ADHD and Motivation

Summary

The script addresses the challenges of motivation for individuals with ADHD, comparing the motivational process to a bridge with missing planks. It explains that while motivation is a bridge for most, ADHD can leave gaps, making tasks difficult to accomplish. The video offers strategies to fill these gaps by making tasks urgent, novel, or personally interesting, and emphasizes the importance of understanding what motivates an ADHD brain. It also highlights the effectiveness of immediate rewards and the personal investment in tasks as key motivators.

Takeaways

• 🌉 The 'Motivation Bridge' is a concept representing the gap between intention and action, often bridged by motivation for most people.
• 💪 Motivation is typically sustained by factors like career benefits, family pride, and social commitments.
• 🔨 Willpower and self-discipline can help overcome minor gaps in motivation, even when the task is not initially appealing.
• 🧩 ADHD is described as a 'motivation deficit disorder', where the importance of tasks doesn't translate into sufficient motivational planks to cross the chasm.
• 🚫 The perception of laziness or lack of care is a misunderstanding of the challenges faced by those with ADHD, who may struggle even with tasks they recognize as important.
• 🔑 Understanding what motivates an ADHD brain is crucial, as it differs from neurotypical brains and is often driven by urgency, novelty, and personal interest.
• 🎮 Video games are an example of tasks that naturally provide motivational planks due to their engaging and stimulating nature.
• ⏰ Creating a sense of urgency can be a strategy to motivate, such as setting artificial deadlines or using timers to increase focus and productivity.
• 🌟 Making tasks new or novel can inject motivation, suggesting changes in environment or approach to keep the task engaging.
• 📚 Personal interest is a significant motivator for ADHD brains, and aligning tasks with personal interests can greatly enhance the ability to complete them.
• 🏅 Rewards, especially immediate ones, can be highly motivating for ADHD individuals, providing a tangible and timely incentive for completing tasks.

Q & A

What is the 'Motivation Bridge' mentioned in the script?

The 'Motivation Bridge' is a metaphor used to describe the mental construct that helps people overcome the gap between intending to do something and actually doing it, using motivational planks such as career benefits, family pride, or promises made to others.

How does the script describe the difference in motivation between people with ADHD and neurotypical individuals?

The script suggests that individuals with ADHD often have a 'motivation deficit' where the importance of a task doesn't translate into as many motivational planks as it does for neurotypical individuals, leading to a bridge that is half missing, making it difficult for them to cross the chasm of action.

What are some common tasks that ADHD brains tend to struggle with according to the script?

According to the script, ADHD brains often struggle with tasks that are lengthy, repetitive, or boring due to their need for stimulation and engagement.

What are the three types of tasks or elements that can provide motivational planks to ADHD brains?

The three types of tasks or elements that can provide motivational planks to ADHD brains are things that are urgent, things that are new or novel, and things that are of personal interest.

How can creating a sense of urgency help in bridging the 'Motivation Bridge' for ADHD individuals?

Creating a sense of urgency can help by providing additional motivational planks, such as through artificial deadlines, accountability, or the realization of the consequences of not completing the task in time.

What is one unconventional way the script suggests to make a task novel or novel-like?

The script suggests doing familiar tasks in new environments or in new ways, such as doing homework in a hammock or learning new methods to perform routine tasks like folding laundry.

How can personal interest be used to motivate ADHD individuals to complete tasks?

Personal interest can be used by aligning tasks with the individual's passions or by finding aspects of the task that are engaging. The script also mentions the importance of not making a necessary task compete with one that is more interesting.

What is the role of rewards in motivating ADHD individuals, and how should they be structured?

Rewards can be highly motivating for ADHD individuals, but they need to be immediate to be effective due to their different experience of time. The script recommends using immediate feedback like verbal acknowledgements or visual trackers for short-term goals.

How does the script address the misconception that ADHD individuals are lazy or don't care about their tasks?

The script clarifies that the issue is not about caring or laziness but about the lack of motivational planks due to the nature of ADHD, which makes it difficult for them to bridge the gap between intention and action.

What is the script's advice for supporting an ADHD brain that is having trouble completing tasks?

The script advises understanding what ADHD brains find motivating, and then applying strategies to make tasks urgent, novel, or personally interesting, as well as providing shame-free accountability and immediate rewards.

What does the script suggest about the importance of not having all motivational planks in place before starting a task?

The script suggests that it's not necessary to have all motivational planks in place before starting a task. It's okay to jump over small gaps, and doing so can actually make us stronger.