Procrastination: ADHD, Dyslexia,...

If you have ADHD or dyslexia, you may be familiar with the struggle. Procrastination seems to be common in neurodiverse individuals. A good thing to remember is that delay does not equal procrastination. So it might be good to give yourself some slack when you have a good reason to delay something. At its core, procrastination has to do with emotional regulation. Negative feelings tend to come up for neurodiverse people when faced with specific tasks. For someone with dyslexia, it might be having to read a long work report; for someone with Autism, it could be the next networking event at work. In those situations procrastination becomes more likely. When procrastinating, we choose a short-term solution to deal with these negative emotions. But the issue is that it creates more pressure in the long run, so we tend to feel even worse after. If you manage to find different and improved ways to deal with your negative emotions toward specific tasks, you will find that procrastination will become less of an issue. A good starting point in dealing with procrastination would be to focus on your emotional health--look into meditation, mindfulness, and self-compassion.

⏰ Timetable:
00:00 - Intro
00:36 - Defining Procrastination
01:24 - The Mechanism behind Procrastination
02:34 - Neurodiverse Conditions and Procrastination
03:36 - Solutions

🙋🏼‍♂️ My name is Arije, and I am a dyslexic with an MA in Education Studies. I aim to share all my tips for learning, coping, teaching, and more on my channel. For dyslexics, educators, and parents alike, I want to make videos that inform and inspire you to reframe dyslexia.

COACHING & CONSULTATION

Here's some of the literature I consulted to create this video:
Fuschia Sirois, Do it now: Overcoming Procrastination, Audible original
Klassen, R. M., Krawchuk, L. L., Lynch, S. L., & Rajani, S. (2008). Procrastination and motivation of undergraduates with learning disabilities: A Mixed‐Methods inquiry. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 23(3), 137-147.
Hen, M., & Goroshit, M. (2014). Academic procrastination, emotional intelligence, academic self-efficacy, and GPA: A comparison between students with and without learning disabilities. Journal of learning disabilities, 47(2), 116-124.
Niermann, H. C., & Scheres, A. (2014). The relation between procrastination and symptoms of attention‐deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in undergraduate students. International journal of methods in psychiatric research, 23(4), 411-421.
Chicago

[heatherknapp]

Literally procrastinating right now by watching this video instead of doing my homework. The hw tutorial says it should take 3.5 hours and for me who is easily distracted and has slow processing, that time is doubled and the prospect of that is too overwhelming and exhausting!

[djoh]

I have been diagnosed with adult ADHD and it helped me understand so much of why I am the way I am.

For me procrastination goes hand in hand with perfectionism and so I get overwhelmed AF about starting something anything because i fear it will get harder and I won’t have the grit to get through it or it may not be good enough.

Procrastinating is the biggest daily challenge due to adhd and anxiety. It seems to take daily commitment not to “give in” to the urge to screw around, which can be exhausting day after day.

I look at people who can just get on with things with so much respect and envy.

[printface]

In high school during the '80's I asked an art teacher to sign my yearbook and he wrote, "If I had an award for 'expert procrastinator', you would win". It's one of the cruelest things any teacher ever did to me. Looking back it broke my heart and I threw the book away. I never knew I had ADHD. I didn't know that I have dyslexia and dyscalculia until my recent diagnosis. I thought "I'm just a bad speller and I'm not really good with math". I'm glad we know more now.

[janettoomer]

Wow! Avoidance, my favourite thing to manage my emotions and not get work done. What I find makes it 100 times worse is when people tell my I can do it (it being assignments) when I feels so overwhelmed and behind in my timetable, I find when I try to reach out....I am not believed. Or I am bombarded with practical suggestions which overwhelm me more! So my reactions to such comments makessense now, because I an coming from a place of emotion. Thank you for explaining.

[pamelajensen]

Definitely struggle with that! I’ve gotten a little bit better at handling it with age. Takes a decent amount of energy to procrastinate, and I don’t have as much energy as I did in my youth lol. I have found that if I get the ball rolling and just keep going slow and steady, wins the race. I really don’t like the anxiety that comes from procrastination it’s exhausting so mostly I focus on avoiding that anxiety by taking action. Now I am procrastinating anxiety by getting my work done. Lol

[DavidJVMusic]

That sounds Exactly right! I feel like it's more of a "I don't know where to start" thing, a lot of times. Or both!

[djihanedeniz]

I still struggling with procrastination 😣 Once I fail doing something it all falls apart. And I began to procrastinate everything in my life and then slowly I became depressed.

[nancymcgregor]

Great video with simple instructions to follow thanks

[ArijeAikedeHaas]

Have you found ways to deal with your procrastination? I would be super interested to hear about it...

[Hong_Mei]

💖Thank you for sharing. Each and every second highly appreciated. Excellent work, it’s highly appreciated ✨🙏

[giselle-lm]

I finally understood what I have been going through for years, I was always a perfectionist and would avoid a lot of things

[mariagargioni]

This is true what you say. I have had a very hard time and still suffer with this. Thankyou

[israiltonpereiradasilva]

I have ADHD. When I was in law school, I used to record all the classes because often only my body was in class, but my thoughts were elsewhere, meaning I had a lot of energy, not to mention the anxiety, which makes this comorbidity even more challenging for ADHD. I was diagnosed with ADHD at 28. Until then, I wasted a lot of time with so much energy I have. Since I was diagnosed, I sought out a specialist psychologist and also a specialist doctor in ADHD (but the race was tough to find these professionals qualified in ADHD), it was the best investment for my life. After starting treatment, I started getting the best grades in college, learned to speak 2 other languages, today I can produce much more. But the struggle is constant. It is very worthwhile to seek treatment. I have the energy of a child, this is not normal, however, my doctors help me distribute all this energy so that I can produce and not procrastinate, however, the comorbidity of ADHD which also has anxiety makes everything more difficult for ADHD. Almost no one talks about people who have ADHD with comorbidity. I thank you for your beautiful work! Congratulations. Hugs from Brazil.

[adventureexperience]

I got very emotional every time procrastination rule over me. to the extent that it was hard to think, act, or even breath when I was a kid. What I did was to always battle with it. I stop thinking and just do something about it even just a small part of it. sometimes that small part is to write the materials needed in that particular task. Nowadays I'm using my phone and screenshot things. it's a small thing but at least I can say that I did battle with my procrastination.

[KatKitty]

Thank you so much for making this video.

[rebeckajarl]

When something is overwhelming definitely. I recently was reminded by one of Mark Mansons (he was taught this by a teacher) videos of something Manny say Prof taught in The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A Heinlein. I'm giving my understanding of the quotes. If a problem seems unsolvable start with what you do know, rephrase the problem and keep going as far as you can. One small piece is easier to get a hold of... and it's okey if easier doesn't come close to easy. Or as Moist von Lipvig has said (quoting from memory so will probably get some part wrong) "I like... ...because they will keep on explaining until they reach your level of understanding even if they need to lie down to get there"

[emmagarcia-rltp]

Currently I am doing a masters in a country that is s not mine and doin that all in English. I am dislexic and I procastinate a lot when I se that the date of the exam or the assignment is more close. I think I do that because my brain already asumes that I will not be able to finish well or properly and it blocks itself... my technic that I try to implement is to put a timer to try to consentrate my self even though if its 10 min.
I have just discovered your chanel looking for solutions. Thanks a lot!

[ronanwatters]

Is there links to executive functioning problems with procrastination, or is it all/mostly down to an emotional response to stress/anxiety brought on by personal history with Dyslexia or other neuro-divergent conditions?

[cetaceantali]

Hello Arije! I wanted to tell you that when you refer to Neurodiverse individuals, i think you mean Neurodivergent individuals; everybody is Neurodiverse, this concept refers to the idea that there are different types of brains (different ways of processing information), there for, Neurotypes: Neurodivergent (autism, dyslexia, ADHD, down syndrome, etc.) and Neurotypical (standard way of processing).

everybody is a Neurodiverse individual, but some of us are Neurodivergent individuals and others are Neurotypical individuals.
I learned this a few weeks ago! It is easy to get confuse at the beginning😵‍💫

Thank you again!

[palomaelegante]

I am watching this while procrastinating. I should be doing my homework