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ADHD Mind Backstop

The ADHD mind can be a wonderful thing when fully engaged. Hyperfocus is a gift when it matches up with what you need to be doing, and the constant flow of new ideas mean your creativity never dries up. I, myself, have notebooks, notepads, and sticky notes filled with ideas that I’ll never have time to write, develop, or produce, but that beats banging your head on your keyboard with writer’s block any day of the week.

ADHD Mind Management Technique – The Backstop

One problem with the ADHD mind is that once it comes untethered from whatever it was previously doing, it can float in a meandering kind of way that breaks your productivity. It is important to have ADHD mind tricks to keep your work flowing.

One ADD mind management technique is the ADD Mind Backstop.

The way the backstop works is to provide a quick, easy to enter, task or function that you can switch to in order to re-engage your mind.

The Mental Backstop List

If you have ADHD, you are no doubt experienced in creating, and often ignoring, various types of lists. This is why the ADHD daily list is so important.

The daily list is a list of just the tasks that you must / should do today. Keep track of everything else wherever you desire, but the daily list should be a single list, on a single piece of paper, with only the tasks that you must reasonably accomplish today. This won’t work with the giant list you keep in your ADD planner.

Include on the daily list at least one backstop idea.

What Is an ADHD Backstop Idea?

An ADD backstop idea is a useful, relevant task that you can enter quickly, and easily.

To meet these criteria, the task needs to be relatively pleasant. Backstop tasks should not be those that you have to fight your own desires to accomplish, so not a project or task you dread.

A backstop task also needs to be easy to start, so not something that takes too much setup, or requires you to change locations, or engage in a multistep process to get going.

For those of us who do our productive work in front of a computer, a great backstop task is to watch a training video, relevant Ted talk, or presentation. Keep a list of these bookmarked, or favorited. If you use Microsoft Edge, this list makes for a great collection.

Just create a new collection, or bookmarks folder, titled ADHD backstop. Fill this list with useful links that you can open quickly, and without setup. When your ADHD mind wanders too far, and you can’t pull it back, open this list and click.

The mental juice you get from some stimulus, plus the potential to direct your brain into the task of your choosing during that lull that occurs after stimulating your mind with something that has a definitive end, both moves your life forward from what you watched, or learned, AND allows you to move productively on with your day.

Since you wasted no time getting into the backstop task, and you were able to get back to work after it, you avoid the ADHD guilt that comes from feeling like you wasted time from lack of focus.

Other ADHD Mental Backstop Ideas

Since I work as a freelance writer in front of a computer, most of my backstop ideas involve watching, or participating in something online, but that isn’t the only kind of ADD backstop. Be creative, and don’t forget, that even if you don’t sit in front of a computer, chances are you have access to similar things on your phone or tablet device.

TED Talks – careful not to use the really long ones, or your backstop task turns into a long project.
Training videos – Are there 20 minute training videos that can help you learn or solidify important skills?
Brainfood articles – Bookmark articles or essays that are interesting to you but you can’t take time to read when you come across them. Then get back to them when you need a backstop.
How-To articles or videos: A quick how to is great brain food and a good ADHD backstop. Remember they don’t have to just focus on your job, anything useful to your life, like how to fix your sprinkler works.
DIY articles or videos: Always wanted to do something? Don’t know how? A Do-It-Yourself session can get you started. DON’T GET DISTRACTED by pulling out materials and trying to do it during your other productivity. This is a survey so that you have an idea about where to start in the future, or maybe find out that it is too long and involved after all.
Guided meditation – If you have ADHD you should be meditating, or if you prefer using ADHD mindfulness. Either way a guided version can be uplifting and reset your mind.
Mini-Exercises: One set of pushups, or a few sun salutations are a great way to stimulate both body and mind. Remember, these are quickie, bonus exercises. Don’t try and do a workout. That isn’t what you are supposed to be doing. But, some quick exercises will make your ADD brain proud, and ready for what is next.
Go outside: but, don’t wander off. A few deep breaths. MAYBE a quick walk. Again this isn’t time for exercise, these are quick mental tasks that can take place with some sun and fresh air.

Poor ADHD Backstops

Avoid these types of things for your ADD mind backstops

TV shows or episodes – The purpose of mental ADHD backstops is to feed your mind, without the resulting ADD guilt that comes from wasting time or being distracted. Watching episodes of shows will leave you feeling empty with ADHD guilt. Restarting out of that can be tricky
YouTube Videos and TikToks – If you have bookmarked an educational YouTube video, that works. But, don’t go clicking through your subscriptions watching funny videos. That road goes straight to ADHD guilt. — And don’t even get me started on scrolling your FYP TikToks.
Crafts, or Trying New Skills – You’ll either get distracted by the joy of something new and spend way too long, or you’ll get frustrated by your lack of progress. Either way, that won’t give you the ADHD buzz you need to shift onto another task.
Anything that takes materials or setup – These are supposed to be quick hits of mental adrenaline. If you spend time pulling out supplies, or doing a lot of setup, you’ll feel the ADD guilt kick in before you can even get started.

Let me know what kind of things you use for your own ADHD backstops.

Using 15 Minutes Better

Written by ADDer Leave a Comment

You would think that someone with ADD would love working in 15 minute increments. After all, even an adult with ADHD can handle focusing on a task for just 15 minutes, right?

Wasting 15 Minutes at a Time

For people with ADD, however, deliberately getting started on a task during a small amount of usable time is trickier than it sounds. The hardest part is knowing that it is so easy to just do a few things, anythings, during that 15 minutes because you aren’t really procrastinating or wasting much time. After all, 15 minutes isn’t that much time. As someone with ADD, the possibilities are endless.

You could make that phone call you have been putting off all morning.

Or, you could play a quick game of Candy Crush Soda and make that call after lunch. After all (here comes the ADD brain), what if that call accidentally goes long? What if he asks you to call back in 20 minutes when you’ll be busy doing something else. What if you get distracted (Hey, it happens, right?)?

Plus, there is the rest of your to-do list, which, let’s face it, is starting to look a little bit messy. Maybe now is a good time to rewrite the list.

You get the point. With ADD, it’s very likely we’ll just fitter away the time. We won’t even feel bad about it. I mean, it’s not like you can really do much anyway. You have a meeting in just 7 minutes now.

Pre-Planning the 15 Minute Gap

Recently, I’ve discovered a way to combine my ADD and procrastination habits to my benefit for just this sort of scenario.

Let’s say it is 9:30 am, and I have a meeting at 11:00. There is plenty of time to do some work, and I’m ready. But, there is this phone call that I have to make, but I’m not looking forward to. Instead, my mind is thinking of all the many other things I could, should, would be doing. I’ve learned long ago that fighting against the ADD brain is a fool’s errand. It’s much better to observe, recognize, and plan around your strengths.

In this case, I commit to myself that I will make the call later.

Of course, this is also a fool’s mission. Making a call “later” is a recipe for making the call never.

Instead, I commit to making the call during the next 15 minute gap.

In this way, I both procrastinate, which makes my brain happy. (It doesn’t consider this procrastination. This is doing what I want to do, which I should be able to do, right?) But, I also create an actual place to do the task.

Now, all I have to do is recognize that there is such a gap. This is the tricky part, because my ADHD brain racing ahead during the day will frequently not consciously notice that I’m sitting in a 15 minute gap. Instead, it will recognize the completion of a task, get happy, look for what’s next, and maybe play a little Paper.io.

So, I also have to anticipate the gaps. By pre-thinking about when those might occur — right before that meeting, right before lunch, right after I publish this blog post — I have a better chance of recognizing when those gaps come.

Using 15 Minutes for People with ADD

How to get more productivity with ADD while using 15 minute gaps.

Identify tasks that will fit in 15 minute (or smaller) gaps.
Commit to doing those tasks during the gaps.
Prioritize if there are multiple tasks. Otherwise, you’ll waste time deciding which ones to do.
Mentally go over your upcoming day and identify where small time gaps may occur in your plan.
DO THE TASK in the gap. Don’t lie to yourself. There is nothing worse than lying to yourself. If you committed, do it. It’s only one task.
If you have more time in the gap, use it for yourself. You’ve moved forward. There’s no reason to try and waste your willpower. Instead…
Identify the next potential gap and the task you will do during it.
Profit

Boost Your ADD Mood By Moving

Written by ADDer 1 Comment

You have ADD. That’s tricky enough as it is, but ADHD often goes along with depression, or low mood.

It makes sense when you think about it. Unbalanced neurotransmitters are the root of both issues. However, not every slow, sluggish day is a result of off-kilter brain chemistry.

Moving to Boost Mood

One of the traps to avoid when you have ADD is the tendency to blame everything on your ADHD condition. Sometimes, the issue is just good old human imperfection.

For those days when you seem to be a little sluggish, or you just can’t get your brain into gear, and another cup of coffee isn’t helping, try moving around. Physically using your body switches up tons of systems in your body from rest to active. Doing so has a ripple effect on your body that can, and often does, include your brain functions.

Now, I know what you are thinking. This isn’t new news, and you know that exercise and diet can help your ADHD, because, by now, you’ve figured out that better diet and exercise helps literally everything. But, the key thing here, is how little movement is necessary for potential improvement. Sure, a 40 minute run would be great, but that may not be what is required.

Small amounts of movement can make a huge difference, especially if you have been sitting for a long period of time, or first thing in the morning when you haven’t moved much at all yet for the day. Try loading the dishwasher, or running something upstairs. The key is not so much the intensity of the activity, but the length.

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Stand up, walk down the hall, pour a cup of coffee, then walk back to your desk and sit down, and likely nothing has changed. The body takes a wait and see approach to kicking in extra systems as a way of saving energy. No since increasing energy use if this is just a quick blip.

That’s why a 15 minute chore, or other activity works, while a quick break doesn’t. You have to do something long enough to engage the body. Stay standing, and hopefully moving, for 10 minutes. Heck, sometimes, just 5 will do it. Just make sure it is longer than that quick standup and sit back down that doesn’t seem to be working.

Just Do Something

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Many people with ADD / ADHD develop certain behavioral deficits. Unlike ADD itself, these issues are learned behaviors, often caused by dealing with ADD, but they are not biological, like ADHD is. One of the common problems is procrastination.

Procrastination in people with ADD often develops from the constant switching of priorities in the executive center of the brain in response to unfocused brain activity. In some people, this can develop into a form of perfectionism where the brain can’t decide what activity to pursue because it knows that there is every possibility that it will not be pursued to the end. Add that to the fact that most ADHD folks have a to do list a mile long, and a full calendar, in order to keep everything straight, and there is a very real issue with what is the “right thing” to be doing right at this moment.

Just Keep Doing

As a father of younger kids, I have a certain fondness for the movie Finding Nemo. In it, a fish named Dory, who has short-term memory problems, gets through life by repeating the mantra, “Just keep swimming.” It’s another way of saying just keep going, but for fish. The best part, is she sings it. I’ll let you Google up a YouTube video to get the tune if you don’t already know it.

As it turns out, one of the best ways to fight procrastination, is to get started. This is a no-brainer, but when you deal with a non-optimal executive function in the brain, it can be easier said that done, especially, when you aren’t sure which of your important to-do tasks is the “best” on to start on. Even worse, this can lead to self-punishment or self-hate when you look back on your day, and instead of being proud that you accomplished some things, you beat yourself up because you didn’t do the right things (or enough things but that’s a another issue for a another time.)

You may be able to find some success by modifying Dory’s mantra a little bit and sing along in your head, “Just do something. Just do something.”

Now, it doesn’t fit the song, but the whole idea is to just do something important, or something that matters, or something that needs done. It doesn’t matter which. As long as what you are doing is not goofing off, or wasting time, you are winning. I’m sure you’ve noticed in your own brain that once you get started on doing a task, any task, that continuing forward becomes much easier than starting. This is a function of the process that sometimes leads to hyper-focus. If you can harness that momentum to move on to the next task, it’s that much better.

As it turns out, for most people –with or without ADD– it is impossible to do all of the important, must do, or needs done tasks in any one block of time. The key, is to not let those tasks build up to the point where not doing them affects your life, or to the point where the maximum tasks you can do is still not enough to move forward.

So, if you need to do laundry, write a paper, submit your time sheet, schedule the cat’s vet appointment, find your tax forms, and hunt for some new freelance writing clients, there is really no way you are going to sit down and do all of those things at once. (If you can, please do and stop reading this 🙂

What you need is to do SOME of those tasks so that the next time you sit down, you can do some of the others, plus whatever has come up since then. The key is to realize that doing ANY of those tasks is better than consternation about which tasks to do. Disaster comes from spinning your wheels so long that you only do one, or none of those tasks when you have the chance. To avoid that, just do something, just do something.

By just picking one of those activities and getting started, you’ll get momentum to no only possibly complete that task, but hopefully enough to keep going onto the next task as well. If you do three things off that list, your list is smaller for next time, no matter what those three things were.