I was thinking about the differant reasons for People not starting projects or being motivated and came up with several. How can you tell which is caused by ADD.

1. Distractability

2. Fear of the unknown

3. Perfectionism, believing that you can't do it if it isn't going to be perfect.

4. Fear of success, believing you don't deserve to be successful.

5. All or nothing thinking. You want to do all of the project and not share tasks. You want to do it your way or not even try.

6. Fear of failure. You've failed so many times in the past that you expect to do it again. So why even try.

7. Disorganization. Can't get all the necessary pieces and knowledge together to do what you want.

8. Too much percieved Risk. Not wanting to be responsible for doing something so you rather someone else does it instead. They can take the hit instead.

I know some of these overlap and some are even because one or another makes a differant one happen. But, I think that many people blame ADD for all of these reasons.

6&7 happen to me on occasion, but I'm getting better. LOL
As for things like cleaning the house in the next 2 weeks, before my inlaws come, I just can't get started.
Sure, I'm doing the usual (dishes, clothes, etc), but I just can't move to the point where I'm picking up the rooms.
I'm even painting the house on the outside, and doing work in the yard.
But those rooms....I just kind of navigate through them.

A philosophical point, maybe you'll think it's nitpicking (sorry it's my job as a trained philosopher to worry about tiny points that seem huge to me :D)....

Is it misleading to contrast ADD being the cause of lack of motivation, as opposed to those other causes you mention? After all ADD is not like a virus that we have in our blood and that also may cause us not to be very motivated. Instead it seems that, when a bunch of those other issues appear in our lives (distractability, disorganization, fear of succes/failure, etc.) so often that they get in the way of things, then that just is ADD.

I guess it's a good idea not to use ADD as an excuse for good old fashioned being a slug, but then who knows why the chronically unmotivated just can't get off their butts? Do they even really know?

-g

I am stumped at this point, since a fellow ADD Forums dweller pegged my addiction to fear! Now, I need to deceipher what is ADD related fear, and what had become a common reaction to things ~ fear.

I did an inventory of fears recently. I could see much of it came from childhood and I had to look at the 'age appropriateness' of it. I am a grown woman with the fears of a child when it comes to some things. I think those same fears are only heightened and I rationalize and justify them because maybe I have undiagnosed ADD at this point... and that is why I have the fear... versus truly looking at self...

It is interesting, I am probably getting 'knowingly' smiles on this site by people and them alreadying conferring that 'yep... she's like us.':p

I suppose there is also the group of people that take the path of least resistance.