When it comes to ADD, there are plenty of co-morbid indicators. That’s a fancy, psychological jargon way of saying that ADD occurs in conjunction with other psychological and mental issues. For example, people with ADHD are more likely to also be diagnosed with depression. Whether depression is caused by ADD, or ADHD is caused by depression, or whether there is no casual relationship at all, is unknown. But, a person with ADD and depression has depression as a co-morbid indicator of ADD — or vice versa.
Another very common condition that often occurs in people with ADD is procrastination.
While everyone procrastinates sometimes, there are people, both with and without ADHD, for which procrastination is a very big problem that constantly threatens their lifestyle, rather than an annoyance. Unfortunately, adults with ADD are more likely to fall into the former category.
In fact, many undiagnosed adults with Attention Deficit Disorder never consider undergoing an evaluation for ADD because they believe that their "problem" is actually just with procrastination as opposed to a potential case of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Among those diagnosed with ADD there is an ongoing difficulty in reliably distinguishing between issues that may be symptoms of ADD and those that may be more closely related to chronic procrastination. What makes determining where the obstruction to success lies so difficult is that most adults with ADHD developed procrastination habits and coping mechanisms simultaneously over the course of their life making the symptoms of ADHD indistinguishable from plain procrastination.
Books To Help With Procrastination
Books about procrastination and dealing with procrastination litter the shelves of the bookstore. Some books are better than others, but I’ve always found one very frustrating detail about procrastination help books is that they all seem hell-bent on tying procrastination to perfectionism, and therefore procrastination is caused by fear that what you do won’t be perfect.
This rings about as hollow to me as possible, and yet, it seems like many books about procrastination spend more pages on trying to "prove" that procrastination is caused by fear of failure. If you think that you do not have a fear of failure, then you just don’t understand that you are a perfectionist, and that not living up to being perfect is your problem. Therefore, procrastination is caused by perfectionism (which is just a form of fear of failure) and by the time they are ready to move on, I really don’t care what that book has to say because it no longer has any credibility in my mind. At the very least, whatever kind of procrastination that author is talking about, is not related to the procrastination from ADD that I might have.
I recently picked up a book about procrastination on a visit to the Tattered Cover bookstore. I do this all the time when I go into bookstores. I find a topic that might interest me and then I read a page or two from the book to see if it sounds like something that I might give enough weight to to actually read the book instead of dismissing it as some self-help guru’s attempt to make money off of some newspaper column or TV show appearance that they have. Most of the time, I just put the books back on the shelf. Something makes me roll my eyes, or think that it won’t resonate with me.
This time, however, I grabbed a copy of The Procrastinator’s Guide to Getting Things Done. I don’t really care about the title, but I happened to read a page near the beginning of the book where the author states that your inner procrastinator’s voice is very seductive, saying things like, "Oh, you can get that done later. You have plenty of time. You work better under pressure anyways." All of this sounds very familiar. But, what pushed it over the edge for me was the next paragraph which basically said, "You’re smarter than that. Don’t play the fool to that voice."
Now, THAT definitely resonated. In face, as I stood there with the book in my hand I actually felt like a fool who had been played for years by my inner procrastination voice. I’ have never really thought of it in those terms, but it has definitely given me a tiny handhold in my daily battle against procrastination, which is more than I can say for any other book about procrastinating, or focusing, or buckling down, or building new habits, that I have read in a very long time.
I haven’t read much of the book yet, so a whole-hearted endorsement of The Procrastinator’s Guide to Getting Things Done is a ways off, but I did manage to get to Chapter 3, which is titled, "What Are You Afraid Of?" — Check out the ADD tools and ADHD tips for those.
Uh, oh. Another book ruined by a tunnel-vision author who cannot let go of their "shocking, earth-shattering, enlightenment" that all procrastination is really just fear of not being perfect. But, then, just as the storm clouds gathered, something happened.
The author has a checklist that is designed to help determine if fear (of perfectionism or of failure) is your problem. That’s fair. It’s not like it is not one possible cause of procrastination, it’s just that it is not the ONLY possible explanation for why people procrastinate.
The book’s author, Monica Ramirez Basco, has a six point checklist to help determine if fear of failure / perfectionism is the issue causing your procrastination. The very next thing, is a different checklist. This procrastination checklist determines if fear of failure is NOT your problem.
That’s better than I have gotten out of any procrastination self-help book I’ve found in recent memory, so I’ll keep reading. In fact, I was so excited, I came right to Addessories to share my find with others who have ADHD and procrastination issues and might like to have a possible ADD and procrastination resource.
Ironically, it’s near the end of the month and I have tons of writing projects due, so technically, this who post is procrastination. But, at least I’m writing 🙂
Is Fear Causing My Procrastination Checklist
Fear is not your problem if:
- You are feeling lazy
- You are tired
- You are discouraged
- You just can’t concentrate
- You would rather be doing something else
Hello, #4 and #5! Come to Pappa!
Yes, yes, yes! I used to be perfectionistic but that hardly made me procrastinate — just work insanely hard and actually towards a goal I felt passionate about, actually. But now when my meds wear off, I bounce around like a freakin’ child both physically (I shake my knees a lot) and mentally. It’ll take me SO long to get winding down and start to get into work mode, and I have to work myself up (or down) to get there but it takes forever sometimes! There are times when I want to be doing anything else and the way my mind is, I’ll start thinking about random, crazy creative things while working. I’ll get these ideas that pop into my head and feel this instantaneous compulsion to want to follow them and that leads me on this instinctive wild goose chase on the internet, hence FBing, email, internet, etc. Then I get back to my work slowly and it’s like I’ve wasted hours. Ahhh. I’ve seen counselors, coaches, and talked with friends and family about this. I’m really unsure what to do. I’m in college now and there’s tons of work, and I always tend to put at least one thing off til the last minute, and then I wear myself out finishing it the night before. Rrrrr, what to do?! It’s like when I want to focus I can, but when I’m not hyped, NOTHING will get me there…
I’ve had this problem for so long and didn’t know what was wrong. I procrastinate in collage waiting until the last minute to write a paper, I procrastinate in finding better jobs because I don’t feel like I can get anything better and its starting to really effect my life and relationship. I happened to be watching a talk show and they were talking about ADHD and how it causes procrastination so I was trying to get more insight on it because all of the symptoms described me.
Patricia,
That’s how it happens for so many of us. If your ADD symptoms are diagnosed as a child, and they likely aren’t unless you have parents looking for answers, we get used to the idea that, that’s just the way we are. Definitely talk to someone and see, what if anything might be helpful for your specific health situation.
Susan, it’s not true that ADD/ADHD always accomplish whats important to them. And selfish tendencies are exhibited by ALL types of people.
One thing I think many authors have missed about procrastination: Some ADD people, such as myself, are procrastinating because they’re addicted to stress. I realized this when I was sitting around a week before my portfolio was due. I was scared silly, but I was waiting for the jolt of adrenaline to kick in.
But it’s not just the adrenaline that’s addicting, it’s the rush of beating the clock. And then the relief of getting it done.
It’s not laziness or a lack of caring. I cared so much about my portfolio. I procrastinated by working on things that didn’t need to be done, like tweaking articles over and over instead of starting on ones that weren’t even written yet.
The thing is- I’m not sure how to deal with it. It’s like a crack junkie.
This really hits me hard. I have put off my expenses so long that I have racked up a big personal credit card debt. I have the recipts and will get paid back, but my wife is ready to leave me after realizing that I have been paying thousands in interest over the last 12+ months. She takes it personally that I am not turning in my expenses. This sucks!
Yikes. That’s pretty harsh. I’m not sure if explaining, or getting her one of those “How to Live with a Spouse with ADHD” type books might help, but it can’t hurt. I’m sure you’ve already thought of it, and me saying it won’t be any more useful, but try submitting at least some of your expenses right away. It might trigger that now/not-now switch in your brain and let you start catching up.
Either way, keep plugging away. We all find solutions every day. Hopefully, they are the right ones at the right time 🙂
yes this resonates with me. actually though i typed in adhd fear of failure in google search and thats how i got this. its actually its not that my procrastination is caused by fear of failure, but that my constant procrastination has caused fear of failure. and unlike many people with adhd, i don NOT work well under pressure, i crumble which makes it even harder to get done so i normally try to procrastinate only so much so will still have plenty of time to do what i need to do, but this doesn’t work most of the time.
i really wish i could stop procrastinating, i want to believe i can but its hard after having failed so many other times.
Summer,
I hear you. Procrastination is my NUMBER ONE issue. I could handle all the other ADD stuff just on my own if I could just get past this one thing. I found some other books that might be useful. I’ll take a look and see what I see. Maybe we’ll come up with something 🙂
why is it adhd people seem to accomplish what’s most important to them? i know for sure they LET their relationships suffer. it’s just not their priority. they shouldn’t have relationships if they can’t SOMETIMES put the other person first. 4sure. screw them.
Wow. Holy judgmental, Batman. Sounds like you’ve been burned. I’m sorry to hear that. However, the one thing about people with ADD is that they had ADD when you met, they had ADD when you fell for them, they even had ADD during the good times. Regardless, everyone and I mean EVERYONE is entitled to search for love, and I wish that everyone could find it.
Everyone is different, of course. There are plenty of people without ADD/ADHD who let their relationships suffer. There are plenty with ADD who do as well, only some DUE to their ADHD. I’ve been married for over a decade now to my college sweetheart.