I'm forever making these elaborate plans, only to never, ever put them to actual use. I struggle so much with just "getting things done" lol. I'm chaulking it up to a low-energy problem, but I'm also realizing that I can act despite having low energy. The big shift I'm trying to make in my life now is just shutting off the thinking part of my brain and simply trying to "DO IT NOW!"

Anyone else like this? Lots of planning, not much in the way of actual doing? :D

Yes, and it is so frustrating!

I actually do it a lot when posting (or attempting to) on the forum. I think about what I want to say, do some research, have the whole thing planned out... but never get around to actually writing it before the discussion has moved past the relevant topic and everyone has lost interest in the thread anyway.

I think, as you said, that low energy contributes, as it is frequently the step which will require the most effort that catches me - but I also struggle with ending the planning stage of things since that would require committing to a single course of action (and what if it's the wrong one?!).

I've also tried to force myself to 'do it now' when I am worried that I will fall into the trap of over-thinking, but frequently come to regret the impulse. The actions which follow generally clearly reflect the lack of consideration which went into them. I need to teach myself how to think just a little bit - right now I only have 'too much' or 'none'.

I hope that your plan to get moving past this is much more successful!

Yes, and it is so frustrating!

I actually do it a lot when posting (or attempting to) on the forum. I think about what I want to say, do some research, have the whole thing planned out... but never get around to actually writing it before the discussion has moved past the relevant topic and everyone has lost interest in the thread anyway.

I think, as you said, that low energy contributes, as it is frequently the step which will require the most effort that catches me - but I also struggle with ending the planning stage of things since that would require committing to a single course of action (and what if it's the wrong one?!).

I've also tried to force myself to 'do it now' when I am worried that I will fall into the trap of over-thinking, but frequently come to regret the impulse. The actions which follow generally clearly reflect the lack of consideration which went into them. I need to teach myself how to think just a little bit - right now I only have 'too much' or 'none'.

I hope that your plan to get moving past this is much more successful!

I dunno, I hope it is, I'm just barely starting to focus on it hehe! One thing I've found is that I have a horrible sense of visualization. It's a two-edged sword...if I get really excited about something, then the vision in my head is obsession - I spend all my free time pursuing whatever my lastest preoccupation is.

But if it's something that I feel I HAVE to do, then that vision turns into a super negative thing - I don't want to do it, doing it won't be fun, I'll feel depressed doing it, heck I feel depressed thinking about doing it, what's the point of doing it anyway, I don't care that much about it, it's pointless because I don't care about it...BUT...when I actually do it...hey, it's not that bad! lol.

So...I talk myself into non-action, I think. What I just realized tonight is that I've had low energy for most of my life...and have used this (unwittingly) as an excuse to not take action. I haven't really "felt" like doing things because I didn't have a lot of energy to go after things, and subconsciously I structured my life around that...lots of awesome planning with no actual action. But now I can see, I CAN work through low energy, I just have crappy habits, which are actually pretty easy to overcome.

So, bottom line - when it comes time to act, simply stop thinking and start DOING! If I think too much, I'll convince myself of all sorts of crap - that it's boring, non-fulfilling, depressing, not fun, and so on, but in reality, it's actually not that bad - or dare I say, even fun - and I feel tremendously satisfied when I ACCOMPLISH things! I feel GREAT when I do my laundry, because I always leave it in the washer for 3 days! lol.

I think that the first step is, defeat my over-thinking by taking action, and train myself to realize that doing stuff isn't that bad, and doing the right stuff FEELS REALLY GOOD! I mean shoot, I feel GOOD when I accomplish things! But I over-analyze things SO MUCH that I *think* I won't enjoy it. Or something.

Ahh, I love my creative brain. The paths are starting to open up to me...now I'll go and over-plan how to beat my overplanning, and thus take no action...I kid, I kid...:p

This is a very big problem for me. It's almost as if I mentally plan a task or project so much that, in my head, it's as good as finished. Unfortunately, in the physical world, there's still work to done, but I never get around to it... or if I do, it's much later than intended, and it was only the stress of being late that actually made me do it.

This has got to be the top "feature" of ADHD that I hate the most! Gaaahhh!!!!

AAAAARRRGHHH yes. It drives me utterly insane. and then it really is true about low energy and needing down time; yet way underestimating the time it takes to do something - even when you're actually completely motivated to do something it just might not happen; so you hate that; and over analyze once again, etc etc.

I think, as you said, that low energy contributes, as it is frequently the step which will require the most effort that catches me - but I also struggle with ending the planning stage of things since that would require committing to a single course of action (and what if it's the wrong one?!).

This is exactly how I feel too. In fact, this is the hallmark of ADD for me. For example, I was working for a professor, and he gave me a VERY
INTERESTING assignment. And I thought about it and thought about it and thought about how VERY INTERESTING it would be!! And then .... I
never did it. I did a half-hearted few hours before we met.

But both of those things are factors: (a) low energy and (b) noncommittalness (now a word, I decided).

I actually know that if I plan to work out today, I won't do it. But if
I don't plan it, and trick my mind into thinking it's spontaneous, I
will do it.

And even when I'm doing something very valuable or interesting,
I'm thinking about all the other things I should or could be doing. Like,
I hesitate to donate to a charity, because what if I should really donate
to this other charity?

My resume reads like a multiple personality disorder. Which is nice,
in a way, because anytime anyone says what they do, I can relate:
("Oh, you're in theatre/foreign languages/journalism/computer
programming/political science/law/bioethics/physics/literature? I studied
that.")

This post is all over the place, but if you read each chunk individually,
it's okay! :o

Oh yes. Major problems with this. Can't decide which of my 37 things to do. Lots of overwhlem and fear. And piles. You are not alone.

Man, I have a million plans!!! A million plans that are always there and never get any further than just being a thought! If only I could acomplish just a few, that would be great!!:)

I have all kinds of plans. . .different jobs I ought to apply for, businesses I could start, Halloween costumes for me and my horse. I guess, in my case, there is a very blurry line between my actual plans and my daydreams.

My problem is the motivation. . .or, I'll read a job description with its long list of expectations for the person filling that job (highly-organized, excellent verbal and written communication skills) and think "there's no way I could survive in that type of position." It really takes the wind out of my sails.

Or, I spend a lot of time daydreaming about what it would be like in my dream job, but I cannot seem to take that first step of seeking it. . .or my overactive imagination takes a pessimistic turn, and I've fired myself before I even apply for the position.:rolleyes:

yeah. especially at stores. I will debate and debate on what to buy. and then not get anything.

Yes I do everything in my head first when I have to cater a big function. I will actually dream about it. Ive remembered stuff Ive forgot to do durning the day in my sleep all the time I helps alot because the event always goes smoothly and poeple tell me how organized I am. If only they knew the real me, they would be shocked. I also think I dont sleep well because I do so much work in my sleep.

It's pretty much all I do, yeah... :P

It's like my body is a car and my brain is the engine.
They both seem to work fine, the engine is revving like crazy but the transmission is totally busted, so the body never seems to go anywhere...which makes them both pretty much obsolete. Every once in a while something clicks for a moment all of a sudden and I jump a foot into the air by sheer surprise, but I only just have the time to think: "Oh my god, I think I'm moving!" before it's gone again.
It's like there's never time enough to figure out what when right, where the spark came from...
I have no idea how to fix it, or even just better it a little...and nobody else seem to either. My psychiatrist shrugs and tells me it's a very wellknown phenomenon, especially among ADDers, and that he knows of no meds that help with this particular thing except SSRIs, and they don't work on me.

I'm exhausted these weeks, just want to be fixed.
Wondering about Wellbutrin or Abilify. I know they'll probably do more harm than good, but I have to try something, and it's been a long time since I last threw in the towel and asked for meds, so well...

Oh, My...me overanalysing and outthinking my existence once again...it's a gift...?...damn wrapping...and so on and so forth...

I'm forever making these elaborate plans, only to never, ever put them to actual use. I struggle so much with just "getting things done"
Anyone else like this? Lots of planning, not much in the way of actual doing? :D

I do this and it causes me a great deal of distress. I have a number of projects that I've 'decided' to do over the years that I never have, and I periodically add new ones. When I don't have any external pressure placed on me to do something that involves the expenditure of any significant energy, and its not something that's entirely enjoyable, I never do it.

To date, the sole actual outcome of my 'deciding' to do these projects is a recurring feeling of guilt whenever I think of them. Some of them are time-sensitive, and it will occur to me at some point that I no longer have the option of doing it, which I feel bad about briefly, but is ultimately a relief, as I no longer have to feel guilty for not working on it. Others are not time-sensitive, and the recurring feelings of guilt just get stronger over the years.

Thinking about it now, I wonder if I would be better off just acknowledging that I'm never going to do things of this nature, and forgetting about them. On the other hand, perhaps the feelings will get strong enough to motivate actual action when a certain number of years have passed from my initial decision.


I actually do it a lot when posting (or attempting to) on the forum. I think about what I want to say, do some research, have the whole thing planned out... but never get around to actually writing it before the discussion has moved past the relevant topic and everyone has lost interest in the thread anyway.

This is a very big problem for me. It's almost as if I mentally plan a task or project so much that, in my head, it's as good as finished. Unfortunately, in the physical world, there's still work to done, but I never get around to it... or if I do, it's much later than intended, and it was only the stress of being late that actually made me do it.


The 'planning' stage is a major roadblock to my getting any big project done, but particularly those that I won't be penalized for not doing. It typically takes a lot less energy than actually working on a project, and I often convince myself that I've so completely planned something out, that actually doing it will be easy, so I set it aside. In reality, I tend to find that when I do start a project, I rarely use any of the planning I've done.(sometimes because I've forgotten all of it in the interim, but mostly because I find it just doesn't work as I planned it.)

The fact that my planning so infrequently matches the actual product reinforces my difficulty transitioning out of it because of this issue:

but I also struggle with ending the planning stage of things since that would require committing to a single course of action (and what if it's the wrong one?!).

I am constantly changing my mind as I work on a project(which, for me, is usually some kind of writing project), sometimes totally changing the nature of it halfway. Chances are, if I make a plan one day, I'll consider it awful the next. So, actually acting on a plan, knowing that no matter how many iterations the plan has gone through, there's probably something wrong with it that I will discover the next day, is quite scary.

Of course, in reality, the problems are mostly in my head, as when I'm forced to do a project by a certain time, I'm usually able to more or less successfully even though if I'd had more time, I would have discarded what ends up as my final product.

Yup. I'll run something over in my mind for an hour, like a post I want to make on the net, and never do it.

Anyone else like this? Lots of planning, not much in the way of actual doing? :D

Hmmm, you know I want to say yes, but this is a pretty important question, so I think I'm going to have to "sleep on it", over-analyze it for a few hours while I lay awake in bed, and then write six paragraphs about it tomorrow morning.

I too am trying to remind myself to take the "anal" out of "analyze". :D

I get excited about something and the planning is so much fun when it's time to execute it, I'm bored with it and moving on...

I have been trying to get around this problem by putting a huge effort into planning my life. I now sit down for weekly planning and review sessions with myself to look at all areas of my life and what I would like to achieve in the next week. I then allocate tasks across each day and spend time on the day mapping out what I am going to do...... Guess what. Nothing happens.

I just can't seem to make a connection from desire to action. I'm getting a hell of a lot more done than I used to I guess, so I am heading in the right direction, but I still find it impossible to prioritise on the most important tasks. I end up working hard at anything but what needs to be done.

I feel that I have always had a huge problem with decision making. If I don't know exactly what the outcome of a decision will be or if the decision is definitely the right decision to make, then I will avoid making that decision. Sometimes for years. Is an inability to make decisions part of the procrastination process for ADDers?

Samyama... I recently heard about something called the "unschedule" that might possibly help you (and me). As I understand it, you schedule only the time you're going to waste -- breaks, relaxation, fun, non-priority stuff -- and the open spaces on your schedule become your productive time. Then you combine that with a to-do list for the priority stuff. This way, you know you're going to get a break and you can look forward to it as a reward, instead of feeling bad about not doing the scheduled stuff and feeling guilty.

I don't know who came up with this -- heard about it from someone at work. I might try it, as it can't be any worse than what I'm doing now.

Yes. This is the basically a major part of the whole add thing for me. What comes first for us? The obsessive thinking and anxiety, which leads to inability to initiate action? Or does the inability to initiate action lead to obsession and anxiety. I think if you are GAD or OCD it is the former, if you are ADD the latter.

I have been trying to get around this problem by putting a huge effort into planning my life. I now sit down for weekly planning and review sessions with myself to look at all areas of my life and what I would like to achieve in the next week. I then allocate tasks across each day and spend time on the day mapping out what I am going to do...... Guess what. Nothing happens.

I just can't seem to make a connection from desire to action. I'm getting a hell of a lot more done than I used to I guess, so I am heading in the right direction, but I still find it impossible to prioritise on the most important tasks. I end up working hard at anything but what needs to be done.

I feel that I have always had a huge problem with decision making. If I don't know exactly what the outcome of a decision will be or if the decision is definitely the right decision to make, then I will avoid making that decision. Sometimes for years. Is an inability to make decisions part of the procrastination process for ADDers?

I don't really have a problem making decisions, since I rarely ever actually DO anything I really set out to do :D hahahaha...

Yeah, I totally hear you on desire vs. action. I've spent this summer studying motivation and how it relates to getting things done. I've really enjoyed learning David Allen's fantastic "Getting Things Done" system, but when it comes to actually DOING my tasks, my motivation drops like a rock! The funnest part is planning it out and daydreaming about doing it, instead of actually DOING it! It's terrible!

If you're at all interested in learning more about motivation, I've been listening to a great audiobook called "The 7 Hidden Secrets of Motivation: Unlocking the Genius Within" by Todd Beeler. He basically researched the last few hundred years of motivational concepts and conveys them in a way that you can apply to your life.

He has some pretty good tricks - I mentioned one in another post - when you're faced with doing something you want to do, but you don't want to do it right then - then simply say your excuse out loud (or in your head if you're around other people) in a high-pitched cartoony voice. So if you're struggling with hopping on your exercise bike for 15 minutes because you're tired and don't feel like it, then say in a Spongebob voice "I'm too tiiiiired and don't feeeeeel like exercising". You'll be laughing so hard that the perspective will knock your motivation level through the roof immediately!

My goal is to unlock the system for managing my brain...when I get excited about something, man I just spend 24/7 doing it and learning about it! I can't get enough of it! All that says is that somewhere in my thinking patterns, I've managed to motivate myself somehow, which tells me that there are some triggers for doing that, which, if I can figure out, I can put to my advantage. The 7 Secrets of Motivation audiobook has a lot of good techniques for "motivation in the moment", if you ever want to learn some more good techniques to add to your bag of tricks for getting yourself motivated :)

I am just learning and mostly reading about ADD & ADHD since my son has it, and I'm not sure if I have it myself..(he probably got it from Mom.). But when I saw this topic, it sounds like ME, since I'm a great planner, but fail in the execution phase.. But I do notice that once I get started, I'm very thorough, actually too thorough to the point that I've been described by my supervisor as "complicates things more than need be".. Is that a trait for ADD? Also, the symptons seem also contradictory.. example, I read easily bored and then another place feel overwhelmed..can you be both? Any Thoughts - Newbie Me...

I am just learning and mostly reading about ADD & ADHD since my son has it, and I'm not sure if I have it myself..(he probably got it from Mom.). But when I saw this topic, it sounds like ME, since I'm a great planner, but fail in the execution phase.. But I do notice that once I get started, I'm very thorough, actually too thorough to the point that I've been described by my supervisor as "complicates things more than need be".. Is that a trait for ADD? Also, the symptons seem also contradictory.. example, I read easily bored and then another place feel overwhelmed..can you be both? Any Thoughts - Newbie Me...

Yeah, definitely - it's called hyperfocus! Getting started is the hardest part for us ADDer's! That's why we have such a hard time getting started - we'll get distracted by something and be really interested in it, then a few days/weeks/months later when that intense motivation wears off, we have a really hard time simply getting started on the task each day.

If you can force yourself to get engaged in the task, then the hyperfocus will kick in. But our brains are very creative, which can be both good and bad - you can talk yourself out of nearly anything useless an endless list of excuses, so once that driving feeling of motivation wears off and you stop using your creative side to go after it, that same creative side works to stop you from doing it.

I've been learning a lot of motivation tricks to get myself started...mostly it's a mental thing, but since most of us also suffer from low energy & fatigue, that can be a barrier too - doing anything is always drudgery when you're tired!

It seems that just like my horoscope characteristics, ADD seems to have contradictions in traits too... For example, I don't believe I get fatigued or tired? After my 2-3 cups of coffee, I'm off, and do alot, but I'm always behind.. I tend to start several things, and then the most important don't get touched, like doing my taxes.. I keep saying "Gotta do them.." After 3 years of saying it, my friends just tell me to go to H&R Block, but now after getting the software on Ebay, and trying to clean my desk and take care of the little stuff so I can focus it ALL on the taxes, something new always happen.. I'm bound to get audited.. I know I'm a procrastinator, but I won't know until next Tuesday for sure if I'm an ADD'er' (evaluation day).. The Dr. says I have the traits, but the more I'm looking into this, I see my Brother, my husband, and of course, the main reason I learned about this.. my 7 year old son for ADHD.. God Bless him, and the rest of my crazy family...
Why is it that other people seem to "smell the flowers" and do so much, and I'm so overwhelmed, and I'm not even working full time now, at home, and don't know what bored means!! Is it true or untrue that ADD people get bored easily?

It seems that just like my horoscope characteristics, ADD seems to have contradictions in traits too... For example, I don't believe I get fatigued or tired? After my 2-3 cups of coffee, I'm off, and do alot, but I'm always behind.. I tend to start several things, and then the most important don't get touched, like doing my taxes.. I keep saying "Gotta do them.." After 3 years of saying it, my friends just tell me to go to H&R Block, but now after getting the software on Ebay, and trying to clean my desk and take care of the little stuff so I can focus it ALL on the taxes, something new always happen.. I'm bound to get audited.. I know I'm a procrastinator, but I won't know until next Tuesday for sure if I'm an ADD'er' (evaluation day).. The Dr. says I have the traits, but the more I'm looking into this, I see my Brother, my husband, and of course, the main reason I learned about this.. my 7 year old son for ADHD.. God Bless him, and the rest of my crazy family...
Why is it that other people seem to "smell the flowers" and do so much, and I'm so overwhelmed, and I'm not even working full time now, at home, and don't know what bored means!! Is it true or untrue that ADD people get bored easily?

In an unstimulating environment, we get bored easily. If you have a lot of distractions, you'll never feel bored :)

Added a different question in a separate post: "Do you Over-Analyze things on the Negative side, too?"

http://www.addforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=778998

I learned to think the WHOLE time i do things... i can take a tent down without even looking at any of it...while thinking...i always use the motivation that the sooner i get this sh!!! dont the sooner i can relax... but its HORRIBLE for your body...i feel like a tweaker the way i move my body...its crazy...!

Besides the overanalzing or over thinking about HOW you would do it, and not doing it, part of the problem I have is that I don't always retain it and it's just really hard to replicate what I was thinking about or did. Forgetful sort of.. it just gets hard to recall and go through it again. Is the forgetting part familar for anyone else?

Okay guys, I just HAVE to share these two videos with ADDF again, I LOVE THEM!

It's by a guy called Lev, it's part of a cartoon series called "Tales of Mere existence" and - ladies and gentlemen! I give you the episode called...

"PROCRASTINATION" :D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4P785j15Tzk&feature=fvst

...and "I HAVE TO GET READY"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9NgXIkyiwk&feature=channel

...rings a bell...?
Oh...and who thinks Lev might have ADHD-PI? ;)

im WAY worser than those vids above. I cant even brush my teeth...

I do it all the time.................

All my life. It think it has a lot to do with the fact that I can't organize things into a larger plan in my mind. When I do do a project it takes ten times longer than I figure and requires me to run back and forth for things I forgot all the time. I believe a lot of my reluctance comes from the lack of organization, as well as knowing in my subconscious that it will never even come close to going as planned.

This explanation by Dr. Russell Barkley is spot on re: why we get stuck putting our ideas into motion. It is validating to hear this b/c this is NOT an intelligence nor a laziness factor. We actually KNOW what to do, we are SMART and we are NOT lazy. Medical evidence shows that our brains have difficulty taking all of our ideas and moving them into the part of our brain that puts these ideas into MOTION. As Dr. Barkley states, "People w/ ADD know what to do, but they cant do what they know." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wF1YRE8ff1g

3 things.

Getting into med school, how to approach a girl that I like and GETTING STARTED to study...

If i spent the time doing above 3 things into something else, I would be a master by now

This explanation by Dr. Russell Barkley is spot on re: why we get stuck putting our ideas into motion. It is validating to hear this b/c this is NOT an intelligence nor a laziness factor. We actually KNOW what to do, we are SMART and we are NOT lazy. Medical evidence shows that our brains have difficulty taking all of our ideas and moving them into the part of our brain that puts these ideas into MOTION. As Dr. Barkley states, "People w/ ADD know what to do, but they cant do what they know." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wF1YRE8ff1g

Holy crap :eek:

"Everything in life becomes a crisis" - that's SO true! I live my life in crisis mode and could never understand how people fit into a routine and relaxed as they did their jobs - every task that came my way was a hot item, a crisis, a big project, a new thing - at work, at school, at home, whatever. It's soooo hard for me to fit into a routine that ISN'T a 24/7 crisis response methodology. Oye, this guy's a genius! :D

omg that video clip was incredibly accurate. What a brilliant person. Thank you for posting this.

The thing w the list on the fridge. ...ME.

I even have text file after text file of info saved of helpful ways to go about things.... I save the,,,then never open them again. As if thru digital osmosis it will find its own way into my head an get done.