Understanding ADHD: Strategies for Procrastination and Time Management

ADHD individuals often struggle with focus and procrastination, but a structured system can enhance productivity and fulfillment.

### Navigating ADHD: Understanding Procrastination and Effective Time Management
* 🧠 People with ADHD often experience contradictions, such as struggling with focus yet occasionally entering a state of **hyperfocus**, which can lead to accidents like **spilling hot water** while distracted.
* ⏰ Common signs of ADHD include anxiety, time blindness, and procrastination, often causing individuals to **zone out or lose track of time** during enjoyable activities.
* 📊 Procrastination can stem from feeling **overwhelmed by the complexity or emotional weight of tasks**, making it difficult to know where to start, and it can be more extreme in those with **ADHD**.
* 🗂 The Eisenhower Matrix is a useful tool for prioritizing tasks based on **urgency and importance**, helping individuals manage their responsibilities more **effectively**.
* 💪 Implementing a daily highlight method allows individuals to focus on **what truly matters each day**, ensuring that even if they procrastinate, they accomplish **something significant**.
* 📅 The Kaizen system, designed specifically for those with ADHD, emphasizes **continuous improvement** and helps users **track their tasks**, **manage their time better**, and **reflect on their productivity patterns**.
* 🔄 Understanding the difference between normal procrastination and ADHD-related procrastination is crucial, as **ADHD symptoms typically begin in childhood** and require **tailored adaptations for effective management**.
* 🌟 Ultimately, success and fulfillment come not from completing every task on a to-do list, but from engaging in activities that align with one’s **true priorities and values**.

It's 6:00 p.m. You just got back home, and you've got a task that has been lingering in your mind, waiting to be checked off your list. It could be a project for work or school, house chores that can't be ignored any longer, or maybe it's about spending quality time with your loved ones. The intentions are there, but so is the overwhelming sensation of having too much on your plate. You realize that you have a deadline due date tomorrow. You sit down with your mind to start, but then distractions begin. A quick glance at your phone turns into a deep dive through social media, a video binge on YouTube, or maybe just staring into space, lost in thoughts. Before you know it, time has slipped away. You find yourself cooking a meal, taking an unplanned nap, getting lost in small, less important tasks—anything but the main thing you intended to do. This is the cycle of procrastination, and it's not just about being lazy. When you're feeling lazy, you're more likely to just lounge around.

instead of filling your time with less important activities. But why do we procrastinate, even when it feels bad? And more importantly, how can we break free from it? Everyone procrastinates sometimes, and there are several reasons behind that. Just because you procrastinate, it doesn't mean automatically that you have ADHD. ADHD procrastination is different than normal procrastination, and it's more extreme. We will get into the difference between ADHD procrastination and normal procrastination pretty soon, but before that, we need to understand the common reasons for procrastination, even if you don't have ADHD. The most common reason why you're procrastinating is because you're overwhelmed. This isn't just about the volume of tasks, but also about their complexity or maybe the emotional weight. When we are overwhelmed, it becomes difficult to know where to start, what to do, and it leads to procrastination. Everyone talks about task management, but in my opinion, energy management is far more important than getting everything done. I used to think being constantly busy and getting more done was

the answer for success and fulfillment in life, but I completely disagree. Now, we don't get satisfied when we finish everything on our to-do list; we get satisfied when we work on what truly matters. How can we make sure that we focus on what truly matters? I use a method called daily highlight and Eisenhower metric. Every day when I wake up, I open my notion template, kaisen system, and I set my daily highlight. Even if I procrastinate the whole day, I make sure to get my daily highlight done. And when I set my daily highlight, I'm more intentional and also focused with my time. And I might have a shitty day, but if I get my daily highlight done, I usually feel satisfied and fulfilled for the day. There are three ways to pick your daily highlight: urgency, what's the most pressing thing I have to do today? If you have something that absolutely must be accomplished today, make it your highlight. Two, satisfaction at the end of the day, which highlight will bring me most satisfaction? Maybe you have a particular thing you wanted to try.

out for a long time. You know, picking a daily highlight for satisfaction helped me break the someday cycle. When I reflect on today, what will bring me the most joy? Not every hour has to be optimized. At the end of the day, our goal is just to be happy. It can be anything, like reading a book at a cafe, hanging out with a friend, or maybe just going for a silent walk. Some days, my daily highlight is based on urgency, some days it's joy, and some days it's satisfaction. A good rule of thumb is to choose a highlight that takes around like 60 to 90 minutes. Choosing my daily highlight according to these three criteria helps me focus on what truly matters for today. But to manage the broader spectrum of tasks and responsibilities, I use the Eisenhower Matrix. And because my ADHD brain is so bad at prioritizing, it has helped me so much with the Eisenhower Matrix. Basically, you organize the tasks based on their urgency and importance so you can effectively prioritize your most important work. We are going to divide

tasks B based on their urgency and importance. Urgent and important may seem like similar words, but understanding the difference between the two is crucial. Urgent tasks require your immediate action, so those have clear deadlines. Important tasks will bring you closer to your goals. Based on this, we divide all the tasks into four quadrants. Quadrant one is do. You'll place any tasks that are both urgent and important. These are the things with clear deadlines and consequences for not taking immediate action. So, let's say finishing a last-minute deadline is assigned to you, or let's say your sink springs leaks and your whole kitchen floods with water. So, this is quadrant one. Quadrant one tasks are inevitable. There should be no question about which tasks fall into this quadrant because these are the tasks that are at the front of your mind and are likely stressing you the most. Spending too much time on quadrant one tasks leads to stress, burnout, and the sense that your day is out of your control. TR, I found myself yesterday crying in a shower for literally no reason. That's

why we make time for the quadrant 2 schedule. Not urgent but important tasks are the activities that help you achieve long-term goals. These might not have a deadline, so it's easy to put them off in favor of more urgent tasks. For example, exercising, socializing, learning a new skill, or maybe a hobby, or maybe more traveling. You will tackle these tasks right after you tackle the tasks in quadrant one. This is the sweet spot of time management, and this is kind of like a spot where you're focused on problems but also on opportunities and also on growth. That's why every single week on Sunday, I try to do my weekly reflection using my Kaizen system, because it automatically tells you based on the task inputs you've done during the week how much time you've spent on each quadrant and what to do. The next quadrant is delegate, where you will put any tasks that are urgent but not important. These are the things that need to be done but don't require your specific skills or affect your

long-term goals, like getting the groceries or cleaning your house, like booking flights. If you have the choice, invest money on delegating time so that you can focus more on quadrant 2. If you can't delegate these tasks, try to keep them from taking over your day. Save quadrant 3 tasks for times when you are low in energy, rather than putting them first in the morning. So, do them at the end of the day and don't spend your most precious time here. Try to batch them all together and have just like a sprint of time where you do these quadrant 3 tasks. Once you've gone through your to-do list and added to the first three quadrants, you will notice that some tasks are left over. The tasks left over are the tasks that were urgent or important. Place these remaining items onto your to-do list in the fourth quadrant, which is to delete these unimportant, non-urgent distractions that are simply getting in the way of you accomplishing your goals. When you're planning your tasks with the Kaizen system that my

team and I build from scratch specifically for my 8 vhd brain so that I won't lose my mind and function properly. You can easily add tasks on the go and categorize it according to the quadrant. You have a feature that syncs all the tasks and shows automatically how much time you spend in each quadrant, and based on that, it will give feedback on what to do for the next week. If you're interested in my Kaizen system, check the link in the description below. Before talking about the difference between ADHD and procrastination, let's have a good understanding of what ADHD is. ADHD is a term that describes a way of being in the world. It's neither entirely a disorder nor entirely an asset; it's an array of traits specific to a unique kind of mind. ADHD is a curse and a gift at the same time. ADHD brains are built to jump from idea to idea, hobby to hobby, sensation to sensation. You know we can't do nothing. I sometimes have a hard time when shutting my brain off when it's

time to sleep because ideas never stop in my brain. All these video ideas, thumbnail ideas, you know, the things that I want to do never stops. And people with ADHD often embody contradictions. We might struggle with focus but then suddenly lock into a state of hyperfocus. One moment I'm pouring hot water for coffee and next I've accidentally spilled it on my hand and burn it. A couple of weeks ago, some common signs of ADHD are here. There's so many silly things that we do because of ADHD. We get anxious from Cal n and we are late to meetings because we got zoned out while standing outside of the conference room. Or we go down rabbit holes on the internet instead of doing our work. And we have time blindness. We just don't have a sense of time when we're doing something we enjoy. Our passes by and I don't even recognize that I got hungry. You don't have to be hyperactive to have ADHD. Hyperactivity is usually seen in males and kids. ADHD in females.

especially in female adults is quite different. An important question to determine whether you have a normal procrastination or ADHD is to ask yourself how long have you had these problems. If you think about how long you've been struggling to manage your time, to concentrate, and to control your impulses. For example, when I was trying to walk past through my school entrance, I literally hit my head to the wall because I didn't see it. Would you say it's been just weeks or months or more like years? Picture yourself as a child. Were you dealing with any of the same problems then? Do you remember also having trouble sitting in school, completing your homework, or maybe finishing a hobby project, following the rules on a playing field, making it, keeping friends in your neighborhood? According to the book Taking Charge of Adult ADHD, having sudden short-term symptoms usually means it's not ADHD. Not having any ADHD symptoms as a child or as a teen probably does mean you don't have ADHD. ADHD-like symptoms that arise only in adulthood or that haven't been

going for a very long time are probably being caused by something else, like extreme stress or maybe other mental issues. In many clinical studies, 98% of the patient symptoms started before the age of 16. It's also important to remember that normal procrastination oftentimes doesn't include the things that we enjoy. I got diagnosed with ADHD, and sometimes I even procrastinate eating or just going to the toilet. I'm super hungry, and the food is in front of me, and I stare at it, and I don't eat it. I procrastinate. Why? I don't know. People with ADHD aren't crazy or dumb, even though we sound like that, just like people who need glasses to see clearly aren't dumb or crazy or lacking, you know? Just like they need glasses, people with ADHD need adaptations that support them. ADHD symptoms can't be fixed, but they can be reduced by making adaptations. You need to take care of your sleep, diet, exercise, bad habits, and you might need to get professional help too. I will make more detailed videos about each part.

but to manage all these, you need a good system. I get asked so often, How are you so disciplined and goal-driven with ADHD? I'm not disciplined, okay? I literally have the self-control of like a three-year-old. Last night, even though I have this deadline, I've spent 6 hours playing a game, even though I told myself I would stop after 10 minutes, but I didn't. I'm not disciplined; I just have a good system. I've tried a bunch of apps and services that were labeled ADHD-friendly for years, but none of them could solve my problems. So, I've decided to combine all the methods that I use day-to-day to manage this chaotic brain, and I sat down with a developer again and again and again, and created my own system, and it's called the Kaizen system. Kaizen means the act of continuous improvement in Japanese. It really highlights the function of this template, and it's also my life motto. That's why it's the channel banner in the template. I guide you on how to set your goals.

correctly according to psychology so that you will struggle less with motivation. We go through the goal checklist to make sure you don't fall into the common goal-setting pitfalls, and after that, we set a micro-commitment that you will do every day to achieve this goal. Don't be scared when you hear the word every day. We set the micro-commitments so easy that even with ADHD, you can stay consistent. I use the micro-commitment method to establish the habit of working out. My brain never shuts up, and my thoughts are constantly crossing my mind, and I'm also scared of forgetting something. For those times, we have a section called brain dump where you can declutter your mind by jotting whatever crosses your mind. You can always revisit them and turn them into tasks so that you won't forget anything. They categorize the tasks based on their urgency and importance so that we know exactly what to do in that given moment. Even though I've been using eyes and how matric for years, I always forget which

quadrant was which one and what I'm supposed to do. So, we have a visual representation for that to reduce distractions and get to know your procrastination patterns better. We have a section where you estimate how much time you will spend on a task and compare with the reality. You don't need to do this every single time, but when I do this, I'm more intentional, and it also improved my sense of time a lot. I used to think it takes me around like 2 hours to write a script. In reality, I just realized that it takes me 5 hours. No wonder why I'm always trying to catch up with my deadline. People with ADHD tend to have perfectionism, and we blame ourselves a lot. Sometimes we procrastinate because we're perfectionists. I don't know if you're into this MBTI thing, but my MBTI personality is INTJ, and I like planning. But my ADHD is driving me nuts, and I hated myself for a long time for not

acting the way that I want myself to act, and that's why I started to do weekly or bi-weekly reflections so that I set a realistic expectation to myself and identify the patterns of procrastinations I have. The template automatically calculates how much time you spent in each quadrant of the Eisenhower matrix and tells you what to do for the next week based on these feedbacks. You can rearrange your schedule and be more realistic for the next week. You'll be also able to reflect on your micro commitment so that if you weren't able to be consistent last week, you can adjust. The important thing that I learned about having ADHD is having a system that allows you to fail because you will fail, like I promise, at least from my personal experience. I always fail, but failing is fine with the time. Dealing with ADHD is kind of like developing a muscle. The more you understand yourself and your patterns, you will be able to be more realistic and also be less frustrated with yourself. Obviously, it's not a cure about

having a system that works for you is crucial, and I'm so sorry for talking about my notion template over and over and over again, but I genuinely think it's really good, and I'm so proud of it, and I wish we had created it much earlier so that I wouldn't have lost my mind and got angry at myself every single day, ADHD or not. If traditional methods of productivity didn't work for you, my Kaizen system might work. It's designed by a person with ADHD, me, who gets you for you, because these are the things that I struggle with every single day, and I have big goals for not only offering a notion template but also when you get the Kaizen system, you will get access to the community of people who have similar issues like you, and you will also get access to lessons and courses by me that dives deep into ADHD and how to deal with these issues scientifically and also my personal tips. And also, we're doing a crazy Black Friday sale, so if you're interested, take

it out from the link in the description. I really like it, and I think you will like it too. If you found this video helpful, I'm sure you will find this comprehensive video about ADHD helpful too.

The actual reason why you procrastinate and how to fix it

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Ruri Ohama

Focusing on What Truly Matters for Success

Satisfaction comes from working on what truly matters, not just completing a to-do list.

The author uses a daily highlight method and the Eisenhower metric to stay intentional and focused.

Despite struggling with discipline due to ADHD, they created their own Kaizen system for continuous improvement and goal management.

Managing Tasks with Urgency and Importance

Tasks are divided into four quadrants based on their urgency and importance.

Quadrant one includes tasks that are both urgent and important, requiring immediate action and causing stress if not addressed.

The method involves setting micro-commitments, using brain dumps to declutter the mind, and estimating task completion times to improve time management and reduce procrastination.

Effective Time Management Using Quadrants

Investing in delegating tasks can help you focus on long-term goals.

It's important to save low-energy tasks for later in the day and batch them together.

The Eisenhower Matrix is a useful tool for prioritizing tasks based on their urgency and importance.

Weekly reflections help set realistic expectations and identify procrastination patterns.

A system that allows for failure is crucial in dealing with ADHD, as understanding personal patterns can lead to better self-management.

ADHD symptoms can't be fixed, but they can be reduced through adaptations in sleep, diet, exercise, and seeking professional help.

ADHD is a unique way of being, with traits that can be both a curse and a gift.

The speaker's Kaizen system, designed for individuals with ADHD, offers a Notion template, community support, and lessons on managing ADHD.

Key indicators of ADHD include long-term struggles with time management, concentration, and impulse control, often starting in childhood.

ADHD can cause contradictions, with individuals struggling to focus one moment and then experiencing hyperfocus the next.

Common signs of ADHD include time blindness, zoning out, and extreme procrastination.

Procrastination can be triggered by feeling overwhelmed, and addressing energy management may be more important than just task management.