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Quote by J. Russell Ramsay

“An important point to remember is that you still may not be “in the mood” to perform the task or action. In fact, remember that you may overestimate how little energy, focus, etc. is actually required to start a task. The final push to start a task or action is similar to legislative “swing votes”—it need not be a unanimous decision; you simply need to get to a 51–49 result to take the first step of behavioral engagement. As most people proclaim, “Once I got started, it was not as bad as I thought it would be.” Once you get engaged in the task, by definition, you are no longer procrastinating and the likelihood of persistence increases exponentially. This good start does not mean that you are immune to interruptions, distractions, or frustrations, but it is an important step to move from the anticipations of a task to engaging in the reality of the task.”

Quote by J. Russell Ramsay

Book:The Adult ADHD Tool Kit
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The Adult ADHD Tool Kit

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J. Russell Ramsay

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“The first step in dealing with negative automatic thoughts about a task or plan is to catch them by asking, “What am I thinking right now?” These thoughts often do not occur in the form of grammatically correct sentences, but may be expressed in brief phrases (e.g., “Oh no,” “I hate this stuff,” a string of expletives, etc.). In fact, sometimes procrastination starts with an accurate statement (e.g., “The gym is crowded after work.”), but that can kick off a string of assumptions that result in procrastination (e.g., “I won’t be able to find any open machines. It will either take me 3 hours to finish my workout or I won’t be able to do my full workout. I’m tired and I’m not up to dealing with crowds tonight. There is no use in going to the gym.”). The subsequent evening spent watching lousy television shows while eating way too many cheese puffs leads to self-critical thoughts and frustration with the missed workout (e.g., “I could have gone to the gym. I would have been done by now. Now I have to find time to make up this workout.”). At the outset, it is vital to be aware of how your thoughts make you prone to procrastinate. Automatic thoughts are often distorted and impact your feelings about tasks. Hence, you start to psych yourself out of doing something without having a chance to get started on it, which increases the likelihood of resorting to avoiding the task through an escape behavior. In Chapter 7, we will discuss in greater detail some of the distorted thoughts and strategies for modifying them, particularly with regard to the emotions they trigger, including pure and simple discomfort about a task (i.e., “Ugh”). When dealing with procrastination, however, the most common distortion we encounter is magnification/minimization. That is, you pull out and embellish all the negative elements about performing a task and you overlook or play down the positive elements and your ability to handle the task in question.”

Attention Deficit DisorderAdult Add
Book:The Adult ADHD Tool Kit
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“Some people just aren’t meant for the grind. I was in one of those huge public middle schools, taking seven different classes a day. I couldn’t keep up. I couldn’t even remember my locker combination! So I started shutting down—figuratively and literally, during classes. I’d been fully alert at ten years old; then I turned eleven and suddenly I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I’d fall asleep right there at my desk. And not because I wasn’t totally well rested; I totally was! It was so weird. And in the next class, I’d nod off again, at a different desk.”

AddMental HealthRelatableAdhdAttention Deficit Disorder
Book:How to Murder Your Life
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