What Does ADHD in Adults Feel Like?
If you have symptoms and traits of adult ADHD, your ability to focus comes and goes unpredictably, making it difficult to simply plan to do something and then just do it. You’re great at outside-the-box thinking and coming up with interesting project ideas, but the mundane, step-by-step tasks required to complete projects feel miserable, so you tend to put them off. You’re late to most things, have trouble meeting deadlines, and frequently get distracted. You can work on several tasks in a day and not complete any of them. You feel like you can only focus for longer periods of time when you’re extremely interested in something.
How Does Adult ADHD Lead to Task Avoidance?
Task avoidance is one of the most common problems for adults with ADHD, whether the ADHD has been officially diagnosed or not.
If you have ADHD, your brain processes information differently than linear thinkers, and the way you work is also vastly different. Not deficient, just different. In ways that can make you feel broken and weird and like you can never do anything right or on time.
ADHD causes:
- Problems with motivation and starting tasks
- Difficulty with tasks requiring extended focus and attention to detail
- Unpredictable ability to focus
- Unpredictable intensity of focus
- Disorganization
What Kind of Treatment Helps with Adult ADHD?
Certain medications can help you focus and get things done. I don’t prescribe medication, but I can guide you in looking into that. In addition to medication, therapy and coaching with a therapist who understands ADHD and other forms of neurodiversity can help you learn new working and coping strategies.
Not everyone with ADHD traits has had testing and been officially diagnosed. I don’t provide testing for ADHD diagnosis, but I also don’t require my clients with ADHD traits to have an official diagnosis to work with me.
To address your ADHD-rooted task avoidance, we’ll assess the kinds of tasks and large projects you’ve been having trouble working on and help you to develop work habits that work best for non-linear thinkers. We’ll identify your strengths and help you to use them to your advantage. You’ll discover ways you can dig in, get daily tasks done, and make progress toward important larger goals.
The Benefits of Therapy for Adult ADHD Symptoms
With every step you’ll increase momentum with getting things done, and your confidence will increase considerably. You’ll see yourself making progress on things and what used to feel like sinking in quicksand will start to feel like you’re moving forward on firm ground. Therapy for ADHD traits will help you to:
- Work smarter by dividing up tasks based on when you focus best
- Stick with tasks and get them done
- View yourself more positively
- Experience much less negative self-talk
- Plan things more realistically
- Move forward in your personal life and career after feeling stalled
You deserve to recognize your strengths, experience calm, and get things done so you can achieve your goals and feel good about yourself. Reach out to me. I’d be glad and excited to help.
