How to Forge Stick-with-It Habits (original) (raw)
If you have ever cursed your working memory, persistence, and/or self-control, you probably already know this: Executive function does not improve through sheer willpower or even effective ADHD treatment. It improves when you build systems that capitalize on your strengths and minimize your weaknesses.
Here, learn how to build healthy habits while honing the executive functioning skills needed to keep them going.
1. Support working memory
Doing mental arithmetic, following verbal directions, and participating in a conversation all require working memory. Outsource the work of remembering by setting alerts on your phone, alarm clock, or virtual voice assistant. Use sticky notes as visual cues.
2. Think small
It takes 66 days, on average, for a new behavior to become automatic. To make a habit stick, start small. If you’d like to keep a cleaner home, can you commit to sweeping your kitchen floor for five minutes a day?
[Free Download: The ADHD Healthy Habits Handbook]
3. Reduce friction
I resolved to have zero unread emails in my inbox for 66 consecutive days. Though I stuck to my goal, it was the hardest thing I’d ever done.
That’s why I completely abandoned that goal on day 67. Now I have a lower-friction goal: Clear my inbox down to five or fewer unread emails, and do this at least five days a week. So far, I’ve hit 253 days of a more manageable inbox.
[Read: You Can’t Train Away ADHD Executive Dysfunction]
Want to exercise more? Pack your gym bag the night before your morning workout. Want to drink more water? Keep a full water bottle on your desk. Reduce friction between yourself and the habit you want to establish, then:
4. Reward yourself immediately
Do something that feels like a positive acknowledgement of your effort. The most effective rewards are often intrinsic to the behavior. Building up a sweat while exercising, for example, can produce feel-good hormones and reinforce your motivation to persist.
5. Track your progress
Mark off each day you meet your goal on a calendar or in a tracking app.
6. Challenge the willpower myth
Many adults with ADHD believe that neurotypical people can call on self-control whenever they want to propel themselves to action or refrain from self-defeating behaviors. This is false. The trick is to conserve energy by minimizing reliance on self-control and doing this instead:
- Eliminate distractions. Keep your phone on silent or out of reach. Use white noise machines or noise-canceling headphones.
- Designate spaces for work, relaxation, and hobbies so you associate each area with specific activities.
- Find accountability partners to keep you motivated.
A Get-Started Cheat Sheet
- Embarking on a new goal? Commit to working on it for no more than 10 minutes a day.
- Inspire your ADHD brain to focus on tasks high in interest, challenge, novelty, or urgency.
- First work, then play. Identify an activity you enjoy and save it as a reward for completing that non-preferred task.
Building Healthy Habits: Next Steps
- **Read: The Antidote to ADHD Fatigue and Exhaustion? Stacking Habits
- Self Test: Do You Have a Working Memory Deficit?
- **Read: Simplify Your Life – 7 Habits That Bring Calm and Stability
Peg Dawson, Ed.D., is a psychologist. She recently retired from the Center for Learning and Attention Disorders in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
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