ADHD and Motivation Bridges

Motivation Bridges and ADHD

As a workplace coach, I frequently hear clients state that no matter how carefully they schedule and manage their time and duties, they still fail because they are unable to concentrate on what needs to be done at that that moment.

Often, this boils down to motivation; for whatever reason, at that time the brain is simply not motivated to do whatever task we had planned. Essentially there’s a gap between what we intend to do and what we want to do at that moment; think of the intention to do something and actually doing that something as being opposite sides of a fast-flowing river.

Trying to get from one side to the other often fails because we keep getting swept away by the river! What we need is a bridge – a motivation bridge!

So What Can We Do?

Sticking with our bridge analogy, we need to find more planks to fill in the gaps on our motivation bridge, and for most people, and especially ADHD brains, planks will be things that we respond to, like urgency, accountability, making the task interesting to us…

1. Make it urgent. Our brains kind of do this anyway; procrastinating over something is often our brain’s way of putting something off until it becomes urgent enough to motivate us, in other words, become a plank in the bridge. But perhaps breaking the task down into a series of smaller, more achievable, deadlines might be a healthier way of creating urgency.
2. Be accountable. Commit to someone else. For example, want to get the housework done? Invite someone over – knowing you will have a visitor, ideally soon, is great motivation to get the housework done. Struggling with that big project deadline? Arrange to meet with a colleague regularly to review your progress on it.
3. Don’t remove planks that you already have. Being told “don’t worry, just get it to me when you can” is a really kind thing for someone to say, but to someone with ADHD it simply removes that motivation plank from our bridge.
4. Make it different or new. Try working from somewhere else; it’s amazing what a difference just working in a different energy/environment can make. Even something simple as having a new pen to write with can help for a while!
5. Make a game of it. Set a timer and challenge yourself.

All of the above can give us planks for our bridge. And even if we don’t have enough planks, as long as the gaps aren’t too big, we may still be able to make it across.

The better we get at understanding what works for us, the better we get at building that bridge – and coaching can really help with this awareness. Workplace Coaching is an opportunity to work with a qualified, experienced professional who will not only help you evaluate your own ways of working but bring fresh perspectives and insights to support your work and well-being. Our coaches are also great at building bridges!

Find out more about Workplace Strategy Coaching

Our Workplace Strategy Coaching is a bespoke one-to-one service designed to equip you with the strategies to enable you to overcome barriers in the workplace and develop your skills.

If you’d more information on our Coaching services please get in touch via hello@neurobox.co.uk.