ADHD strategies

Pause and reflect

Take a moment

No matter whether you are inattentive or hyperactive, adults with ADHD are always in motion. Whether physically or mentally we are always busy, engaged, seldom ever reflecting. We move from one activity to the next without much conscious thought. This is part of the reason why we fail to call our friends, makes plans, do the chores – we are always actively seeking the next interesting activity, thought, conversation or task – we don’t pause!

Auto-pilot

There is much to be gained from pausing. But you must learn to self observe and notice your transitions first. Watch yourself as you move from one task to the next. How many transitions take place like you’re on autopilot.

Thankfully you can break out of auto-pilot and it’s quite simple. It does mean paying attention though. Try to pay attention to your many transitions through the day. When you leave the house in the morning, when you start your email, when you take a coffee, when you ignore the time and stay an extra hour, when you pass over your expenses for email. Each is a transition demands an earlier decision – “what shall I do next”. There are hundreds of transitions in your normal day and hundreds of decisions too.

Pause and reflect

Once your awareness grows of these transitions, you can choose to pause, to defer the next task, and to reflect on your choices. The longer you reflect, the more criteria you can consider. When you consider the next task, ask is this task in my best interests, would another task better serve me. Reflect on options, on the future, on goals and requirements before you make the next transition.

Try pausing and reflecting, maybe there is a more valuable, rewarding and beneficial task or activity that you could be doing right now.

Andrew Lewis

Andrew Lewis is an ADHD Coach, writer and founder of SimplyWellbeing. He has over 15,000 hours and 18 years of experience in coaching over 500 ADHD executives, ADHD business professionals and ADHD creatives. Andrew ran a major ADHD support group and an ADHD diagnostic clinic for a while. He is an ADHD specialist backed with business expertise from a twenty years career in software, from roles in programming, through marketing, sales and to running a few software start-ups. His ADHD insight is personal, with decades understanding his own ADHD experience and in bringing up his ADHD daughter. He has published his writing primarily via this website, with interactive ADHD courses in development.