In a recent post, Alex Partridge of the ADHD Chatter Podcast, shared that as person with ADHD - there are 3 possible work days he can have.
- The days where nothing is getting done.
- The days where 4 hours or so of work gets done at a random time.
- Those days where 40 hours of work gets done in a 4 hour period.
The ADHD community could not have related more to this video with over 200k like and 10s of thousand of comments like...
"You can never have two consecutive type 3 days"
"Type 1 will make me doubt the worth my whole existence. Typ 2 makes me quite frustrated. Typ 3 makes me feel like a superhero and it is ALWAYS followed by a Type 1 kind of day."
"And when it’s option 3 days, you’re absolutely buzzing and swear you’re going to work like this every day. But the next day turn out to be an option 1 day"
If that is where you are, then we have just the routines and tips. Try one or more of these and see if they work in changing things up for the better!
For The Do Nothing Days
On those days where nothing is getting done, what we can try is tricking ourselves into getting something in. These days are often best fit for ideation, research and learning. The great part about those is there are no confines, no restrictions.
When you feel a day start like this, cut to the chase and accept that the execution part: putting pen to paper, filling in that spreadsheet, building that powerpoint will not get started magically. So, what else is there to do?
Well, it's a good thing that before the beginning of every project, learnings and idea testing should be done. Google related terms, scan the internet for examples of other similar projects, or cool things you could do to make your work more effective or beautiful. Get creative and go wild! Save links, interesting snip-its of information and put no pressure as to whether they will contribute to the project or not.
The idea here is taking a few detours may be the best thing you need to launch yourself back into the execution of the project with new found motivation and ideas. If you do not end up doing any none-research oriented work that day, which is quite unlikely, at least you have a whole host of new perspectives and ideas for when you do get around to it.
Here is a EZ downloadable routine that you can start on those days you know you will do nothing. It might be just what you need. The Brili app allows you to download these routine will a tap and get started, try it for 10 days free!
For The Do Something Days
The good news is these days are completely average! Nice work on being average, bad job on beating yourself up for it.
In a survey done by Blind, they found that 45% of respondents from top employers like Google, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft worked 4 hours a day or less.
Congratulate yourself on these days and appreciate them when you have them!
For The Do It All Days
These are the most unhealthy yet astonishing days of them all. If you can get a full week of work done in a day, that is wild and something to be proud of. However, you are most likely aware of the effects these days have on you. You may laugh them off and continue on but these days and this consistent behavior may be leading to larger struggles.
For one, the work is done in time - sweet - but you can not help but feel it was not your best work. Even if it was great, you know how much time you put into it and can not shake the feeling that you could have made it 5x better. Yet... you do not. Over and over, you consistently rush the process and still get by, so you keep on doing it. Hello developing imposter syndrome.
What you may not notice is how this effects other areas of your life. Since you were not able to start early on the project, you worried away your entire weekend or were not able to enjoy your planned vacation and stayed in bed avoiding the thoughts with consistent stimulating distractions.
We know you are all too aware of the effects, but it still works, it still is just how it goes. So, let's return to the positive side of this and work backwards from there as a new approach.
YOU CAN GET A WHOLE WEEK OF WORK DONE IN 1 DAY!!!
Now that's a power, not to be abused but definitely harnessed.
Here is a routine for just that, because you aren't going to change your behavior after reading one article.
This routine is for 3 straight hours of work, but it is not how you would normally do it. The next time you feel a 'do it all day' has begun, start up this routine and see how bringing a little structure to it feels.
