When you have ADHD, finding the motivation to get out of bed seems impossible some days. Let alone taking a shower, brushing your teeth, getting dressed, and then doing the 10000000 tasks you know are waiting for you. What if you could create your own motivational energy when it doesn't seem to exist on any given day? I am here to tell you it is possible with the right tools!
First, I want to give you a little encouragement. Just cause yesterday was an ADHD chaos winning day doesn't mean today will be the same. With time, the tools below will help each day become a fresh start full of possibilities.
Tool number 1: Understanding how to create Dopamine on demand
Understanding what creates dopamine in your life from a source that’s easily accessible is a game changer.
So where do you find dopamine when you need it... we already have a blog post on this!
Here is the TLDR version:
1: Breathe
2: Create a Dopamine Energy Menu
3: Change your habit cycles
Those three items make life easier to navigate because they are things you can do in minutes throughout the day to get back on track (or find the path in the first place).
If you are struggling with finding your dopamine, you can work with your Agave coach: we will show you how to recognize your dopamine needs, find it when you need it, and even create more throughout the day, so you do not have a horrible dopamine crash!
Tool number 2: Having accountability
As an ADHD coach, one of the first things I learned in my own life and for my clients is that we need external motivation and feedback. We need someone who gets how our brains work, but is a few steps ahead in the motivation and productivity path. They can help us avoid getting stuck at motivation roadblocks and know what process or tools to use to help get us moving on days when it's hard to get motivational starts organically.
Do you have someone that you can do daily check-ins with? This person can help you have something to look forward to each day, which will help you get up and move each day. Here too, your Agave coach can be this person for you.
Tool 3: Make a Sandwich with your tasks
Not a literal sandwich each day, but when you build out tasks layer by layer, you are 75% more likely to get them done!
So let's build a sandwich together.
1: Get all your ingredients out: you will need two pieces of paper or one piece of paper and your planner to do this.
2: Now we have to decide what kind of sandwich we will make: write down all the tasks you need to complete today.
3: Next, we decide how many steps it will take to make the sandwich: write down the individual steps to each task, so it's easy to take small bites of them.
4: Then, we start picking the ingredients: pick three individual tasks to get done.
5: Finally, let's add in the yummy pieces of the sandwich: pick three non-task items to do that bring you joy (dance party, make a cup of coffee, have some candy, take a walk, hug a dog).
6: Time to ASSEMBLE your goal sandwich!!
Breathe
Task 1- something you like doing
Dopamine hit 1- pick something that will make you happy
Breathe
Task 2- this might be the one that you aren't looking forward to
Dopamine hit two
Breathe
Task 3
DANCE PARTY for getting three tasks completed!!
You can make multiple sandwiches a day, and this process keeps you on track in bite-sized pieces and allows you that dopamine break you need! Every new sandwich is a fresh start to new possibilities and success loops.
When motivation is a struggle, finding fresh ways to get started on new tasks throughout the day will help you find success more than once each day. How are you going to choose to get started today?
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