Your Productivity is NOT a Fluke!

When I first meet clients, they are often in a state of despair. Things aren’t going well, and their productivity is fleeting and inconsistent. They frequently have ideas but can’t seem to implement them. 

Instead I offer that their answer is already inside of them. (It sounds woo-woo, I know.) Together we’ll study the times when things did go right. I’ll help them look around to find their formula for getting things done. Even if things don’t often go right or you’re finding you’re only productive once a month/quarter/year, there’s something different about that day. It’s not a fluke, and it’s not magic; somehow you accommodated your ADHD and it worked.

I learned a ton about what to look for from my experience as a coaching client and taking Jeff Copper’s Cognitive Ergonomics, so let’s look at a few factors you might want to study for yourself. 

Environment

This is the #1 factor to consider and the easiest one to sleuth out for yourself. Consider the level of distraction and who else was or wasn’t in the environment with you.

A retired client was having trouble decluttering. The last time she did it was when her daughter was in town. The key was her daughter! Alone, this client struggled, but when her daughter came, she got it done! If she wants to declutter regularly, she could ask her daughter (or someone similarly supportive) to come more regularly. 

Internal Factors

HALT (Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired) is commonly mentioned in the recovery community, warning folks in recovery that they are more likely to drink/use substances when they are in any of these states. Cognitive Ergonomics adds on Bored and Stressed to the internal factors to consider. 

One client knows that he gets the dishes done by watching something on his phone simultaneously. Since doing dishes is boring, he added something interesting to accommodate the uncomfortable boredom. 

I know that being tired is a significant factor for me. Even for writing this blog, I noticed I never write them in the afternoon or evening, even though my brain is screaming at me to get it done. Writing when I have fresh energy (and medication) first thing in the morning works well for me. I also need…

Clarity

Learning this factor from Jeff was a real a-ha moment. He talks about noticing the correlation between procrastination and ambiguity. 

I’ve written about this before. If you always make deadlines, it’s not the deadline that makes you get something done. It’s about what the deadline makes you do. 

One college client was having trouble writing her paper. The deadline was looming, so she went to her dad for help. Dad was supportive but didn’t know much about the class content. The student had to explain her paper’s concept multiple times, essentially talking through her ideas with increasing clarity each time. 

Eventually, she was so clear on what she would write about that she could sit down and start writing. She did her thinking while talking to her dad, and typing on the keys captured what she said out loud. 

Your productive days or times are not flukes. They are worth slowing down and examining what actually made the difference. If you’re finding this is hard to do on your own (totally normal for ADHDers because of our working memory impairment), we have plenty of qualified coaches at the Center willing to walk beside you and support your discovery of what works best.