The Four Little Words That Can Ruin Your Life When You Have ADHD

by Cynthia Hammer, MSW

This past winter, I returned home exhausted after a full day of cross-country skiing and muttered one of the most damaging phrases in my vocabulary: "I'll do it later."

I typically store my ski boots and ski clothing in the basement. But, I was so tired that the last thing I wanted to do was trek down the basement stairs to stow away my gear.

Then I caught myself. Whenever possible, as much as I dislike a task, I do it now, not later, even if it means forcing myself to do the dreaded thing.

How often do we say, "I'll do it later," when we have time to get things done now?

Why It’s Hard to Stop Procrastinating

Many people with ADHD find it hard to stop procrastinating. We find it challenging to complete numerous mundane and monotonous tasks, such as folding laundry, matching socks, paying bills, filing papers, opening mail, and so on. It’s easy to convince ourselves we will tackle them at another time.

We may say, “I’ll do it later,” when we don't want to do something right then — but we don't want to do it later, either. We just don't want to do it! We wish the task would mysteriously and magically go away.

Procrastinating and Magical Thinking

Sometimes we even convince ourselves that a task has gone away. We engage in magical thinking, where we imagine that we did a task when we hadn’t. I’m often surprised when I notice the unmade bed in my bedroom. “That’s strange,” I would think. “I thought I made it this morning!”

Other times, I don’t know why; I just thought the task was done. I had to learn that if a particular task, like cleaning up the kitchen, was going to get done, I was the one who needed to do it. There was no housekeeping robot coming to my rescue. 

After living with ADHD for 78 years, I’ve learned that procrastinating makes a simple chore more complicated --a part got lost, instructions are misplaced, paint drippings dried on the floor, damp laundry got smelly, or weeds overwhelmed the yard…

Then I wonder, ”Why didn't I just complete the task when it first needed to be done?”

Remember the Five-Minute Rule

In the book Getting Things Done, author David Allen describes a “two-minute rule” that says, “If an action takes less than two minutes, do it now.” (footnote 1) For people with ADHD, this “two-minute rule” should be changed to a “five-minute rule” to save us wasted time and frustration. It takes us much longer to re-engage in a task we only partially completed the first time. So, if a task takes less than 5 minutes, you will come out ahead by completing the entire task now. 

Don’t “do it later.” Just do it now!

Footnote: Allen, David. (2002). Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity. Penguin Books