The hardest task on most to-do lists is the invisible one: Getting motivated to do anything at all. And the more important your tasks are, the more you can scare yourself out of even starting. One trick to fight this, according to the producers of the YouTube channel How to ADHD, is a simple meditation-like technique.
Photo: Andrew Neel
In a Reddit thread, Edward and Jessica McCabe share different methods for dealing with ADHD’s symptoms, including getting easily distracted from tasks. These methods range from medication and lifestyle changes to simple mental techniques, such as the one Edward uses to get motivated to start a task.
Here’s how it works:
- Sit down in a comfortable position.
- Imagine starting the task.
- Imagine each step.
- Repeat from beginning to end.
As with meditation, the trick is to catch when your mind wanders, and gently pull it back. “Usually when I hit the part I don’t like, my brain will kinda dodge away and try to think about something else,” says Edward. “So I take a breath and start again from the top.”
Whether or not you deal with ADHD, this is a good way to break down tasks. And as we’ve said many times, breaking down a task makes it less dreadful and more doable. That dread is usually what’s keeping you from that first step.
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