Why Can’t I Start My Assignment? ADHD Task Paralysis Explained
You know you have an assignment. You know exactly what you should be doing, but yet you still can’t seem to bring yourself to doing it. You may even be able to bring yourself to sitting at your computer and staring at the blank open document. But instead of writing, you’re scrolling on your phone for “just five minutes”. Or maybe you get up and start doing some other chores you’ve been putting off. Pretty much anything except what you really need to be working on!
When you have ADHD, I know how frustrating this experience can feel. It doesn’t mean you’re lazy, don’t care, or aren’t capable.
Often what’s getting in the way is what’s known as task paralysis. This is when someone experiences difficulty turning their intention of doing something into real action.
What is ADHD Task Paralysis?
Task paralysis is when you genuinely want to do something, and/or have real intention to do the thing, but still cannot seem to get yourself to start the task. It isn’t actively choosing not to do the task, you may feel stuck and like you’re fighting with your brain.
Looking at executive dysfunction may help us understand why task paralysis shows up. Executive functioning encompasses the set of mental processes that is responsible for a lot of our day to day function. It covers things like the ability to plan, prioritize, organize, manage time, regulate attention and initiate tasks.
While starting an assignment may sounds simple, for a university student with ADHD it requires a lot of these executive functioning skills to spring into action.
You may need to:
Decide where to begin
Break the assignment down into steps
Decide what information is relevant
Organize your ideas
Keep yourself focused on the task
Estimate how long everything will take
And the list goes on. That’s a lot of work going on behind the scenes, and that doesn’t even include actually doing the work!
So when you find yourself staring at that blank document, it may not be because you don’t want to do the assignment (okay, that may be part of it). But just the ability to start in itself may be the bigger problem.
Why is Starting an Assignment so Difficult with ADHD?
It’s not that simple, and there isn’t one single reason we can point to. ADHD can make task initiation difficult, especially when the task doesn’t require a lot of immediate stimulation, it feels overwhelming, has an unclear starting point or carries a lot of emotional weight. It can be one (or a combination) of the following things:
The assignment feels too big
When you look at your to-do list and it says “write a 2000 word essay”, of course it makes sense you’re going to spring into full panic mode! You assume it’s going to take a long time, or it’s going to be boring, or hard.
You don’t know where to start
You probably understand what the end goal is, but getting yourself there is where you feel lost. Should you start with doing the readings? Writing a thesis statement? Finding research? When there isn’t a clear first step, you might get lost in the overwhelm of where to begin.
You’re waiting for motivation to strike
You don’t really feel like doing it right now, so might as well wait around for motivation to hit… right? The problem is that motivation doesn’t always strike before taking action. For many people with ADHD, motivation can come from things like interest, novelty, urgency, challenge and passion. Often that motivation you’re waiting for doesn’t happen magically, it’s urgency because you’ve been waiting and now your project is due tomorrow!
Perfectionism is popping up
Sometimes “I can’t start” actually means “I don’t know how or if I can do this perfectly, so I’m not going to do it at all”. Or, you might be waiting for the perfect moment or circumstance to happen to start.
But I Know What I Need to Do!
Yep, and that’s one of the most frustrating parts about ADHD that so many people struggle to understand. You know exactly what you need to do, yet feel like you can’t make your body move into action. But knowing what to do and being able to initiate the action of doing it are two totally different things. That’s why advice like “just make a schedule!” or “stop procrastinating” is seriously so unhelpful.
That’s the intention-action gap! You just need to know how to build a bridge between knowing and doing.
What to Do When You Can’t Start Your Assignment
We’re not going to snap our fingers and suddenly turn on “productive mode”. Instead, we’ll look at how you can make the starting point smaller, clearer and easier to approach so you can go from “I’ll do that later” to “okay, I can do that now”.
Stop telling yourself to “work on the assignment”
That’s way too vague! Let’s look for the smallest possible action you could take.
For example, instead of planning to “work on my essay”, try:
“Open the assignment instructions”
“Copy the essay question onto my page”
“Brainstorm three possible thesis topics”
You’re still working on your essay, you’re just giving yourself a better picture of what it is you actually need to do.
Separate starting from finishing
One of my favourite pieces of advice is “first make it exist, then make it good”. Give yourself the permission to write a laughably horrible thesis statement, doodle out a messy mind map, write out of order or leave placeholders to come back to.
Your first pass at something doesn’t have to be ready to submit.
Use body doubling
Body doubling is when you’re working in the presence of someone else, whether it’s virtually or physically. They aren’t helping you with the actual work, but just knowing someone else is there can make it easier to get started. It can also provide just enough external accountability to get you over the hump of starting.
Ask yourself what’s actually getting in the way
I find people are often quick to assume they’re just procrastinating or being lazy for no reason. But have you ever stopped to think “what specifically is making this so hard to start?” The answer might surprise you!
Maybe you’re exhausted. Maybe you don’t fully understand the instructions. Maybe you feel like your thesis statement isn’t good enough. Maybe you don’t know where to start.
In order to address the problem, we have to identify what the actual barrier is.
Dealing with ADHD Task Paralysis Doesn’t Mean You’re Incapable
Repeat after me: struggling with task initiation does not make you a bad student. It doesn’t erase your intelligence, your ability, or your potential. It may be that you simply need a different approach than what you’ve been told should work.
When ADHD Coaching Can Help
If you find yourself repeatedly thinking “I know what I need to do, I just can’t make myself do it” ADHD coaching, AuDHD coaching and executive function coaching can help. Instead of giving you another productivity tool to try, the goal is to ultimately understand where your brain gets stuck, and how you can support yourself to move past it.
University shouldn’t be an endless cycle of avoid, panic, cram, recover and repeat. Let’s find a different (and less stressful) way of working.
New Bloom ADHD Coaching helps students go from knowing what to do, to actually doing it.
