highlight it so it stands out against the crowd. Then back this up with some well-chosen reminders, the kind which will grab your attention. You can have fun experimenting until you find a type of reminder that works for you.

When an ADDer does begin something interesting and engaging however, things can take an unexpected turn into

Hyperfocus:

One way to understand hyperfocus is to think of yourself happily flying along on the Star ship Enterprise, when suddenly it seems you’ve been sucked through a vortex into another dimension, where time has no longer any meaning in the conventional sense of the word. It’s as if the thing you are doing grows to take up all your awareness and leaves none available for noticing what’s going on around you. While you are completely absorbed it feels as though mere minutes have passed, only to find when you eventually surface that many hours have elapsed. You are so intensely interested in what you’re doing that you can literally forget to eat or sleep!

Used intentionally this trait can be an absolute boon to the creative, who can follow ideas or creative processes from start to finish in record time and be highly productive when conditions are right.

Working at night when everything is quiet and the pull from distractions and constant interruptions is at a low, or taking oneself on a retreat for a few days in solitude, has enabled creative artists, writers, and composers through the ages to be fruitful and productive in a way that is much harder and more challenging in busier circumstances.

However, being unable to bring yourself back from hyperfocusing when you need to, which is something that clients often tell me they are having difficulty with, can mean there are many other things which potentially get ignored, forgotten or pushed to one side, and this can have a huge impact on whatever you need to achieve, from paying attention to the people in your life to the day to day running of a business.

What’s the way forward from here for creative procrastinators?

We have seen how at first glance, people with these ADHD traits can seem to be deliberately putting things off, because of how they exhibit challenges in getting things done, yet dig a little deeper and there is a bit more to it than that.

A different way of perceiving time has an impact on the ability to work to routines, develop ideas, accomplish things to deadlines, and set specific times to begin things. Hyperfocusing, an immensely useful ability in the right situation, can also be something that can potentially get in the way, and have a negative impact on vital areas of functioning in life and business.

By separating out and identifying which ADHD traits are behind your procrastination, you will then be better placed to work on one piece at a time, and build up tailor made strategies to help you to do the activities, tasks or projects that have been liable to get delayed as a result.

Anna Schlapp B.A., AACC, ACC, is a certified coach with the ADD Coach Academy and the International Coach Federation. Specialising in ADHD and Creativity, Anna helps talented people like you find ways of being more creatively productive and productively creative.

Get in touch to schedule your complimentary coaching session with Coach Anna.