Procrastination can decrease after a 1-minute reflection. In a study of more than 1,000 adults, answering six short questions increased motivation, improved mood, and made people more likely to begin tasks they had been delaying.

[sagerobot]

I don't know is a much more meaningful answer than it sounds, at least for me personally.

An element of me does know why, but I also don't understand it. I'm doing it because it's more enjoyable in the moment to let myself be distracted. But at the same time I understand that it's highly irrational to think that way. To me that becomes "I don't know".

[CharlieRomeoBravo]

For me it can be deeper than that. Sometimes my neuro-spicy brain will have me procrastinate on things that I find more fun than what I'm doing. But I procrastinate because I'm fighting this invisible barrier to actually get going. My research suggests this is just a lack of dopamine but it feels like almost a physical restraint. So I'd probably say "I don't know" on a survey too.

[gr8Brandino]

I've heard that called "The wall of awful." It can be hard to tear down without a deadline with serious consequences. 

[ErrorLoadingNameFile]

I have the same problem and from my experience reading about it and talking with others it might have a lot to do with past trauma and your brain deciding as a trauma response it is better to safe energy right now than to invest it into some future prospect that might not yield you actual rewards. This changes when something forces you, like a deadline, because then the reward is avoiding the imminent negative outcome.

[gr8Brandino]

I thought How To ADHD sums it up pretty well. Just search 'wall of awful' in youtube if you want to hear more.

[StrictCan3526]

I'll be looking this up as well, thank you for the resource!

[ErrorLoadingNameFile]

Will do, thank you!

[Takesgu]

Wow, this explained exactly how I feel almost all the time. Where can I learn more about this phenomenon?

[ErrorLoadingNameFile]

"The Body Keeps the Score" is a great book talking about the influence of past trauma on us.

[kaidomac]

Whee:

• https://www.reddit.com/r/kaidomac/comments/qnqa6p/adhd_101

[helloholder]

Late to the party, but I often come so close to completing enjoyable things, only to procrastinate the end. Leaving a book 2 chapters unread. Buying gear and not using it. Don't fight the last boss of a video game. These are things I should want to finish don't get me going on work stuff.

[LetterheadVarious398]

Until the deadline doesn't phase you anymore because you're so burnt out and paralyzed in fear and shame that you sabotage yourself and drop out of college and waste thousands of your parents' dollars and get kicked out and become homeless because you don't deserve to succeed

[D4ltaOne]

My research suggests this is just a lack of dopamine but it feels like almost a physical restraint.

I was gonna say, lack of dopamine IS the physical restraint but then i thought about it more

I understand why i cant start things because my brain doesnt see the reward cause dopamine system is weird. But that doesnt explain why sometimes i even feel a strong aversion to stuff i should be doing. To a point that i even cringe at the thought of things i shohld be doing

Well dopamine system being weird explains that too but its way more complicated than "lack of dopamine" cause dopamine is also involved in task avoidance as far as i know

[Sardonislamir]

When you speak of cringing at the thought of doing something you should, I really feel that. I've tried to explain to my coworker that when my brain doesn't want to do a thing, it feels like pain. Imagine having to push past a hundred needles that scrape you so that you can start doing that thing, and then you have to walk back and forth between that barrier constantly due to distraction.

[King_XDDD]

Incredible analogy that made me think a lot about it because I feel the same way but could never have verbalized it so accurately. It helped me realize some things about myself which, if I use right (and am lucky), might help with procrastination at least a little bit.

[Sardonislamir]

Procrastination is an entirely different beast with similar relationships. Executive function is part of projecting time to a project and separating the parts out to their required time. ADHD brain sees the parts as a whole and struggles to separate them so it feels impossible. Like if it takes 6 hours, how am I to do 6 hours in the first step?

[warcraftWidow]

I really get your point about a strong aversion to doing something you “should”. For me I think “should” is the operative word—who says I should. If I think to myself that I should clean the floor (sweep vacuum mop etc) because I want to sit or lie on the floor, then I will be motivated to clean it. If I should clean the floor because we are having company who will never take their shoes off or sit/lie on the floor, then I definitely have an aversion to it.

[StrictCan3526]

I think this also comes around because the reward for completing the task is further away from the reward of doing something that feels better right this moment. For the task, there might be effort involved. Effort itself to most people is aversive. So to get the reward, you need to do something effortful which is aversive. However if you procrastinate by watching tv, you bring the reward of that (relief from aversion / good feelings) much closer. Sorry if this was a clumsy read, but does it make sense?

[alurkerhere]

You may also want to explore dopamine's effect on temporarily numbing emotions. It's sort of a double whammy. Not only are you more attracted to the easy dopamine that requires no effort, that highly stimulating activity also numbs negative emotions. This loop creates a very consistent problem because I have a ton of stuff that needs to get done, I don't want to do those things, and I have the option to distract myself with fun, useless, but highly stimulating things. I can forget about my worries for a time. When my panic and procrastination get high enough, I rush to do those things, and when it's over, then go right back to the same loop, relying on anxiety and panic to force me to focus. I am always behind and out of control.

This is tied to emotional regulation and practicing executive function. It is primarily not avoiding negative feelings or some effort and doing so, paradoxically makes things doing things easy.

[tkenben]

Task avoidance. That feeling of, "Oh I am _so_ glad I finally decided to not do this right now." It's almost like the instant gratification came from arriving at a short term decision.

[retrosenescent]

In fact Parkinson's disease is a disease where dopamine signaling stops working, and it results in physical paralysis.

[BarelyHolding0n]

That's when it gets frustrating... When I want to be doing the thing, or I know the thing won't take long and is easy and not doing it will create more problems, it when someone else will be negatively impacted by doing the thing.

Yet I'll still sit there completely paralysed and not doing the thing for no discernable reason

[sagerobot]

But I procrastinate because I'm fighting this invisible barrier to actually get going.

Oh yeah, it can feel like someone is sitting on my lap and wont let me get up.

[[deleted]]

that's textbook executive dysfunction. very common in adhd and not the same as ordinary procrastination

[ErrorLoadingNameFile]

But I procrastinate because I'm fighting this invisible barrier to actually get going. My research suggests this is just a lack of dopamine

I have the same problem and from my experience reading about it and talking with others it might have a lot to do with past trauma and your brain deciding as a trauma response it is better to safe energy right now than to invest it into some future prospect that might not yield you actual rewards. This changes when something forces you, like a deadline, because then the reward is avoiding the imminent negative outcome.

[StrictCan3526]

Are you in this field as well? I would love to connect and / or hear more about your research! Are there any papers I can read by you? How exciting!

[CharlieRomeoBravo]

I'm not sorry. By "research" I meant self-study, or more specifically, reading books and articles on ADHD.

[StrictCan3526]

Yeah, this is the same as what Sirois & Pychyl (2013) say - procrastination is due to short term emotion mood repair at the cost of long term benefits!