Motivation

What's the deal with

Motivation

and ADHD?

Motivation is the process that initiates, guides, and maintains goal-oriented behaviors. For individuals with ADHD, motivation can be a complex and challenging aspect of daily life. Many experience difficulties with becoming motivated and with sustaining motivation, particularly for tasks that are not inherently interesting or immediately rewarding.

“While most people have an importance-based nervous system, people with ADHD have an interest-based nervous system. They primarily find motivation through interest, novelty, challenge, and urgency.” —Dr. William Dodson

What it looks like:

Motivational challenges in ADHD can manifest in various ways:

Difficulty initiating tasks, especially those perceived as boring or challenging
Procrastination on important responsibilities
Inconsistent performance in work or academic settings
Struggles with maintaining long-term goals
Difficulty transitioning from preferred to non-preferred activities
Tendency to become easily discouraged by setbacks
Challenges in sustaining effort on tasks without immediate rewards
Hyperfocus on highly engaging activities while neglecting other responsibilities
Difficulty following through on commitments or plans
Reliance on external pressure (like deadlines) to complete tasks
Struggles with self-motivation and internal drive
Frequent task-switching or leaving projects unfinished

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The science:

The difficulties with motivation in ADHD are multifaceted and closely linked to the neurological differences associated with the condition:

Brain Activity: The prefrontal cortex, a brain region responsible for skills we need to function in daily life, is often underactive in individuals with ADHD. In particular, the executive function skills of working memory, cognitive flexibility, and inhibitory control, all crucial for sustaining motivation, may be weaker in people with ADHD.
Brain Chemicals: A brain chemical called dopamine plays a key role in motivation and reward processing. In people with ADHD, there is often too little dopamine, which makes it very challenging to feel motivated for tasks that aren't immediately rewarding, even if they're important for long-term goals.
Altered Connectivity: The Default Mode Network, a brain system involved in self-reflection and mind-wandering, shows atypical activity and connectivity in individuals with ADHD. These differences can lead to difficulties with self-motivation and internal drive, affecting the ability to initiate and maintain effort towards goals, especially when external motivation is lacking.
Emotional Dysregulation: ADHD also involves challenges with emotional regulation. Emotions tend to be more intense, and may last longer, for people with ADHD. This can make it harder to maintain motivation for tasks that aren't inherently interesting or enjoyable. Conversely, it can also lead to hyperfocus on activities that are emotionally engaging, potentially at the expense of other important responsibilities.
Time Perception: Individuals with ADHD often experience difficulties with time perception. The struggle to accurately estimate how long tasks will take can lead to procrastination or feeling overwhelmed, both of which can severely dampen motivation. This altered sense of time makes it difficult to feel motivation for tasks that don't provide instant feedback or results.

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References:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3010326/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3016271/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4009719/

https://www.healthline.com/health/adhd-neurology

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5884954/

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What you can do:

Add urgency and accountability
- “Body doubling,” or working alongside someone else, either in person or virtually, to increase accountability and focus.
- Use a timer and challenge yourself to see how much you can get done.
- Notice the consequences—if you don’t start now, what other tasks will you need to put off? What potential rewards will you be sacrificing?
Add novelty
- Use music or background noise. Some people with ADHD find that certain types of music or white noise can help with focus and motivation.
- Change location—work from a different room, or from a new coffee shop
Add personal interest
- Pair a boring task with something you’re interested in—like having a podcast that you only listen to when you exercise, or do the dishes
- Complete a project in a new, more interesting way (see novelty). Learn a new skillset or introduce a new tool.
- Take regular breaks—if you absolutely can’t add interest to the task, maybe you can add your interests into your day in little chunks, which can serve as rewards for successfully completing a chunk of work.
- Turn your to-do list into a game with points, levels, or challenges.
- Create visual representations of your progress to make achievements more tangible.
Add movement
- Physical activity can boost dopamine levels and improve overall motivation.
- Use fidget toys or wearables to discharge restless energy.
- Utilize breaks to stretch or take a short walk
Address emotional blocks
- Break tasks into smaller, manageable steps to make tasks feel less overwhelming and more achievable.
- Replace negative self-talk with encouraging and realistic statements.
Have an entry point: Identify the very first thing you need to do to start your task. Keep asking yourself “What comes before that?” until you arrive at a first step that actually feels doable. For example, instead of “write an outline for this report,” the entry point might actually be “open a blank document.”

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Go deeper:

Emotional Regulation and ADHD

Does Exercise Help ADHD?

ADHD & Motivation: Overcoming Executive Dysfunction

How to Break Down Projects Into Tasks

Resparkalizing for adult ADHD

ADHD and Motivation

How to Not NEED as Much Motivation to do the Thing

Why Is It So Hard to Do Something That Should Be Easy? (Wall of Awful pt. 1)

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Perceiving & Managing Time

Hyperactivity

Routines & Habits

Disorganization

ADHD coaching

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