Deadlines

I always do things last minute and have an upcoming deadline for an essay but still cannot find the motivation to do it. Even if I force myself to start I get distracted so quickly. Any tips?

lostinACDC

Honestly, I kind of stopped fighting my natural writing style. I excel at last minute papers. I am currently writing an essay that is due today as well that I've procrastinated on ALLLLLL week... and now my brain is (almost, it's still early) hyperengaged and pounding it out easily. 🤷‍♀️ I have often wondered why we feel the need to change the way our brain naturally excels. I think it would be different if you never wrote the paper because you procrastinate until it's too late, but if you get it done and it's done well... does it REALLY matter when you do it? Are we just trying to force our brains into neurotypical functions and processes that don't fit us? 🤔 crap... distracted by this app... got a paper to finish. Good luck on yours. I know you're going to kill it... soon. 😉👍

cjzoinks

I definitely feel this! However, the amount of anxiety/stress/lack of sleep I get when I’m working on something I’ve procrastinated is definitely not fun. The bonus adrenaline definitely helps get through though. I just wish I’d known about my ADHD before I did school and uni, as I finished a couple of years ago and it’s frustrating to look back and see how I could have made it better for myself with the right understanding of my brain. Best of luck for the essay!!

kelley76

I'm not writing an essay, but my job requires I document ALL THE TIME. It's so boring and tiring. I have 2 deadlines a month for turning documentation in and nearly miss them everytime and I've been at this job for well over 5 yrs. My best suggestion is once you actually get started writing, let your self take little to go and do something else. As far as just getting started, I have a Playlist titled Dopamine full of songs that hit just right and get me energized and focused. I also have a Playlist that's just instrumentals so the lyrics don't distract me while I write. Body doubles help too. Good luck!

cjzoinks

Oh gosh I feel this - writing deadlines are not our neurospicy friend. What sort of music do you have on your dopamine playlist?

adhdartist2023

Cjzoinks has some brilliant advice! Do you have anyone you could body double with? That person could work on whatever they wanted and you could work on your essay. Could you quickly breakdown your essay into manageable and not painful 😖 chunks? I do quite a bit of copy editing too. Oooh. Grammarly has saved my 17yo daughter’s bacon in school. It makes all kinds of helpful suggestions about grammar, sentence structure, readability, etc. It’s one thing you don’t have to do completely on your own. What’s your essay about, if it’s ok to ask? 🥰 Good luck! We're rooting for you.

cjzoinks

Oooh that sounds like an interesting essay if you like that sort of stuff. Having the ideas is often the hard part for other people! Legit the notes app in your phone is super handy for when you’re thinking about the topic but aren’t in a position to write it in the document - that way any good ideas you have are still there for reference when you’re ready. Also, I often try to trick myself by saying I’ll just write one sentence, and then my perfectionism kicks in to try and fix it and I end up with at least a couple of sentences. Also! If you have the ideas, perhaps sketching a rough essay plan/putting in paragraph headings would also be helpful? That way you can be like, ok I’m just going to write a couple of sentences for this paragraph, and be able to start writing straight away, rather than thinking about what you’re going to write first and then potentially getting distracted

adhdaisyflower

It's on Romanticism and it's definition in comparison to Wordsworth and Keats. I feel like I have the ideas for it but still struggle finding the motivation to actually put them down.

cjzoinks

I have the exact same problem! My advice would be to just do it 20 mins (or less) at a time, and schedule breaks in between each session so your brain doesn’t get bored. I also find it helps to have a brain dump document so you can put all your thoughts on the assignment topic and what you want to do - that way you have something to start off with/choose your points from. I find listening to music helps me as well, normally something with a beat/faster so my brain wants to go at that pace too. Let me know if you would like any more suggestions! My diagnosis is super recent but I’ve worked as a content/copy writer before as well so have some writing specific tips 😊 Good luck!

cjzoinks

No worries! I hope you’re able to find a way that works for you!

adhdaisyflower

This is brilliant, thank you!

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